Trade Shows (mostly the Teamsters) Suck
It’s hard to escape the fact that trade shows suck. Sure, lots of people look forward to shows like CEDIA (Consumer Electronics) and geeks love anything Microsoft or Sony decides to hype up, and for good reason. Trade shows, especially those that feature top-notch semiars, can be really fascinating for interns, especially if you get to hobknob with some guys that have been in the business for awhile and can give you some good insight. It’s a perfect opportunity to see the newest and best products, and to actually get a moment to get some hands-on time with really pricey equipment.
But when you’ve gone to trade shows for a while, they become some of the most grating, irritating places on earth. This year marks the third year that I’ve been going to trade shows and I, as an intern, attend about eight a year.
And nothing like dealing with the Teamsters Union–those lazy jackasses that run the trade shows. Don’t get me wrong–I’m sure there’s plenty of people that work hard for the Teamsters–they just don’t work at trade shows. No, what you get at the McCormick Place in Chicago, for example, is a bunch of knuckle-dragging, waste-of-sperm neanderthal degenerates who know somebody that knows somebody that knows somebody, so they shouldn’t (and don’t) demean themselves to even lift a pinky to help (which is what they are hired for) and get utterly offended when you ask them to do so–or they mutter something and say “I’m on break.”
Fuck the Teamsters. I invite anyone to tell me one good thing about them…other than the fact that Jimmy Hoffa got what he deserved.
And when the day comes that your ass gets fired for looking crosseyed at the wrong person at the wrong time – you’ll be wishing you had the job security of a Teamster. Have fun at your next trade show.
I’m glad to see that some things don’t change. I used to work lots of trade shows
and my biggest complaint was always the teamster!
Teamsters protect the lazy and habor the weak. They are an economical cancer that we should invest in finding a cure for no matter the cost. TXTeamster is right though, he can get away with fucking off while the rest of us have to work hard to keep a good job. FU Teamsters
Im a teamster and not proud of it I came from a job where you had to put out and shut up (not asking to much if you ask me) then changed jobs making same pay as other but this one being teamster union and all i can say is what a bunch of lazy fuckers that sit around here and dont do shit they for the most part are not qualified for the job (government work) take to long to get it done and are whiners that cry about job protections (THE LONGER YOUR A TEAMSTER THE FUCKIN LAZIER YOU GET) dont want to be teamster any more. 631 TEAMSTER
I’ve been a Teamster for 17 years and I have a job where I’m held accountable for all of my time and efforts. I treat my customers well and most do not even know I’m in the union or an officer with my local. Your comments about characterizing all of our members in such a poor light only shows your ignorance and prejudice towards those who are willing to stand and fight for keeping the middle class alive and well.
I find it ironic that most non-members criticize and chastise us as being overpaid and underworked – that is until they realize that the problem is not with us – but their own shortcomings at their job. It is far easier to try to pull someone down rather than to bring yourself up.
you are best a moron
Proud Union, you have the misfortune of having given up your individuality by joining a union, and thus have subjected yourself to being lumped in with your brotherhood, many of whom are lazy, overpaid, under worked, and perform shoddy work if any work is performed at all.
If you are serious about treating your customers well, you would open your own business and crawl out from under the soiled semi-protective baby blanket of union membership. Join the free world. Reject the communist doctrine that has taken over your once proud union and turned it into the purely political beast that it is now.
if you think this is bad. try delivering to mc cormick place. the teamsters are the laziest fucks on earth. fuck the teamsters and balless daley
The complaints about the Teamsters are mostly from people who are not in the union (or any other union), which is interesting alone. The comments seem to claim that all union people are lazy because of one person’s experience at a trade show. Keep in mind that if it were not for the unions, you would not have a weekend, eight hours a day of work, and a some over-time, if you ever do any.
While there are lazy assholes in every trade in every sector, it is totally absurd to claim that because of your experience with one group, that the whole of unionized labor in the US are this way … it is absurd because it cannot be further from the truth.
Someone else mentioned that the next time you get sacked for something insignificant — like 10 minutes longer in the bathroom than what is “allowed,” let me know how you think of a collective bargaining agreement.
