Laura's Corner

Unions, Non-Unions, let's battle, oh my!

Posted by Laura Beyer on April 3, 2011

If you follow my blogs on a regular basis, you probably know my topics of conversation.  I have covered sex, race, religion and other topics many say yet never out loud.  

There are two subjects I have yet to cover; sports and politics.  It’s not because I don’t enjoy them, I just really don’t pay attention until something really big happens.  Actually, the only reason I enjoy sports is because I can go to the game wearing my most scantily clad outfit.  Talk about good clean fun!!

Moving along.  I will make this short and sweet.  My career has spanned as such; two years active duty Military, followed by 18 years in Corporate America moving on to my 2008 hire within the City of Milwaukee .  Throughout my years in corporate, I have always contributed towards my health, dental and retirement.  It was not something I questioned; it was something I did to protect my family.  I considered it a benefit and gave me a piece of mind as well.  

When I worked in Corporate America, I made pretty good money.  My final W-2 wages were $49,000.00.  Not too shabby, right?  This included a yearly wage of $39,000 plus an additional $10,000 a year for incentives.  My monthly contributions towards health, dental and 401K were approximately $500 per month.  Deduct that from my yearly income and I was still making a gross annual salary of $43,000.00.  Take that to the bank. 

When my department was laid off in 2007, I thought, “Now what, what the heck are we all going to do?”  Instead of moping around, I went to a job fair and accepted a position selling cars.  Because I had little sales experience, the wages were low, yet not as low as unemployment.  I moved on to work for a friend in mortgage which did not pan out, received unemployment for a short time and finally landed a position within the City of Milwaukee .  My starting wage was $24,000.00 a year.  I gladly took the job.  

Not once did I ever think, “Oh woe is me, how can I live on that,” I was just so very thankful to have been given the position to once again work and support my family.  

The benefits were excellent; $40.00 a month for health, $48.70 for dental, and a contribution towards Deferred Compensation.  I was still so very thankful to be covered by insurance regardless of cost.  

Recently, the ball dropped regarding union employees contributing more towards their health and pension.  I agree that concessions must be made in order to balance the budget.  I am all for helping out future generations.  Yet, what most don’t realize is that husbands and wives, fathers and daughters, the best of friends, have been turned against one another in this so called war of fair.  

Prior to this situation, unions were rarely a topic of conversation.  The most I ever heard uttered from my Grandmother’s mouth was, “Get a job with the County, they have excellent benefits.”  My non-union friends and I discuss issues such as life, love, parenting, school and troubles.  Because employment and income are such sensitive issues, work was rarely discussed.   

I wonder, if so many individuals had a problem with unions, wages, contributions, etc, why was it not tackled within the last 50 years?  Why didn’t more men and women apply to work for the State, County and City?  Why are we, the middle class, the lowest wage earners, allowing millionaires to tear us apart?  Can’t we as parents, brothers, sisters and friends, come up with a solution to repair the budget without attacking or blaming less than 10% of the population?  

When I was laid off from my job within Corporate America, I never once thought, “An eye for an eye, go after those union workers, hit ‘em where it hurts.”  I simply went and found a new opportunity for myself without pointing fingers at others.  I guess I was too busy taking care of that so-called thing they refer to as life…