I am in a union at a theatre. I work in a box office. There are two offices out of which we work. One is a pain in the ass because you have to answer the phones as well as help people in person. The other is more relaxing, there are only one or two people there in the office and you are not hovered over by a manager. This latter office is the choice shift.

If you have more seniority than someone else, you get to choose which shifts you would like first, and then the rest of us get slotted in the remaining shifts. The problem with this happens between people like me, who already have another job and work 40 hours per week.

There are specific shifts which I am able to do, namely ones that begin in the evening after my day job ends, and weekends. Another employee, who does not have another job, and this one is their primary, can work at any hour of the day, as they do not have prior committments. They do, however, have staggeringly colossal seniority, and can choose what shifts they want. They therefore chooses all shifts that begin in the evening, so that they can sleep in and go out late at night, which means that I don't get a shift at all, since these are the only ones I can take. I have no choice but to accept this, as we are in a union and seniority rules all.

The other problem with unions is that incompetance often gets rewarded. When there is a promotion available, it is offered to the person with the most seniority, NOT the person who is most qualified, which means that often, people in higher paying, more important etc jobs, are not necessarily there because they want the job, they just wanted more pay, and they are also not necessarily suitable for this job, they've just been there the longest.

AUGH. And all the petty bullshit - "hey how come she got that shift when I have more seniority? Take it away from her, it's mine" instead of just taking the other shift, which is the same amount of hours, just earlier in the morning and at the less desirable office.

AUGH. I'm the one that works 6 days a week, give me a fucking break.
On the other hand, people now get breaks and medical benefits. Trade off? FUCK IT. Hate tham.

Ok venting is over.