Pop,
That is a sad story. I agree, we have a few here who are anti-union. But honestly, how many do you really think we have here who think like that?
Like I said, I was anti-union when hired, but I changed my mind relatively quickly, and had a great time flying the pledge when it became necessary. Once people see the benefits of what our union can accomplish for everyone, I think they'll come around.
Also, I don't know the guy you're talking about, but if he's been here as long as me, then he's been here a while. And I remember very clearly what things were like back then. Lots of special deals being made. And bending of the contract rules to get things done for the company. Can't say I'm totally innocent of the second part myself. But that stopped for me a decade ago when I quickly realized that giving an inch ALWAYS meant they'd try to take a mile. Got old quickly.
Anyway, this guy probably had all sorts of special deals going, and regularly bent the contract to his advantage. Hey, who cares about a union when you could get away with stuff like that? But now, 1108 is working hard at creating rules and contract sections that make special deals vanish, or very hard to set up to begin with. And they're beginning to monitor a lot closer who is regularly violating the contract. So this guy is probably feeling threatened, and is watching his ill-gotten extra income vanish as his special deals go away.
But newhires won't have special deals. So they won't have that animosity associated with the loss of a special deal. And I believe that most will see, as I eventually did, that the union works FOR us, not against us. And for those that don't, they will certainly be in a very small minority and therefore be inconsequential in any important decisions. In fact, if they get in the habit of trying for special deals, or bending contract rules, they may just find themselves sitting in either the union or company hot seat one day.