I don't know why I am even responding to this. If what you say is true, you're going to make a decent living with good benefits. Maybe you should just be happy. There are a lot of people in this world who would love to trade places with you, (or even with the laborers you work with!) who would appreciate the opportunity to have those benefits.
In order to avoid a rehash, I can pose things in a manner much more suitable to forums guidelines because in reality our differences of opinion aren't all that terrible.
Why would i have to related something that isnt true? You seem to believe I may have an agenda to mislead or that for some reason this comment lacks substance maybe due to the fact details have been omitted....whatever. Well last summer on Interstate 5 right at the washington/oregon state line, I milled 7 miles into Washington state. Its impossible to get a job running a mill in Washington state unless you are an operating engineer. At no time did an operating engineer appear to do the usual checks related to membership but if i went 7 miles from the job to Valentine resurfacing and tried to get a job it would have cost me no less than $800 just to get looked at by them. The contractor we were milling for was Granite. The mill sub, Ortiz & Associates from Sandy, Oregon.
This year back east, it cost me $19.75 to register, and a handshake. No problem. My hourly on I-5 was over $50 and hour. My hourly back east here in Ohio is around $32. A little math and common sense goes along way here if any truth is stated right?
Aight that thing with laborers, i doubt that carry's well either. My groundman was from Japan last summer running a grade control system under development for mills. We never once discussed union membership while on I-5 or any other jobs we did in Washington state last summer. Sometimes i ran the ground, sometimes he operated. He is the best groundman iv worked with possibly ever. No union involvement at all.
You seem to feel that everything involving this topic must relate directly to your particular district and when other opinions like that fellow above from Canada made concerning union personnel is given out, there you are "brother". Seems like you have difficulty accepting a few things here as it is, have you ever been to Canada? How do you know the deal there to offer an opinion?
Then to suggest benefits, im 47, iv run milling machines since 1987. I still fail to see what makes me lucky. Anybody with specialized experience can approach a union and when the bench is empty, the rules seem to be ..... Buttery.... For lack of a better term. Operating engineers are always short of mill operators, crane operators, those are two traditionally short lists. To suggest a laborer doesn't get adequate benefits or the job they do is any less significant....well, i don't know how it is where you live and it isn't fair to guess but i am not aware where the two professions denote each other, in most situations the operator can do the laborers job and the laborer can operate as well. Without each other they would have to do the job by themselves or go back to the hall telling them that isn't in your classification or job description as an engineer. See where this is leading? Oh right im lying. Guess we can't see the humour in it....i can, its hilarious. Lennon was right.
If this is at all offensive to any forum members i will encourage the mods to strike this post as soon as possible. The factual aspects of this topic remain to be of interest to us all and it is my intent to show the related values to people that are not all living in the same area and the differences which cause disagreements on these topics, if we actually sat and thought about it, it relates to the government and how the people elect the government and the laws they pass which dictate union or not. But im sure my brother Buckethead who thinks i have an agenda to lie publicly and im lucky after 20 years of running equipment will not see it like that and go full out to prove his way is the only way. Right on "brother"!
Anybody ever noticed that traditionally in election years the unions are needing additional members because the amounts of government issued contracts is a little higher than usual? Almost like they are spending every cent the budget has so the incoming administration has to aunty up few bucks to the procurement depts. I think that's hilarious too, almost like the system robs itself really....hahaha
