How's Poky? Also What does "At-Will State" Mean? (Pocatello: real estate, health insurance)

[dodgerdogsforall]

What's life like in Pocatello? I'm hearing that the weather is ok, and that the area is a doing very well due to the University.

Are there new homes for sale? How's the real estate up there? Does anyone know any good realtors or builders?

I'd really like to find something with about one acre or so, minimum half acre.

How the crime there?

Where are the good school districts?

I hear that Idaho is an at will or right to work state, what's that?

[cleosmom]

A Right to Work law secures the right of employees to decide for themselves whether or not to join or financially support a union. However, employees who work in the railway or airline industries are not protected by a Right to Work law, and employees who work on a federal enclave may not be.

Crime in Pokey is nothing like what you'd find in a large city, hoever they have their fair share. Just last week a teenaged girl was murdered when house sitting for relatives. It was not random, she went to school with the punks who killed her

I don't have kids so I can't answer the questions about the schools.

[micrguy]

At will employment is a little different than right to work, this means that you can leave a job or have an employer fire you "at will". Neither party has to give a reason for leaving or getting rid of you. These laws are fairly common in states that have little to no union activity. Does a good job of keeping unions out of the state.

[dodgerdogsforall]

Not so sure I like the At-Will Employment laws up there. I think that unions serve a good purpose. Are the State Employees At Will as well?

[micrguy]

"At Will" employment is pretty common, I have signed a couple of "at will" contracts and it's not that big a deal. As far as state employees go, I think government employees and teachers are about the only places where unions are either maintaining or growing. Unions were a great idea in 1906, really don't see a need for them now. If you are a good employee you should keep your job and if you can't do your job you should be able to get fired easily. That's how it is done in the real world.

[izzy]

I disagree on this one Micrguy. My husband is in a mechanic's union. Has been most of his working years. The management comes and goes, non union. My husband has been through at least 5 managers in 15 years. His co-worker was there for 30 years. His co-worker decided to go to sells side, non-union, and in two years time...they "de-hired him" means they did down and dirty stuff until they made him quit. Management calls it de-hire so they don't have to pay unemployment benefits. They would NEVER get away with it on a union employee. The co-worker has since gone to work for their competitor and taken a huge customer base with him.

The union has stepped in more than once when needed, and because of it...the management treats the union employees a lot nicer than they treat the non-union employees.

Izzy

[micrguy]

As long as you have job skills that you can take with you, you should never ever rely on an employer for life long employment. Those days are over. To borrow from the Army, you should think of yourself as "A Company of One", that takes your skills from employer to employer. Personally I think that one should never stay with an employer longer than 5 years. This is probably a generational thing, a lot of people under 40 think this way.

Even though I do not shop at WalMart I think that they should be applauded for never giving in to unions. Now that WalMart has started a chain of grocery stores, the only way for their competition to compete will be to get rid of their union employees. It doesn't make sense to pay a union cashier $15-20 an hour to do a $9 an hour job of ringing up groceries. It's good for me and for you because we will get cheaper groceries.

I know this has gotten OT, but if you have good job skills you should never be worried about "at will" employment. Same thing with "right to work", nobody should ever be forced to join a union.

[izzy]

A union employee (single parent) might be able to afford to live on $15-20. Housing, child care, food, a health plan. A person making $9. would not and because of that we as a whole would be making up the difference in state funded medical programs, food stamps, and state funded low cost housing.

A grocery clerk...is a skilled job. A people skilled job, they also spend many hours standing on their feet and taking our attitudes from a bad day.

I have relatives who have worked for walmart. None of them have anything good to say about the company.

But you have brought up something I have not thought about. I shop at a cheap chain grocery store with my union dollars. I guess I should be shopping at a union store.

Even the unions are feeling the deep pocket of health care. My husband didn't use to pay extra out of pocket for health insurance. This last contact they now pay several hundred dollars and the company has taken over the health plan via a contract agreement. Promising the cheapest plan possible. Within a year they have upped the co-pay on all visits and have changed providers more than once. When the company handles the medical the wages go down via medical expenses. To benefit the company not the employee. When the union handles it (because they are so large) they get a better deal and the benefits are stable.

Health benefits will be a big issue next contract. I can't imagin living on nine dollars an hour. We would be a welfare state.

Izzy

[micrguy]

Working at WalMart should not be a career choice. Scanning items at a cash register is not a very skilled job. I worked there in college for a year and it was a stepping stone to a better job.

For the last 10 years I have worked for straight commission in a sales job, so if I don't work I don't make any money. I don't have much sympathy for anyone that has to have a safety net. I pay for all of my own benefits, so trust me I know what it takes. My first experience with unions was having to endure teachers who had no business being in a classroom, but were protected by a union contract.

[izzy]

Yes, there is a down side to it. There are always those that abuse the system. I run my own business, and I too don't make any money if I don't have customers. I have no safety net. But I believe if you work you way up to a union job, by developing the skills, both for the job and to get in the union (not always easy) then you are not skating, you are working. My husband works long hours and has put a lot of hours in to develop his skills in the "mechanic industry" he is a specialist in his area. Folks call him all day long with questions and he is head hunted on a monthly basis.

That is not a safety net, that is skills and experience in the field of choice. Sells is a tough road. I have worked with lots of sells folks and have friends that do it. It is also a tough job.

Well didn't know about the "at-will state" in Idaho...interesting. I have always thought and said "It depends on what side of the fence you are looking from." We can all learn from each others views.

Izzy