My stomach is in knots right now

[daughtersrus]

My DH is at the union office right now to vote on their contract. The current one expires 8-1-09. DH is an auto tech at a dealer. Of course, the Dealers Association doesn't want to give them anything but is wanting the employees to take all of the concessions. They first proposal was horrible and since then the two sides have been working with an arbitrator. The shop have all been busy and that is what is keeping these dealers in the black. They are making a lot of money in their service departments. Their shop made more money last month than they have in any of the months for the last 5 years.

No matter if they vote to strike or not, I know that DH is going to come home unhappy. I made him promise before he left not to come home and take his frustration out on us and ruin the beautiful day. He smiled at me and said that he wouldn't.

[ncbyrne]

I know exactly how you feel! My DH retired this year and the worry of his job going away is no longer an issue.....at long last! He was a service manager for a marine diesel engine company for a very long time. Every three years they negotiated a new contract and every time it was a nightmare to get thru. Hang in there....

[Melynny]

I know it is frustrating! I was told a month ago, that there were going to be 900 people cut from our company and that they were specificatlly looking at my type of job. I have been with this company for 24 years. Here's the kicker, They are not going to tell me if I have a job for another 4 weeks. I have to wait until the end of August. It's terrible, the waiting, the wondering. Just remember, that no matter what happens, you will still have each other, you both have skills that are valuable and there is always a way to make ends meet.

We have already began living as if I have lost my job, making plans, cutting non essentials...it's not fun, but now it's almost became second nature. This morning I made an intersing soup in the crock pot out of a bag of mixed beans, ham and other items I already had in the pantry. The recipe called for celery.. I had none ( and the "game is no going to the store") so I used a can of cream of celery soup in place of one can of broth... So it may be terrible, BUT , we will have at least one meal out of food that was just sitting in the pantry. Or it may turn out to be delicious and I'll have lunches at work this week. Good luck and let us know what happens,

[EvanMaddieMouse]

My DH worked for an auto supplier for over 10 years. The CEO decided he could make much more money if he cut their total wage and benefits by about 70%. Of course they went on strike, came back to about a 50% cut. Then the CEO decided he'd make even more money by just moving the whole operation to Mexico.

Luckily, I have a career where I can work as much as I like. However, our long term plan was that I would not work full time until our youngest was in first grade (still 2 years away).. I have to work full time now by default, and I hate not being here with her. At least we're getting bills paid and we all have health insurance again, but it sucks. It really, really sucks. My advice to your DH is to start sending resumes, start fishing for other opportunities, or if you need to go back to school to obtain or finish a degree, do it now. You want to make sure you're covered in the event his boss is as big of an a-hole as my DH's ex-boss!

[eyor44]

A friend just had his salary cut by 5% and we are facing salary cuts at my office. Our budget has been significantly cut for next year. Kicker is the salary cuts don't effect the people who are making the decisions to do it. We are trying to be grateful that they are trying to avoid layoffs.

[melanie18]

Been there, done that. DH has worked at the same care dealer for almost 25 years. He does auto body. The union promised them the world and rarely delivered on it. A few years ago, they got tired of hearing their promises and voted the Teamsters union out! This was after being on strike for several months and hearing the unions empty promises. Yes, we pay more for medical benefits now, but at least we're not paying the union to do nothing.

I hope everything turns out the way he wants it!

[Took]

Complete sympathy here. DH and I are BOTH in union jobs (teaching) and both were in contract negotiation years. My contract was signed last March w/ no fuss. DH's contract is still in negotiations and may be well into the school year (typical in his district, so no real worry yet). It's a difficult situation. Hope things go as well as possible. GOod luck!

Took

[chyam]

I honestly think that some companies are taking advantage of the situations, knowing full well that jobs are hard to come by....we were told this week we will not get raises, although the company made 16 million over the projected. It's always the little guys, the big guys still get their bonuses and their outings, and the rest of us have to sit there and take the spoils, holding our breaths because we all know how difficult it is out there.
I thank my lucky stars each and everyday that I have a job, and just try to do the best I can since there are many out there that are really in dire straits.

[daughtersrus]

Well, they signed. There's still the chance because they changed the wording to include that if the owner of the dealer decides not to cover items that they have in the past (like uniforms, gloves, supplies...) as a shop, they can vote to strike. With a shop of 15 or so techs it's doubtful that it would have an impact so I doubt that this will ever happen at his shop. Now for some of the other super-stores, it could be an issue. The techs still have to provide all of their own tools with the exception of a few specialized tools that the shop has to buy.

The dealers did back down and are not asking for pay cuts but they're also not getting any raises for the next 3 years. The 4th year, they get a big 75 cent/hour raise! The sad thing is that the labor rate at his dealer is well over $100/hour and increases every few months. The customers will continue to pay more.

They also took away the New Years Eve holiday but did give them an extra floating day. They also added additional work that can be done by semi-skilled and apprentices so that takes pay work away from the journeymen.

There's other details about training and certification but I really don't understand the details.

Of course, DH isn't thrilled but I for one and am very happy that he still has a job.

[chyam]

That is great....It is getting tough all over, we lost our New Years Eve holiday last year, and also 4th of July, but like I said earlier, it's good to have a job and to me health care, I can kinda squeek by with other things.

[Melynny]

Glad things turned out ok! My bean soup was not delicouis.. but it is edible . and we have lots of it. we will be eating this stuff all week, ugh.

[eyor44]

Op
Sorry it didn't turn out as he wanted, but you are right. At least they didn't take money away and he still has a job. Pray everything else will be okay.

[swilshire]

I drive by empty buildings where they've closed dealerships here every day. I agree that he should be thankful to have a job.

Our company has abolished hundreds of jobs (including my own a couple of years ago) forcing us to find another position or hit the door. I thank God every day that I have a job with health insurance and get a paycheck every two weeks.

Sheila

[JoyG]

Good luck to your DH.

My union has been working without a contract for 7 years!

In that time, they have unilaterally imposed non contractual changes. There are ongoing grievences and lawsuits...it's a big mess.

[njmom47]

My husband works at a small company and has been on part time duty
for the last few months. He also collects partial unemployment (thank goodness).
He found out recently that the owner of the company hired 3 VIPs and is keeping all the laborers on part time.
It seems so irresponsible of the owner to do something like that...I realize
others have mortgages and mouths to feed, but we weren't greedy when
we bought our house and have been pretty frugal about our spending
over the years to begin with. And I feel that since my husband is "only"
a laborer (with 25 yrs experience in his field) he is being treated unfairly.
My job should be ok though, because I work in the grocery industry, and thankfully, people will always buy groceries!