• Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
      301·
      1 year ago

      And no, you don’t have to go through the union instead of your supervisor/manager. In my union job, they’d send a witness/advocate along with someone if they had an issue where a manager was involved.

      The union was corrupt, but despite that it was still the best factory job I’ve worked in (ok another one was also not bad but that was mostly because no one really gave a fuck about the stupid shit there and everyone just did their jobs without fucking with each other). The pay was high enough that when I was looking for something better, I realized a certification I had started wasn’t going to mean more money, just different work for similar money.

      • brygphilomena@lemmy.world
        20·
        1 year ago

        Yea. I had a shop steward sit in on all my meetings with management. They represent the union, it’s influence, and it’s contract. They make sure everyone is playing by the rules and management doesn’t take advantage of an employee that doesn’t know labor laws, policies and procedures, their work contract, or the union contract.

        It wasn’t a requirement for meeting with management, but it was something a manager could not refuse if requested by the employee. Any meeting with management would be delayed until a shop steward was available.

        I was a strong advocate for every employee to have one with all meetings with management.

        • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
          11·
          1 year ago

          Yeah, Amazon is trying to present it as extra red tape everyone will have to deal with, but it’s really the union will help you get through the company’s red tape. The union’s red tape is more about its own power structure, which will have the usual problems that go along with any kind of power, but the union still serves to balance the employer’s power.

          • trashxeos@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
            3·
            1 year ago

            Exactly. Also, if you ever hear saying “you won’t have a say, the union speaks FOR you” (yes I’ve seen this framing before) you can always respond that you ARE the union! That’s the entire point is that everyone in the union IS the union, it’s right there in the word.

    • Bipta@kbin.social
      19·
      1 year ago

      It’s not a guarantee they have your interests and heart, but your odds are a lot better than your supervisor having your interests and heart.

    • Endorkend@kbin.social
      6·
      1 year ago

      That’s why I advise anyone who has anything important happening to them to first seek advise from an organization that deals with worker rights, a union or a lawyer, as HR are there to protect the company, not to help you.

      If they help you, it’s only because that’s what’s beneficial to the company and their personal allegiances in the company.