I can second that, the Ford union rules are ridiculous, I couldn't add
paper to a printer - "That's a union job"

-Denny


----- Original Message -----
From: "M. Adam Davis" <adampic@UBASICS.COM>
To: <PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
Sent: Monday, October 13, 2003 9:28 AM
Subject: Re: [OT:]Queensland Restricted Licence debacle


> Here in the US, and in particular Michigan, the problem is twofold:
>
> First, an 'Engineer' is a licensed legal classification, and the
> engineer responsible for work that ultimately goes into consumers
hands
> is personally liable for a variety of things if the product's
failure
> and resulting injury or death is due to poor engineering.  This is
for a
> specific set of applications, though, where such an engineer's
license
> is required.
>
> If a car accident happened, and the victim claimed faulty lights,
and a
> faulty light was found then they could sue not only the city, and
the
> subcontractor who did the work, but also the individual who
performed
> the work (or the engineer who inspected and signed off on the work).
If
> the engineer was shown to have followed all the regulations and
rules
> then they are not liable, but one has to keep a meticulous paper
trail
> to avoid such problems.  I don't know how common this kind of
lawsuit
> is...  I'm not a state licensed engineer, and I don't do the type of
> work that requires such a license.
>
> The second aspect is that, at least in Michigan, unions play a major
> role in who can do what for various organizations and agencies.
When I
> worked for a company doing computer contracting for Ford we had many
> days sitting around the Ford campus waiting for our computer
equipment
> to be delivered - from the loading dock in the building to the area
we
> were working.  We could look at the boxes, but we couldn't move them
> because the unions forced a contract which provides that all
'package
> movement' was to be handled by union workers.
>
> The situation is similar in large conference centers where union
laber
> was required to add, for instance, a 10 foot section of phone cord
for a
> friend's display.  Woe betide the impatient person who climbs a
short
> ladder and hooks up their own drop!  The unions would then
disconnect
> it, and refuse to connect it until they 'could find the time' -
usually
> a day or two after the show starts.
>
> There are unions for everything here, so I could easily see a union
> requiring a certian certification for a certian part of a job - such
as
> fixing bad LED clusters on traffic lights.  Not so common elsewhere
in
> the USA.
>
> -Adam
>
> cdb wrote:
>
> >I just applied for a temporary job repairing LED traffic light
> >clusters and boards.
> >
> >The job agency has informed me that finding component faults and
> >soldering is a job for a qualified electrician and has nothing to
do
> >with electronics.
> >
> >So I can only assume that to test the repairs connections to single
> >or 3 phase is required - or the people advertising the job actually
> >haven't the faintest idea what it is they are advertising.
> >
> >You can tell they expected an electrician I suppose, the hourly
rate
> >was A$22.00 and many places for electronics repair work pay a max
of
> >A$15.00.
> >
> >Siemens hearing aids pay a paltry A$11.50 per hour.
> >
> >Colin
> >--
> >cdb, cdb@barnard.name on 31/03/2002
> >
> >--
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> >
> >
> >
> >
>
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