I’ve been a dues paying member in hood standing of a labor union for 30 years. When the pandemic hit I took some time off due to a layoff And an injury plus I needed to divorce my ex sell my home and launch my children into the universe. After 18 months it was time to get back to work so I started back at the same company the same union and they told me I had to work 500 hours in four months to reinstate my medical insurance and which is actually a fund trust. I missed the mark by four hours (1/2 of work day ) and told me I had to start over then the next month I had to take a six week layoff due to the slow down of everything not my choice to sit at home for those six weeks but I didn’t make my 500 hours in four months mark for the second time in a row so now here I am after a year back at work and have no medical insurance what the fuck is my Union doing for me besides taking my money? My trade is now one of the lowest paying trades when we used to be one of the highest doing commercial glass on high rises ! And now carpenters get paid more. We’ve lost a lot of our talent to non-union glass shops and are going to continue to do so until my weak ass corrupt union gets turned around by its members or completely dissolves and gets bailed out by the federal government , my pension is already only worth pennies on the dollar.
I’ve been picking out a bridge to retire under.