In response...

I have toyed with the thought of starting a blog for quite a while now, but decided now to start as a way to voice my opinions in regard to comments written in response to the Writer's Guild strike.

People had written many comments condemning unions. Their comments, though, showed they knew little about unions other than what they had learned through movies such as F*I*S*T, Hoffa, or others that showed versions of union life that were not quite realistic.

My union experience is not extensive, but is direct, realistic, and to the point.

I began working in the late-seventies at my first union job. I was an apprentice for the carpenter's union--The United Brotherhood of Carpenter's and Joiner's of America. I started out getting my initial training though Job Corps. When I graduated, I was hired by Thiesenn Custom Homes as a framer. My first check--I worked only three days that pay period--was over three hundred dollars. That was huge money for an eighteen year-old who had a small apartment and minimal bills. My first real check of forty hours was over seven hundred dollars, having worked six days which included overtime pay of time-and-a-half for Saturday. I worked there for three months before I was laid off. Seeing how I was the last one hired, I was the first laid off.

I had to continue my apprenticeship training at the union hall while still paying my monthly dues. I was on the out-of-work list and had to report to the hall daily to see if there was any work for me. Gas back and forth, bills, and dues ate away at my savings. I did go out on a few small jobs but they were short lived and long in-between. There were not many jobs for first year apprentices at that time.

Eventually, I went and got a job outside of my "career field"--I joined the Marine Corps.

When I discharged from the service, I chose not to continue in the carpentry field, but I did work in several other "union" jobs. All of which paid well, allowed for time-and-a-half for overtime, had paid leave for vacation, etc.

My last job of thirteen years was a job in the sheet metal industry. The employees there were covered under a collective bargaining agreement. Although the business was in a Right-to-Work state, the employees were covered by a union contract.

I joined the union and paid my dues. I do not believe in "workers' welfare", which is what I call it when employees choose not to join the union, yet reap the benefits of the contract. They also expect free representation when the chips are down, meaning they are availing themselves to the services of the union without paying the dues.

Anyway...

The reason I am writing in reponse to the idiotic comments made concerning unions is simply to enlighten those who have no idea what they are spouting off about.

Here are some truths-

Back in the day, there was no established minimum age for workers. Companys would hire elders and as soon as the elders offspring were old enough to perform the job, their employers would put the offspring to work as well. This all sounds fine and dandy, but when "old enough to work" is eight or nine years-old, something needed to be done. There were times when the elders were not able to work--due to illness or something like that--and their offspring were made to work double shifts to keep production up. Imagine, an eight year-old working sixteen to eighteeen hours in one day, at hard physical labor.

Unions fought to establish a minimum working age.

Years ago there was no such thing as a minimum wage. Employer would pay their workers whatever they felt like paying. In many instances the pay was less than the cost of living. This required employees to work longer hours at straight pay just to afford to live. Or--much to the pleasure of the company--recruit their offspring to work alongside them in order to increase the household income.

Unions fought for a livable wage and helped establish the minimum wage.

Paid time off was never heard of before unions fought for paid holidays. Many people take take it for granted, and assume the companys give their employees time off with pay. It may seem so, especially when a company that has no union connections, but think about it, how can a company recruit individuals to work for them if they cannot match the benefits their competitors are offering?

Paid vacations would not exist without unions.

How many of you reading this have seen old-time footage of factory workers? The open drive belts on the macinery featured in those film reels had claimed many lives--many of them just kids--before unions stepped in and fought for a safe workplace. OSHA is a direct result of the union's fight. Machinery guards and every other safety device is the fruit of Labor's fight.

In a bygone era there were company towns. In those towns nearly everyone works for the company, lived in company owned housing, shopped at company owned stores, and relaxed in company owned taverns. Every bit of money those employees earned for their labor was returned to their employer through rent, grocery, clothing, and other living expenses. Their children even when to company ran schools, and any money they were able to skrimp and save was usually kept in a company ran bank.

Some of these company towns still exist in a few coal mining communities. New-age company 'burbs have even sprung up in modern technology centers in and around the "Silicon Vally" area. Anything to keep the dough in the company's pocket.

Some smaller businesses who care about their employees are completely wiped out when "Big Box" store fronts move in. They pay minimum wage and overwork their employees. They claim to have the lowest prices in town, when in fact they shut down the competition. Their employees cannot afford to shop anywhere else then at the place that pays their wage.

Many blame unions for companies shutting down factories, plants, and workplaces in a various communities. The fact is, these greed mongering corporations leave behind American workers for the lax labor laws in foreign lands. Why pay an American worker twelve dollars an hour when they can pay a Malaysian worker twelve dollars a month.

Three percent of the entire population of the United States holds eighty-five percent of the wealth. Those individuals have names like Walton, Gates, Heinz, Buffet--just to name a few.

Capitalism is what makes this country great, but greed on the corporations part is what is killing it. Let's keep the borders open so those who will work for less than minimum wage will continue to give these companies a steady flow of cut-rate workers.

The writers have a right to receive pay for their work that is offered on DVD and on the internet--Union or not.