My introduction to unions

My job before Arpin's was dispatcher for Honeywell , a heating and air conditioning branch in East Providence R.I.

My job before that was managing a retail company in Warwick, R.I. so I really had no prior experience in dispatching and really no experience with unions.

I had to dispatch electricians, pneumatic pipe fitters and repairmen for some of the major buildings, schools and hospitals in the New England area.

One of my first days on the job my supervisor, Marty (one very nice man) told me that if I get three good hours of work out of any repairman or their workers it would be considered a good day.

I realized what he meant after a few weeks.

The guys would show up to the branch in the morning to get their marching orders of the day and mill around in the break room having coffee for at least 45 minutes or so... then they would get in their trucks and meet at the dunkin donuts down the street...then they would drive to whichever building, school or hospital that they were dispatched...then they would meet with the maintenance supervisor for that building and go to look at where they needed to work for the day....then they would take a break...then they would work a bit  and take a lunch break.....you get the idea.

After all that if a electrician finds that the problem is that a valve needs to be tightened he would have to call it in to me because by union rules he can not touch it.
I would then have to dispatch a pneumatic fitter to the same place so he can tighten the valve.

Crazy huh?

This is not meant to be an indictment on unions just my introduction to them.

I learned a lot on that job, as I did at all my  places of employment.