As a Meat Manager/Chief Journeyman I was management but also a union member. After my first letter threatening me with termination from the union I knew the way to go.  I don't know anyone terminated for this but I do know that some of my peers who worked off the clock in an attempt to please management were constantly mis-treated and abused by management. I did not  work off the clock and did not have this problem. Management did not like me but they respected me and did not abuse me because they knew  it would be a lose/lose for them. My motto was "Pay me to play me". Worked well.  Lesson for others.

Not me. Thats not going to get you a raise, promotion or even respect.

Burgermeister wrote:

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fdarn wrote:

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Not me. Thats not going to get you a raise, promotion or even respect.

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It won't get you a raise or respect. That's for sure. But it could get you a promotion in some cases. Oh, and BTW, I don't want a promotion and never have wanted one. If I was that ambitious, I'd be in a better trade.

 

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 From my experience its the fastest way to become a doormat for management. I am sure thats not so in your case though.  

I followed what my meat supervisor told me: "Do whatcha gotta do, bite the bullet, head down and hands moving and mouth shut...."

I worked many hours off the clock in union shops. One secret? I would always vie for becoming Union Steward. Who are employees going to complain to? Yup.... the Union Steward!

The union was a good thing. but it protected the poor worker and kept the ambitious worker from getting ahead. All management wanted was results, not excuses, and I gave them results and got promotions into management. "On the other side...", in management, many many times I regretted my decision to follow that path. I thought I was going up into a more professional environment. Totally backwards, it was like going from high school back into grade school! But, I persevered, and through upper management mismanagement of the company, it went bankrupt. From 7 districts to 3 districts; I was a district meat/deli/bakery management in one of them. Most all got fired; I was offered a position as meat manager in a store I'd just previously fired the meat manager for cooking the books (falsifying inventory results to cover large theft losses by himself) and got to enter back into the Union.

But, this time, re-entering into a union shop, I did not work 1 minute off the clock. I didn't have anywhere upward to go, been there, done that. I worked for many years as a meat manager in different shops until a back injury sidelined my meat cutting career and had to switch trades. I found out what you're reaching for has as many bad consequences as good.

I agree that in some cases unions protect dead weight and hold good people back but I found that there were some ways I could handle that such as rigorous application of progressive discipline with comprehensive documentation, and also giving the dead weight assignments where they could hurt my department the least.

If you had been my shop steward you would have had a different experience, I assure you.  If you did not do your job I would have been on the phone to a business representative and if I did not get satisfaction the president of our local next.

In one of the  cases where this happened I took it all the way to the U.S. Attorney in Philadelphia, copying the president of our local, and the VP of HR of my employer and included over a year's worth of thorough documentation.  The charge I made was malfeasance in office by our union officials for not enforcing the contract. I really stirred it up and received apologies from everyone and the situation was corrected immediately and never happened again.

BTW during the 28 years I was in the trade, every president of our local plus a  few other officials finished their careers in federal prison.

Pops6927 wrote:

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I followed what my meat supervisor told me: "Do whatcha gotta do, bite the bullet, head down and hands moving and mouth shut...."

I worked many hours off the clock in union shops. One secret? I would always vie for becoming Union Steward. Who are employees going to complain to? Yup.... the Union Steward!

The union was a good thing. but it protected the poor worker and kept the ambitious worker from getting ahead. All management wanted was results, not excuses, and I gave them results and got promotions into management. "On the other side...", in management, many many times I regretted my decision to follow that path. I thought I was going up into a more professional environment. Totally backwards, it was like going from high school back into grade school! But, I persevered, and through upper management mismanagement of the company, it went bankrupt. From 7 districts to 3 districts; I was a district meat/deli/bakery management in one of them. Most all got fired; I was offered a position as meat manager in a store I'd just previously fired the meat manager for cooking the books (falsifying inventory results to cover large theft losses by himself) and got to enter back into the Union.

But, this time, re-entering into a union shop, I did not work 1 minute off the clock. I didn't have anywhere upward to go, been there, done that. I worked for many years as a meat manager in different shops until a back injury sidelined my meat cutting career and had to switch trades. I found out what you're reaching for has as many bad consequences as good.

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I see nothing wrong with staying a few minutes for free to finish something such as boning the head loin that I mentioned in an earlier post. We don't have a time clock at my store. We write on a clipboard and sign it every day. 

If you're coming in an hour early every day and skipping lunch every day, then that's not good. But a little now and then is OK in my opinion. I have done lots of free time over the years. I have nothing to show for it, except for some bitterness inside me. Too bad there isn't a bonus now and then. 

When I work my days off at other stores, they do have time clocks. While there, I'm always very aware of the time and when I must and must not punch in/out. I never start any project that may make me punch out late. I'll go play with the counter rather than open a bag of meat that I might not be able to finish 100% By 100, I mean clean up all my trim and clean the table, saw, grinder, whatever. This hurts production, but so what? I'm always more than ready to punch out exactly on time. I'm often ready to leave 3-5 minutes early. Tools washed, shoes changed, etc. I'll stand by the clock and wait wait wait until the exact moment and then punch out. 

When I was in the trade, before I was a meat manager, the second man, who ran the cutting room, would order you off the block 5 minutes prior to end of shift as you were required to get 5 minutes of company time to wash up.