Crossing a picket line
 

What would you do if you're faced with a situation where the company that you work for "strongly urges" you to cross a picket line to deliver a load, but you feel uncomfortable doing so ( for whatever reason ) ? What options does one have in such a scenario ?

Check with local authorities and see if it is legal to do so.

Do your job. If they wanna be cry babies, let em.
If it gets real nasty, call the cops and your supervisor.

What makes it tricky is the part that I forgot to mention in the original post...I belong to a union myself !!

Never cross a picket line if your union, just sit at home if you don't feel like marching around on the street. Good way to get yourself killed at worst and at best loose all your buddies plus getting booted from the union if you cross the line.

I am not for unions myself, but if you're part of the union, you're expected to back up your union brothers and sisters. That's part of the reason you're in a union. So I agree with Mr. Ford....take the time off.

I would not cross it.

Weather im union or not.

I had a buddy who's dad was in a union for Bell Atlantic. They went on strike one year and he decided the heck with the union after a month of striking. He went back to work because he was nearly out of money to feed his family. It took his work friends a long time to forgive him over crossing the line and some never did forgive him even though he did it for his families sake. The next time they went on strike, just before the Verizon take over, he sat at home for all but one day of it. He walked only one day just to make it so his buddies didn't think he was crossing again.

What's the company going to do, fire you? If they fire you, they have to fire everyone else and that gives the union more ammo. The company will threaten you with being fired or when you do come back to work they are going to make it tough on you or whatever else they can think up, just let your union know when they start doing that stuff and you will be fine. Maybe take a day and walk with a billboard to show your in to your fellow union members but other than that, chill out at home. :D

Do not check with the local "authorities", because it's NOT a legal issue; it's a loyalty issue. Besides, the cops don't know what's going on at a private employer until they see people lining the street with picket signs.

If you cross a picket line, you will forever be labeled a "scab". That term came about a long time ago, and a federal judge ruled that it's appropriate. Back in the day people could incur physical harm for crossing a picket line, and nobody in the picketing crowd would have seen anything. Nowadays, with unions becoming fewer and farther between, I doubt you would encounter bodily harm, but, still I guess going to work for the company that is trying to screw their work force, while said workers go without pay to keep their bargained benefits, depends on you and your own conscience.

I am in a union on my current gig, but it's a weak union and next contract we will probably be hung out to dry. We probably won't gain anything, and it will be considered a victory if we keep what we have now. But at the very same time there are alot of things I do not like about our union and unions in general. Chief among them, is their liberal persuasion and the fact that they want me to vote for Obama. I would rather be urinated on and set on fire than vote for Obama.

Long story short, you can cross if you want to, that's between you and yourself; me, I would not cross a picket line, whether at my own place of employment or any other place that was on strike.

By the way, unions typically only go on strike during contract negotiations, when the company side of the bargaining table is being recalcitrant. Strikes at other times are single issue strikes, commonly referred to as "wildcat" strikes, and are extremely rare.

As for someone above posting that their buddy went broke and scabbed across a picket line, here's the deal on that: if you are in a union shop, you KNOW when your contract comes up for renewal, years ahead of time. You KNOW ahead of time, based on conditions at your shop whether or not a strike is imminent - sometimes a couple YEARS ahead of time. Having said that, wouldn't the smart thing to do be to start saving money for the possibility of a strike? I would. I am doing that now.

I agree with Mackman, I don't care what my company urges me to do, i would never cross a picket line, union brother or not.

Re: Crossing a picket line
 

Based on what happened to me once, this might be an option if you choose this route. I assume you are a company driver? If so, you are in the midst of a quandry...cross and be labelled or respect the line and possibly jeopardize your own job. Here's what I did:

Back in the early '90s when I started driving, I had to pick up a load at a plant in Omaha. I got there and saw a picket line. I parked across the five lane highway in a lot directly in front of the plant and called inside. I told them I would not cross the picket line. They said "fine" and hung up. About an hour later, here comes 3 big forklifts across the highway, each with a large shrink wrapped pallet! The forklifts were being driven by managers who were no longer used to actually working, and being driven clumsily at that (at most union shops all levels of management are company, not union, and not allowed to strike). Anyhoo, they loaded me across the street and I left. Didn't have to cross the picket line, plus I didn't get dinged by my owner for failing to do as told!

