p.3 #1 · Teamsters Warn Photographers of Canon's Bad Focus on Customer Service
cineski wrote:
Huh, my sister is part of a union and she's constantly frustrated by it (that whole not being able to fire people who blatantly suck at their jobs which leads to hurting others...in this case students). I think he's spoken like a tax payer. You should see what the unions have done to California. Yes, they had a time and a place but they should not be nearly as powerful as they currently are.
Just look at the Post Office situation. Majority are in the union. They can't let people go to cut back on costs. Workers want more money, they want pension, but workers are making it difficult for businesses to do any of that. (FYI, majority of my family is in the post office)
p.3 #2 · Teamsters Warn Photographers of Canon's Bad Focus on Customer Service
But back to the topic, so that's what people were handing out in front. I saw them handing stuff and holding banners but wasn't exactly sure what they were handing out. I don't take pamphlets.
NEW YORK, Oct. 25, 2012 -- New Camera Repair Model Hurts Photographers and Jobs, Protesters at PhotoPlus Expo 2012 Tell Attendees
Protesters complained that until recently, New York photographers could drop off their Canon equipment at local repair shops and get quick, reliable service -- often with same-day turnaround. Now Canon forces its customers to ship to an out-of-state facility, even for non-warranty and after-warranty damages. This often leads to frustratingly long waits, according to protesters.
A pity they were Canon specific. From what I read hear on FM they should have included Nikon or even made it Nikon specific as Canons woes are not mine
For those of you who who are anti union I am not sure that the unions are nearly as dangerous to our future as the appalling greed of big business (and before any of you get your knickers in a knot I am referring to the shortsighted policies of most big business and our political leaders downunder. Profitability for today at the expense of tomorrow is not a plan)
Tim
Edit. I apologise to all you clear thinking persons who posted with far more courage than I on the importance of unions. I plead guilty to only reading the first few responses
p.3 #4 · Teamsters Warn Photographers of Canon's Bad Focus on Customer Service
1KIND wrote:
Scare tactics. I do my own oil change and went to dealerships and had no problem. I've installed other modifications to my car and no one said a problem. That's like saying, if you put aftermarket rims or tires you didn't get from dealership that you jeopardize your warranty on the shocks/springs.
Depending on the dealership, you can void your warranty.
p.3 #6 · Teamsters Warn Photographers of Canon's Bad Focus on Customer Service
Ed Peters wrote:
You wouldn't happen to like to elaborate on this? In the US we have seen the decline of the middle class (actually all classes except the rich) as well as the decline of unions (who I don't always agree with, but it is indeed up to the membership to keep the union relevant). The unions have and still do provide wage/safety/benefit fairness to the workers (including those not in a union)! I mean, are you really going to trust management to do what is right?
It appears that Canon is joining the ranks of the "Greedy Ba$tare$". YMMV
It's not greedy to survive. This entitled attitude that unions help foster that everyone is owed something is non-sustainable and it's really the reason the "middle class" is being driven downward. When the union says "Provide for me or I'll tear you greedy company apart"...who is the selfish one? When the poor say "pay more of your taxes to me or I'll tear your company/government apart"...same idea. See Greece or the airlines if you'd like real world references.
p.3 #8 · Teamsters Warn Photographers of Canon's Bad Focus on Customer Service
If you are happy to have an employer who cares nothing for you and your health, provides you with the minimum level of rights that the law allows and you are willing to work in an environment where your boss can sack you today for no justifiable reason, then i would accept that Unions are not for you.
If you are an employer who wants to take on many unskilled workers in close to slavery conditions, then Unions are not for you either.
If on the other hand you believe in fairness, and that an employer is someone who actually has a duty of care towards employees, then a Union is for you.
The problem is that a small number of Unions abuse their positions of power in close to the same way as unscrupulous employers do, and they get a lot of publicity doing it. This is every bit as bad as the employer abuses they are supposed to be preventing. But the majority of unions are not like this, and a union which "reasonably" represents its members interests is a benefit to both employer and employee in the long term.
p.3 #9 · Teamsters Warn Photographers of Canon's Bad Focus on Customer Service
John Shultz wrote:
It's not greedy to survive. This entitled attitude that unions help foster that everyone is owed something is non-sustainable and it's really the reason the "middle class" is being driven downward. When the union says "Provide for me or I'll tear you greedy company apart"...who is the selfish one? When the poor say "pay more of your taxes to me or I'll tear your company/government apart"...same idea. See Greece or the airlines if you'd like real world references.