Anyone with a hint of HR or labor law knowledge could tell you that you can’t fire someone for ridiculous things like taking (1) bathroom break too long or looking at someone the wrong way. Having a habit of taking ridiculously longer breaks than you’re supposed to can get you fired with a CBA or not. A CBA can’t stop progressive discipline and documentation.
The Teamsters are a cancer on organized labor. While other Unions can promote the skill and trining of their members the Teamsters seem to take great pride in wasting time and money -expending more effort on accomploshing as little as possible with less quality than just doing the job at hand.
If there is ever a backlash against Unions in this country it will be because of the Teamsters.
I’m a Teamster and can honestly say that they are without a doubt, the biggest bunch of retards I’ve ever seen. Fags.
i worked for a movie catering company and was shocked to see what fat slobs the teamsters are. I actually overheard two of them talking about how the movie just couldnt be what it was without them. and they all were obviously unintelligent as could be. That is why they drive trucks for a living. and are morbidley obese for the most part. fuck them
Thank you for your blatent ingnorance of the accomplishments of the American Labor Movement, AngryIntern. And for wasting everyone’s time, including your own- (Interning??, as in working for FREE?!) Bunch of whining ass crybabies you are, Do you suck the Boss’ ass for a living or what? Do any of you have any “BALLS”? While many of my Teamster brethren have had the misfortune of acquiring a less-than-substantial education, they have managed to become productive members of society who earn a good wage and can support a family. None of you pocket-protected pussies would ever have the balls to say any of this in-person to a real Teamster, anyway. You are the type of pricks we’ll be taking on in the future…. SO BE IT!
you and your lazy brethten are true pieces of shit
by the way… come see what it means to be a real Teamster:
http://www.myspace.com/ratbuster133
to be a real teamster you have to be one of the laziest pieces of shit on earth.then you will be a real teamster. overpaid,overfed, and useless. then you can be a proud teamster. in other words a lazy piece of shit
Lisa Cleveland is a dumb ass apprentice teamster I will never use again! Why train if they dont learn!!!Never use this one for a big show
I have been a strong supporter of the labor movement and also held the office of president of our local union for six years. Six years ago we affiliated with the Teamsters Local 118 in Rochester and our union is now in ruins because of our lazy ass officers who do absolutely nothing but take our dues and keep increasing them every time we get a raise. All they look forward to is spending our money going to Las Vegas and every other conference that comes along. Our 700* members spend over 300,000 a year for representation that we don’t even see. In my opinion most of the unions have just plain gotten fat and lazy and don’t give a crap about their members because it’s all about them. We have even tried running for office and all that happens is your then blackballed for not going with the flow. I was recently kicked out for leading a decertification from the teamsters to reform our own union again. I am still a strong supporter of union rights and the labor movement, but in my opinion the teamsters suck. If Jimmy Hoffa Jr. cared at all he’d try talking to some of his own members.
Angry Intern,
I am one of those “knuckle dragging wastes of sperm” you referred to – I am a Carpenters Union shop steward working in the trade show industry in New York (if you’ve been an exhibitor at a show in the Hilton, or the Marriott Marquis, or the Grand Hyatt, or Madison Square Garden or the Javits Center, I’ve been there too)
Us carpenters, and our brother and sister teamsters, electricians, stagehands, laborers, housekeepers, hotel workers and security guards are the ones who bring in your freight, put it where it needs to go, set up your booth, keep your booth clean and safe during the show, take your booth down, pack your freight and send it where it needs to go at the end of the show.
WE do all this on very tight deadlines – we sometimes have to get up at 3AM to get your show moved in on time, and sometimes we don’t get home til late in the night.
And unlike you corporate types, we only get paid for the hours actually worked if it only took me 4 hours to build your booth, that’s all I get paid!
So you really need to calm the hell down!
Yes, we take our breaks – if you worked hard physical jobs like we do, you would to.
And yes, we have our union rules – and remember, if it wasn’t for unions, you and all the other non union workers wouldn’t have the benefits you do.
So quit being su ch a jerk, and THANK US FOR THE HARD WORK WE DO ON YOUR BEHALF.
Oh and by the way, I didn’t get my job because I “know somebody” – I enrolled in a union apprenticeship program in September 1992, and graduated in 1996. While I was in school, I took a 50 hour class in trade show work.
