#i got fired for someone else's disciplinary violation

[onbearfeet]

Hi! Former movie theater usher here. I was one of the people who cleaned theaters. I voted "throw it away yourself", and would like to explain why, even though we do in fact understand that it is our job to clean the theater and do not particularly object to doing so, we'd still like you to toss what you can. In no particular order, all from my actual experience:

1. There is an ENTIRE THEATER to clean, and we need all the time we can get to deal with whatever is worst. Speaking of...

2. Someone has spilled popcorn down five or six terraces and the boss didn't give us a broom, so we're picking up kernels by hand.

3. Why did my shoes just go "squish"?

4. That is an artistic sculpture constructed entirely of origami-ed Starburst wrappers and -- yes, held together with already-chewed bits of Starburst.

5. Among adults, the amount of mess in a theater is inversely proportionate to the quality of the movie. But a lot of movies SUCK.

6. Among children, mess is DIRECTLY proportionate to film quality. And some kids' movies are GREAT. (I cleaned theaters after Lilo and Stitch screenings. The horror ...)

7. Yep, that's a spilled soda. We don't have a mop. Somebody go get some paper towels. God, it's always Mountain Dew, isn't it?

8. That is NOT Mountain Dew. Somebody get the bleach before Javi starts sympathy-puking.

9. Where. Is the FUCKING. ARMREST.

10. They did WHAT with their nachos?! Jalapeños and all?!

11. That's a dirty diaper. This is an R-rated horror movie.

12. Oh, God, oh, God, someone bought a hot dog despite all our mimed warnings.

13. Okay, who lost a four-year-old?!

14. WAIT SOMEONE GOT STABBED IN ROOM FIVE TELL ME EVERYTHING

15. What do you mean we only have five minutes?!

So yeah, that's why we tend to say thank you when you dump your popcorn bucket in our wheelie bin on your way out. Gives us a few precious extra moments to deal with ... everything else.

Since “wildly vehement disagreements” are on my mind, here is the most brutal forum fight I ever witnessed, and I will try to present it with as little judgment as possible:

It was Fametracker, maybe 2003 or so. A discussion came up somehow: what do you do with your trash after seeing a movie in the theater? You know, popcorn buckets, candy boxes, soda cups, used napkins?

Two sides emerged, and each side felt that they were obviously, unquestionably, self-evidently right:

1) You leave your trash in your seat because they pay employees to pick it up for you

2) You throw away your own trash because you are capable of doing so (if you are)

That was it. I have NEVER seen such vitriol. The entire userbase got involved and people probably got banned over it. There seemed to be some kind of regional breakdown; whichever side you argued for, it was something that EVERYONE around you did, you had grown up in the obvious rightness of doing it, and it was OFFENSIVE to suggest doing otherwise. I am sure you are staring at this going, “You… you obviously [XYZ]?” However certain you feel about that, there were people on that forum (and maybe even here!) who were exactly as certain of the opposite.

[a-method-in-it]

What is a union and what does one do? Cause my place told us about unions and what they said feels like bs and I find conflicting info online

Happy to! So: 

Unions 101

(Note: Parts of this discussion are US-specific, since that’s where I live and what I know about—people in other countries should check anything I mention involving laws)

A labor union (usually just called a union) is a legally recognized entity made up of non-management employees in a given workplace who band together collectively in order to deal with management.

The idea behind unions is a pretty basic human impulse when it comes down to it: If we work together, we can do more than we can if try to go it alone. Humans are really good at that.

So in practice, how does this all work?

Well, if you and your co-workers form a union (a process I won’t discuss here because it would be a really long tangent and it’s not what you asked), you will be a unit or shop within a parent union. That parent union might also be part of a larger union, and if you’re in the US, those larger unions will probably eventually always be under the umbrella of the AFL-CIO, which is the largest union in the country and represents almost all unionized American workers. 

Who are those parent unions?

Well, your parent union provides support and resources to your unit. The parent union will have full-time staff who know how to organize while you’re forming a union and also be well-versed in strategies for dealing with management once you have successfully formed a union. They will also have lawyers who can make sure the company isn’t violating the law and represent your shop if the company doesn’t abide by the terms of your collective bargaining agreement (more on this in a sec). In order to support the work of your parent union, members will pay dues—the amount varies, but it’s typically less than 2% of your paycheck. You and all the other units in the parent union also typically get to vote for your union leadership. 

Wait, a-method-in-it, you still haven’t told us why this is a good thing.

I’m getting there. So, being part of a union allows you and your co-workers to have a say in how you are treated. The first thing that you will do after you first unionize is start hammering out a collective bargaining agreement or CBA (also colloquially known as a contract). The CBA is a legally binding document that dictates most aspects of how management is allowed to treat employees. 

A typical CBA will include stuff like: Requiring management to have just cause to fire someone (meaning you are no longer “at will” employees — if you’re unfamiliar with that phrase, you should look it up, it’s a big deal); preventing management from outsourcing your jobs; dictating how employer healthcare plans work; giving people paid sick and vacation time (or more time if you already have it); making the company pay severance if people are fired or laid off; and, especially, laying out how much people are to be paid. 

The secret that companies won’t tell you in their anti-union campaigns is that — despite all the scare-mongering about how much union dues cost — almost every union contract is going to result in people getting raises that are significantly higher than the dues they will pay. 

For example, I pay about 1.3% of every pay check in union dues. But when our CBA was ratified, I got a 26% raise. Or, to put it another way, every year I pay about $800-850 to my parent union, but under the CBA I got a $13,000/year raise. And I am also guaranteed annual cost of living increases.

So that’s cool — what else?

So, having a union is cool for a lot of other reasons, too. Union members have a right to union representation in disciplinary meetings. Union members can go to the union with concerns about managers and have the union try to address issues on their behalf. Unions can help you get to know your co-workers — mine does regular happy hours, for example — and promotes a sense of pride and ownership over your work and your workplace. 

Can I get in trouble for joining a union?

If you do, that’s very illegal. Federal law protects workers’ rights to organize and makes it illegal for companies to fire people for union activity, interrogate workers about union matters, and all sorts of other stuff. I’m not saying it never happens, because companies will do whatever they think they can get away with, but if/when it does, they are breaking the law and can be sued. 

Anyway, I could keep going, but this is already ridiculously long. If you have follow-ups, let me know!