Text 23069, 116 rader
Skriven 2011-11-24 18:24:32 av Roy Witt (1:387/22)
  Kommentar till text 23052 av Nicholas Boel (2405.fidonews)
Ärende: See what I mean...read the bottom line
==============================================
23 Nov 11 19:30, Nicholas Boel wrote to Roy Witt:


 >> The company where I served my apprenticeship was not a unionized shop.

 >> My U.S. Department of Labor, Division of Apprenticeships and Training
 >> certificate was given to me upon graduation from a Federal Goverment
 >> supported Apprenticeship. It is signed by the Secretary of Labor; W.
 >> Willard Wirtz and Hugh Murphy, Administrator of Apprenticeships.

 NB> That's odd, only because you don't see it often.

Actually, it is common practice, especially for 'essential' trades that
support a war effort.

 NB> Non-union usually doesn't support or promote apprenticeships in most
 NB> trades.

They do and for a very good reason; the essential trades are supported by
the Department of Labor and offer incentives to companies who offer an
apprenticeship to their employees. That incentive is government funds to
help defray the costs of education and wages. My education was in a
company provided classroom while later classes were sent to a Junior
College for that. It wasn't around when I was an apprentice.

BTW, I was making more money than a starting apprentice was elegible to
make when I became an apprentice. My wages were frozen until such time as
I made certain grade points along the way. Oh, and when I graduated in
January, 1966, I was given an incentive to move on as everyone in my class
received a 25 cent raise, while I got a measly dime because as they
stated, my attitude. By June of that same year I was working in Seattle
for Boeing.

 NB> You said this was also some time in the 60s, right? Is this the same
 NB> now?

I know that Micro Switch stopped training T&D Makers and Mold Makers and
are using outside (not offshore) sources for their tooling. One or two
that I know of for sure had gotten their training at Micro and eventually
set up shop for themselves. They're now training (don't know about federal
funding) people in their shops to do the work they used to do for Micro as
an employee. Besides myself, I know a friend of mine who was in my class
that has a shop of his own in Missouri, retiring about the same time I
did, but had moved his shop from the area around Micro, doing their work
for them. Another close friend spent a lot of time working for Chrysler at
their plant in Belvidere, IL.. We speak often as he and I spent 2 solid
years, 2 hours per day together in a high school vocational machine shop
before going to work for Micro, although he was in the T&D class ahead of
mine.

 NB> If it is, that's quite respectable.

There are T&D shops all over the midwest from Minnesota to Michigan and
Ohio as far south as Memphis and Atlanta. All offering training. Not much
in town here, although there is one CNC shop that I've consulted for since
moving here. He and I became buds because I own a CNC mill similar to his
and he didn't know how to program it. I got it running for him when he had
a deadline to get the job done and that was the only machine that was
capable of reaching to the ends of it's travel. He ran it, I programmed it
and I got $50/hr to do so. Not too shabby for a max $15/hr wage in these
parts of Texas. I've turned down work from those cheap guys.

 NB> BTW: Did you pull that sheet of paper out to read that, or was it
 NB> really from memory?

8^) I remembered that it's framed and mounted on the wall behind me and
read that info off of it. I do however, remember H. Willard Wirtz as the
Secretary of Labor back in the day.

 NB> I have my certificate packed away somewhere safe, and I don't
 NB> remember who it's all signed by. :)

Mine is mounted along side the certificate given to me by the
Apprenticeship guru at Micro, most of whom I remember who signed it;
including the VP of the company.

 >> No they're not...unions are unions with the same mindset and ideas.

 NB> In that sense, yes. I'm talking more about fighting for some
 NB> ridiculous pay so you can sit on your ass, drink coffee, and read the
 NB> paper (in the GM and gov't worker sense).

LOL! You don't have to be a union member to do that, but it helps. I have
a 45yo friend here who works in a non-union shop (custom wire cable
manufacturer) where nothing gets done because the employees are busy
shootin' the bull, smokin' tobacco and weed and drinking coffee all day
long. They'd be working or out the door if I was their boss.

 NB> When production goes down, the company loses money, but the employees
 NB> still get paid. Our trade is nothing like that.

That's the scenario above, people come in on weekends and do the same
thing they did all week. That and they have one person stick around and
everyone else goes home, while the person who stays punches their time
cards when he goes home.

 >>  NB> You'll probably pay about the same for it, though.

 >> Probably not. I can also weld.

 NB> That said, the company I'm working for beats out non-union
 NB> contractors on just about every job we get. So why are they
 NB> (non-union) charging so much when they're employees are paid almost
 NB> half the amount?

Because they lied about who was going to be working that job and paying
them less.


                R\%/itt


  ... Only 5% of all humans have the privilege to live in America.

--- Twit(t) Filter v2.1 (C) 2000-10
 * Origin: SATX Alamo Area Net * South * Texas, USA * (1:387/22)