Unionized Workers...Good or Bad

[nycdot2003]

I am a teamster, I believe that unions are a necessary evil. They protect workers rights, give you **decent** pay & benefits, and with municipal unions, help to protect the citizens by having and fighting for proper staffing of fire & police & ems.
HOWEVER, I believe that unions are bullies, boasting "quality union work" and "union made" along with causing problems for non union outfits, weather their employees want to go union or not. Many are much more concerned about your break or meal time, or your salary than your safety, or the longevity of the company who's workers they represent, and that's not right. Union bullying can **** a company, or a municipality with half assed threats of slowdowns,"rule book slowdowns" "sickouts" or strikes. NO ONE wins in a strike, and the union heads don't hurt from a strike, the union presidents and bigwigs are not affected by a strike of their members. Union members can also be some kind of assholes. Some jerk with a union card can think that he is God's gift to the labor *****, and thinks that him turning that screw, driving that truck, or pounding that nail is done with more quality and machismo than the non union worker, and THAT, my friends is not only not right, it's not always true.
I get very disheartened when I see a 31 year old "10 year veteran union plumber" trash talk a 55 year old 30 year veteran non union plumber who is probably better and more humble at his job than the union plumber will ever be, but that's just my asshole opinion,
My local tried to bust into a smaller sand & gravel business this past spring, and their drivers CLEARLY didn't want to go union, they were very happy with the working relationship they had with the ****** & *** running the business, and there's nothing wrong with that, and their drivers are just as qualified as us union drivers, and they probably work just as hard as us union drivers for a salary and benes just about the same as mine.
Just my asshole opinion.

 

[Facial_King]

Wow, there's a lot that could be said, but for now I'll just say that unions are a plus to society, no doubt about it. I'm glad that the thread (which I'd never seen before) was bumped, but unfortunately by a rather weak, Limbaugh-esque comment...

 

[lovejoy]

I am a teamster, I believe that unions are a necessary evil. They protect workers rights, give you **decent** pay & benefits, and with municipal unions, help to protect the citizens by having and fighting for proper staffing of fire & police & ems.
HOWEVER, I believe that unions are bullies, boasting "quality union work" and "union made" along with causing problems for non union outfits, weather their employees want to go union or not. Many are much more concerned about your break or meal time, or your salary than your safety, or the longevity of the company who's workers they represent, and that's not right. Union bullying can **** a company, or a municipality with half assed threats of slowdowns,"rule book slowdowns" "sickouts" or strikes. NO ONE wins in a strike, and the union heads don't hurt from a strike, the union presidents and bigwigs are not affected by a strike of their members. Union members can also be some kind of assholes. Some jerk with a union card can think that he is God's gift to the labor *****, and thinks that him turning that screw, driving that truck, or pounding that nail is done with more quality and machismo than the non union worker, and THAT, my friends is not only not right, it's not always true. Just my asshole opinion.

Unions are a necessary evils ! But it is the "good" unions that truly represent the interests of the workers, to provide "living" wages not minimal wages, to fight for the rights of the workers !.

I was very disapointed by Teamsters. As a Teamsters member for almosts 9-10 years, I pay almosts 60 bucks a month for union due. Did my Teamster Local really represent us or just collect hundreds of thousands dollars a month? The issue is where is the union due goes ? Where is the Teamster union due go in my Local ?

I believe in union, it is the management and upper management who fails the workers. Most Japanese transplants do NOT have unions :nanner:in America except Madza but they provide everything for their workers including the best dining halls with international dishes during lunch hours, gyms, track and fields at Smryna, Tennessee Nissan plant. Toyota also do not use union and their contract workers only get $17.00 dollars per hour and go up to $22.00 in 6 months if your performance is good.

I understand $22.00 an hour at Toyota is not as good as GM and Ford. But Japanese transplant in America also make sure you get a good job for life even without a union.

So the final point is if it is a good company with sustainable growth and profit, you don't need a union. But an union is a necessity because most companies are evil. and do not follow the rules.

Walmart does not have unions. But the French-Canadians organize an union to challenge Walmart. Walmart shut the place down and over 300 people lost their jobs but 300 familes (close to 1,000 people are affected) in Quebec.

So it is the company who does good deed really count otherwise the union has to step in to truly represent the real interests of the workers !:nanner:

 

[Civickiller80]

Just thought i'd bump this thread....Im in toronto and we have now had a city strike for over 3 weeks....garbage is on strike, daycares, licensing, etc....people are saying that its time to bust unions and get rid of them and to privatize(contract out) all services....i still think unions are a necessity, they help keep fulltime jobs and give families benefits....

