It's an absolute shame how this whole mess went down. Governor Snyder has stabbed the working people of the State of Michigan in the back.
Anybody planning on joining the rally at the Capitol Building on Tuesday from 8-3? If so I'll see you there!
And if you hear people in your stores talking about quitting the union, I'd advise them against it. We really all need to stick together if we're going to keep negotiating for better contracts. But I also think the union needs to up their game in providing a service that people WANT to belong to and be involved in. We need positivity and transparency if we're going to keep it together.
I believe I should not have to be a union member to be employed.
Sure, I might be compelled to pay an "agency fee" because I'm covered by the collective bargaining agreement but it should be between me and my employer whether I'm satisfied with the conditions of employment. That fee is limited to collective bargaining costs and can't include contributing to the union political machine slush funds.
In some states unions have excessive political power and influence, particularly in the public sector where they've lead to all manner of pension funding scandals and municiple bankruptcies.
Also if there's a strike, as a non-union member, I could work. The union doesn't pay my rent or feed my family. I've been told by a long term Kroger employee the local union is a joke. He moved from another state where he worked for Kroger and saw his hour pay drop and hasn't had a raise in the years since he moved to this state.
Every state should be right to work. People shouldn't be forced to join a union. I don't like how people want to take away people's choice then make out how everyone else is the bad guy. It makes me sick.
Do tell, How did the whole mess go down? Whats the deal?
There were proposals on the Michigan ballot for collective bargaining rights. The people voted against them. Snyder is now about to abide by the will of the people and give them what they want (right to work)
There's no back stabbing here. Just the minority trying to force their selfishness on everyone else.
The ignorance is believing the union thugs really care about you or your job. All they care about is getting democrats elected and getting their nasty hands in Wal-Mart workers' pockets.
Just because people didn't want prop 2 doesn't mean they want RTW. Most people were just afraid it was an overreach.
Being a free rider in the union will make it harder for negotiations to go favorably. At 876 your contribution for insurance is only $5. Most people, especially in this industry, would kill for that. You have your union to thank for that and every other benefit you receive.
If you wanted to quit the union before, you could, but you still had to pay your share of maintenance fees instead of dues. Now the people that chose to participate are going to carry those that don't.
Union dues do NOT pay for political causes or politicians. Those are separate, voluntary contributions.
So far, I haven't seen any evidence that Kroger's union does any good at all whatsoever. Where's the wages? Where are the hours and benefits? Almost everyone that comes on here talks about how they're getting fist fuucked----and they're paying for it.
I'm not against unions. This country is quickly turning back to an evil place ruled by corporate greed mongers who, if they truly had their way, would literally re impose slavery. Every few generations that go by prove that nothing EVER really changes in the human condition; nobody ever learns from history's mistakes. We just keep repeating them. This is why I hope the Tea Partiers and the Occupiers keep growing, and start getting really nasty.....I wanna see some Fight Club-esque Project Mayhem coming down.
For unions to start being effective again, it's going to take the People to stand up and make a difference: As things stand, the unions are fithier than the corrupt corporations they're being paid to fight against. Not everybody is going to go to college. Not all college grads are going to get a nice job. But the rich corporations will always need man power to do their work.......So that's why I hope we see a true revolution in the work place, and re invent what the whole idea of Collective Bargaining is about.
I find it funny how people don't wish to pay union dues and have a 'right to work' state, because it will only hurt you in the end. When you have a closed shop state you have more bargaining power than a 'right to work' state. I know some of you will blame the union, but in reality all you can do is blame yourselves. A union is only as strong as the members, yet you have union members who complain about being overworked, underpaid, and not even benefits. I blame the lazy union members who never go to the monthly meetings to get the answers they seek or partipating in union events. These corporations LOVE right to work states, because they know in the end they can belittle the contracts little by little and cheat you out of a stake in the company.
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My Views and Opinions do not reflect that of the Kroger company. I'm an indivdual expressing my 1st amendment right.
You were never forced to join a union in Michigan. If you didn't want to join, you still had to pay a fee for the administration of the contract and the union. Now you don't have to pay anything and you get to be a "free rider," forcing the financial burden on others and weakening your union and your bargaining power. These bills were ramrodded through the lame duck session, mostly spearheaded by members of the American Legislative Exchange Council, an out-of-state group funded by the Koch Bros and their ilk. It was done in just one day with no committee meetings and no public transparency, while Rick Snyder illegally had citizens locked out of the capitol. This is a raw deal for all workers in Michigan and was done to supress wages and benefits for all workers, union and non union alike. If you think the union doesn't have much power now, wait until people start leaving the ranks. It's gonna get worse if we don't stick together. I think the UFCW understands they need to up their game as a service organization, I've been following what has been said pretty closely and I talk to my store's rep at least once every few weeks.
It would also help if people would refer to the union as UFCW and not the Kroger union...but at the same time I can see why employees call it the Kroger union when the UFCW makes itself scarce outside of Chicagoland in Illinois.
You either have a ****ty steward, a ****ty rep, or a transparency problem that means you aren't seeing the big picture. Either way, as a free rider, you're lessening your local's bargaining power, and honestly, you don't really deserve representation that can often be costly and time consuming. The bottom line is, the right way to do it is get involved or get out of the way. Your local Wal Mart is probably hiring.
You either have a ****ty steward, a ****ty rep, or a transparency problem that means you aren't seeing the big picture. Either way, as a free rider, you're lessening your local's bargaining power, and honestly, you don't really deserve representation that can often be costly and time consuming. The bottom line is, the right way to do it is get involved or get out of the way. Your local Wal Mart is probably hiring.
The above poster is how union thugs operate. Their selfish, and want to force people to work for something they may not agree with for whatever reason.
Just take a look at what happened at the protest the other day: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/12/11/fox-news-contributor-punched-in-face-at-pro-union-protests-in-michigan/
These people are selfish animals who want to force people to work less than minimum wage and support democratic cadidates.
Oh baloney! You can' t say that a percentage of your union dues is not going to re elect a democrat.Do you think all those political ads the unions put up paid for themselves???
And why should the unions pay thousands of dollars to represent you if you aren't chipping in? That's not "union thuggery," it's common sense. That's like saying you shouldn't have to have car insurance, but someone else should have to pay for the damage if you rear end someone else.
And why should the unions pay thousands of dollars to represent you if you aren't chipping in? That's not "union thuggery," it's common sense. That's like saying you shouldn't have to have car insurance, but someone else should have to pay for the damage if you rear end someone else.
So, you're saying unions should be done away with or restructured? I totally agree!
First step: Keep the union guys from posting literature all over the place and telling people they need to vote for Democratic candidates or Republicans will kick some puppies.
On the other hand, the Republican Party is pretty much running roughshod over Michigan, totally unchecked, at the behest of people like Dick DeVos. So as much as I hate Democrats, at this point, I'm inclined to agree.
On the other hand, the Republican Party is pretty much running roughshod over Michigan, totally unchecked, at the behest of people like Dick DeVos. So as much as I hate Democrats, at this point, I'm inclined to agree.
I've gotten where I hate both parties equally, for different reasons. The Republicans seriously need to start supporting the Working Person and stop sucking up to their rich One Percenter friends......BWAHAHAHAHA, yea that's gonna happen.
