-=> Bob Ackley wrote to BOB KLAHN <=-

 BK>  Other than construction work I don't know of any place
 BK> union membership is necessary to get a job.

And that only if you are sent out from the union hiring hall - in which case
you have to have been a member of the union already to be able to use the
services of the hiring hall. The merchant seaman's unions are much the same.
But, if one manages to get a construction job/or merchant marine job without
going through the hiring hall - the worker then has a certain grace period in
which to join the union or leave the job. Except in right-to-work states like
Californica.
 
 BA> The Union Pacific Railroad requires union membership.  Presumably
 BA> the other big railroads (BNSF, NS, etc.) are also union shops.  UP has
 BA> some of the most ridiculous (union driven) work rules and policies I've
 BA> ever seen.

Featherbedding is huge - and one of the worst things about union shenanigans.
But, my niece's husband is a train driver for BNSF - and he had sixty days to
join the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. Union membership was
not required to get the job, however. It works the same for all railroads that
are unionised. It's a union thing, not a railroad thing.
 
 BA> Back in the early 1990s the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks demanded
 BA> that UP require membership in their union by all of the railroad's
 BA> IT professionals.  The railroad said 'OK.'  The *employees* sued the
 BA> railroad over that forced membership - and lost.

Errrrmmmmm - that group is now known as the Transportation Communications
International Union. And has been known by that name since 1987. The group also
includes the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car
Porters. Brotherhood of Railway Clerks was formed in 1899, renamed to
Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and
Station Employees in 1919, then changed its name to Brotherhood of Railway,
Airline, Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employees,
commonly known as BRAC in 1967. The TCIU is currently in the process of merging
with the International Association of Machinists (IAM) - a process which began
in 2005 and is to be completed by 2012.

Under whatever name - the union has a "closed shop" agreement
with the employer
which is enforceable in all but right-to-work states. And this is a problem for
you - just how?

ENJOY!!!

From Uncle Dirty Dave's Kitchen
Home of YAHOOOOAHHHH Hot Sauce & Hardin Cider 

 

... Sometimes what's right isn't as important as what's profitable.
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