Union Protests Earning High Pay

missile

House Member
Dec 1, 2004
4,846
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38
Saint John N.B.
Our longshoremen had to work on Labour Day....sort of! 3 of the boys were needed to help tieup a visiting cruise ship, and for a measly 720 bucks apiece for 1 and a half hours work. naturally, the union had to place a group of information picketeers about the site to show their annoyance. Now, the ones who did the info picketing did so gratis:-? We certainly wouldn't expect the 3 making the 720 apiece to share some of the small wage,eh?:lol::lol::lol:
 

missile

House Member
Dec 1, 2004
4,846
17
38
Saint John N.B.
Most working people here would love to make that kind of dough per week. It just made me mad that these fools would protest their good luck!
 

TenPenny

Hall of Fame Member
Jun 9, 2004
17,466
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Location, Location
The funniest part of all of this is, this was a cruise ship docking at the wharf which may become the site of an office building. This same union protested swapping two pieces of waterfront land, insisting that this wharf is critical to the future of the port.

As long as they don't have to report for work, that is.

What a bunch. The citizens will get quite a laugh out of this, and I wonder if our notorious MLA has an opinion....
 

shadowshiv

Dark Overlord
May 29, 2007
17,545
120
63
50
Our longshoremen had to work on Labour Day....sort of! 3 of the boys were needed to help tieup a visiting cruise ship, and for a measly 720 bucks apiece for 1 and a half hours work. naturally, the union had to place a group of information picketeers about the site to show their annoyance. Now, the ones who did the info picketing did so gratis:-? We certainly wouldn't expect the 3 making the 720 apiece to share some of the small wage,eh?:lol::lol::lol:

I certainly have to shake my head at the Union's mentality sometimes.
 

Colpy

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 5, 2005
21,887
847
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Saint John, N.B.
You know, I've been a union guy all my life.

We need unions....increasingly so, as the gap between rich and poor widens radically.

actually, I was never a initiated member of the Longshoremen's Association, but I did pay them dues, as a seasonal worker in the grain elevators here in Saint John. The same union under discussion. I remember once a rusted away steel stair let go under me when I was about 40 feet up heading for the gantries......I went to the union meeting to get some action on the issue of safety.....but they were too busy howling about the latest outrage from management to pay me any attention. The rumour (unfounded) was that management had hired a black man! The horror! This was in 1974.

The same union refused to handle heavy water for the Point LePreau Nuclear Station because it was radioactive...... (sigh).

NOT a bunch of rocket scientists, let me tell you.
 
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Risus

Genius
May 24, 2006
5,373
25
38
Toronto
You know, I've been a union guy all my life.

We need unions....increasingly so, as the gap between rich and poor widens radically.

Wrong! At one time we needed unions but not anymore. They have outlived their usefulness. Why do you think GM and Ford are in trouble? Because of the outrageous wages they have gotten. No wonder people are buying imports with the costs the big NA automakers have to charge for the cars they manufacture.
 

Avro

Time Out
Feb 12, 2007
7,815
65
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Oshawa
Wrong! At one time we needed unions but not anymore. They have outlived their usefulness. Why do you think GM and Ford are in trouble? Because of the outrageous wages they have gotten. No wonder people are buying imports with the costs the big NA automakers have to charge for the cars they manufacture.


What a shock, you have no clue as to what you are talking about.

GM and Ford are in trouble because of their crappy cars.

The GM palnt in Oshawa is consistantly rated as the most productive and efficient plant in North America yet it bleeds jobs.

Toyota in Cambridge pays about 5 dollars less an hour than GM, hardly enough to force bankruptcies and layoffs.

The real issue is North American manufactures can't compete with lower than minmum wage China and Mexico and a very competeive market which the domestics aragantly ingnored until it was to late.
 

shadowshiv

Dark Overlord
May 29, 2007
17,545
120
63
50
What a shock, you have no clue as to what you are talking about.

GM and Ford are in trouble because of their crappy cars.

The GM palnt in Oshawa is consistantly rated as the most productive and efficient plant in North America yet it bleeds jobs.

Toyota in Cambridge pays about 5 dollars less an hour than GM, hardly enough to force bankruptcies and layoffs.

The real issue is North American manufactures can't compete with lower than minmum wage China and Mexico and a very competeive market which the domestics aragantly ingnored until it was to late.

Unions can be a problem. The reason no new plants want to open up anywhere near Chatham is that the Union in the area is far too "gimme gimme" for them. We could have had the new Toyota plant if that wasn't the case.
 

lone wolf

Grossly Underrated
Nov 25, 2006
32,493
210
63
In the bush near Sudbury
What a shock, you have no clue as to what you are talking about.

