Back when I worked for $MEGACORP, we wanted to mount some monitors to the wall in the infosec space for Big Cool Dashboards. The quoted price from the union contractors that had a lock on all HQ building modifications was frightfully high (five figures to just mount some TVs). They spec'd asbestos inspectors for a space that had been certified asbestos-free, had safety observers that had to stand around and be sure the 'job site' was safe, etc.
We went and just bought rolling stands instead. We thought about sneaking the Best Buy techs in but decided we liked our jobs too much to do that. When they found out we just bought stands instead of having the screens mounted they tried to throw a hissy fit but were unsuccessful (we didn't actually break any rules).
This same job required me to get an exemption from two unions because the devices I worked with communicated with RF energy (radio union) and I needed a screwdriver to get inside of them (IBEW). Sigh. It didn't matter than the wire techs down the hall from me didn't know JTAG from JPEG — I couldn't risk getting a grievance because someone thought I, a mere unrepresented member of "management" (as everyone who wasn't union-represented was called), was takin' their jerbs.
We went and just bought rolling stands instead. We thought about sneaking the Best Buy techs in but decided we liked our jobs too much to do that. When they found out we just bought stands instead of having the screens mounted they tried to throw a hissy fit but were unsuccessful (we didn't actually break any rules).
This same job required me to get an exemption from two unions because the devices I worked with communicated with RF energy (radio union) and I needed a screwdriver to get inside of them (IBEW). Sigh. It didn't matter than the wire techs down the hall from me didn't know JTAG from JPEG — I couldn't risk getting a grievance because someone thought I, a mere unrepresented member of "management" (as everyone who wasn't union-represented was called), was takin' their jerbs.