Do You Or Did You Ever Belong To A Union?

L

Lon

Well-known Member
Location
Central California
My only experience was as a 16 year old kid when I was in High School. I was a tall kid and was able to lie about my age. I had the job for just 10 months working grave yard for a Box & Container factory operating a machine that waxed cartons for milk & other beverages. My very first night on the job a Union Steward asked me if I wanted to join the union. He explained the benefits etc. & so I joined. I joined the Air Force after graduating from High School went to Korea 1953 & when I was home on leave my mother gave me a envelope with a check for one hundred something. The union had negotiated a pay raise while I was working at the factory and this amount was due me. Eight years later after I finished my four year military stint and finished college I accidently bumped into a guy that operated a machine next to me at the Box & container factory. He was still working at the factory. I was shocked. It never dawned on me that there were people that would voluntarily do that kind of work for all their working life.
 

My husband was in the carpenter's union the last 15 years he worked. I'm glad he was because of the pension and the pay was pretty good plus he got in a lot of free travel all over the U.S. including Hawaii. He didn't get to go to Alaska though. He's always loved to travel.
 
Yes. Having spent forty years being crapped on in the military I was determined it wasn't going to happen any more, and joined the day after my discharge!
 

As a teacher I immediately joined the Teachers' Federation as soon as I began to teach. I would have been crazy not to because the Federation was the only support a teacher was likely to get if something happened to one of the students and the matter were to end up in court.

Teachers' Federation was for public school teachers and because of its large membership, it had clout when it came to negotiating wages and conditions. Later I began to teach in a catholic school and joined the Independent Teachers' Association, becoming at one stage the local union representative on the staff.

As a member of both unions I took part in industrial action in the form of rallies and strike days. There's not much point in joining a union and paying your dues if you don't get behind them when they are campaigning on your behalf. Both unions were free of the corruption that seems to exist in other unions.
 
As a young man I was a member, Committeeman (with three stewards working for me), and officer of my local lodge in the IAM in San Diego.
 
Yes, I have been a member of at least 4 different unions during my working years and participated in one strike lasting 2 months, picketing outside during the winter-- a very interesting experience and having a favorable outcome.
 
Yes , in Broken Hill N.S.W where I was born you could not even start a job of any description unless you had a union ticket .
Another rule that applied in BH was once you got married ( that applied to woman ) you could no longer work in a paid job as they believed by creating that rule it opened up jobs for young people
 
Well,not me personally,but hubby was. He was in the Union for 8 years when he worked for his dad,then a couple of years after we took over the business,we found out that he could take a withdrawal and not have to pay into the pension plan. But then,when we realized that we really WERE going to get old,he got back in. Soooo,5 years ago,when we decided to sell,or actually,after we had already sold,we found out that we had to pay $275,000,as the Pension Plan was underfunded. That wasn`t our fault-we had faithfuly paid $395.00 per month,per employee,for 34 years. Had they asked for more,we would have paid more. But we just paid what they requested. So we have been paying them for several years and have several more to go. Meanwhile,hubby gets a whopping $510.00 per month for his pension.....
 
I was a Teamster for over thirty years, voted in as Union Steward by my coworkers and worked blue collar jobs including forklift, loading trucks and machinery operation, etc. I voluntarily did physical work like that, because I had no interest in sitting behind an office desk or doing anything else. Nothing to be shocked about Lon, lots of working middle class people hold jobs like that and feel the same way as I do about them, doing what they enjoy. Good pay and health benefits made it that much better.
 
Oops, I posted on the other union thread by mistake. Try again, therapissed. Lol. I am a member of the Canadian Professional Psychotherapists Union. I don't have to repeat this en Francais, do I? Lol.
 
Lon said:
My only experience was as a 16 year old kid when I was in High School. I was a tall kid and was able to lie about my age. I had the job for just 10 months working grave yard for a Box & Container factory operating a machine that waxed cartons for milk & other beverages. My very first night on the job a Union Steward asked me if I wanted to join the union. He explained the benefits etc. & so I joined. I joined the Air Force after graduating from High School went to Korea 1953 & when I was home on leave my mother gave me a envelope with a check for one hundred something. The union had negotiated a pay raise while I was working at the factory and this amount was due me. Eight years later after I finished my four year military stint and finished college I accidently bumped into a guy that operated a machine next to me at the Box & container factory. He was still working at the factory. I was shocked. It never dawned on me that there were people that would voluntarily do that kind of work for all their working life.
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Not everyone wants to be Lon.
 
Linda said:
Laurie, if you were in the military for 40 years weren't you able to retire with full pay? I guess you wanted to work more than 40 years though.
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Not in the UK, only half pay, but by the time the small print is applied it only works out at a third, which is then taxed!

As I was still ten years off state retirement age I had to get a job to keep my eligibilkity for pension topped up!

That's not just me, of course, but every vet in a similar situation.
 
I was a member of the Air Line Pilots Association, International. Yes, I am a firm supporter of our's and other's unions.
 
Laurie said:
Not in the UK, only half pay, but by the time the small print is applied it only works out at a third, which is then taxed!

As I was still ten years off state retirement age I had to get a job to keep my eligibilkity for pension topped up!

That's not just me, of course, but every vet in a similar situation.
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Thanks for answering my nosy question. That surprises me you get so little and have to pay taxes on it too. Darn. :(
 
boozercruiser said:
I was a Shop Stupid and Works Convener in a UK Engineering factory for around 30 years.
Gosh! did I have some fun, combined with misery. Or what?!:D:mad:
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I was International Association of Machinists, LL#1125 San Diego. Welcome brother.
 

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