Unions. Whats Your Opinion?

[Verres]

Originally posted by Ogie Oglethorpe
Unions served a noble purpose once upon a time. Betterment of wages and primarily the only advocate of safe working conditions. Problem is in their weakened stat today they concern themselves instead primarily with the promotion of the apparatus rather than the cause.

I would seriously question the motives of any government that wants to get rid of Unions.

[Dinner]

If Unions push for reasonable demands such as safe working conditions and reasonable pay raises then they are a good thing but if they fight all job cuts no matter how needed they are or if they demand pay raises which far out stripe inflation then they can be a very, very bad thing.

The problem is in a closed shop there is no competetion and this often leads union bosses to make unreasonable demands which the market place can't support.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Drogue
No it isn't. Capitalism is a system whereby wages are set by supply and demand.

You think so?

How hard it is to fire a bunch of, say, bus drivers who have been around for years and hire new ones at a lower wage level?

Originally posted by Drogue
Inefficiency generally has the oppposite effect, it reduces average income.

It depends on where the inefficiency is.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Unions are the reason that you lot don't work 12-hour days 7 days a week, probably won't get maimed at work, will probably get a pension, and won't be sacked on a whim by your boss.

You might want to bear that in mind.

[mrmitchell]

Unions serve an important purpose. The bad that comes with them is much smaller than the good.

[Dinner]

Read about the militant unionism of the 1970's if you want to see exactly how bad unions can be. Read about the strike breakers of the 1930's if you want to see how bad management can be.

Currently the US has a happy medium between unions and management. Both sides are unhappy so I'd say we've got it just about right.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Hehhe... yep Oerdin, if everyone *****es then you are doing something right .

[Sava]

While Unions today can be quite corrupt, the intitutions of unions should be respected and valued. Without Unions we wouldn't have labor laws... period. child labor laws, 40 hour work week, overtime laws... all exist because of Unions. And even the most corrupt unions today don't even come close to being as crooked as corporations. They are the lesser of two evils.

I'd rather deal with unions and some corruption instead of living in a world where workers aren't allowed to organize.

[Dinner]

Except we already have all of those laws, Sava. What good have the Unions done in the last 25 years? I can think of several bad things.

[Al B. Sure!]

yall are too busy pitting unions against managament and ignoring the political aspects of unions.

unions play a major part in the machine politics of urban cities. they add to the corruption of the city govts.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I'm sure some unions are good (after all, we don't get calls on every union ), but a great number of them are horrid pieces of filth to the workers who pay the dues and expect to be protected. At least you figure the employer is trying to screw you, you aren't as prepared when your union does the same thing.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
I'm sure some unions are good (after all, we don't get calls on every union ), but a great number of them are horrid pieces of filth to the workers who pay the dues and expect to be protected. At least you figure the employer is trying to screw you, you aren't as prepared when your union does the same thing.

In my experience the unions have been out for one thing and one thing only, securing incoming funds via membership and pension control. Gone are the days of the unions actually representing the membership except in ways of union self interest.

In many ways a political party.

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by Dauphin
And I think that executives get obscene amounts of self-awarded pay, but thats not going to be solved by unions.

Unions do help keep excessive executive bonuses in check.

Where does the money come from to pay the executives? Obviously profits.

If a company is making huge profits, the union will say the employees helped create this profit, they deserve a slice of the pie. So the employees get a pay increase instead of the one person, the CEO, getting multi-million dollar bonuses.

Non-union employees also benefit. If the unionised employees get a 4% pay increase that will put upward pressure on other salaries.

So everyone benefits from a union.

For those of you who are against unions, do you not want to earn more money? Do you not want protection from unfair dismissals?

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Originally posted by Oerdin
Except we already have all of those laws, Sava. What good have the Unions done in the last 25 years? I can think of several bad things.

In the UK? Pressed for the expansion of anti-discrimination measures for women, the disabled, homosexuals and transgenders- with marked success. Worked for (and achieved) a great deal of "dignity at work" measures in modern environments such as call centres. Established employment resources and advice for workers getting laid off. They've driven forward health & safety measures around RSI and DSE use.

Do you want more? I could give loads, but how many do you need before you consider the point to be made?

[DanS]

Unions aren't really that big a part of my life, other than being a driver of the urban government corruption that drains my tax dollars while giving shoddy services (e.g., DC Public Schools). My job is at-will for both me and my employer, which suits me fine for what I do.

Overall, unions have never been on my side, so I wouldn't give them the benefit of the doubt if their actions impacted me negatively further. But unions around here are very weak outside of government, so it's tough to get pissed off at their actions. I can't remember ever being impacted by a strike, for example.