Are you willing to pay 65% more Union Tax?

Have you heard the grumbling from local union members lately about the IAMAW wants to raise your Union Dues (Tax) 35-65%? This September the National Grand Lodge will have meetings to determine once and for all the amount they plan to stick it to their members. Right now assemblers pay a whopping $41.94 per month in dues. This may not sound like much, but over the course of a year it adds up to $503 dollars. If you add 65% more it becomes $830!

What service does this union provide you that is worth 830 dollars a year? If you misbehave, and get 5 days off, is that 830 dollars? If they coerce you to strike, and loose 10 grand, is that worth it? So what tangible service do they provide? A cell phone might cost about as much, and you have communication nation-wide 24/7. Today you can get twenty gallons of fuel per month with those dues. I haven’t figured out how much beer you can buy, but I can imagine seventy dollars in beer a month will go farther than a pep talk from a smiling business representative.

I am really eager to hear from Union Supporters about the tangible value gained from union membership. I don't want to hear how good it used to be, I don't wanna hear how great it would be if everyone joined. I wanna hear what service the union offers the members of the bargaining unit. Union Members, please, level with me. What do I get out of the union if I join? And why should I pay a rate of increase that outstrips my pay raises they negotiated for me?

Clearly the union leadership is bothered by my stance against the union. Here is your opportunity to express the virtues of your side of the argument. I've stated before that this forum is open to both pro and anti union arguments. Yes I am personally biased against the union, but I am looking for someone with a pro union position to put their beliefs up against mine so the rest of the workers, both union and non-union can see the arguments and make a good decision in 2009.

Ladies and gentlemen, step right out into the monsoon

Today I got to see a flyer that states the union plans to have a demonstration out front of Herman's Road Entrance on Thursday 28 August at 3:00 pm. I want to announce their message after Company officials swept up the flyers. Why? Because I want the world to see how this union thinks. They ignored the retiree’s request when they first asked for help over two years ago. Frustrated, those retirees went off on their own, and found a lawyer to fight for them. Now the union wishes to bask in the light of the victory those four retirees won.

I challenged the union almost two weeks ago to contradict my statement, and they haven't said squat. This blog is an open forum, anyone can speak here. They read it daily. Still no response. Crickets chirping.......BUT NOW LETS HAVE A PARADE! *Carnival music please* Ladies and gentlemen, step right out into the monsoon and carry pickets to show our union pride in support of this great victory. We'll show this company! We'll show our critics! We won't back down; we have this lame, ehem, strong union to back us up! We will march out front in the rain to prove....what?!

Don't let these union saviors talk you into standing out on the corner to sweat and support what they refused to fund. The retirees paid dues for a whole career, and then they were neglected. They were forced to get their own legal representation, on their own dime. Now you members are getting corralled into a parade to make it look like the union supported the cause from the beginning. You are getting duped.

But meanwhile they will tell you that for the good of the collective, you must march. Show your pride. Show this company that you won't take it. Those greedy CEOs! Take PTO and come out to march, I say! Flex your time, but show your support for the commune! Do whatever it takes to...show you are following the orders of a radical activist. The stewards said, "Give until it hurts." "One more day." "Borrow money from your 401K". And you did.

They got you to move mountains. You sacrificed your retirement security for them. They take your dues, make you march, dictate who you talk to, & teach you union "pride". Did you know they have an agenda? And it isn't yours. You too will be refused after you retire. Support change at RMS. Dump the union.

The War is Over

Aight, team Oust, it's official "The War is Over"! No more orange shirts. No more being harassed by the union. We are done. I checked my mail on Friday, and to my amazement the union has finally sent me something worthwhile. I've been bought out by them. No more de-cert talk. They have done won me over. I'm sorry if yall didn't git nuthin' good from them like I did, but too bad. I'm callin' it quits. We can't talk bad about them no more since they finally sent me somethin' to prove they aren't totally useless.
Me and my rat stinky approve of this union, so yall just stop it already!

