Crazy Rosie

I had a job a few years ago where I was forced to join a union in order to work there. I'd never been in a union before so I wasn't really clear why or what they did exactly. We all had to pay our dues which came out of our (not so substantial) paychecks for a while and it wasn't until about a year later when I really started to question why exactly this union existed. I wanted to ask for a raise but I couldn't because the union says I can't have a raise because people voted on employees asking for raises. Health insurance didn't kick in until after a year of working there and even after that there was a NINE month waiting period before you could use it. Why? Because the union voted on it. That and SO many other problems that made the environment hostile were because of this union and if we weren't forced to join it these problems were so so simple to solve, even down to how long someone could be in the break room ON THEIR BREAK.

I'm sure unions do good things, but just in my little experience I had to get the hell out of there before I turned anti Norma Rae. My friends and I there were looking at ways to vote out the union which made us not so popular there once word got out.

Jordan, I'm not sure how your not doing due diligence when they offered you the job is the unions fault. You should have asked about union dues, when health benefits activated and when raises in salary occured before taking the job. This employer was not a good match for you; that's not the unions fault.

Updated On: 3/16/11 at 12:14 PM

also- I saw Taboo, and absolutely loved it! I have always been sadden by the fact that it didn't do well.

Updated On: 3/20/11 at 10:22 AM