Unions

I was lucky when I got a job.

The local newspaper was running ads about hiring, so I took a lunch break and walked the block away and applied for a job.

I was about to graduate college, planning a wedding and looking for an apartment so walking through a picket line didn’t mean anything to me.

Originating in Great Britain, trade unions became popular in many countries during the Industrial Revolution.

A trade union (or a labor union in the U.S.) is an association of workers forming a legal unit or legal personhood, usually called a “bargaining unit”, which acts as bargaining agent and legal representative for a unit of employees in all matters of law or right arising from or in the administration of a collective agreement.

Labour unions typically fund the formal organization, head office, and legal team functions of the labour union through regular fees or union dues. The delegates are made up of workplace volunteers who are appointed by members in democratic elections.

Today, unions are usually formed for the purpose of securing improvement in pay, benefits, working conditions, or social and political status through collective bargaining by the increased bargaining power wielded by the banding of the workers. The trade union bargains with the employer on behalf of union members (rank and file members) and negotiates labour contracts (collective bargaining) with employers. The most common purpose of these associations or unions is “maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment”.

This may include the negotiation of wages, work rules, occupational health and safety standards, complaint procedures, rules governing status of employees including promotions, just cause conditions for termination, and employment benefits.

Unions may organize a particular section of skilled workers (craft unionism), a cross-section of workers from various trades (general unionism), or attempt to organize all workers within a particular industry (industrial unionism). The agreements negotiated by a union are binding on the rank and file members and the employer and in some cases on other non-member workers.

At the time I didn’t connect-the-dots that the newspaper was changing over from hot metal type to cold type. That meant the production of setting type was moving from mechanical to computerize.

The linotype operators didn’t like that so their union decided to walk out. A few from other unions showed their support but most stayed.

All this was going on in another building as I was trying to learn what I was suppose to do in an empty office.

The pickets lost their battle and the company moved on through the transition.

I was there long enough to see more changes, but under it all were the unions.

The artist in the news department had a guild. The writers had a union and the photographers had some form of negotiation with management. The pressmen had a union and I think circulation had a bargaining association (but kids were still delivering newspapers on bikes). The sales department was paid on commission and the ‘art department’ was a paid-per-job shop.

At one point there was a discrepancy in the pay of the advertising ‘art department’ and the news ‘art department’. It caused such a stink that a vice-president called each and everyone individually up to his office to find out what the problem was. The Human Resource director did his homework with comparison charts and pay scales. The solution was everyone got a minimal raise and the problem dissipated.

Years later two disgruntled artist had investigated the news ‘art department’ arrangement and were trying to organize a similar situation in the ‘creative service’ department. Once discovered, they were taken to HR and immediately “at will” dismissed.

I never joined a union, other than management.

As a manager I was involved in a negotiation with some personnel who were hired to maintain property and their job description was being expanded into processing press plates. The pressmen had done this process until it was discovered their job description did not cover such activity and became null and void.

So another union was about to be formed and management didn’t want it. Posters were made Meetings were held. Reports were written.

They formed a union.