As part of my paying job I often exhibit at conferences. We are a small company and do what we can to keep our costs down so we can get our product sold & known to those who want to buy it.
So I fly Southwest whenever I can because they let me check 2 bags for free. And I often stay in a cheaper hotel near the conference if I can. All these little things I/we do to make sure we aren’t overspending.
Meanwhile many conferences are hiring out the set up & break down to separate companies. The hotel doesn’t do it anymore. Noooo, a new company does. A third entity you have to sign paperwork with. (don’t even get me started on the 4th entity I have to send money to so I can have a power source for my booth) Whatever. I’ve never cared how or why a conference chooses to do the things they do. I go, I set up, I sell, I pack up, I leave.
Ah.. but everyone has got to take a cut. I read this in the most recent contract:
The Teamster Union has jurisdiction over the operation of all material handling equipment, all unloading and reloading, and the handling of empty containers. An Exhibitor may move materials that can be hand carried by one person, in one trip, per company, without the use of a handcart or dollies or other mechanical equipment into the Fairmont Hotel. All Private vehicles will be unloaded/loaded at a charge of $127.00 per 100 lbs with a 200 lb minimum per vehicle. This price includes the unloading and loading after the conference. See Freight Rate Schedule enclosed. Use of the Loading Dock is EXCLUSIVE to Union unloading and loading your materials.
Oh! My! GOD! I have to pay some organization $250 to unload my car when I can do it perfectly well myself! And you know these overpaid assholes will be too overworked to get to me right when I arrive, so I get to wait and wait until they deign to unload my car!
Ah.. but clever little me has a way around it. See, I arrive with all my product in my luggage. And my luggage all clips together like a train. Which I pull myself, in one trip, without the use of a dollie or hand cart and it certainly doesn’t qualify as a “mechanical” device!
And if one person gives me hassle, I’m going to pull that notice out and tell him rather forcefully that, “This is BULLSHIT and extortion and not only should he be ashamed to be part of it, but THIS is the reason UNION’s have such a bad rap.”
They are out of control. I often wonder if they aren’t under this cycle: pay dues so one person can fight for the group… oh shit, they’re paying me I’d better do something for them…. I’ll ask for higher wages, more benefits or something… wow that fight took a lot of time I’d better up the dues.
Has anyone measured the impact of Unions on the Economy… now THAT is a PhD Thesis I’d like to read.
Umm…. rant over… back to our regularly scheduled humorous blogs…. when my blood pressure goes down.