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I recently applied for a job that fell under the transportation dept. of Washington state and went to the initial orientation. The job was a temporary, seasonal, part time on-call position. The pay was about $15 an hour.
They got more than 500 applications.
Not only did the job require "reliable transportation" (your own car) and a cell phone, but there were about $250 in up front fees for various certificates and a physical--AND a $900 initiation fee for union membership.Then once you started working union dues of $62 a month would be deducted from your pay.
So it looked to me (not counting the expense of a car I don't have) that it was going to cost me around $1,300 to get their job.
And this was a position with a guaranteed layoff after September.
What do the non-union jobs pay? Is it worth the union dues for higher pay? Typically union gigs aren't worth the extra expense if you aren't staying for a long time. However I love being in a union, for safety specific jobs such as in the transportation industry I think they are important.
I recently applied for a job that fell under the transportation dept. of Washington state and went to the initial orientation. The job was a temporary, seasonal, part time on-call position. The pay was about $15 an hour.
They got more than 500 applications.
Not only did the job require "reliable transportation" (your own car) and a cell phone, but there were about $250 in up front fees for various certificates and a physical--AND a $900 initiation fee for union membership.Then once you started working union dues of $62 a month would be deducted from your pay.
So it looked to me (not counting the expense of a car I don't have) that it was going to cost me around $1,300 to get their job.
And this was a position with a guaranteed layoff after September.
Just wow. I can't afford a government job here.
Ugh.
Don't even get me started on unions. My first job I had to pay union dues of like 40-50 a month for 7 years, but since I wasn't in their "fulltime" status (worked 10 months out of the year) I wasn't eligible for any benefits, or union representation. But I sure had to pay for the priviledge to work there. Ugh.
Sooooo, the union wants to take 7.6% of your wages (factoring in the $900 membership fee and assuming Feb-Sept. employment) for a total of $1,458. And they're doing WHAT for you?
You forget those dues will pay for your 2 raises a year, vacation, job protection, benefits, and pension. At least where I work, the initiation fee was only $300 and the dues for part time are only like $12 per week.
You forget those dues will pay for your 2 raises a year, vacation, job protection, benefits, and pension. At least where I work, the initiation fee was only $300 and the dues for part time are only like $12 per week.
Gotta read the OP
"And this was a position with a guaranteed layoff after September."
I must say that their criteria for candidates was pie-in-the-sky, and the remuneration and union penalties were severe.
This is the job market?
(The probable date of actual hire would have been about April 1. The probable date of layoff would be Sept. 30. That's six months employment, maximum.)
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