I was talking to our neighbor this morning as he washed his car and asked him if he had the day off. He said he did and added that he had to go by his union office. I've never lived anywhere that had as many union members as Hawaii (evidently we have the third highest percentage of union workers in the nation) so I took the opportunity to ask him some questions. He is a young guy and just starting out in construction. He said $132 from his weekly paycheck goes to the union as well as $15 per month for something else union related. He really didn't know too much about it so I thought I'd ask here as I would imagine that there are current or past union members who are regulars on HT.
Since I've been here I've seen several unions go on strike and the potential strike by the Honolulu Advertiser folks got me to thinking. My questions are general, but what is a typical percentage of salary paid to the union? Where does the money go? Is there a pension fund for example? What does the union do beyond negotiating contracts? If you go out on strike, does the union cover any living expenses?
I'm not trying to start a pro-union/anti-union debate, I'm just curious.
Since I've been here I've seen several unions go on strike and the potential strike by the Honolulu Advertiser folks got me to thinking. My questions are general, but what is a typical percentage of salary paid to the union? Where does the money go? Is there a pension fund for example? What does the union do beyond negotiating contracts? If you go out on strike, does the union cover any living expenses?
I'm not trying to start a pro-union/anti-union debate, I'm just curious.
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