Union

So yeah: the public works department in my town is unionizing. Part of the reason is because employees have been expected to work weekends as part of their regular schedule for the past year or so.

Excuuuuse the fuck outta me--WHAT?

I never have like most of those people . . . ok, for the most part, they are guys, so I've never really like those GUYS . . . and this certainly doesn't endear them to me especially since their base pay is $13/hour (according to the article in the notoriously-error-prone local paper). We have people working at the library for under $10/hour. On weekends. And--HORROR of HORRORS!!--evenings.

I have no issue with unions, except in this case where, if they had been paying attention, these guys would be aware of the reasoning for the decisions the city has been making. I don't agree 100% with all of the decisions the city has made, but unionizing so you can get a raise (that the city doesn't have money for) or because you, poor baby, have to work rotational Saturday or Sundays in the current economy is just ridiculous.

The city has bent over backwards to keep as many of them on the books as possible by finding work for them to do in various city buildings (cleaning windows, mowing lawns, painting, shoveling snow, etc.), and these guys want not only their cushy 9-4:30 hours but also all the positions to continue to be fully staffed. So, basically, if they get their way, the rest of the city employees will have to bear the brunt of their greed, since the non-existent money for raises and overtime pay for them will have to come out of other city department budgets.

There are a few of these guys doing some work in the library next week. I will be hard-pressed to be civil to them. The city shoulda just fired 1/3 of them last year.