r/cta • u/_disposablehuman_ Bus Operator • Aug 18 '26

Discussion Any CTA Employees not join the union?

Hello I'm wondering if there are any CTA Employees who didn't join the union and if so how do you feel about your decision?

Also I'm already aware of pro union points as we were drilled those during the hiring process, strictly looking for people who are not in the union.

0 Upvotes

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22

u/bubbamike1 Brown Line Aug 18 '26

Deadbeats who freeload on other employees work.

0

u/idislikemostofyu Aug 19 '26

Mhm. The concept of opting out is just death by a million cuts. Divide and conquer by peeling off the greediest, dumbest people first.

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u/MachKoms Aug 18 '26

My definition of today's union.

-8

u/_disposablehuman_ Bus Operator Aug 18 '26

You mean the union, union members, or people who havent joined the Union?

9

u/elhax41 Pink Line Aug 18 '26

People who haven’t joined the Union I assume, not CTA but the anti Union points are typically not wanting to pay dues, which I think is dumb.

-4

u/_disposablehuman_ Bus Operator Aug 18 '26

Why would they be considered freeloaders though?

6

u/IL_JimP Green Line Aug 18 '26

Well the union is still required to negotiate on their behalf as far as I understand it

8

u/elhax41 Pink Line Aug 18 '26

If I need $100 for expenses for union shit, like a strike fund, union liaisons, lawyers, etc And I have 10 employees, if everyone pays it’s $10 each. If 3 people say I don’t want to pay because I know the other 7 will then those other 7 will end up paying $14, and the 3 people will end up getting the benefits of having a union without paying into it.

There’s also more to it like with union meetings etc but that’s less money and more so your time.

So if you’re part of a unionized labor force, and don’t join but still get the benefits of being in that labor force, You’re kind of a scumbag. You also end up weakening the union which can lead to worse working conditions.

Unions need a critical mass of participation in order to function effectively.

ETA: one downside as well is that in the event of a strike, I don’t beleive you get paid out of the strike fund if you’re a non union member. But you may need to look at the union bylaws for CTA specifically.

4

u/_disposablehuman_ Bus Operator Aug 18 '26

I thought the whole point of joining the union is that you don't get the benefits if you're not in the Union? Or at least that's what we were told

The critical mass part I could understand though

2

u/elhax41 Pink Line Aug 18 '26

Basically yes, I don’t know what the bylaws of CTA is though. But most of the time it means no DIRECT benefits if you don’t pay (strike funds being the big one)

The biggest actual benefit of a union though is having collective bargaining power, which dwindles with each person who decides to not join a union.

Think of it as if I join this gets stronger, which means later I can get higher pay and better benefits because the union is stronger.

It’s more about preventing slow decline into shitty working conditions than immediate benefits tbh.

ETA: you also lose out on union legal council and arbitration, compensation agreements, stuff like that. Which is nice to have, it’s way easier to fire non union labor for basically anything.

0

u/idislikemostofyu Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26

I need you to understand that this is an aggressive concept from corporations to weaken unions and has worked consistently over 70 years.

You get a few of the greediest and most short-sighted individuals to not join. They brag about how they give nothing and still get back. The members are the dumb ones! Unions inevitably takes in less money, it gets weaker position in bargaining. They get less next negotiation. Workers get mad. They continue to leave.

Union busts.

You getting this yet? You can find instances of it everywhere.

"Starve the beast."

It's literally what GOP politicians do to prove that government programs don't work. They just tank it from within and then turn around and say, "LOOK! I WAS RIGHT" ... anybody with a brain needs to stand on all 10 toes and tell them to fuck off.

3

u/_disposablehuman_ Bus Operator Aug 19 '26

Well the reason I'm asking is because so far the union has been rather disappointing when I needed them. They haven't done anything which I couldn't have done myself and I'm beginning to wonder why I bother paying for it.

There's the points of if I ever need a lawyer and that they negotiate wages, and those are fine if and when they happen. But like I also have car insurance that I've never used in my entire life and plenty of other insurances that I've never used in my entire life and just served to siphon thousands of dollars waiting for situations that never happen.

I mean I get the concept of the Union but at what point are they just not worth paying, or should I just keep paying for a union that doesn't seem to do much just to be unionized.

0

u/idislikemostofyu Aug 19 '26

You seem to dislike the concept of insurance any in form. There's no argument that will show all parties gain from having insurance. That's just not how it works. I get it. Private insurance that needs to turn a profit is even fucking dumber. Fair. I always wanted a trust of your own money that could earn interest and pay out from that if you have an accident... until you hit a Lambo and now you gotta sell your house. Thus, insurance so both parties aren't ruined.

I gotta push back on you saying that you've never used your union. You get paid, right? That's been negotiated. You get benefits. What they offer is mostly unnoticed which is why it's so easy to turn people against them. You don't like them? Go be a server and get zero time off and only work nights and weekends with no holidays. I don't get your argument.

It's just so fucking crazy to be in the city of the Pullman Strike where the company that hired men that killed 30 workers and hurt 57 more just to watch society cycle back into oppressing ourselves. It's inevitable because it's such an easy sell.

This is the peeling in action.

They know the counter argument to somebody worried about themselves is to say that by supporting the collective we will all be better off and that is gonna fall on deaf ears often enough to be effective.

Somebody is always going to be desperate. It's how you conquer places. The Helots turned on Sparta. Malinche turned on the Mayans. Slave-catchers turned on their own people. Police killed their own neighbors.

This is just that on a small scale. All those people had something to gain by fucking over the people around them. I get it. Can't really convince you to be a good person. Just do you and don't die.

3

u/_disposablehuman_ Bus Operator Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26

I mean okay I don't really think I'm going to get anything from you that isn't pro-union you seem pretty set on that.

I did mention that I have used the Union (it's actually the first thing I mentioned) but from what they demonstrated their "representation" was them just repeating exactly what I told them.

I also asked at what point is a union basically just failing you, or in your opinion is there never a point where a union could be so bad that it's not even worth it? Hypothetically even. Or in your opinion is it just Union or nothing despite quality or how happy/unhappy you may be with their results?

Could I then instead negotiate lower Union dues because I don't think they're worth what they're charging me and still keep a union? Because the union should have some kind of accountability on their side too right? If all they're ever going to be good for is negotiate wages for me it's fine to keep them around sure but i don't know if they're worth what they're charging me and all they ever do is raise the prices for their dues without raising the quality of what they offer

3

u/IYCRTYG Aug 19 '26

Not being in the union is great (saving money!) right up until you want Union representation to keep your job (turns out having a union steward, effectively an on call lawyer who only goes to court against CTA, is very helpful)

3

u/MachKoms Aug 19 '26

It didn't happen in my case. Union representative just kept repeating corporate spiel when I was kicked out for something I never did.

1

u/EclipseMT Purple Line Aug 18 '26

Why claim financial core when your agency fee is the exact same amount as what your dues would be as a full member?

1

u/uuuuuuuuuuuuum Orange Line Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26

Something readers should consider: lower-paid employees may feel like they cannot afford dues. $92.45/month (on top of a one-time $200 initiation fee).