May 25, 2010

Union Label


This is the back window of Grandpa's work truck.  As you can see, he has collected some bumpter stickers or window stickers as some call them.  Some of them have been there for quite some time and are peeling off.  Grandpa is not one for slapping such stuff all over his vehicles but when it came to the Sheet Metal Union, he always made the exception.  I know some don't believe in unions; maybe it's because unions are not as strong as they were at one time, but we have never really had a problem with the union Grandpa belonged to.  For the many years that Grandpa worked as a Sheet Metal Worker, his union has been there for him.  He has always made a good wage and the benefits (especially the health care) took very good care of our family over the years.  Yes, there was a couple years that when his contract came due that the union decided to strike and Grandpa stood with them.  One of those years when the girls were young, he was on strike for quite a long time and I went out and found a part time job in a retail craft store (Accents, Crafts and Framing) to bring in some money since strike pay was not enough to pay the bills.  I was babysitting at home at the time.  Grandpa took that over when I went to work.  It really wasn't the worst thing to happen either.  Because of that job I found, I got my foot in the door of  Accents Unlimited (working in the retail store) and worked my way up to assistant credit manager (for the wholesale part of the business) and an 18-year career.  So, you see....sometimes things happen for a reason. 

For 41 years Grandpa has supported and stood behind his union and if there was going to be one thing that he advertised on his work truck, it was going to be just that.

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