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He mentioned the "they're too woke and want me to vote for Democrats", but his other reason was thinking that outside a union, advancement would be more merit-based rather than on a strict schedule. Any thoughts on this? Both organizations have a set pay raise schedule, but Matthew thinks that staying away from the union might mean he can move through the training levels faster. On paper, the union structure pays more.

Yeah, some are some aren't.  There's actually a bit of a discrepancy in that many blue collar types actually tend to be more conservative, and the liberals overall tend to be the white-collar university liberals.  It's just that the union leadership support democrats because Republicans have long been anti-union pro-business-can-do-whatever-they-want-or-else-you're-a-Commie and the Democrats have historically leaned toward Socialism.  In other words, in the trenches, the actual workers tend to lean conservative, while at the upper levels of leadership they lean liberal because the Republicans tend to be anti-union, and the Democrats pro-union (or at least pretend to be).

I ignore the stupid left-right paradigm.

As for the pay based on time served ... there's also a bit of a misconception there.  Yes, the main payscale is based upon time served, and you top out after like 4-5 years ... but contractors (the people that hire them) often pay merit bonuses above that, and you can get promotions from basic journeyman laborer to supervisor and foreman, etc. ... and those are based on merit.

I mean ... the alternative in the non-union world tends to be who you know and who you suck up to rther than merit.  I see it constantly in the corporate world, where the people who are competent and work hard get rewarded by getting more work dumped on them, while the slackers simply get away with being allowed to continue to slack.

And that's also a common misconception ... union workers who slack, or do bad work, can in fact be demoted, disciplined, and fired.  Really the only protection is that unions must follow a process to docuмent "just cause" for dismissal, while non-union companies in most states have "at will" employment where ... they can get rid of you just because they don't like the way you look or some of your ideas.

Yeah, some are some aren't.  There's actually a bit of a discrepancy in that many blue collar types actually tend to be more conservative, and the liberals overall tend to be the white-collar university liberals.  It's just that the union leadership support democrats because Republicans have long been anti-union pro-business-can-do-whatever-they-want-or-else-you're-a-Commie and the Democrats have historically leaned toward Socialism.  In other words, in the trenches, the actual workers tend to lean conservative, while at the upper levels of leadership they lean liberal because the Republicans tend to be anti-union, and the Democrats pro-union (or at least pretend to be).

I ignore the stupid left-right paradigm.

As for the pay based on time served ... there's also a bit of a misconception there.  Yes, the main payscale is based upon time served, and you top out after like 4-5 years ... but contractors (the people that hire them) often pay merit bonuses above that, and you can get promotions from basic journeyman laborer to supervisor and foreman, etc. ... and those are based on merit.

I mean ... the alternative in the non-union world tends to be who you know and who you suck up to rther than merit.  I see it constantly in the corporate world, where the people who are competent and work hard get rewarded by getting more work dumped on them, while the slackers simply get away with being allowed to continue to slack.

And that's also a common misconception ... union workers who slack, or do bad work, can in fact be demoted, disciplined, and fired.  Really the only protection is that unions must follow a process to docuмent "just cause" for dismissal, while non-union companies in most states have "at will" employment where ... they can get rid of you just because they don't like the way you look or some of your ideas.

I agree. The "left-right" political paradigm completely breaks down when you look at how the labor movement actually worked in its prime. Back in the mid-20th century, millions of traditional, blue-collar workers embraced unions not because they wanted socialism, but because they needed a practical way to protect their livelihoods. Guided by Catholic social teaching, these rank-and-file workers built a powerful "third way" that rejected both greedy corporate capitalism and radical Marxist ideas. They even started their own labor schools and organizations specifically to kick out communist organizers and keep union leadership aligned with the actual men in the trenches. For them, a union wasn't some progressive political weapon—it was a moral shield used to secure fair pay, stop boss favoritism, and replace "at-will" corporate whims with a fair, structured process.

Congratulations Matthew. Prayers for you.