Interview With Union Pipeline Protestors

Labor costs, material costs, equipment costs, unseen costs, insurance costs.....all add up on a large project like this. To do a project like this and stay within the money allocated, cheaper ways to do things are required.

Look, I was raised in a union household with my grandfather working at Armco as a four-high temper mill roller for 46 years. Heard it all from the stories grandpa use to tell about management and non-union folks and how bad they were at times. Believed it for years. Why would the greatest man who ever lived IMO tell me so if it weren't true?

Problem is, the original intent of the unions were a voice and representation against unfair management practices in the workplace. That made sense. It still is needed in some circumstances depending on how lousy the company and their policies are. Workers just leave for another job rather than tolerate it. Some companies are nothing but revolving door places not caring whether you stay or go. To hell with them.

Since those old days, with the union's original intent, the workplace and the laws have changed. The worker has no voice in the workplace anymore. It is all the owners and their management's "my way or the highway" now. Forget loyalty. Gone with the wind decades ago. My experiences show the worker influence in the workplace started going downhill in the 80's and has gotten progressively worse to this day. The current union folks have just about priced themselves right out of their jobs as their high cost demands just can't be met anymore. Cheaper outsourcing has trumped the cards the unions use to hold at the bargaining table. Union folks just haven't caught up with that concept as yet. It's all about supporting the saving of money and to do work as cheaply as possible. It no longer follows the idea of supporting the union's higher wages or retaining union jobs. Sad but a current reality.   

While on the subject of worker/manager/owner, a much divided workplace awaits the new generation. They will never know what it was like to actually have a trust between worker and supervisor and worker and upper management. Gone forever. There was a time when the manager would walk out among the workers and actually stop and chat asking about the worker's family, even remembering their names. That was back in the 50's and 60's. Since then, the old workplace has gotten colder and more callous. Worker and manager have become adversaries in most larger companies. There might be some instance where one might find a decent worker/manager relationship in much smaller companies now but the cookie-cutter manager of today doesn't take an interest in the subordinates that actually can make or break how they look to their upper manager bosses. The days of a manager treating the people right because they know if the people trust them, they will usually bend over backwards in supporting them, making them look good and enhancing their upward mobility and career is over. The worker, of course, never had a career to begin with. They know that. It's just a paycheck to most.

I have two and a half more years to work and I'll retire with 51 years in with eight different companies. Seen it all in management styles and company culture. Most not worth remembering in retirement. Glad it will soon be over. I feel sorry for the young ones just starting out for they are walking into a working world that could care less about them and they will never be valued......and they don't even know it yet.