Monday, May 30, 2011

Favoritism,Unions and The Smell of B.S.



This is the part of the blog where I get angry at work,put my foot in my mouth and spend a few months explaining to co-workers that I wasn't in fact bitching about them.Watermen,Seaman,Merchant Marines,whatever you call them they have been around for a very long time.The major companies have been around for a very long time and so have the Unions.I'm not necessarily for or against Unions.I am however against favoritism which the Unions don't even try to hide.The current company I work for is a typical old school Southern non union company,a dieing trend in this industry.Given the current economic situation in the world I decided last year to spruce up my resume and see what was out there.Yeah I know,great timing numb nuts.Leave it to me to pick the worst time to try and switch companies.So I decided to look into unionized companies.I made some calls,I mailed some resumes,I even banged on a few doors.What it all boiled down to is that I wasn't born into the industry,I had no relatives in the union and they had hundreds of capable men waiting in the union halls for very few jobs.So why would they still try to convince me to pay dues?Why would they tell me they could help me if I helped them.I actually went to a union hall which on a good day is a sketchy place.Over fifty men showed up at 7am for what turned out to be 3 jobs.Guess who got the jobs,some guys who weren't even there.Explain that to me!This leads me back to let's call it a completely fictitious story.


















So I know this guy who has worked on the water his entire life.He decided to tamper with a random urine test and got caught.The company then decided to hire him a lawyer free of charge.He ended up getting a light suspension,one year,and is working on the water making the same pay as an advisor.Somebody want to explain to me how this is fair?Well it's not but it is a non union company that can hire or fire anyone for any reason at anytime with no explanation.AMERICA!That's the deal I guess,it smells like B.S. to me but it pays the bills.I wouldn't say it's the worst thing I have seen happen.A non union company can have favorites just like a union does.That's how it works in today's world and I have come to terms with it.It's all in who you know and what have you done for me lately.Will it ever change?I think it will,I'm almost positive it will only get worse.So what am I going to do.I'm going to do what my dad always told me to do,"keep your nose clean son".

4 comments:

Kirk Mantay said...

Joe Strummer once said something like, "Communism? Capitalism? I all know is that whoever wins, they'll still be riding around in the big black cars. You won't. That'll never change."

Mojo copied that rant 10 years later and said, "Just one fool, big a' fool as the other fool. They still ridin' around in the mercedes. We still ridin around on the subway. Ridin' around on the bus. Ridin' around in a beat up El Camino, leakin' oil, ain't got no money, gotta pay taxes, everything's all screwed up....I'm gonna start an armed insurrection!"

Map Monkey said...

yeah, tugboatdude, non-union or union, you have a large potential for corruption, favoritism, and what-all-else general unfairness in the world. The main difference is at least once you're in a union you have a fighting chance to protect your rights, whereas with the non-union it is literally every man for himself. and the little guy NEVER wins in that fight.

tugboatdude said...

I guess the most difficult thing for me to grip is the start from the bottom and work your way up.It's non-existent in every industry.I really don't think actual hard work holds any water anymore in AMerica and it upsets me.

Kirk Mantay said...

You can keep up, but rarely get ahead, by playing it honest and working hard alone.

And there are a few people in any organization who don't work hard and occasionally get ahead.

But for the most part, if you really want to make a dent, you have to work like crazy, and when the opportunity comes to you (fairly or unfairly) to get ahead, you have to have the balls to say to the next guy, "Sorry hoss, this one is mine, and I'm taking it. Just business."