 

[Boothbabe]

Here in the Netherlands unions are a great thing. They ensure fair pay, a safe and healthy working environment and they stand up for workers rights. Dutch unions are also a very powerfull social factor in Dutch society. They can influence government policy and help to resolve problems like the economic crisis that's still going on. If it wasn't for the unions the Netherlands would be a very different country.

 

[mrtrebus]

Good

 

[biomech]

As a union member and local officer, I can tell you unions are great.
Without unions in the US, we would not have the standard of living some enjoy.
In my area, the union shops actually bump the payscale and benefits up for non-union companies(afraid of organizing drives).

 

[marquis2]

Unions exist because otherwise an employee has little protection.In an ideal well run business there would be no real need for unions though they are good at sorting out many small problems.
There is an argument put out by some posters that you choose your employment and must accept what comes along with it.This is flawed in two ways;firstly it's quite reasonable for a person to try to improve his situation;he might feel he deserves more pay or recognition.Secondly , situations within a company change;a new management or boss ,reorganisation , structural changes etc so the job is no longer the one you chose to join.
No union though can protect its members against reality and this was the problem in Britain before the Thatcher reforms.To ***** management to accept terms which damage the company ; to demand more wages when you haven't many customers left are not unionism at its best and serve the members poorly.

 

[calpoon]

when I saw this thread on the main page I thought it said "ionized workers- good or bad?" I thought, well, how can that be good?

 

[titsrock]

Just thought i'd bump this thread....Im in toronto and we have now had a city strike for over 3 weeks....garbage is on strike, daycares, licensing, etc....people are saying that its time to bust unions and get rid of them and to privatize(contract out) all services....i still think unions are a necessity, they help keep fulltime jobs and give families benefits....

Yikes....privatize all services. Expect to pay more and suffer more. Although, is there a daycare union in Toronto? Isn't regulation enough in some cases?

There has been talk of creating "white collar" tech unions due to all the outsourcing that's occured throughout American business the past couple of years. Of course, this was before the economy went into the shitter...

 

[Facetious]

^Re economy in the shitter ^ I thought that you were fundamentally opposed to economies. :dunno: If you are opposed to capitalism, you would have to be opposed to economies, no ?

Re: Unionized Workers...Good or Bad

Let me first say - Secret Ballot Forever !

I've worked in two distinctly different union shops in the past and I must say, for the guy who doesn't want to "hassle" with running his own business or getting a graduate degree, the union shop can provide a decent deal. I don't know what constraints will be in place for the future, I would have to assume that the future work contracts and benefits won't be as generous as previous.

 

[calpoon]

If you are opposed to capitalism, you would have to be opposed to economies, no ?

yes?

 

[georgeutley]

Good and Bad.

Good in that it tends to provide higher wages for the workers, it makes very clear policies that are to be followed, and even the managers of the hourly workers get paid more as well.

Bad

It can make it hard for a company to be flexible in a rapidly changing business environment and it tends make companies find ways to run their business with less employees.

 

[tiger1977]

Unions have outlived their usefulness. They were decent back when they started, but now are just full of over-paid, lazy "workers" (for the most part, not all union workers are).

 

[Will E Worm]

If employeers could be trusted to treat their employees like humans and give them raises, benefits, and vacations then possibly there would be no need for Unions.

But, most employeers think only of themselves and are greedy.
Unions help with greed.

Unions make sure that employees are treated fairly and if they don't and people are fired then the Union should be shut down and a new one brought in to replace them.

 

[megaewok]

Sorry, having worked for companies like Wal*Mart, and getting screwwed royaliy by them, and now my most recent employer, and then being told by the government and other legial services that you mentioned that I have no legal options because said companies own the fucking government, I am 100% pro union, and concider any worker that opposes unions to be traitors to their fellow worker, and any company that opposes unions to be an enemy outright.

You're right about Wal*Mart, they are very horrible! One of my relatives work there and I heard that that if someone talks about a union in the store they would be in big trouble, so I agree! :hatsoff:

 

[Magnet]

Its both good and bad.

We have seen what un-unionized workers got in the past (which was much)
But at the same time a union can create downfall for a company.

At the same time I believe without Unions, jobs that dont have unions would not be as good or pay would not be as good because those jobs/companies would not have to compete with unions or unioned workers.

 

[nateman7097]

Used to serve an important purpose. Mostly obsolete in modern western society as long as fair labour practices are enforced.

 

[Facial_King]

...as long as fair labour practices are enforced.

Well, see, there's the catch.

 

[STDiva]

Fuck unions.

Bump.