Strikes

In my early days in this country, I worked in building construction as a field engineer. That meant I was laying out things outside for the ongoing construction, I was familiar with the plans and if there was any misunderstanding it was my job to explain it to the workers involved. I liked this work, and I was pretty good at it.

At that time there was no union for these jobs even though every larger construction site had at least one position like mine. I mostly worked alone. The prevailing custom was that when the job was finished they usually kept us until a next job opened up. This way there was a possibility to a long and nice career in construction.

But this thing came to an abrupt end when they decided to include us, field engineers into an Operating Engineer local. At first this seemed like good thing. Got a nice salary increase and great benefits. When the particular job was over, we were shown the door. We were too expensive to keep, so we were let go. The union did very little to help in finding a job, so we were forced to use our connections or rely on pure luck if wanted to work.

I was lucky enough to find a few jobs but my hopes to stay with a reputable construction company were over. Eventually I did change career path which fortunately lasted for over 40 years, and it did turn out pretty good. As a result of all this I am not much of a union supporter. Yes, there are many industries where lower educated (blue collar) workers are involved and yes, the employers are trying to take advantage of them, and these people do need some kind of protection and representation. But 21% salary increase and 32 hour work week sound a little ridiculous. I never receive 21% increase ever.

However, there are many professions where the individuals do have the means and possibilities to arbitrate for their own packages. Why do doctors, nurses, screen writers have to strike? Can they not speak for themselves? Can they not navigate their own path? If they are badly needed their employers will compensate them for sure. 

In 1963 New York newspapers got hit by a massive strike that lasted 114 days. They could not come to an agreement between the owners and the unions. Result was that four very good daily papers closed their doors and layed off their employees. Now, who were the winners and losers? All those employees found themselves without work and I am sure their unions were not able to help.

I am not saying that the auto workers should not be represented. But I am saying that their demands should be reasonable. They have to realize that most of them are trained just to do one thing on an ever moving assembly line. They have no trades that can be useful outside their plants. For an individual who worked there most of his or her life the so-called retraining is a myth. They can be retrained to work at McDonalds. It is very unfortunate that unionization is very close to politics. It was proven when our illustrious president visited the picket lines. I know he got a free baseball cap out of it but if this was not to garner votes than I don't know what was the point of his visit? Maybe he was bored in the White House.

Many years ago in New York City engineers, designers were trying to get organized. It did not succeed. Private engineering companies wanted to do nothing with unions. When I joined my company, I met a very nice and smart designer, older than I was. I found out that he was a former ill fated union organizer. Because they knew who he was, he was blackballed by the industry for several years. Eventually, my company hired him as a draftsman. He was glad he had a job because one can not live without money.

This is a free country but no matter how much they or we hate big business we can not live without them. They are movers and shakers of life here.