Why are you paying dues again?

Congratulations! The union is celebrating a huge victory this week. I too would like to congratulate Mark Argraves, Ronald Geuder, Clare L'Armee and David Lillie for a triumph well deserved. These individuals collectively took Raytheon to court and won a class action lawsuit. The union didn't. It was a retired medical benefits dispute that had over 1000 retired RMS workers reeling with health care costs after the company refused to honor a series of labor contracts to cover their health care at no cost until age 65.

The Directing Business Representative, Jimbo Watson said; “they deserve the benefits they fought for”… however no one said that it was these four retired RMS workers who filed their own suit. They spoke for themselves. Look at the text of the newspaper articles, IAM web pages, and all other sources. Nowhere does it say the union filed the suit, or retained the lawyers, or paid for anything.

The union didn’t win this fight for the workers. They didn’t even start this fight. It was the retired workers who fought for them selves. Oh sure, they sent representatives to testify at the trial. A few words attesting that this union contract was effective in the 1990’s. But they made no financial wager, nor battle as they want you to believe. They didn’t pick this fight.

We can learn two lessons from this trial. First, Raytheon, and it's predecessor should not have written the language in the contract if they were not willing to honor it. Second, this union doesn’t fight for you as they claim. They are willing to bask in the glow of your victory after you win a lawsuit and show the world just how great they are. Some protection! So what are you paying dues for again? Workers, think!

Rusty Gear

A friend of our cause has reported to one of our members that Mr. Quintana, IAM933 President wants a meeting with some of our anti-union friends. Maybe he hopes to convince us to stop our campaign. We suppose an exchange of ideas is what he's looking for, maybe a forum to debate.

Well, Mr. Quintana, we've been asking to debate for ten months now! In an e-mail to one of our pages last November, your Secretary Treasurer challenged a debate on line. He never responded after we answered his challenge. Well Mr. Quintana, BRING IT ON! Right here on this web site, for all to see! Tell your members to read what is said about union officials, policies, and IAM933 history. We are confident that after all the facts are discussed, your union members are going to vote your union down.

Union Members, your nightmare with this union is nearly over. They coerced you into following them on a strike that was a lost cause. They've taught good people to hate their fellow co-workers. They've chewed you out for talking to non members. They've asked you to snitch on or fight with non members when they speak freely against union politics. Those conflicting feelings you have about the bad stuff the union does, compared to the promises they made is finally going to get resolved.

You will see how this union has hoodwinked you. They've used you. They've abused you. And they are going to do anything possible to stop this decertification election. They know you are sick and tired of the lies and abuse. They know you'll vote the bums out!

Brother, Can You Spare Some Change?

Union leadership wants us to sit down with them and talk. They want us to join the union and engage in the process of change with them. The funny thing is you don't invite your neighbor over to fix your car unless it's broken. The fact that the union president wants to have discussions with folks who support our cause is evidence enough that this union is broken. When union stewards say, "you'll be sorry when the union is gone" is evidence that they don't believe the union stands a chance against our small band of poorly organized com padres.

How has the union become so out of touch? The single biggest issue that the contingency workers had with the union strike is that they wanted us to join them on the picket lines, but they were too ignorant to figure out that they NEEDED our buy in. They kept the details to card carrying members, or did they? It seems more likely that they went into negotiations without knowing what they wanted to negotiate for. If the Raytheon contract was so important to the IAM nationals shouldn't they have sent in highly trained national negotiators to win their case?

So why should we join the union now? It's officially broke. It doesn't work. It isn't viable any longer. And no one in leadership believes the union stands a chance against even our motley crew. The union hasn't given us a choice of whether we want to be represented by them. It's like when a sleazeball drops a ruffie in your drink and says, "you're gonna like this". That's not consensual sex and this union doesn't believe that they need my permission to get serviced by them. Give me a freakin' break!

