it's fairly well known that i have never been a particularly impressed by the level of advocacy for workers' interests evinced by the union i am a member of....it is a craft union and i am an industrial worker...the two never mixed particularly well...in the pre wagner act days they represented only skilled workers in industrial settings, leaving the unskilled and semi-skilled to fend for themselves...that mind set has proved durable and they seem to favor their journeymen and masters far more than the "industrial arm"...just prior when "right to work" legislation went into effect in indiana we had signed a contract that pretty much locked the bargaining unit into paying dues for the life of that contract...when i expired at the end of last january members began to "opt out" of paying dues, becoming "free riders" who were still represented by the union and covered by the contract...this upsets the doyens and doges at the hall and they began to publicly name names ( first at trane ) and asked that their peers "persuade" them to become "good" dues paying members in the quarterly journal clearly wanting the prodigals "back in the fold"....a few weeks ago the union powers that be were at the plant passing out union logo baseball caps to the "loyal" members and denying to the fourteen ( now thirteen...one opt out has recanted ) deserters...today they put up a sign up sheet fro a "free tee shirt!" for "union members only" and...in a clearly boneheaded move ala our esteemed half-dumb governor...posted a list of people who are ineligible for the free offer as if 1) they didn't know that already, 2) as if they cared, and 3) as if this was going to seduce them back into paying dues rather than just be a continuation of divisive behavior...the brains trust at the local needs a significant retooling...rather than attempting to educate the people who have opted out about the real motivations behind right to work and reason with them like the rational people they are ( most anyway...i know and have worked with some of these people for years and there are a number of them i genuinely like...they are not stupid and they have their reasons...some dialog might help...this does not qualify ) they pull some puerile bullshit that belongs in middle school...no wonder vast numbers of working people think unions are useless...this one could be a vehicle for the interests and needs of the members...not just economically but socially and politically...instead we get lame bullshit games...i will not be asking for a tee shirt...i am disinclined to ask these bozos for even the time of day much less cogent representation.
