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greytone · 10-27-2004, 05:21 PM

Like all things......it depends.

There is no doubt that unions were critical for much of the recent 100+ years. However there are a number of recent examples of unions working more for the power of those in charge of the union, rather than their members. I am not advocating getting rid of unions, but their power should not be unchecked. Here are few examples of unions putting their own interests ahead of that of their members.

I have a close friend who works as a television reporter. Several years ago he was working in a closed shop state under a contract with his station. His contract ran out and at the time he was working the morning news. He hated it because he is clearly not a morning person and getting up at 2am was not good. He had not yet found another job and he wanted to continue to work until he found something in another market. It is a tough field and there are few openings. He and his employer agreed to work under the conditions of the expired contract until one or the other decided to end things. (That is the condition most of us find ourselves by default.) The station was actively looking for someone who had a pulse before 8 am and Scott was looking for work elsewhere. Both were happy with the arrangement and the union was not harmed because they would just replace my friend with the new hire when they were identified. After several months the union cought wind of this. They wrote a letter to the station without contacting my friend. They claimed that he could no longer work without a contract and he was fired that day. It took him months to find another job on the opposite coast.

Several years ago the UPS workers went on strike as a result of a power grab in the AFL-CIO. I know that there are those who will disagree with that, but the facts seem to support the claim. At the time UPS was employee owned. Understand that. The employees went on strike against themselves! As a result, they permanently lost market share. Less than two years later they made a killing when UPS went public, never knowing how much more their stock would have been worth with their market share intact and no recent history of labor disputes.

10-27-2004, 05:21 PM	#5 (permalink)
greytone Junkie	Like all things......it depends. There is no doubt that unions were critical for much of the recent 100+ years. However there are a number of recent examples of unions working more for the power of those in charge of the union, rather than their members. I am not advocating getting rid of unions, but their power should not be unchecked. Here are few examples of unions putting their own interests ahead of that of their members. I have a close friend who works as a television reporter. Several years ago he was working in a closed shop state under a contract with his station. His contract ran out and at the time he was working the morning news. He hated it because he is clearly not a morning person and getting up at 2am was not good. He had not yet found another job and he wanted to continue to work until he found something in another market. It is a tough field and there are few openings. He and his employer agreed to work under the conditions of the expired contract until one or the other decided to end things. (That is the condition most of us find ourselves by default.) The station was actively looking for someone who had a pulse before 8 am and Scott was looking for work elsewhere. Both were happy with the arrangement and the union was not harmed because they would just replace my friend with the new hire when they were identified. After several months the union cought wind of this. They wrote a letter to the station without contacting my friend. They claimed that he could no longer work without a contract and he was fired that day. It took him months to find another job on the opposite coast. Several years ago the UPS workers went on strike as a result of a power grab in the AFL-CIO. I know that there are those who will disagree with that, but the facts seem to support the claim. At the time UPS was employee owned. Understand that. The employees went on strike against themselves! As a result, they permanently lost market share. Less than two years later they made a killing when UPS went public, never knowing how much more their stock would have been worth with their market share intact and no recent history of labor disputes. __________________ I was there to see beautiful naked women. So was everybody else. It's a common failing. Robert A Heinlein in "They Do It With Mirrors"