\u201cUNION SCHMUNION<\/u><\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n Act 1<\/strong>: The day after election day.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Opens on a \u201cunion\u201d worker in his car on his way to work hearing the election results.<\/em><\/p>\n Announcer:\u00a0<\/em>Here are the results of yesterday\u2019s election:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ted Cruz won the race for the White House by a slim margin, defeating Bernie Sanders by less than 5,000 votes in Missouri which was a huge battleground state.\u00a0 In fact, Missouri was the determining factor in the Presidential race.\u00a0 At the state level, Peter Kinder squeaked out a win to take the Governor\u2019s mansion.\u00a0 Election officials estimate about a 46% turnout of registered voters in Missouri.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Worker: on cell phone, calling wife.<\/em><\/p>\n Hi babe.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>I just heard on the news that Cruz won the election.\u00a0\u00a0 I guess there are a lot of people who are pro-marriage after all.\u00a0 Kinder is the new Governor.\u00a0 Maybe now they can get by this \u201cbi-partisan crap\u201d and get some real work done!<\/p>\n Wife:\u00a0<\/em>So you managed to get to the polls yesterday after work?<\/p>\n Worker:\u00a0<\/em>Oh hell no! My vote don\u2019t count anyway, the politicians are just going to do what they want to no matter how many people vote.\u00a0 The shop steward tried to tell us that since we have about 4,000 members and if you take into account the spouses and grown children that we could have a major effect on the election results. What the politicians do don\u2019t really affect me anyway.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wife:\u00a0<\/em>Wasn\u2019t your shop steward saying something about this becoming a \u201cright-to-work\u201d state if the candidates the union didn’t endorse got in power?<\/em><\/p>\n Worker:\u00a0<\/em>Oh, the union doesn\u2019t know what they\u2019re talking about.\u00a0 The state can\u2019t do that.\u00a0 Oh, by the way I\u2019m going to be a little late tonight.\u00a0 I \u2018m going to stop off at Sam\u2019s Club and stock up on beer and snacks for the game this weekend.<\/p>\n Wife:\u00a0<\/em>OK, I have to go to Wal-Mart later to get some pop-tarts and cereal.\u00a0 I wish they had more grocery items, their prices are so cheap!<\/p>\n Worker:\u00a0<\/em>I know what you mean.\u00a0 I love saving money!<\/p>\n Wife:\u00a0<\/em>By the way, I have to take the Toyota in for another recall.<\/em><\/p>\n Worker:\u00a0<\/em>OK, I\u2019ll leave you the Mazda tomorrow and get a ride in with Gary.\u00a0 See ya tonight.\u00a0 I love you!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wife:\u00a0<\/em>I love you too!<\/p>\n Act 2<\/em><\/strong>:<\/em><\/p>\n A few months later.<\/em><\/p>\n Worker is in his car and the news is on:<\/em><\/p>\n Announcer:\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Today in the Missouri House, legislation passed to make the \u201cunion security clause\u201d illegal.\u00a0 The bill will be sent to the Senate tomorrow where it is expected to easily pass and will be presented to the Governor next week.\u00a0 If this measure passes, workers will be able to avoid paying for the cost of their union representation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Worker calls wife on cell phone:\u00a0<\/em>Hey honey, they just said on the radio that the house passed a bill to make it a choice to pay the union.<\/p>\n Wife: Wasn\u2019t\u00a0<\/em>that what your shop steward was talking about with the \u201cright-to-work\u201d thing?<\/p>\n Worker:\u00a0<\/em>I don\u2019t know.\u00a0 She said something about that if this legislation passed we wouldn\u2019t have to pay dues anymore which sounds good to me! The union is always in my pocket.\u00a0 Wish we could get this deal with the Homeowners Association!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wife:\u00a0<\/em>If you don\u2019t pay dues what would happen?\u00a0 You have been written up a few times, could the company fire you?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Worker:\u00a0<\/em>Heck no, if I got in trouble they would still have to represent me!\u00a0 I just wouldn\u2019t have to pay dues anymore.\u00a0 What a bargain!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Act 3<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Worker in car, listening to the news.<\/em><\/p>\n Announcer:\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>The legislation passed by the House and Senate giving workers the choice to join a union or just receive services for free was signed into law today by Governor Kinder.\u00a0 This measure will make workplaces \u201copen shops\u201d meaning that workers will no longer have to pay for the cost of their representation through union dues.\u00a0 Governor Kinder says that this law will add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the economy that would have been tied up in dues money.<\/p>\n Worker on cell phone with wife:\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Hey babe, that law about collecting dues passed.\u00a0 I\u2019m not going to pay anymore!\u00a0 I just gave myself a $28.00 a month raise!\u00a0 Order Dominoes Pizza tonight baby, we\u2019re eating out!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wife:<\/em>\u00a0Has anyone else talked about not paying dues?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Worker<\/em>: Oh, heck yeah!