I'm a union member, but not by choice. I had to join so I could participate in peer conferences, and other organizations. You don't know how badly that sticks in my craw, especially since I'm damn near on the job 24x7, at work, and at home, on the job via VPN. Who do you think they call at 11pm, when they can't remember their e-mail passwords, or logins?
Nope, the Union hasn't done squat for me, except make me pay $175 a year in dues, to be able to go to meetings, that I'm required to be at anyway...
I hear ya.
I used to support a large corporation's network. Wake up at 2am because something is making noise in the living room...pager on Vibrate. I made a decision about 10 years ago that 24/7 support wasn't something I'd ever do again when I changed jobs. When that company laid off my division, I job shopped and turned down a few offers that paid very well just because of the 24/7 support thing.
Back then, the best I could do from home was telnet in but 99% of the problems required me to be at the console...about a 45 minute drive into NYC. Man, thinking back on it, that job sucked. heh.
The high court found that 79 percent of Mr. Beck's union fees were funding non-representational activities (chiefly political) instead of the three core functions of the union: collective bargaining, contract administration or grievance adjustment.SourceUnions are required to notify all members, at least annually, of the percentage of funds spent in the last accounting year for non-representational activities. Upon request from a member, a union must provide a breakdown of all representational and non-representational expenditures.
The high court ordered that Mr. Beck's fees expended on non-representational activities be refunded.