This article appears in Nov 27 – Dec 3, 2008.
Gee, glad I wasted my time and bandwith sending you my application…
Dear Unionized Organizations:If you’re going to hire internally, why do you post your job opportunities externally? I mean wouldn’t it just be easier and less of a waste of time to external candidates if you just posted internally first and THEN if you
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Ugh I SO agree with this bitch.Getting a decent job in this city is hard enough without employers jerking you around in the first place!!!
They just do that to give the unionized HR people something to do. I don’t bother applying. Unions just prevent people from getting jobs, especially around here where there aren’t many jobs to begin with. And unions protect people whose jobs have long been obsolete.
they’re only okay if they don’t interfere with YOU getting a job?! don’t you realize that unions are ALWAYS interfering with SOMEONE getting a job!? (“oh, guns are okay so long as I always have one and the guy I’m up against isn’t only unarmed but unsuspecting of the fact I’m going to shoot him. but if he gets a gun, then geez, guns are no fair!”) unions ceaased being useful when labour laws came in to look out for employees. Sure, third world or otherwise developing countries can use a dose of united employee power but all the antiquted old boys clubs do here in North America is keep people like you – a union support” – down. If unions are keeping it’s own supporters down that says somehing – about you and unions. Down with unions. And guns.
So true. Look at the auto unions, the employees get an average pay of $70/hr (so some people make way more…) to tighten a few screws. Don’t get me wrong, it is good to have a solid car but getting paid $140,000/year seems high for that. And now look at the industry. Unions have pretty much ruined 3 huge companies and now they want a bailout from who else but the mighty taxpayer with never-ending pockets… And they wonder why things are bad, jobs going to Mexico/overseas, etc.
Foreign auto makers are unionized as well, and they are making out just fine :PI agree with the OP that in SOME industries it’s not needed, but in some it still is. Let me ask you this: what happens if michelan fucks off? It’s workers are FUCKED because they have no union and no collective agreement to account for such a thing. Volvo’s employees would’ve been fucked much more than they were if they weren’t represented by the CAW.I agree with the OP though — why bother posting externally when you haven’t exhausted INTERNAL candidates as per the collective agreement? I’ve run into this crap before and I don’t even BOTHER applying for unionized jobs anymore — it’s a waste of my time and a waste of paper/stamp.
The reason union jobs are posted externally is so the company can cover their butts when they claim to be equal opportunity employers. If they advertise outside than they’re giving the appearance that they may consider you. They do it knowing that the likelihood of considering an external applicant is pretty much nil. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was something written in labour standards somewhere that says unions have to go outside even if it’s just for appearances sake. If it helps you feel any better, once you’re in one of these unions, the internal hiring process isn’t any more fair. There ends up being people hired for a position who has no qualifications for that position simply because they have seniority or they scored higher on the interview. It’s all a load of bullshit.. I hate unions, and wouldn’t belong to one if it wasn’t necessary as part of my job. I like my job, so I stay with it, but I’ve seen too many good and qualified people passed over for another position only to have the job given to some incapable ass who doesn’t deserve it.
Unions protect lazy people. Those who don’t have the skills or ambition to look for jobs elsewhere.
Ghost — thanx for the internal candidate perspective. Doesn’t really surprise me. Probably why the federal public service is full of dipshits (and why I don’t work for the fed public service anymore). And I’m pretty sure the labour board DOES make unionized organizations post externally when they know they’re only going to hire internally. Like I said before I don’t even BOTHER applying to union jobs. Waste of time.And Lily, I think the issue is unions don’t protect lazy people it BREEDS lazy people. You have to be pretty special to get a union position in the first place (or a minority) and once you’re in the temptation to slack off because “you won’t get fired” or you don’t have to “try” to get promoted or move around is pretty high.
I especially love it when unionized workers criticize what other people do for a living … saying they are selling their souls etc, when they are just trying to pay the bills and get ahead. You can cut ANY unionized workforce by half and still get the same result.
pretty kitty:You’re so right about unions breeding lazy people. I’ve seen so many employees get away with so much and not doing their job fully because they know that the odds of getting fired are pretty close to zilch. They get very complacent. The union protects them so much that they have to do (or not do) something pretty badly before they’ll be let go. Lily: you’re right to a point- trying to get into a union job is almost impossible, but it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility. Remember, all of us who have these jobs had to come from the external side at some point.. We weren’t here and then the place unionized, the union was already in existence when we got here. Obviously, external applicants manage to kick the door down occasionally, However, I definitely see where you’re coming from. It is very disheartening to send in a resume with the knowledge that it’s probably not going to be looked at or even considered. Looking for a job is tough enough, don’t need to deal with union bullshit, too.
They’re legally required to post externally to prove that they do, in fact, consider all applicants before promoting from within.
This is true even outside the unionized world. External postings exist so that butts can be covered and in the hope that an extraordinary candidate comes forward, whichever you prefer.As far as some jobs go, yes you could cut the workforce in half and get the same result. In most, that’s not the case. City buses don’t drive, fuel, and fix themselves to use one example.