I have a question about unions

I know I have the winning ticket in tonight's Powerball. After I get my money, I want to help improve America by putting some people to work.

If I wanted to start a unionized company (in a state without a Right to Get Fired law, of course), what would be the procedure? Starting the company first, of course, and then what? Would I have to make my employees work twenty hour days at mill for tuppence a month until they finally got pissed and held a union election, which of course I would have to contest for the next nine months because I am an evil ogre who makes Scrooge look good, or could I just figure out what was the most appropriate union for my workers and call them in before hiring anyone in the first place?

The employees are the ones that apply to the Union of choice to sign up. It then takes a vote by the employees to actually join the Union and the action would proceed from there. The Union Reps. would direct the employees on how to proceed if there is a favorable sign up and vote to join.

Gotcha.

you need and tell them how many you want hire.

Kidding, kidding :)

I can think of about nine really good industries I could do well with if I only had some seed money and I wasn't living in this town.

not even care about forming/joining a Union. It's companies like Walmart, Target, and many others that treat their employee's like shit that really need to be organized.

Look at a company like Costco, they treat their employees very well, pay them well and there is no talk about organizing that I am aware of.

They are mostly Teamsters. I believe that the CEO's father was a teamster and he's stated in the past that this helped shape his view on treating employees well.

I guess my point with Costco is, (with this CEO's mind set) the need to sign a Union card is not as critical as it would be with a company like Walmart, Sears, or some of the other shit ass companies.

...life as a Costco employee is miles apart from life as a Walmart "associate". I do think that while many people organize because they're unhappy with working conditions, having a seat at the bargaining table is important no matter how much you love your job. One of labor's big problems now is that too many folks see us as a complaint department rather than a proactive way to improve or sustain jobs that might (or might not) be good already!

was accurate in 2003.

Good to hear, thanks for the updated info. Teamsters?

Unions USUALLY have apprenticeship programs and other training arrangements. By the time the new hire got through that, was a full-fledged card-carrying member and went to the production area, you KNEW he knew how to do his job. Most modern companies don't believe in training. In Fayetteville we have a company that makes raw polyester. They require you to have two years experience in the specific process they run--which is real convenient since there are two plants in North Carolina that make raw polyester, they share a parking lot, and the other one doesn't use their process.

This has to stop. The only way it's GOING to stop is if some people go out of their way to open some unionized companies.

It depends.

If you were to start a company in which workers perform a trade, say an electrical or a plumbing company, you could immediately call the trade union in question and sign on as a signatory contractor. In turn, the union would supply you with workers who have been through their training program/apprenticeship and you would agree to pay union wages and abide by the contract.

If you start a different sort of company, manufacturing or service sector for example, then you could call a union and offer them a neutrality agreement, stating that you will not interfere with your workers right to organize, and you could offer organizers access to your break rooms, etc... Organizers will assist workers in forming an organizing committee and start having folks fill out authorization cards, stating that they want to be represented. You could then agree to recognize the union when the majority of workers sign cards, this is called "card check", and is a huge threat to republicans and anti-union types because workers can't be subjected to threats and lies as easily.

There are actually many companies that agree to neutrality and card check, the largest examples being UPS and AT&T, the largest employer of union labor in the country. I wish more employers realized that there are actually benefits to having a stable, experienced, well paid workforce.

Good luck in the lottery!

as Fred Meyers did before opening warehouse operation in Washington state.

and ask them to come in and organize your shop. It's actually been done that way before by bosses who realize shop stewards can actually take some of the employee bullshit off their shoulders.