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Originally Posted by Mister Coaster
Unions have their time and place. In the days of the robber barrons, they certianly paved the way for fair treatment of workers. But, to say that unions are the only thing that could have achieved this is silly. If labor had not unionized back in the day, would workers in the US 2008 be the same slaves of the 19th century? Would minors be working? Would wages be below the poverty line? Of course not. Things balance themselves out, the industrial revolution swung the pendulum in favor of management, the pendulum would have eventually swung back.
Today unions are a mere shadow of what they once were. They exist only as a holdover from a day long past. I have worked for both union grocery stores and a non union store, I can say that the union store did absolutely nothing for me. When I was the 'best' man for the promotion, I was past up by someone with more seniority. When I had more seniority, I was passed up by someone who had better availability. When I had better availability, I was not the 'best' person for the job. And all of my union grievences fell on deaf ears
I was forced to be in the union (hefty initiation fees) and paid my dues (more fees) and every time I needed their help, I fill out my form and it gets ignored. I did finally get a promotion, now I get to pay a $250 'reclassification fee' to the union, WTF!?! $250 to file a piece of paper, blow me! Then when a merger comes I lose my job outright. Why? Because the rich want to get richer faster. Their plan is to run understaffed for 18 months, then hire new blood at apprentice 1 wages again. Where is the union to help me save my job? Nowhere, because the company is following the 'union guidelines' for layoffs. Guidelines or loopholes?
Meanwhile, the union rep drives a big-ass Caddy, wears expensive suits and does nothing but breeze through the shop stopping only for a few seconds to talk to laborers, but treats the store manager to a nice 2 hour, multi-drink lunch. Where are my dues and fees going? Looks like into the rep's pockets. It was a fucking bullshit waste of 6.5 years of my life.
I now work for a non-union store and my wages are higher, I get promoted based on my actual work, not just time in the company, and the benefits are on par with the union's. This company does these things because they want to hang onto good employees, not because they are being forced to by the antiquated union system.
Unions had their time and place, it's all over now, they need to be buried like the extinct dinosaurs they are.
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QFT.
I worked under the cover of the largest, most political union in NJ-the NJEA. Had no choice but to pay dues. The NJEA changed their rules in 2001, making laypeople no longer allowed to be asst teachers or aides. Only those already tenured could remain if a district used that clause; otherwise, all assts had to have a bachelor's degree or state(read NJEA-written) certification through a college. This meant that instead of an assistant teacher costing under $15k, the cost would now be a minimum of $26k each. More dues in the pockets of the union. Tenured teachers were subjected to being the second in classrooms, laypeople were shuffled around or let go....the domino effect from this led to higher taxes, more money in the union's pocket....and no backup from them, which was all along. During election years, we got inundated with flyers telling us who to vote for. Like I would bother listening.....
I've worked in places that had unions to which I didn't belong. The union workers got shit for pay, insurance coverage for them was no different than for us in the office and whether times were good or bad, we didn't get laid off, they did.
Federal and state laws protect the worker and there's no dues, per se. State unemployment and disability could be considered "dues", I guess.
If a union strikes, those people might get a daily stipend but they're screwed otherwise. I felt it ironic when every day, I was going to work in a little 6 person office, passing construction workers holding signs along the highway.
Yea, keep paying a union out of your paycheck so you can go on strike for some cause while your union rep drives his $40k car and has HIS job.....