GM and Ford are in trouble because of their crappy cars.

The GM palnt in Oshawa is consistantly rated as the most productive and efficient plant in North America yet it bleeds jobs.

Toyota in Cambridge pays about 5 dollars less an hour than GM, hardly enough to force bankruptcies and layoffs.

The real issue is North American manufactures can't compete with lower than minmum wage China and Mexico and a very competeive market which the domestics aragantly ingnored until it was to late.

Would you prefer to invest the cost of a new car into a product where the worker cared about quality workmanship ... or one where the worker didn't give a damn because the union would cover his lazy ass?
 

Risus

Genius
May 24, 2006
5,373
25
38
Toronto
What a shock, you have no clue as to what you are talking about.

GM and Ford are in trouble because of their crappy cars.

The GM palnt in Oshawa is consistantly rated as the most productive and efficient plant in North America yet it bleeds jobs.

Toyota in Cambridge pays about 5 dollars less an hour than GM, hardly enough to force bankruptcies and layoffs.

The real issue is North American manufactures can't compete with lower than minmum wage China and Mexico and a very competeive market which the domestics aragantly ingnored until it was to late.
LOL, look who doesn't have a clue what you are talking about. Crappy cars have nothing to do with it. You are right in part that North America cannot compete with the lower wages in Asia, and that is due in part to unions, so get over it. Do you realize the benefits GM are paying out to their retirees? That is part of the problem, too and that was brought about by the union.

Wake up and smell the coffee...
 

Avro

Time Out
Feb 12, 2007
7,815
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Oshawa
Would you prefer to invest the cost of a new car into a product where the worker cared about quality workmanship ... or one where the worker didn't give a damn because the union would cover his lazy ass?

That would make sense if, like I said the GM plant in my hometown wasn't the most productive and efficient year after year.

Perhaps it was the dopey engineers who got it wrong, or perhaps it was the suits.
 

Avro

Time Out
Feb 12, 2007
7,815
65
48
54
Oshawa
LOL, look who doesn't have a clue what you are talking about. Crappy cars have nothing to do with it. You are right in part that North America cannot compete with the lower wages in Asia, and that is due in part to unions, so get over it. Do you realize the benefits GM are paying out to their retirees? That is part of the problem, too and that was brought about by the union.

Wake up and smell the coffee...

Minimum wage can't compete with labor in Asia, never mind good paying jobs. Crappy cars have something to do with it, just look at consumer reports on recommended vehicles and what isn't recommended.

Do you realize that many companies hand out benefits because of unions even if they don't have one.

Tell me, if high wages are the problem then how is Toyota able to produce cars in Canada while paying their employees virtually the same as GM and offering good benefits?
 

Risus

Genius
May 24, 2006
5,373
25
38
Toronto
Minimum wage can't compete with labor in Asia, never mind good paying jobs. Crappy cars have something to do with it, just look at consumer reports on recommended vehicles and what isn't recommended.

Do you realize that many companies hand out benefits because of unions even if they don't have one.

Tell me, if high wages are the problem then how is Toyota able to produce cars in Canada while paying their employees virtually the same as GM and offering good benefits?
Toyota's benefits are a mere pittance of GM's and Toyota doesn't have all the retirees that GM has, and these still receive full benefits.

And I would sooner drive a GM truck compared to a crappy Toyota one. The Silverado received consumer reports top rating.
 

missile

House Member
Dec 1, 2004
4,846
17
38
Saint John N.B.
Meanwhile : back to the topic of the longshore unionists. Supposed to have a grand total of 123members as compared to the many thousands who used to work the port. The high wages were a factor in the extremely large number of jobs lost to the switch to container traffic, but the one nobody talks about was the amount of theft by the longshoremen. Industry likes to do their own thefts,thank you.
 

TenPenny

Hall of Fame Member
Jun 9, 2004
17,466
138
63
Location, Location
That's funny. I met a retired longshoreman, and he had some tales of breaking into crates and stealing...they loved crates, and hated the containers, as you couldn't 'drop' a container and pilfer the contents.
 

hermanntrude

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Jun 23, 2006
7,267
118
63
45
Newfoundland!
Our longshoremen had to work on Labour Day....sort of! 3 of the boys were needed to help tieup a visiting cruise ship, and for a measly 720 bucks apiece for 1 and a half hours work. naturally, the union had to place a group of information picketeers about the site to show their annoyance. Now, the ones who did the info picketing did so gratis:-? We certainly wouldn't expect the 3 making the 720 apiece to share some of the small wage,eh?:lol::lol::lol:

unions make people lazy sometimes.

it's good to have them to protect your arse against being royally screwed by employers but sometimes they totally take the biscuit