Yeah been there done that union crap, sometimes it's great and sometimes it sucks. FYI here's what I used to do when I really, really, really wanted a day off. To avoid the chance that I would not get that day off I wouldn't try to get it the honest way (the honest way only gets you screwed) I'd just call in sick that day. I'd still get paid since I hadn't tried to get that day on a floater and nobody was the wiser. Of course holidays were out of the question, they had a rule about holiday's, if you called in you don't get paid period. This included the day before and after the holiday.