Re: Crossing a picket line
 

dang it...

Re: Crossing a picket line
 

third time's the charm

Re: Crossing a picket line
 

Sorry, it (or me) posted the reply four times!

It would depend if "Your" union was supporting and sanctioning the strike. If they are not you won't get any support if you refuse to cross and the your company fires you.
During Pipeline construction up in Alaska I was in Teamsters 959 (You had to be in a union to work pipeline) and saw it several times where the pipefitters or plumbers or bathroom cleaners went on strike and if Jesse Carr didn't say 959 was honoring this strike you had better just go do your thing or would be outa work.
Check with your local union rep. and see if "Your" union is honoring it.

LMAO.

As an aside, urination and flames don't really mix.

But I do get your point! :)

Well i have a family to support and i will no union or line tell me when i can and can not work sorry guys. The reason i say that is cause the union sometimes protects the stupidest people they should be kicked out the front door but no you have to go through certain steps and if you dont
repeat the same stunt within 6 months you are go to do it again.

BW think he got it backwards, think he meant set afire then p'ssed on :D :D

Amen MidnightLighting!

If your a union employee, thats all fine and peachy (usually), but again, a union is why it cost you $40-$50k to buy a new pickup truck, because the unions are forcing companies to pay some low skilled worker $40/hr to push a button.

They can call me a scab, hemerhoid, or anything else they want, but sorry, I gotta go to work! I work to make money. Not friends.

It's been many years since I've been in a union and the only thing they did for me was lose money for me during a strike.. It's been some years since I was told to cross a picket line. But, when I approached the line, feelings were running high. I called the company and informed them that they could see equipment damage or worse. They called the police and I was escorted in, guarded while loading, and escorted out. When I was leaving the plant, it was a parade. I had 3 squads in front, and about 9 or 10 behind me. All the way out to the edge of town before they peeled off and turned around.

I've seen a lot of demonizing of auto workers at this site and always wondered what they really make. Since that is a union site, they are likely lying, though.

In 2006 a typical UAW-represented assembler at GM earned $27.81 per hour of straight-time labor. A typical UAW-represented skilled-trades worker at GM earned $32.32 per hour of straight-time labor. Between 2003 and 2006, the wages of a typical UAW assembler have grown at about the same rate as wages in the private sector as a whole – roughly 9 percent. Part of that growth is due to cost-of-living adjustments that have helped prevent inflation from eroding the purchasing power of workers’ wages.

So a 9% raise twice would be $33.04 and $38.39 for this year. Less than $1200 a week gross. I'm not sure what cost of living is like where the plants are located. If houses are less than $175k, they could probably afford it.

Re: Crossing a picket line
 

Do your job. Don't get involved with another worksites politics.

Are you guys getting cost-of-living adjustments with your penny raises? Oh that's right. You can just run more miles. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Would it matter if the auto workers made $20.00/hr? $15.00/hr? $10.00/hr? No because the auto companies can pay a Mexican worker a few pesos per day plus one meal and no overtime. In addition, the maquiladoras (cross border assembly plants) can dump pollutants into the air and water to their heart's content.

What's happening now is that wages are going nowhere while inflation is rising. So people are cutting back on spending because they have less disposable income. Less spending = less loads to pull...remember you have a job because someone spent some money somewhere. About 65% of our economy is consumer spending.

Go ahead and cross that picket line and watch what happens when you break the union. First thing that usually goes is overtime. Next you start paying high premiums for worthless health insurance. Then maybe a week of vacation gets lopped off. Then seniority starts getting messed with...the newer guys making less money get more work while the top-rate men get starved out. Then they start hiring part-timers. Then the "accessories" start getting chipped away like delay pay, hourly pay, etc.

And then you're back to square one...nothing but a c00lie. Oh, but you're feeding your family...on rice and beans.

Remember, if employers paid their workers well and treated them fairly then there would be no need for unions. Unions are often a necessary evil and in a perfect world they wouldn't exist. But this isn't a perfect world and never will be.

Very true.

Although I'm non-union, I'm very grateful to the union guys out there. If it weren't for them, my wages would be a lot lower. 8)

+ 1

That's the best I've heard it said so far.

I am not the biggest fan of unions, I am in one and do not like alot of things they do or their policies. But they are there because if they weren't, they would pay us like the "coolie carriers" pay their help.

