Lets face it folks. The honeymoon is over. Gulfstream is not the company of 5-10 years ago and they will never go back unless we hold them accountable. Gone are the days where unions did more harm than good. US companies have exploited the situation so far in their favor and will only take more. You work hard to make Gulfstream successful and shouldn't allow them to errode away at your piece of the pie anymore. Bad management is dragging the company down and gets rewarded with more positions, higher salaries, and bonuses. A union contract will spell out the terms of our employment to include salary, benefits, working conditions, etc. A union contract will allow us to protect ourselves from rogue management intimidation and poor treatment. We should at a minimum demand a vote because that alone may be enough for Gulfstream to take the prospect of unionization seriously and make them think again before they further erode our compensation and working conditions. Federal law gives us the right to form a union and will protect us from company intimidation and retaliation if we do so.
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You would have to be the most daft, non-economist on planet earth, to compare east and west coast wages in such a matter-of-fact fashion, and then use it to justify a union. That was completely brainless. I have no desire for West coast problems, and if lower wages is the price I have to pay, so be it.
- worked at Gulfstream when the UAW proposed a Union .I went to their meeting and listened to their blather where They stated we can get you 26 dollars an hour but 6 months from now you will be standing in an unemployment line saying I used to make 26 dollars an hour. I retired from Gulfstream with over 35 years at 41 dollars an hour with a pension and a 401k. While at Gulfstream My benefits included Medical, Dental and Eyecare. Unions are only used to finance one political party while putting all your benefits on the line at every negotiation But we sure enjoyed working on those Union Gulfstreams. In Hangars with central air and heat.
So why would you take it so personally? Do you own the company? Do you make the big decisions? Are you a shareholder, or on the board?
I guess I'm a bit different. I have always understood, when I go to work for someone, that they're paying the wages, and I'm contracting myself to carry out their objectives. (whether I'm contract or direct hire, same story) I've never assumed that I have the big picture, or am qualified to drive the direction that the business thinks it wants to go in. I have no need to be in charge, or control anyone other than myself. Maybe I don't agree with everything that happens, but that's kind of life, in general, isn't it?
These are not unique issues to GS. They're everywhere. It behooves us to be well enough adjusted to understand this, and not think that we're always the victim. Or, if we are better at our jobs than what the business model allows, we can always become business owners, and "right the wrong". I've been working this industry for a VERY long time, and I can promise you that nothing that has been said here is new, or any less relevant to any other company.
Maybe your organization is different but I can’t think of one Sr manager or above position that wasn’t filled by someone’s buddy. Almost all came into their positions as external hires. I’m actually OK with my position and compensation. But it s—s the life out of you when those placed above you are incompetent and you’re the one forced to fight their losing battles.
A good buddy in management? If your goal in life is to tea bag your way to the top, then go for it. Otherwise, it sounds like you're a little bit too caught up in the notion that the world is against you. There are so many people in the world who go to work, do their jobs, and get rewarded solely on those merits. Maybe it's time to ask yourself what the problem really is, here. If you've done all those other things that you've said - the education, self improvement, etc, etc, etc - you should have no problem. Unless you're throwing your expectations in everyone's face, like it's an entitlement. I literally cannot relate to you. Both good and bad employees face hardship, from time to time. If it's the first time that it's happened, it's tough, but survivable. If it's happening often, it's time to do some introspection. Less rumor board, and more self-analysis. Nobody gets to be that cynical, unless they've got some other issue going on.
Remember... when you ask the guys in WA vs SC, also ask them about the cost of living. I'll bet you dimes to dollars that per capita, the guys in SC are still doing better. I think I might know a bit about this subject, seeing that I lived in Seattle for a good long time. King county and its surroundings are some of the highest priced places for cost of living in the continental US. That bleeds out into every area that Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Boeing occupy in the territory.
You should maybe be a bit less simplistic in your thinking. Otherwise, you'll end up in a union, and you'll still be b–ching about it never being enough for you.
Get an education: Done
Continue it: Always
Learn new skills: check
Supplement real world skills with emerging ones:yep
Rise above the "rank and file": like a phoenix
Add some value to your existence.: I like to think so
You left the most important one out though: Find a good buddy in management. This is one of the biggest issues I see at GAC.
Yeah its all socialism. Not at all good for you? Just ask the guys at Boeing in SC vs Washington state in the wage difference. GA is a right to work state you dont have to join.
Unions will be scrambling to swell their ranks. After all, it's almost an election year, and we all know where the money goes.
Gulfstream had a union facility in Oklahoma City many years ago. Corruption & other problems led to its closing. I doubt unionization will fix anything. It will just lead to janitors making $50 an hour & eventual bankruptcy like it did in the auto industry.
Karl Marx would be proud of you, Mother Jones. You have a job at a place for a few years, and all of a sudden you feel entitled to ownership in a share of the entire business. What's the point? You'll do the exact same job, for your entire career, with never a thought of improving yourself, or evolving as a human being. Forever a "job do-er". And for the privilege, you think that you're entitled to automatic pay rises, and the privilege of hijacking the means of production, when your self-centered world view isn't accommodated. All the while believing that you, and your comrades alone, are single-handedly responsible for the success of an entire enterprise. Nobody in this world gets something for nothing. Want to make more money, or get better promotions? Get an education. Continue it. Learn new skills. Supplement real world skills with emerging ones. Rise above the "rank and file". Add some value to your existence. That's what normal people do. It never ceases to amaze me how the blue collar legions truly believe that they are the life blood of this country, and the rest of us are just parasitic upon their existence. There are many of us who are educated, intelligent, productive, and essential. We bore and tire of your cries from the trenches, while you ignore the fact that the job for which you are next most qualified, would literally provide you with half (or less) of what you make in your place of privilege. When in fact, you are the easiest to replace of us all. Of course, that's why you need the "right" to strike - because it's the only protection that you have, for your glaring, inherent weakness.
Also, you're a total schill. Just be honest, and list the union that your represent. You know that you're in here planting the seed as an organizer, not a laborer...
Yeah and we see how great it works at GM and GE. sarcasm
The great Ronald Reagan once said in his speech 'A Time for choosing.'
"You and I have the courage to say to our enemies, 'There is a price we will not pay.' There is a point beyond which they must not advance. And this – this is the meaning in the phrase of Barry Goldwater's 'peace through strength.'"
Collective bargaining is peace and most importantly prosperity through the strength of marginalized employees to say enough is enough. We are the back bone of this company and every year they take more of our benefits. Every year they erode our working conditions. Every year management becomes more demanding and oppressive. Every year their arrogance grows and increasingly they think anyone off the street or in a foreign country can do our job for less pay & benefits. Now is the time to establish a point beyond which they must not advance and the only way to accomplish this is through the strength of unionization. You can believe their propoganda campaign or you can believe what you see with your own eyes. History has shown that there are inflection points in industry where unionization is necessary and we have returned to that time.
I would rather be layed off, on a street corner begging for food, working for a socialist democrat, cleaning up human waste on the streets of San Francisco than be in a corrupt union!!!
A union won't fix bad design decisions and processes, poor supplier selection, and emphasizing doing things fast over doing things right.
Enough with the unions.
I'd quit any job that a union was forced upon me. They're more corrupt than management