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Speaking as a full time lead maintenance mechanic at a local auto repair shop, The tradecrafts have kept a pretty reasonable grip on bargaining power. The shop

Speaking as a full time lead maintenance mechanic at a local auto repair shop, The tradecrafts have kept a pretty reasonable grip on bargaining power. The shop owners understand that if its not an honest days work for an honest days pay, I will leave. strong unions in the past have worked hard to ensure I could, if i chose to, open my own shop in about 3 days time. My local automotive mechanics union would even cover the cost of shipping new tools to my shop, and maybe run an ad or two in the paper. Mr H. if you're reading this, im certainly not quitting anytime soon! :) Ive worked in aerospace as well, where tradesmen are frequently paid more than managers. hassling an engine tech here, or casually second guessing one, is unthinkable and has gotten good managers demoted or fired. I was basically on-par with a surgeon as far as my respect and authority was concerned. Im not saying ive never been part of a strike. Most of my union jobs have been rewarding and fulfilling, with a level of transparency rarely seen in big shops. Ive had C level accountants sit down in a hanger with us to go over why we need to trim down on expenses, and make sure we understand it in plain english. To me, that speaks a lot. As for people in the Amazon shipping trenches, all you need to do is be brave, stay motivated, and push for a union. You regional and long haul amazon truckers also have a lot more bargaining power than you realize.

petermcneeley 8y ago
Great read. But your last line about amazon and truckers is interesting because we all know that there is a drive to automate these positions.
- rm_-rf_slash 8y ago
  Still a long ways out. In the meantime, there is a significant trucker shortage and wages are rising quickly.
  - jklinger410 8y ago
    There will continue to be rising wages and trucker shortages as no one sees a great future in that line of work. Sure, jobs will remain. People will be paid to sit on trucks while they drive themselves across the country. People will be paid to sit in air conditioned offices and watch trucks as little dots as they travel across the country. They will have to find people to do those as well. The whole industry is boring unless you are management/executive level. Truckers today will have first dibs on all those positions, also, leaving new truckers completely screwed as their relatively new high paying trucking job leaves them with nothing.
    - s73v3r_ 8y ago
      There was a story on the trucker's shortage recently, that went into reasons for the shortage. A large part of what's causing it is that, for one, it's a crappy job, but for two, companies are not raising the wages, especially as one would expect if there's a shortage.
- s73v3r_ 8y ago
  All the more reason to organize now, rather than when it's too late, and they're out on their ass.
dsfyu404ed 8y ago
I know a lot of people who own or work for small businesses doing blue collar stuff. The crux of the issue seems to be local competition. So long as employees have other options that don't involve uprooting their life the bargaining power dynamics are fine as far as I can tell (as much as some of the business owners who are stuck in the past may hate it). When employees can get a job somewhere else without employers can't get away with giving them the shaft of they'll do just that. Even in jobs where labor is basically a commodity (e.g. entry level welders) the situation is the same as long as local competition exists. People who do unskilled or close to unskilled jobs for big companies that aren't pressured by competition still get the shaft though.
Balgair 8y ago
>Mr H. if you're reading this, im certainly not quitting anytime soon! :) Jim will be happy to hear that.

petermcneeley 8y ago

Great read. But your last line about amazon and truckers is interesting because we all know that there is a drive to automate these positions.

rm_-rf_slash 8y ago
Still a long ways out. In the meantime, there is a significant trucker shortage and wages are rising quickly.
- jklinger410 8y ago
  There will continue to be rising wages and trucker shortages as no one sees a great future in that line of work. Sure, jobs will remain. People will be paid to sit on trucks while they drive themselves across the country. People will be paid to sit in air conditioned offices and watch trucks as little dots as they travel across the country. They will have to find people to do those as well. The whole industry is boring unless you are management/executive level. Truckers today will have first dibs on all those positions, also, leaving new truckers completely screwed as their relatively new high paying trucking job leaves them with nothing.
  - s73v3r_ 8y ago
    There was a story on the trucker's shortage recently, that went into reasons for the shortage. A large part of what's causing it is that, for one, it's a crappy job, but for two, companies are not raising the wages, especially as one would expect if there's a shortage.
s73v3r_ 8y ago
All the more reason to organize now, rather than when it's too late, and they're out on their ass.

dsfyu404ed 8y ago

I know a lot of people who own or work for small businesses doing blue collar stuff. The crux of the issue seems to be local competition. So long as employees have other options that don't involve uprooting their life the bargaining power dynamics are fine as far as I can tell (as much as some of the business owners who are stuck in the past may hate it). When employees can get a job somewhere else without employers can't get away with giving them the shaft of they'll do just that. Even in jobs where labor is basically a commodity (e.g. entry level welders) the situation is the same as long as local competition exists. People who do unskilled or close to unskilled jobs for big companies that aren't pressured by competition still get the shaft though.

Balgair 8y ago

>Mr H. if you're reading this, im certainly not quitting anytime soon! :) Jim will be happy to hear that.