Union Jobs
 

I got a random call for an interview last week. I showed up and was questioned for 40 minutes straigt. Next day I was told I got the job starting at $24 hr 6am - 230pm monday to friday. Then I was told there was a union there.

I know nothing about unions. Im very happy about the wages because I was only making $16 hr last week.

what are the pros and cons working with a union? this company has been operating for 150 years.

unions dues gonna cut a big chunk of your wage..but being $24 you should still be getting 21-22

Unions have pros and cons but some may have more pros / cons than others.

Would you mind telling us which union this is?

Most union workers get a raise after working "X" amount of hours.

I'd say do it, even though you'd have to pay union fees, but in the long run they benefit and protect you.

Unions are generally a positive, but it depends on the union. Which is it?

if its for the Union of Auto workers, go die.

I used to work for with a federal gov't agency that was part of the PSAC (Public Service Alliance of Canada) union. Here are my thoughts:

Pros:
- Well defined wages, high too
- Don't have to deal with shit (you do your part and everyone is happy)
- Well defined hours (we were told to sit at the door at 3:55 so we can walk out the door at 4:00 SHARP)
- Lots of care for employees, sick leave = no questions asked as long as it's reasonable

Cons:
- Not a lot of challenges due to the highly repetetive tasks (you only do what you do from day 1, never do you take on another role - hell I couldn't even empty the recycling out when it was full)
- Binding contracts
- Union fees that go nowhere
- No real "incentive" to work hard, since raises are just based off of how many hours you clock

i work for the city and i quite like the union. good wages, 4% raise every year, medical, dental, vacation time, pension, job security... only downside are the numbskulls who work here and cant get fired until they REALLY do something stupid.

unions aren't bad in terms of a nice comfy spot to settle into... but if you're really hard working, and want to climb up above people who started before you but are lazy... that's not gonna happen with a union... no point looking back now though since you've already signed on... good luck with the job

unions are the worst shit ever, because all of the slack i had in all of my non-union jobs, i couldn't have on the jobs where i was unionized.

For example, i smoke, and as a smoker, i take a good 6-8 smoke breaks a day, once every hr and 1/2 or so... but i don't take lunches or "coffee"s in lieu of.

With my union jobs, i was literally chained to my desk until those coffee or lunch breaks, and found that i was chain smoking during breaks...

just a heads up :P

I'm not saying you should slack or that i don't work hard at my job, whatever it may be, but most offices understand that people don't have set "smoking" times... and if you're niccin' out during the day, you're gonna be ready to snap on someone

Edit

your addiction isn't your employer's problem.
the smokers in my office never had this issue

I work for the largest unionized employer in the country and I have never seen people prevented from taking breaks to support their habit.

Your experience isn't really indicative of a unionized environment. I'm a card-carrying member of CAPE and I haven't lost my incentive to work hard nor am I chained to repetitive tasks. I could see this type of experience in an office that is catered to service delivery, but in my area of work, our union has little presence at all and people are more than willing to take on other tasks, stay late to finish work, etc.

And the last time I checked, merit is the sole factor in getting promoted in the public service. Seniority means nothing.

I have the same experience as you, except that I am in ACFO. It seems like he works in an operational office, which is different from corporate.

But ya, it really depends on the person and the job. Someone can always ask for more work, actively participate in committees at work etc, to get more experience. And yes, getting promoted in the public service, last time i checked as well, is based on merit. If you want to get up on the ladder, you have to keep applying to jobs yourself. City of Vancouver is based on seniority though.