>> Let me say this, “Management and Unions suck”!
>>
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>Tom,
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>Agreed....although in my experience if you truely have "good management", you won't have a Union present. I have been in both situations and would take the "good management" situation any day. They are getting very hard to find. Unfortunately, the bottom line usually gets in the way...turning good management to bad and causing unhappy campers throughout the organization....
>
>Just some thoughts.....

Greg;

I absolutely agree with you. I have been on both sides of the fence – union/company and have always represented the viewpoint of fairness towards employees. You had better be fair around me regardless of which side you are on. Being well versed in the law concerning the workplace, 6’ 7”, able to express myself to the presidents of union or companies and not afraid to do so is something I have enjoyed during my working career. I will not take anything from anyone that is wrong. This attitude seems to run in my family and one of my relatives was father Peter Yorke, an Irish Priest who fought for the poor and laborers in San Francisco. I have enjoyed my share of labor battles on both sides of the fence.

You can work for the worse company in the world and have a great manager. In such a case the manager will shield you from the company politics and allow you to do your job in a good environment. By the same token you can work for the best company in the world and if you have a bad manager you may as well be in hell! I was a manager and had many people come to me and ask if they could work in my department.

Treating employees as adults and well is more productive that any other attitude management may employ. Treat employees as children and they will respond accordingly. When our department got transferred to a different location I aggravated the autocrats who ran the plant we worked in. I established flex hours for everyone as almost everyone had children and kids need attention! The plant manager went ballistic at me so I comely told him I ran my department and he did not. This was a union shop by the way of a large electronics manufacturer. A few days later all time clocks were removed from the plant. That was only the beginning of improvements that were made. I did not run the plant but I knew right from wrong and how to get management to do what was best for all.

I could write a book about the things I was involved with during the years I have worked and were a matter of safety, principle and human dignity.


Tom