You can pick any target (union, rich, poor, corporations, young, old, middle class, students, etc.), and make a case that they act as if they are "entitled" or are "greedy" or don't care about anybody else. It's not especially helpful to make such cases.
p.3 #10 · Teamsters Warn Photographers of Canon's Bad Focus on Customer Service
15Bit wrote:
If you are happy to have an employer who cares nothing for you and your health, provides you with the minimum level of rights that the law allows and you are willing to work in an environment where your boss can sack you today for no justifiable reason, then i would accept that Unions are not for you.
If you are an employer who wants to take on many unskilled workers in close to slavery conditions, then Unions are not for you either.
If on the other hand you believe in fairness, and that an employer is someone who actually has a duty of care towards employees, then a Union is for you.
The problem is that a small number of Unions abuse their positions of power in close to the same way as unscrupulous employers do, and they get a lot of publicity doing it. This is every bit as bad as the employer abuses they are supposed to be preventing. But the majority of unions are not like this, and a union which "reasonably" represents its members interests is a benefit to both employer and employee in the long term. ...Show more →
well said
there has to be a balance but people do need to be protected from unscrupulous employers
not everyone is able to just leave and find a job with a decent employer
as far as what Canon and Nikon is doing I hope the situation in the UK is not the same as there are several excellent independent repair places
p.3 #11 · Teamsters Warn Photographers of Canon's Bad Focus on Customer Service
Thanks 15Bit.
It's refreshing to know that their are still some clear thinking people around
who still understand the positive value of a good union/employer relationship.
It is very sad that many just repeat the right wing mantra that anything union is
bad while at the same time being screwed by their employers.
p.3 #13 · Teamsters Warn Photographers of Canon's Bad Focus on Customer Service
1KIND wrote:
Just look at the Post Office situation. Majority are in the union. They can't let people go to cut back on costs. Workers want more money, they want pension, but workers are making it difficult for businesses to do any of that. (FYI, majority of my family is in the post office)
Hard to sympathise with big corporations when they're crying about cost cutting but then give the big boss enough payrise and bonuses worth at least 30 workers' annual salary.
p.3 #15 · Teamsters Warn Photographers of Canon's Bad Focus on Customer Service
Let me give a personal example: The corporation I used to work for as a software developer was mismanaged for years, and in 2010 was bought out by PE firm in a "leveraged buyout". In the last year the CEO was in charge, he and the VP's paid themselves $10M - on $27M in gross sales! Obviously the first thing the PE firm did was lay off 45% of the company in order to make up for that huge loss in cash the company couldn't afford.
Yes, many unions had/have gone way too far, but as mentioned unrestrained greed is bad for everyone. Anybody remember the good old days when the US was the hub of technological achievement and manufacturing? No? Well, in the last 30+ years Corporate upper management and boards decided they could make a ton more money by simply selling patents, moving plants, and dismantling once proud legacies to make a quick buck. Actually billions of bucks, and now that the US is a shell of what it used to be you want to blame unions?
p.3 #16 · Teamsters Warn Photographers of Canon's Bad Focus on Customer Service
BenV wrote:
Depending on the dealership, you can void your warranty.
If a dealership is telling you that you can void your warranty by you doing your own or having your own mechanic do it for you, its time to find a new stealership.
p.3 #17 · Teamsters Warn Photographers of Canon's Bad Focus on Customer Service
Many photographs of the striking Chicago teachers were taken with Canon equipment, with terrible results. The clarity was outright frightening. It was like a Halloween party gone horribly wrong.
p.3 #18 · Teamsters Warn Photographers of Canon's Bad Focus on Customer Service
timbop wrote:
Yes, many unions had/have gone way too far, but as mentioned unrestrained greed is bad for everyone. Anybody remember the good old days when the US was the hub of technological achievement and manufacturing? No? Well, in the last 30+ years Corporate upper management and boards decided they could make a ton more money by simply selling patents, moving plants, and dismantling once proud legacies to make a quick buck. Actually billions of bucks, and now that the US is a shell of what it used to be you want to blame unions?
How quickly people forget that the main reason so many corporations moved their operations to other countries were the high costs and low productivity created by the unions...
p.3 #19 · Teamsters Warn Photographers of Canon's Bad Focus on Customer Service
molson wrote:
How quickly people forget that the main reason so many corporations moved their operations to other countries were the high costs and low productivity created by the unions...
Yes, as the best example of that, I remember about 35 years ago the beginnings of North American auto industry and consumer electronics manufacture migration to Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
p.3 #20 · Teamsters Warn Photographers of Canon's Bad Focus on Customer Service
molson wrote:
How quickly people forget that the main reason so many corporations moved their operations to other countries were the high costs and low productivity created by the unions...
How quickly people forget that the main reason so many corporations moved their operations to other countries were the intrinsically high costs of labour in western countries. You can't blame the unions for the fact that the cost of living is high in western societies, and thus so are salaries.
