A friend just started at a union shop and things don't seem quite right to me. As a Democrat, I've always been a huge proponent of organized labor, as is my friend. Unfortunately, his union seems to be not working for him, and in some cases, working against him. So I'm at a loss and trying to understand whats up -I've never been a union member myself, so I can only go on what I vaguely remember from law school. Please - before you flame me for these questions - I'm not a trolll, just trying to figure out what is going on. Note, this is a new job site for an existing company, so some of this may simply be due to new organization logistics. If so, that would be nice to know, just so that we know to wait it out
1. Is there some kind of pre-admission period in which the union doesn't represent you? He's been paying dues from day one, but the union says they don't yet represent him until after 90 days? Does that make sense?
2. The new folks at the company are subject to the national contract, but don't yet have a local contract. The local union folks keep saying the local contract is about done, but then disappear with no update. No one knows the exact status. Can a union member get a copy of the national contract? the local one (once its finished?)
3. Some folks that he works with seem to think that once they are promised something... say days off, or profit sharing, they are entitled to it forever - that is, it can't be taken away in future labor negotiations. One need only look to Wisconsin to see that that isn't right? It seems to me that once the term of the contract is up, the company is free to try to renegotiate any term it wants - that may be harder with benefits that survive the term, like retirement plans. Am I missing something?
It's really confusing and sort of disheartening. My friend was excited to be in a union shop for once, thinking that he would finally have some protection. Instead, all he's getting is dues bills, conflicting stories, or worse silence.
Any help or advice on whats up would be greatly appreciated.
