In article ,
dennis@home wrote:
In fact I don't think you will find skilled as a requirement to join any
union.

I can only speak for the ones I've been a member of. It was - except
rather obviously for trainees.

If you employed anyone with the appropriate ticket, you were guaranteed to
get someone who was at least half competent in that job. Which is why
approving a ticket for any job was initially done at local level. By
people who actually knew the applicant, and certainly didn't want any old
Tom Dick or harry getting hold of one.

The print unions were regarded as a bit of a bad joke within the union
movement - or at least the parts of that I knew well. Perhaps the constant
deafening noise addled their brains. The best way with new technology is
to grab it with both hands - at least on a trial basis - and then when it
is proven, do a deal. If it makes the end product cheaper/better, it will
also increase demand for that, allowing any spare workers to be
re-deployed, after suitable training.

But this does require cooperation between management and workforce. Not
something the print industry was known for.

--
*Heart attacks... God's revenge for eating his animal friends

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.