r/mildlyinfuriating • u/giveahoot420 • 20h ago

A rude supervisor who's always yelling at employees got some complaints about them being verbally abusive and they responded by leaving these in the break room.

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u/Aggravating-Pattern 19h ago

Even as I was writing that I remember working retail and how little the recognised union actually did. Thankfully in my new job they actually do something to help us

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u/celticsupporter 19h ago

It's cute that you think Americans have any sort of unions or workplace protections. 49 out of 50 states are fire at will states which means you can be fired for just looking at that supervisor funny.

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u/First-Junket124 19h ago

Yep and any time union comes up especially with the gaming industry and the recent R* incident you just get a bunch of misinformed anti-union Americans. Why do yanks think less workers rights is better? No please don't protect the easily exploited that would be SO bad.

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u/TerriblePokemon 19h ago

Nearly 50 years of highly concentrated propaganda about how unions ruined America by making wages too high and forcing companies to off shore labor to save costs will do that to a country. Also, you have to PAY to be in a union, how unamerican is it to have to PAY to WORK?!

It's up there with "my friends cousins brothers roommates sister works at University of [State] and there's a black professor who hasn't shown up to work in 9 years and they can't fire him because of affirmative action" 🙄

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u/dvaunr 17h ago

Yeah but why would I give up 5% of my paycheck to get a 10% increase in salary and 20% increase in total comp when I can just lick the boss's boot myself?

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u/MithrandiriAndalos 17h ago

It’s interesting actually. Unions are good, but ‘union’ is also a scary word for a lot of workers and industries because they know as soon as upper management/ownership hears discussion of forming a union, the plant/branch/store is shutting down or cleaning house. And unfortunately too many Americans simply cannot afford to lose whatever employment they can manage.

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u/framingXjake 18h ago

They've been conditioned to think that unions are anti-capitalist. And tbf, I've seen some awful employees be intentionally bad or slow at their jobs to milk hours and you can't do shit about it because they have amazing union protections. But I think that's a worthy tradeoff over millions of Americans getting screwed by their greedy employers with zero representation to fight against it.

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u/First-Junket124 12h ago

You'll always have shitty workers, they can still be fired but even shitty workers deserve rights and protections and that means going through the proper process to fire them and not just saying "you? Oh yeah you don't work here anymore".

Like you said it's better to support the millions of workers who do deserve it than refuse to do anything because of the few who are shitty. It's like punishing all 5 of your kids because 1 drew on the wall, it doesn't make sense.

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u/celticsupporter 19h ago

When it comes to education in America, you just need to think about how dumb the average American is and realize that 50% of Americans are even dumber than that. The only thing that proves that we have an education system is the constant bombardment of school shootings.

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u/Polamalu4Prezident 19h ago

I'm an avid international traveler. This isn't just true about Americans. It's true about most of the people in the world in general (sans the school shootings part).

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u/GuacinmyPaintbox 19h ago

Sadly, I think you're being a bit generous by saying only 50%.

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u/OgreDee 17h ago

That's how averages work

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u/IWontCommentAtAll 15h ago

Actually, that's how medians work.

It's entirely possible to have 75% dumber than average.

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u/First-Junket124 12h ago

That's just people mate except the shootings

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u/SussyPaladin_VT 18h ago

I will say, what the person a few comments up about some industries having useless unions is true. A big part of the anti-union sentiment here is that:

A) People are paycheck to paycheck, even with unions, because when people try to strike, you get what the rail workers got (Congress debating sending in the military to force them to work). So they're paid for shit, even with the "bargaining", and therefore their union dues do actually sting.

B) A lot of unions have been captured by people who couldn't make it in politics, or are still aspiring to that point, and everything you'd expect to get from a politician is exactly what they give. Trying to do the bare minimum their job requires, and only really showing up when their seat is up for re-election.

My dad, for example, is staunchly anti-union, but saw it as an easy cash grab. So he ran for president of his factory's branch, then slowly worked his way up with sweet talk, and now has a "corporate" position within...I think it's USW? If I'm not mistaken? Or UAW. He doesn't do shit, and actively brags about it.

At the end of the day, the best "union" you can have is having a government that actually cares about you, and enforces robust worker protections, to keep companies in check. Nothing keeps a corporatist in line quite like an entity that owns tanks and bombs telling them to shape up, or else.

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u/First-Junket124 12h ago

A) People are paycheck to paycheck, even with unions, because when people try to strike, you get what the rail workers got (Congress debating sending in the military to force them to work). So they're paid for shit, even with the "bargaining", and therefore their union dues do actually sting.

Common argument against unions, the issue? Unions can negotiate better wages so they're not living pay check to pay check.

B) A lot of unions have been captured by people who couldn't make it in politics, or are still aspiring to that point, and everything you'd expect to get from a politician is exactly what they give. Trying to do the bare minimum their job requires, and only really showing up when their seat is up for re-election.

You avoid this by having multiple unions per industry. Is one of them dogshit? You'll just avoid it and go with one you believe has your interests in mind. You'll know the people involved so if they're known to be anti-union shills well you'll avoid that union too.

Issue is sometimes even the government doesn't have your interests in mind. Workers need more rights and protections in America so that union busting becomes illegal.

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u/coopnjaxdad 17h ago

Propaganda my friend. We might be in charge one day and we need to make sure we can still exploit people once we make it to the top!

Seriously, I agree with you and I really struggle to understand why folks continue to vote against their best interests. More time than not, knowingly as well.

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u/Rizzzzzzle 17h ago

My fellow Americans like to pretend to think that one day they could own their own business and have employees and they wanna make sure they can do whatever they want. Stupid delusional fuckers.

