Comments | wook77: Day 7

wook77

Day 7

Nov 07, 2009 22:15

So it looks like that, effective 6pm Friday, November 13th, I will be losing my second job. The local union has decided to call for a strike. It looks like a "lockout" strike rather than a traditional strike where any employee can cross the picket line ( Read more... )

emo, whinging, work

Comments 43

waxbean November 8 2009, 06:16:49 UTC

I don't really have anything useful to say, Wook -- just that you're in my thoughts. I'll keep my fingers crossed that the strike is canceled. xoM

wook77 November 8 2009, 19:36:19 UTC

Thanks <3 I'm really hoping so, as well. There's a rally at the union offices tomorrow that we're all going to try to get to. We're going to demand a vote so that the union will at least listen to their members that none of them want to strike.

mindabbles November 8 2009, 06:23:31 UTC

Oh god, I am so, so sorry. How incredibly stressful. I hate that the purpose of unions seems to have been so lost in some places. This is not what the labor movement was supposed to be about. I'm sorry.

snegurochka_lee November 8 2009, 14:08:33 UTC

THIS, exactly. How on earth a union can justify doing this to its workers is appalling. I'm so sorry, wook. :(

wook77 November 8 2009, 19:44:00 UTC

Thanks. IDEK what the fuck they're on about other than blind posturing. The union isn't even CONSIDERING the deal that Fry's just offered. They're just going to strike and the Fry's employees are left scrambling. They're fucking over the employees that they're supposed to be protecting.

I ran in to work to pick up potatoes (not hte important part of the story :P) and got caught by a reporter talking to a coworker that's going to lose her house and the insurance for her kids when this strike happens and so I guess I'm getting quoted in the paper with something similar to:

I'm a big supporter of organizing labor for the betterment of all but this isn't organizing labor. This is posturing and powerplays that end up punishing the workers when the union should be the one working for us.

wook77 November 8 2009, 19:39:41 UTC

Yeah, exactly. This union is all about protecting the worst members of the workforce and then pulling this sort of shit. There was one guy that was driving a forklift drunk in the back and had a big ole accident and got to keep his job because the union successfully argued his termination case. They also defended a guy that tried to beat up another employee. Then they defend the lazy motherfuckers who just don't do a damned thing.

But they don't fight for the lady in the meat department that keeps getting fucked with FMLA to take care of her husband that has cancer. They say there's nothing they can do for he to ensure fairness of FMLA. They also don't help the lady that got screwed on her vacation time so she lost her insurance AND two weeks worth of pay.

Obviously there's a reason I'm anti-THIS union. I believe in organized labor but not when it's acting like this over petty bullshit.

kerryblaze November 8 2009, 06:45:20 UTC

Grrrr.... I'm annoyed and angry on your behalf!

wook77 November 8 2009, 20:05:20 UTC

Thanks. I'm really trying not to cry over it and maintain that annoyed angry thing. So it helps that you're there, too :D

enchanted_jae November 8 2009, 07:29:15 UTC

I know a lot of deals get done at the eleventh hour, so to speak, in situations like this, so don't give up hope that something will get done. In the meantime, start looking for something else, just as a precautionary measure. Good luck, sweetie.

wook77 November 8 2009, 20:07:33 UTC

That's what we're hoping. There's a rally at the offices tomorrow which should hopefully help. Especially considering that the union isn't taking phone calls, or responding to emails/mail from employees that are anti-strike.

We're all looking for new jobs but, unfortunately, the hiring situation is ridiculous down here. There are 5k applications for the positions that we're going to be forced out of just at my store (about 250 positions) so that'll tell you how much the unemployment situation really really sucks down here.

(The comment has been removed)

wook77 November 8 2009, 20:10:12 UTC

The tearing up thing keeps happening here, too so <3<3<3 for the support. I can get shitty insurance through my main employer but that doesn't kick in until I get 5k in health costs and then they'll pick up the rest of the tab. My surgery is over 20k so I'll get that 5k mark but, still, who the fuck has 5k just sitting around?

Do you get insurance eventually through your new employers? It's so fucking scary not to have insurance.