\u00a0 The shop steward was making her rounds again today trying to convince everyone that the amount of protection provided by the small amount of dues paid was a bargain!\u00a0 What a moron!\u00a0 She must be getting a kick-back from the hall or something.\u00a0 If you can get something free, why the heck would you pay for it?\u00a0 The only thing I would be giving up is the right to attend meetings and vote on contracts and our contracts are crap anyway.\u00a0 The only time I attend meetings is when we have a contract coming up.\u00a0 About half the guys at work are planning on not paying dues anymore.\u00a0 Most of us joined the union because we had to.\u00a0 Heck the amount of money I\u2019ll be saving by not paying dues means we can get cheese sticks with our pizza every week!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wife<\/em>: You\u2019re sure that you will still be OK if you get into trouble?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Worker<\/em>:\u00a0 Yeah, that\u2019s the beautiful part of this whole set-up.\u00a0 Legally, the union still has to represent anyone who gets into trouble.\u00a0 We just don\u2019t have to pay dues anymore.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wife<\/em>:\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that going to make the union weaker?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Worker<\/em>:\u00a0 Oh, please!\u00a0 What do those guys do all day anyway?\u00a0 The union never did anything for me.\u00a0 The shop steward was in the room when they wrote me up for being late a couple of times.\u00a0 Big deal!\u00a0 Since we got the new alarm clock from Wal-Mart that hasn\u2019t been a problem, I go in and do my job and they pretty much leave me alone.\u00a0 As long as you don\u2019t make waves, who needs the union?\u00a0 It\u2019s not like our store owners are monsters or anything.\u00a0 They\u2019re reasonable people.\u00a0 All things considered they treat us pretty good, as long as we do our part.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wife<\/em>:\u00a0 OK, it sounds like a good deal.\u00a0 I\u2019ll see you tonight.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ACT 4<\/strong>:\u00a0 Fast forward 18 months.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Worker on cell phone<\/em>:\u00a0 Hey babe, I\u2019ll be late tonight, the owners have called a special \u201cmandatory meeting\u201d.\u00a0 Oh well, I can use a little overtime.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wife<\/em>:\u00a0 Any idea what It\u2019s about?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Worker<\/em>:\u00a0 Not really they just said something about some changes.\u00a0 Maybe we are going to get a raise!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wife<\/em>:\u00a0 That would be nice, let me know what happens.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Worker<\/em>:\u00a0 OK, I\u2019ll call when we get out of the meeting.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After the meeting,<\/strong><\/p>\n Worker on cell phone<\/em>:\u00a0 You are not going to believe this!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wife<\/em>:\u00a0 What happened?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Worker<\/em>:\u00a0 The company says that starting next week our new pay scale will be topped out at $8.00 per hour!\u00a0 And they aren\u2019t going to pay any part of our health care anymore!\u00a0 If we want insurance it is going to cost us $250.00 a month just for me, you and the kids will be another $350.00 per month!\u00a0 They said that they were \u201cproud\u201d to be able to offer such a good deal for coverage since we have so many employees in our group!\u00a0 They are also capping vacation time to a maximum of two weeks no matter how many years you have, and the only holiday they are going to close is Christmas Day!\u00a0 Can you believe this stuff?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wife<\/em>:\u00a0 Oh my gosh, what does the union say about all this?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Worker:<\/em>\u00a0 We asked about that.\u00a0 Since the shop steward got a new job six months ago, nobody has kept up with what was going on over there.\u00a0 Get this, since 70% of the members decided not to pay dues anymore the damn union closed their doors!\u00a0 Our contract is now void and the company lawyer said they can legally do all this stuff.\u00a0 The company says that a new Wal-Mart SuperCener is going to be built on the lot where the union hall is now, so these changes are necessary to be competitive.\u00a0 The company said if we didn\u2019t like the new terms we knew where the door was but be sure it doesn\u2019t hit us in the back when we leave since an injury that happens on company property doesn\u2019t mean it is automatically work-comp!\u00a0 They also said that the new Wal-Mart was going to be paying $7.50 an hour, but they recognized how valuable our experience is to the company so they are going to pay us $8.00!\u00a0\u00a0WHAT THE HECK ARE WE GOING TO DO?!!!!!<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n ( graphic courtesy of clipart.com)<\/p>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This presentation was written from the perspective of a UFCW (United Food and Commercial Worker) and brought to my attention many years ago.\u00a0 While it focuses on the dangers of Right-to-Work for less it could be applied to many other labor issues.\u00a0 Please enjoy this edition of Union Schmunion! \u201cUNION SCHMUNION\u201d Act 1: The day 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