D #5
D,
We only just cyber-met. But you seem to me to be a rational, sensible correspondent. Please pardon me if I'm projecting my own ill-informed view, but I have the impression it's rather hopeless, "take it or leave it", or as you phrase it "their way or the highway". I gather for now for you it's "take it". You may wish to review the practicality of "leave it", aka a career change.
Or perhaps a promotion to management? Probably seems like a Devil's pact at this point. A nepotism barrier?
Not clear to me: whether your primary interest in introducing this topic is for you alone, personal. Or whether you'd intended it as a broader topic for your entire labor union. Those are two different issues, with differing solutions.
I'm not suggesting you become a mason. But a decade ago I saw a TV segment where masons, brick layers were in such short supply a worker could apply, receive training at company expense, and go right from training into construction. For me part of the problem with that is travel. Some consider travel a plus. I cite masonry not as a solution, but as an example. If the unemployment stats are correct, there may be options you didn't know were there. I've read a successful fast food restaurant manager can earn $75K / year.
I'm not trying to trap you in a kitchen. I just checked this site:
https://jobs.tacobell.com/
At that site looks like the opportunities are categorized by location. I don't mean to suggest your two options are Carbon, or burritos. But spending 15 minutes at Internet sites like that may help you get a feel for the broader labor market, give you a more realistic (updated) idea of what is reasonable.
Other probably useless thoughts:
- I wonder if the labor union has been co-opted by management. I've never worked a union shop. I don't know if it's easy, or even possible to fire your union leadership. But if there's any silver lining in this very dark cloud it may be that given enough time to restore pro-labor principles to the labor union you may be able to begin to turn it around. That's not a panacea.
- If there is a labor strike, is there a set of realistic goal, achievable goals that may be within realistic reach? Are you stuck with whatever your possibly crooked union says?
- Does the union have legal council? Either way that might be more a problem than solution. I'm wondering about the utility of, OUTside union or company control, whether the workers could get a lawyer trusted to honestly and competently represent labor in this matter, particularly in the upcoming contract negotiations.