And then you woke up

Here's how it works:

Screwtwister's Local 69 has a pension shortfall. Why? There are a bunch of 'boomers who were given golden parachutes when they signed up in 1974. The guys who signed up in '84 are about to retire. The guys from '94 are having a hard time finding work, which means ST69 isn't making any money. Meanwhile the guys who signed up in '04 have been paying dues for fifteen fucking years but they have never gotten enough hours to qualify for benefits or pension. They're the guys keeping ST69 alive because they've got fuckall to show for it but not even that is enough because the Class of '74 is sucking down health benefits like they're fucking free and the class of '84 is tapping into that sweet, sweet defined benefit.

So okay. Let's hold a vote. HEY EVERYBODY: how would you feel if we gutted benefits to new members, raised initiation fees and agreed to lower wage floors for a certain subsection (hereby defined as "any employer with a pulse") of jobs in order to cover our pension shortfall?

- Class of '74 is all for it because they're sucking down that pension and they don't want cat food.

- Class of '84 is all for it because they're about to start sucking down that pension and they don't want cat food.

- Class of '94 is voting against it vehemently but there's maybe half as many of them as there are '84 or '94.

- Class of '04 doesn't have their correct address half the time and a third of them are on voluntary withdrawal.

So now Harbor Freight opens up and is going to be selling American Made, Union screws. They're going to pay ST69 locals to turn them there screws - and they're going to be doing it for $4.10 an hour, rather than the $18.72 journeymen screwturners make. And that gig is either union or it isn't. If you're working at Harbor Freight Screws, you now get to pay a $4000 initiation fee and $300 a month in order to keep your $4.10 an hour job. That initiation fee? Those dues? Those are going to the '74, '84 crew. The '94 crew is going to get no pension because the fund will be bankrupt by then so the government will bail them out at 15 cents on the dollar. The '04 crew gets none of it because they weren't working at Harbor Freight screws when it went online and they aren't ever going to be. The '04 crew gets to pay a bunch of money into a system that will be a misty water-colored memory by the time they reach retirement age - not even a government guarantee covers them because they sure as shit won't be vested by the time Harbor Freight Screws folds up shop and goes somewhere else they don't need to pay the fucking unions.

And the administrators pull down their full pension and the Nation writes about how Millennials are Keeping Unions Alive.

Excuse me while I go vomit in the punch.

The article is pretty stupid, there maybe a bit of a bump in young people joining unions for the simple fact that old farts are retiring but it’s more of a dead cat bounce than a real trend. Young people in my union shop don’t give 2 shits about union business and know darn well that they aren’t represented. The only people that are really benefiting from unions are those near retirement and those in senior positions in union leadership. Everyone else gets crumbs

The last three jobs I've had have been for organizations that went through a massive restructure. My current role is doing the same thing, staff have been "fixed term" for as long as 3 years now, and I've had my contract rolled over three times before entering a promoted role, still fixed term though.

I think I can count back far enough, I've had 12 jobs in 14 years. The idea of a truly permanent fixture in a company is a bit like the idea of owning a house to me - sounds lovely, not going to happen though.

Edit: Although now that I think about it, it's helped me develop a great deal of flexibility in my roles. I've never had any trouble finding work, which I suppose I can be thankful for. This most recent role I took as of last week I had to choose between it and two other roles.