If the union was confident that they are doing a good job then they would put it to a vote. Instead of backroom deals and loud stupid intimidation they would act in a professional courteous manner by having discussions with folks who don't agree with them. They would really want to hear from us disenfranchised workers. But they know that if they put it to a vote, the majority of people would vote 'no confidence' in their leadership skills.

How can I prove what I am saying? Simple, wait until the new contract and see if they have the balls to even ask people if they still want the union to represent them. Entire job skills and departments would jump on that chance and say 'count us out'. Then the union could begin to discover why their tired old party lines no longer work.

Why do I hate and despise this union, and won't sit down and talk to their leadership? Because in the middle of a war they choose to make a statement by going on strike and trying to hurt the capability of our soldiers to fight. They are equal in my eyes to al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden. They sit around reading their communist newsletters and trying to figure out what is wrong with America. The answer? They are what is wrong with America. They do not understand the importance of fighting for freedom. They do not understand a representative form of government. That is why they assume power and are unwilling to renege.

And I am not willing to renege my fight. This union must be decertified. The backstabbing and intimidation must stop. The war against management must stop. The whining to H.R. must stop. They wear their offensive tee shirts. What? Offensive shirts? Yes. The union shirts offend me. What they stand for offend me. They are dictators saying that my money comes from them. Unfortunately I have to live with a 33% reduction in pay compared to national rates for my job skill, because they "represent" me. I can't get a RONA or a bonus for working hard, because it isn't fair to everybody! Well, boo hoo! Life isn't fair, and I want to be paid for my work not my union dictated pay rate. Let me prove my worth.

I am a Raytheon stockholder and I want to see my stock worth something. With the apathy stirred up by this union Raytheon stock will continue to struggle. When they ask me to sit down and have a drink with them I'll have to say, "no thanks, brother I'm allergic to ruffies". Instead of reading you commie propaganda, start reading about the founding of THIS nation. Our forefathers struggled against overwhelming odds to give us the best country in the history of the world where leadership is granted as an honor not a right of office. Communist rule by opression, representatives rule by permission. Stop the date rape game and give us all a choice!

Let the T-Shirt Wars Begin

Ahhh, the joys of advertising. Ever since the iam933.net fans began wearing t-shirts bearing witness to the cause, the union has caved to the temptation to put out their own anti-anti-union t-shirts. Thanks for the free advertising guys! They've put on sale "ghostbuster" like t-shirts with a logo that says "We stand Proud, Strong, & United against ALL (insert Ghostbusters 3 logo here) union busters."
Come on Leadership! You guys aren't Proud, United or Strong! The stewards are begging former union members who quit during the strike to come back! Some pride! You've lied to your membership and caused them shame, division, and weakness. Half the membership is ashamed of how poor you guys represented them before the strike, and since then, your stewards have done a crappy job of representing the individuals who needed your "protection". They are torqued off at your dumb ideas and your crass arrogance. The only reason they stay in the union is because they hope the union will get better against all odds.
You have completely failed your charter. You go around blaming others for the problems you have caused. The union leadership is the cause of the red circles and take-aways. The union leadership has steered it's people to cause the company to treat labor as second class workers. The raw obstructionism and sour attitude that foams out of the leaders has spoiled the good will of the salaried ranks. You have taught your members to hate their neighbors. This is just some of the reasons your union deserves to be decertified.
To see the kind of shirts that scare the union leaders, check out these pages. http://www.cafepress.com/iam933 and
http://www.cafepress.com/darkgrounds ! More people at Raytheon are hearing the good news and donning their own t-shirts as our message is spreading faster than dropped hardware rumors during the strike. HR has repeatedly given the green light to wear these shirts. They've been asked after each building wears their iamnot933 attire for the first time. The stewards complain, they call the big-wigs. Every time they get shot-down in flames by HR. Then they pout about the "crossers" for a few days in the corner. All of you who have been wondering if it's OK to wear anti-union t-shirts, word is out; Wear them with Gusto!