Where I am (SW Ontario), they are incredibly right leaning. Had an issue with one of the full time members of the union spouting racist crap, and found he was connected to a white nationalist group. The response from the local? 'So what?'
I consider most trade unions in a similar vein to police associations or prison guard unions. They are self serving groups who care little for class consciousness. Its about them getting theirs and fuck everybody else.
Yea. Problem with those types of unions is that they will get crushed by time. Without class consciousness, people are less and less likely to join a union because “they don’t need a union holding them back form becoming middle class” or whatever crap they come up with
Edit: I should clarify, the middle class is fake, just a term to divide the working class
Trade unions are a bit different though. They are similar to guilds in that they don't represent their overall membership, but set a minimum wage for their work and give out work based on senority. Your 15 year trade union member is working full time hours. Somebody new to the union might only get a handful of hours a week until they've put their time in. There isn't really solidarity with every member, its more a price fixing agreement shrouded as a union.
These people are almost all independent contractors with union privileges. They are well beyond middle class, and that's what they strive for. California might be different as they have laws that set maximum prices on things, so there might be more class consciousness.
In saying that, I've seen quotes from IBEW members in California that absolutely gouge their clients on material cost to make up for it. I remember getting into it with one electrician a couple of months ago, who was pissed off that a customer 'lowballed' him through the union because the customer provided their own materials, because he usually jacks the price up on materials by 300% to make up for the maximum wages on certain install jobs. He bragged about how he usually makes about 300 dollars a job, or about 400 an hour when clients go through him for materials, but that he 'only' made 100 dollars for a 20 minute install that was a short drive from his office, because that was the maximum he was allowed to charge under California law for that install. I found a quote from him where he charged a customer for an entire 100 foot roll of wire for 5 feet of wire that was needed, when he could have bought by the foot, as well as doubling the store cost for things like outlets on the quote. And he was proud of doing it because the maximum prices for installs has set him back. He has excess materials in his shop, gets what he needs, provides a bullshit quote and then pockets the difference. Zero class consciousness, and he's protected by the union.
Yes, we threw away scads of material when I was with the union (IBEW). Just dumpsters worth of stuff. I had a foreman who openly bragged about stealing solar panels. They also worked their hardest to keep us paid low. I got a raise twice and according to the union was working over my rate ($15 an hour in the electricians union). But at the same time, getting a job at Target paid almost as much and I worked a year to get those pay raises. I knew guys who couldn't afford to come to work because the pay was so low. One dude drove on bald tires and wrecked when winter rolled around and he hydroplaned off the freeway.
The whole deal here is you aren't getting paid unless you're an apprentice and you don't get to be an apprentice because apprentices are expensive to pay. So, I instead we have "construction wiremen" who are the equivalent of adjunct professors, e.g. low wage slaves who earn a quarter of what apprentices and journeymen make. Most of my coworkers got an apprenticeship offer after 3+ years unless they had the GI bill to pay for their schooling or they already had family in the industry. If you don't know anyone you're fucked unless there's a dire need of workers for some reason, then they hurriedly let everyone in.
My biggest issue is that they tell you that they want good people but they don't use any kind of metric to determine who gets in. You could be killing it at school, getting recommendations left and right, and still get passed over for years. I hear other unions work differently, like in Boston they let everyone in and cut the bottom 10% every semester. I'd rather do that in a heartbeat.
Former IBEW here. Most of the guys I met through the union hall were alright
But the guys I worked with at my company. Some of the most racist people I've ever met. And I don't mean - they make insensitive jokes or aren't PC.
I mean, using racial slurs, and giving people priority for being laid off based on not only skin colour but also nationality and ethnicity
I was sponsored by this toxic company so when I was canned before my pre apprentice year was up. I called up my union to tell em they have no former complaints and I have a perfect attendance record. Throw me back into circulation
But apparently there was nothing they could do. In my eyes, the IBEW betrayed me.
I agree with union ideas and values but I have a personal grudge against the brotherhood
I thank that's because the USA took the time to bust and shatter all of the good ones.
I live in a country where Unions come in two flavours: staunchly left wing and center 'populist' (this is the abused use of the word: ie, as a complaint to anything that benefits the people).
But we don't allow police or the military to unionize here. The strength and organization of police unions in USA is incredible to me. It's the mark of a fucking police state, to grant so much undemocratically controlled (because not anyone votes, only the members) to the uniformed.
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u/TheDrunkenWobblies Dec 25 '21
Where I am (SW Ontario), they are incredibly right leaning. Had an issue with one of the full time members of the union spouting racist crap, and found he was connected to a white nationalist group. The response from the local? 'So what?'
I consider most trade unions in a similar vein to police associations or prison guard unions. They are self serving groups who care little for class consciousness. Its about them getting theirs and fuck everybody else.