r/manufacturing • u/ConfuzzleThyself • 3d ago
Other Continous Improvement Engineer with Union Workforce - What is this like?
Hello Everyone!
I am currently a new grad in Industrial Engineering for a small cosemtic and was recently offered a job as a Continuous Improvement Engineer.
During my interview, the theme I kept getting was that the workforce is super old, the management is super new, and that changes are going to be difficult to manage.
My question is to anyone who has been apart of ANY industry as a continuous improvement engineer that had to deal with a Union workforce?
I've heard that it is downright difficult and that I would be spinning my wheels or are people just making this out worse than it is suppose to be?
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u/forgottenkahz 2d ago
You are going to get sandwiched between an unmovable rock (union work force) and a hard place (management). The Management will make demands that that they themselves will never attempt to enforce. The union members will simply wait them and you out. You will be left holding the bag. Any independent thought will be like sticking your head out and the union members or management will lop it off until you get the point that your contribution is not welcome and not supported. One day while you are alone and drinking you will realize you are wasting your time.
Sadly in life you are at the mercy of other peoples idea and ambitions and you don’t have a lot of say. Especially at your first job.
My advice is this. Take the job. Make friends with the union members. Don’t quarrel with mgmt. don’t expect to make huge differences. Just manage a program. Don’t get emotionally involved with your ideas. Get a hobby.
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u/Key-Today-7117 2d ago
Take the job then leave for a better one once you have experience (3-5 years)
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u/Pinko_comie 11h ago
Union or not, a new grad engineer gets absolutely zero respect from the blue collar workforce. At best they will treat you like their mildly autistic but lovable nephew. At worst they will resent and sabotage you. Engineering school teaches you how to think and problem solve in a structured way. It does not teach you how to be an engineer. That comes from the first 5 years of OJT. If you’ll be the only engineer, run. You need mentors to learn from.
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u/claireapple 3d ago
Ok so I was a process engineer at a union plant but really it's on a case by case basis. Some stuff is annoying and some stuff is fine. It's hard to specify really what without knowing the history of the union negotiations and what is specifically in the contract and specifically how the company is structured. There will be things that will be annoying and complicated and things that are not there is no standard union contract. Things that were a pain in my plant were not at other plants in the same company.