That's a tougher question. I was part of union, and I was required to join
for a summer job. There were dues, but the benefits and the pay were pretty
good, considering I was in high school and had minimal experience. I had an
accident at work while driving a forklift... damaged a lot of expensive
equipment through no fault of my own except inexperience. If I had not been
a member of the union, I would have been fired for sure. I was slightly
injured and had to take off a couple of weeks. The salaried supervisor asked
me one time what happened. The union steward was present, and he stopped him
when he started to get mean (I'm sure his job was on the line). I was given
an opportunity to make a statement, and briefly mentioned my lack of
experience. When I returned to work, the supervisor found someone to train
me, so that it wouldn't happen again.

In another situation, I was a staff employee in a union shop (defense
contractor). The union was pretty strict about members not doing anything
beyond their job description, but tended to look the other way if you had a
good relationship with the employee/staff member. We had a situation of
another supervisor telling his subordinates (me included) that we shouldn't
fraternize with union people... exchange pleasantries and the like... I
think he was on a power trip. When this became obvious to a union member, he
basically walked off the job along with the other members in the shop until
the "rule" was rescinded.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Maxprop" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Capt. JG" wrote in message
...
I think compulsary dues are wrong-minded. I don't know enough about
right-to-work laws to comment.

How about compulsory membership? I was fired from a summer job because I
refused to join the union in a union shop. The monthly dues amounted to
about half my meager pay. I couldn't afford it.

Max