I am not high maintenance, but at the same time I am NOT going to work for insultingly low pay. If others want to work for nothing or for free, fine.

It's been my experience that those who flat-out poo-poo the unions every chance they get have never been in one. All they know is what some other schmuck had said about how unions suck. Plus, these same people evidently enjoying working for low wages, and their jealousy at what union workers make is glaringly obvious.

Unions have broken some companies, and I understand the company signs my paycheck, not the union...but at the same time if it weren't for collective bargaining some of these same companies would have folded anyway, due to mismanagement, not union pressure.

Kinda like what's taken place in trucking over the last 30 years. :shock:
Weren't all truckers teamsters years ago? I mean all, including OTR guys? It was considered a good job 30-40 years ago.

To HWD, Teamster here too and I couldn't agree with you more. :wink:

I'll not cross a union line. Ever. I'm not in a union and have never been in one but I respect people who are willing to fight for what's right.

I'm a former Teamster and I cannot stand the Union. But, if you joined. You DO NOT cross the picket line.

Kinda funny...."what is right".....

So that means the unions are always right, and are NEVER unreasonable?

IMHO unions are often as greedy as people seem to think businessmen are....

I agree, unions are greedy as heck and I don't like them. That said, I will say it again, don't cross a picket line if your union. My dad did it as a scab in the mid-90's and it was not a fun experience going into Youngstown(mafia-town) Ohio and Boston as part of a strike busting team.

First of all unions only represent the workers. The workers vote on the contract, any concessions, whether or not they want to strike, they vote on everything. The union only negotiates what the workers want. So if too much greed is involved the workers must bear alot of the blame. Alot of people blame unions for their own problems because someone else always has to be at fault. Some of the people who hate the unions the most are ex members who had unrealistic expectations of what their union could do for them.

Perhaps rather than saying union members fight for what's right a better description might be that they fight for what they believe in.

Its okay with me if you want to hate unions, you're entitled to your opinion. You either like them or you hate them but either way if someone stands up for what they believe in then I respect them. In the words of John Cougar Mellencamp "you have to stand for something or you'll fall for anything."

Like I always say, if corporations always did the right thing we wouldnt have to fight for what we believe in. My sister in law and many of her coworkers just got canned two days ago in a downsizing. She had 20 years in but junior employees were retained. Non union company. I'm sure there's two sides to every coin but on the surface it just seems wrong. I'm sure things like higher salaries and more vacation weeks didn't enter into the company's decision, right?

If you are coming up to a shipper or receiver and they are blocking your

entrance..

I would just call dispatch and tell them whats happening...no need to

get injured or in the middle of some greed fest for cpm wages :arrow:

What he said.(Maybe it's a PA kind of thing? :wink: )

The vast majority of the time, it's the company being unreasonable, not the union.

I would not let the union picket impact me one way or the other. If the people in the union want to strike that is thier business. I dont choose to strike and unless they threatened me with violence I would go in a pick-up the load. In this global economy the unions better get thier head out of thier butts. One of the reasons jobs are going overseas is because of the unions and the wage/benefit demands that make the cost of doing business here prohibitive. I dont care if someone wants to join a union, its still a free country, however, i will not let a union thug tell me if, where and when I can work. If I'm so unhappy with my job that I would strike then I would quit and find a new job. One of the first posts on this subject mentioned that a worker sat home before the company was sold to Verizon. Gee...think that might have had something to do with it? Personaly If I owned a company and someone came in to "organize" the place I would call a big company meeting with all of the workers and make it plain: "I put my money at stake in this business, Its my good name and credit at stake here and I'm taking all of the financial risk. Before I let someone come in and tell me how to run my own business I will shut this place down, move it overseas and you can find a job elsewhere." Now feel free to vote anyway that you choose.

Of COURSE it is! I mean, I've never, EVER heard of someone asking for more than they're worth...have you? :P

Nope. Verizon is still union.

That poster might want to double-check thier facts:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verizon

That's a very very tough call to me. Things never return to the same after one of these strikes. I understand that people end up in positions where they simply have to provide food, In the area I grew up (some of you may remember Kaiser Aluminum and how that situation tore that area apart. My thoughts are, keep as far distance as you can. Things do happen though,
Be careful.