Well ladies, gentlemen, all of the above, none of the above, and all the dogs on the internet let me regale you with a tale. Due to still being employed here despite my better judgement I won't be listing my employer. However, my union is honestly the problem here. They have allowed our contract to get frankly vomit inducing. Here's the highlights.
We are not allowed to strike.
We are not allowed to slow down.
We are not guaranteed overtime.
We are not guaranteed work.
We are paid a range of wages all of which are above 20 but below what it costs to live right now in my area.
The company gets to offload more of our insurance cost to us every year.
Our raises range from 3-4.5% per year.
After the insurance cost increase it's more like 2% or less.
We get no profit sharing.
We get no bonuses.
We don't get paid sick days.
We get vacation days (which is hilarious since those are 8 hours and most people work more than 40 hours because we like to eat)
We even get one day a year we're allowed to go to the doctor without being fired. Assuming management approved it. Oh and without pay.
Now the main reason all these things have slid by us because most of their older workers are only concerned about one thing. The pension. And let me tell you, I fucking wish all I had to worry about was my pension. Presently I'm looking for another job because I can't afford to keep working here. Between the mortgage, gas, electricity, and food if it wasn't for the fact that my wife also had a full time job we'd be homeless by now. But if course you need insurance, furniture, appliances, and vehicle maintenance, and you know entertainment for the 1 day a week I don't work and want to try and feel like I am enjoying life for 2 hours. I figure it like this. Everyone at my place of work who bought a house before 1999 is doing just fine. Everyone else is fucked. However the people who don't need to work 60 hours a week to stay above water are the ones voting on the contract. Now the company right now is sending out information about record profits. I can only imagine where they saved all that money. If you're in a union, accept nothing less than extravagant terms. My warning to you. Oh and if you see a contract like mine, fucking run. It looks good on paper and in reality you'll have 10 grand in debt in no time not counting your mortgage.