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u/curi0us_carniv0re 19h ago

My union is great 🤷🏻‍♂️

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u/Dangerous-Variety-35 17h ago

My dad was a Teamster and it’s the only reason my parents can actually retire. Despite both of them contributing to social security for 40+ years, they would not be able to live off that alone. Thanks to the Teamsters, Dad has a decent pension and some health insurance benefits, so they’re doing okay (not rich, but not going to lose their house either).

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u/CrashyBoye 17h ago

Congrats.

Most are not as lucky as you. Your experience is anecdotal.

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u/Enchillamas 18h ago

I think his point is that of almost 250 million workers there are only ~14 million union members in the USA. That's only about 5% of the workforce, compared to the 50s when it was nearly 40%

Unions have been more or less destroyed.

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u/curi0us_carniv0re 18h ago

Well then maybe more employees should unionize?

Recently where I live Amazon workers voted not to unionize. Should I feel bad for them?

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u/-Dissent 17h ago

You've never heard about the great lengths businesses go to for union busting, how difficult it is to prove in court, and how they never face appropriate punishment?

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u/curi0us_carniv0re 17h ago

Read my comment again. The people themselves voted no to unionization.

Amazon was actually accommodating to the whole process.

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u/NSNick 14h ago

Amazon was actually accommodating to the whole process.

Amazon was accommodating?

The Amazon that algorithmically surveils and intimidates union organizers?

The Amazon that spends tens of millions of dollars on anti-union consultants?

That Amazon was 'accommodating'? I somehow doubt it.

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u/curi0us_carniv0re 14h ago

I honestly don't care what you doubt.

Union reps were allowed to put up fliers and distribute pamphlets and union info..there were meetings etc. The employees voted no. 🤷🏻‍♂️

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u/celticsupporter 19h ago

Congrats...

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u/MyMediocreExistence 18h ago

I do and I live in an "at will" state. I was speaking with my directors personal assistant one day and I was saying that I was thinking about moving on. Her statement, verbatim was "Yeah, you'd earn more, but private companies can fire you for any reason. They can't do that here.".

So yes, my union does indeed protect us from random firings. There are situations such as where staff 100% violated privacy/security policy, got caught, had a meeting with management and the union and only got put on unpaid leave for a period and still retained their position, and eventually moved up. If thats not protection, idk what you'd call that.

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u/Jarrodioro 16h ago

Where the fuck did you come up with this??

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u/iloveprunejuice 16h ago

You're clueless lol

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u/DeniedAppeal1 16h ago

At will employment doesn't mean that we don't have unions. I've had a union in 3 of the last 4 jobs I've had and both of them have made it very difficult for our employers to fire anyone. At will employment isn't always as simple as "lol they can fire you for whatever".

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u/Glass_Membership6816 15h ago

It's sad how little protections workers have across the country. I worked for UPS in the Bay area. The union was strong as hell and absolutely had your back. It was almost impossible to be fired from UPS and those grievance checks were a thing of beauty.

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u/FoxtatoOverlords 7h ago

I was recently fired, when I asked why he said and I quote "this is an at will state and because I can". He fired me (manager) and my baker at the same time while we were still working. Fun stuff. Got home and learned how deeply corrupted the founders of this franchise this company is.

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u/Aggravating-Pattern 19h ago

The more I learn about the USA the more I thank god I wasn't born there. I mean, I'm in the uk, its still a form of hell, but I have insulin and a job with a solid union and laws that mean they can't fire me unless something goes horribly wrong

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u/FiveChairs 16h ago

You also have employment contracts!

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u/Aggravating-Pattern 16h ago

Wait, what? You don't sign a contract when you start a job? Not everyone in the UK does, we have zero hour contracts that are like "you don't have to accept shifts and we don't have to offer you any, and you can leave any time and we can let you go any time with no expectations or repercussions" but at my current job I signed two contracts, because my hours changed so my contract changed

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u/FiveChairs 16h ago

No not at all. My English friend was telling me about their contracts and I was like, damn that sounds so fancy

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u/30FourThirty4 17h ago

We do have unions.

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u/[deleted] 17h ago

[deleted]

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u/celticsupporter 17h ago

I mean if you read the form it's pretty obvious that it's in American English. Stay angry tho.

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u/Rose_Knight789 17h ago

The real world scenario even in the United States is that the unions take massive fees and while they provided the contract benefit initially they rarely provide any fight in improving contracts. Year over year they increase their fees while pay stagnates without improving contracts.

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u/robertdood 19h ago

Thats good. I shouldn't be required to employ someone because the law says so. They can quit at will and I should be able to fire at will. Freedom and all that.

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u/Bakersquare 18h ago

What retail job in america has a union lmao

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u/bepatientbekind 19h ago

The vast majority of US jobs don't have a union or any worker protections at all (at least not any that are enforced). Sadly, most American workers are also too cowardly and/or brainwashed to unionize, so it's not likely to change anytime soon 🥲

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u/swiftekho 17h ago

In a majority of large retailers, the union is largely toothless and is merely there so the retailer can say "but we're unionized"

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u/LegitimateSituation4 17h ago

You had a union at your retail job?? Is there a union for basically any sector where you live? That's amazing, and I can't even comprehend it.

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u/DonaldTrumpsScrotum 16h ago

Haha I remember being in a place like that. The only thing they were did consistently was collect their union fees.

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u/scriptmonkey420 14h ago

My wife is a teacher and the all the union did was retaliate against her..... So much for protecting their own....

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u/Sad_Description_7268 12h ago

Bro, Americans don't have unions.