People question why I am a Union member and yet I am still a registered Republican that feels equally passionate about my gun ownership rights. I have always been about helping someone with less than myself or fighting for the person that can't or just won't. But I was blinded by the way my Dad dealt with a corrupt Teamsters Union when I was a kid and it put me off for a while and left me with a bad taste.
I was in the roofing trade as a young man and I was making decent money because I was being paid for my performance. I busted my ass and got raises while others were lazy and sloppy and didn't care about their work. I was fine with what I made and working 14 hour days to get it. For a while.
This was the mid 80s and the alcohol made 14 hour days 7 days a week bearable. Plus I was putting my stepson thru private school and the money was coming in and I liked it. For a while.
Then, one day in 1988, I joined a crew with an 18 year old kid just out of school. Day 2 on the job for him. We were laying out the rubber and putting the sheet in place. I was across from him as we spread the roll out and when I looked over, he was gone. The boy fell 2 stories thru the factory roof via a 3ft by 3ft opening and hit the floor.
Dead.
There was no railing to bump into, not even CAUTION tape to mark the holes. We were off the job the rest of the day but were back 2 days later like nothing ever happened. I had never even heard of a fine from OSHA for this tragedy.
The roof was haunted by this kid and I didn't do anything
to keep him from being on a roof that wasn't even safe with nothing
marking the holes where the vent stacks and AC units were. (those big
metal deals behind me to the right) I went back to repair leaks on that roof many times and what happened
never left me. It seemed funny, I was the ONLY guy to ever go back there after the job was finished. That was a wake up call, I suppose.
We will fast forward after working at a power plant with IBEW making scale pay as a temp. I started to see what brotherhood was. Another jump put me at CellularOne, working on cellphones and putting them into cars, trucks, limos and fire trucks. I was very good and my star was on the rise and so was my pay, without a Union. I started a new department and created a job title and the money was good. Then when my wife died, I became a real asshole and forgot about what was right. So when IBEW came to organize my AT&T call center, I was the key to keeping them out. Actually, I was a management shill. THEY provided me with posters and buttons to lead the way as the voice to keep things as they were. I flipped the organizers off everyday when I left and cursed at them when they tried to talk to me. IBEW packed up their show and left. Some fellow reps decided to try again with CWA. Things started out the same as the first, failed organizing attempt....until the lead organizer asked to speak with me.
She had a list of all employees that were not management and would fall under a bargained contract. She asked me to show her where my name was since she only knew me as Hack. My name was not to be found. I was being played by management and once the CWA got into the building, I was going to be dumped. Cingular (they changed names more than I changed mailing addresses) was an organized company and the management knew it and when I told them that I wanted no further contact from them, they had no further use for me. I then woke up and realized that they were going to dump all of my hard work after using me. I immediately jumped on board and got CWA established and kept my job. I also got elected as Chief Steward, ran unopposed thru 3 elections and fought for my brothers and sisters and even created new job titles to keep us all employed.
I was invited to speak in Boston to tell my story. I was in Washington, DC prepared to testify before Congress to tell my story. I went on a cable access TV show with the AFL-CIO to tell my story. This company showed their true colors and I fought back. How many companies do this to their people and THIS is not the same result. Now I'm told by what is called my replacement that the reason I needed to be removed from office is because "I have nothing but contempt for the company". No shit?! These people are the enemy and should be treated as such. I will stand beside my brothers and sisters, no matter the state or company, and march with them and stand by them in support. Just as I always have.
