Hello David -

[...]

DD>  TW>  In UNION Country actualy NOT. In fact some states even have LAWS 
DD>  TW> making an Open Shop, Mixture of Union and Non Union 
DD>  TW> Labor basicly ILLEGAL.
DD>  TW> You have NO RIGHT TO WORK at a facility if you are Non Union.
DD> 
DD> WOW!!!!!!!!

It's not a wow.  If the company is under contract to the union it must
first make every attempt to hire union members.  If none are available
the company can hire any person they choose to and that person has a
'grace period' to prove they are qualified for the work and then must
join the union.

In the skilled trades this would mean either producing a journeyman's
card from some other union, or adequate records of experience and
schooling to comply with the requirements of journeyman status.  Some
uinions have 'upgrader' clauses that allow for exceptional years of
experience to compensate for a lack of schooling.

Where apprenticeship programs are in place under-qualified persons
might be accepted as apprenticeship status on a probationary time
frame while the union decides if they are serious about _becoming_
qualified as journeyman.  Usually this is six months time.  Less
skilled trades have 'trainee' status which is quite similar but
usually does not require going to an approved tech school while
working at the same time.

This all relates to an attempt to protect the profession from charlatans
that would make people like yourself lose respect for union workers.
They _must_ be qualified to do the work.  This is not a 'bad' thing
although when a company is working 'time and materials' as many
government contractors do they get anxious to add employees to run
up the costs as high as they can. :-\

DD> So much for the land of the free. 

The 'land of the free' does not mean legal binding contracts can
be ignored nor does it mean we give away our trade to anyone who
has the guts to claim journeyman status.  I doubt your country is
any different in that regard.

DD> I haven't belonged to a union for nearly 20 years (and I 
DD> have been still working nearly all of that time (I had a 6 
DD> week "break" in '88).

Don't get too sick too often, don't suffer a disabling injury, 
don't ever slow down, and definitely don't get too old.  Can
you manage all of that?

Charles.Angelich 
...
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