How much formal training do you have for YOUR job, intern???
you and your chicago brethren are a joke. if you lazy fucks put in 4hrs a day it would be a miracle.fuck you and the mccormick teamsters. the laziest and overpaid fucks on the planet.bring in the mexicans and you and your union brothers can beg for change on lower wacker dr
Teamsters do suck! I am a teamster. It is extortion, plain and simple. The mafia and the like shakedown owners of neighborhood restaurants and offer to protect them. When they don’t pay, they burn their place down. Well, these people have insurance. When we don’t pay (our dues), we can’t work at that establishment anymore. We LOSE our insurance, our wages, etc…. I pay $20+ a month and for what? The right to work? The company treats us like shit,a nd the union doesn’t do anything about it. I swear that some of the stewards are actually on the company’s side. It is disgusting. I am one of the hardest working people at my place of employment, and becase of my low seniority, I would be one of the first to be let go while Lazy Joe keeps his job. Man, it pisses me off to no end. If someone with higher seniority needs more hours, they can bump you. And they stand around!!! All the while, I would be busting my butt. My boss understands and wants to give me the hours, but he can’t. The Teamsters are a bunch of extortionists. And the sad part is, they are doing it legally. Unions need to go. They are outdated, and they don’t work. They are taking my hard earned money. Bunch of lazy, no good, taking my money and going golfing pieces of shit. Fuck you Teamsters. One day, you are going down!
I would agree for the most part but, I bet you are mostly referring to the East Coast. I spent many years on the west coast as a Teamster on the loading docks for conventions and we would hear of the horror stories about the east coast. I did not really like the job I had or the company I worked for but I can honestly say that our teamsters in San Diego really made an effort to make sure we did a great job as often as possible. If we slipped up, which is possible, I can assure you it was unintentional. No matter how hard we tried, the outrageous rates that the companies(GES,Freeman) would charge makes it difficult for anyone to live up to what you would expect.
Teamsters are out dated. We don’t need you anymore, you have out worn your welcome. You say you keep jobs, well tell that to the people in Detroit that have lost their jobs because of outrageous union contracts that have kept the auto companies from remaining profitable. But hey you guys got your health insurance, a lot of good it does you when you run the companies into bankruptcy. Hoffa needs a good punch in the mouth that corrupt son of a bitch.
Unions have turned themselves into a cancer. We are all better off if a job that used to cost $25 can now be done for $5. An organization that stands in the way of efficiency and progress needs to move aside or drag the whole country into economic irrelevance.
I have been in the trade show and special event industry for a little over 20yrs, I too am a union member (labourers local 506 Toronto). I have traveled extensively throughout the US, Canada, Asia and Europe supervising the installation and dismantle of our clients exhibits. I have to agree that the Teamsters are a bunch of lazy ass dimwits, although i must say that you will find most of these cretins working for the show contractor ie: Freeman, GES. I have just returned to my hotel in Chicago after the dismantle of the HIMSS show at McCormick Place and decided to google “Teamsters assholes” and came up with this site…thank you!! What brought me to this frame of mind was an experience with a fat fuckin goof of a forklift driver, this guy was the most arrogant jerk i have ever met on a show floor, while dripping pizza down his fat gut he informed me that lunch was coming up and he was going to take his 1/2 hr break. Well…after an hour and a 1/2 this jack ass shows up again to finish my load out. what gets me most is I was playing the game too…polite..joking..etc. I explained to him that my trailer has to load a certain way and with the same contents it arrived with because it was traveling over an international border…simple??? easily understood??? finally I got the job done!i just had to pull out the old trick of buying coffees and talking about tits…People like this guy ruin it for all the efforts the show organizers and city staff put into attracting a world class show to their venue..Unfortunately a lot of exhibitors are exposed to this kind of treatment and along with the regular price gouging have expressed to me that they are really wondering if the whole thing is really worth it!
youre right. at mccormick place the unions are a joke. fire them and hire mexicans. at they will put in 4 or 5 hrs of actual work.it starts with the marshalling yard and continues through the clerks and the laziest of them all. the fucking teamsters.