What do you think about unions and striking?

[PrincessPerky]

I am too lazy to do the research but I am pretty sure breaks and company health benefits are required by federal law. Unions can make them better but getting them is required.

Also I think life would be better if we shipped the unions overseas...don't really need em here (we have big bro govt), but India could use them.

[cptacek]

I think that unions had their place, and they did do a great job stopping sweatshop like conditions here. But I think they have run their course and aren't necessary anymore.

[GrimJack]

I am too lazy to do the research but I am pretty sure breaks and company health benefits are required by federal law. Unions can make them better but getting them is required.

Yes, and so are paid vacations, overtime pay, 40 hour work weeks but the unions forced the issue

Also I think life would be better if we shipped the unions overseas...don't really need em here (we have big bro govt), but India could use them.

Then we would all work in Mal-Mart conditions where you will be get to work off the clock and through your breaks. Then, your hours will be cut until you don't qualify for health insurance or any other benefits. Take a look here

[GrimJack]

I think that unions had their place, and they did do a great job stopping sweatshop like conditions here. But I think they have run their course and aren't necessary anymore.

I only wish that were true. Just take a look at how Wal-Mart treats its employees.

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
Unions are needed to balance the power of big gov and big business

I don't think unions are sainted institutions but then i don't think the other 2 in the triangle necessarily working in our best interests.

[PrincessPerky]

Yes, and so are paid vacations, overtime pay, 40 hour work weeks but the unions forced the issueThen we would all work in Mal-Mart conditions where you will be get to work off the clock and through your breaks. Then, your hours will be cut until you don't qualify for health insurance or any other benefits. Take a look here

Working off the clock is illegal (call OSHA on em) and so is not taking a break (again it is a safety thing, call OSHA)

and I believe both candidates want to make the health care universal, so that wont be an issue as soon as big bro govt gets its way.

Unions ARE big buisness, just not a manufacturing business.

[maat55]

Maat, I sort of gathered that. I would like you to explain how unions are destroying our companies? Would you be specific? Do you refuse to accept overtime pay because that is tainted by union connections? Do you advocate getting rid of 40 hour work week? How about paid vacations and/or getting weekends off?

What parts of union negotiations would you turn down? Unions got us company paid health insurance, lunch breaks, coffee breaks.

Because I don't do studies on unions, I judge them by what I hear from a member of one or on radio and tv. I've been told by an American Airlines a union member that new members have to be told to slow down, not to get their jobs done too quickly.

Try being self-employed and get the same pay and benefits of a union worker. Dollar for dollar, you'll work much harder. I don't sit around watching a clock waiting for my next break. I take less than five minutes to eat my sandwich.

I don't like that seniority takes presidence over your work ethic. Unions like the gov. have a place, but are doing a horrible job.

[ithaca]

I only wish that were true. Just take a look at how Wal-Mart treats its employees.

There is a very very simple solution for any employee that is being mistreated by Wal-Mart..... go work at Target. Or Meijer. Or McDonalds. I don't really feel bad for someone that chooses to work for Wal-Mart when there are thousands of other companies that would employ them.

[maat55]

Unions: Good or Bad?
By Selena Maranjian October 30, 2003 Comments (0)
10
Recommendations

I've long supported unions. I've even belonged to two -- when I was a high school teacher and when I was a university administrative worker. (For the record, the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers had some great songs.) But in recent years, I've come to doubt my pro-union convictions. Permit me to share some of my thoughts and then to solicit your thoughts. I suspect that many who read my words are much more informed about and experienced with unions than I am.

Why unions are good
In much of industrial America, workers toiled under very unsafe conditions, earning extremely low pay and enjoying little to no legal protection. Unions were successful in bringing about many improvements for such workers, such as more reasonable working hours. They have generally served workers well by helping them avoid being exploited by employers. Even in these days, unions have a strong impact. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, union members in 1999 had median weekly earnings of $672 (that's $34,944 per year) while non-union workers had median weekly earnings of only $516 ($26,832) (source).

Here is the good they do.

Why unions are problematic
Much as I'd rather not accept it, while unions have done a lot of good and have helped workers avoid exploitation, they also seem to have helped workers exploit employers. Perhaps it has been a gradual shift over time, with unions slowly accumulating more and more power. (Perhaps not -- again, I welcome your thoughts.)

Unions can have the power to impede a company's ability to compete and thrive. A firm might be in desperate trouble, yet its unions may be unwilling to bend or compromise in order to help the company survive. Many employers find themselves left very inflexible when they have union contracts to abide by.

Some more problems with unions:

Anti-competitiveness. The Socialstudieshelp.com website suggests that, "unions. are victims of their own success. Unions raised their wages substantially above the wages paid to nonunion workers. Therefore, many union-made products have become so expensive that sales were lost to less expensive foreign competitors and nonunion producers."

A decline in the value of merit. In many union settings, workers can't advance much or at all on their merits, but must generally progress within the limits defined by union contracts. Employers may have trouble weeding out ineffective employees if they belong to unions. In theory, at least, unionized workers might become so comfortable and protected that they lose the incentive to work hard for their employer. And outstanding employees might lose their get-up-and-go if there's no incentive to excel -- or worse, if they're pressured by the union to not go the extra mile.

You can see where, a member of a union could be pro and a nonmember could be against.

[cptacek]

There is a very very simple solution for any employee that is being mistreated by Wal-Mart..... go work at Target. Or Meijer. Or McDonalds. I don't really feel bad for someone that chooses to work for Wal-Mart when there are thousands of other companies that would employ them.

Agree! Like at our company. They keep comparing our benefits to another similar company's benefits across town. So, go apply there!

By the way, they voted to strike. We'll see what happens on Monday.

[Newbie]

The unreasonable demands of unions started the demise of the US auto companies. I think they do more harm than good..

[asmom]

There is a very very simple solution for any employee that is being mistreated by Wal-Mart..... go work at Target. Or Meijer. Or McDonalds. I don't really feel bad for someone that chooses to work for Wal-Mart when there are thousands of other companies that would employ them.

Would you believe that in some small towns there is no Target or Meijer or even a McDonalds????? Shocking isn't it, but these places exist. In some cases, the towns are too small to support a variety of businesses from the outset and in others our dear friends at Walmart ran them out of business by selling their cheap plastic crap at low, low, low prices. Deliberately of course. And don't think they don't know it. Making sure they are the only game in town is how they ensure that their workforce has no or very little option but to accept their labor practices.

So your advice while seemingly practical, may not be so for everyone. It's never that simple.

[PrincessPerky]

. Making sure they are the only game in town is how they ensure that their workforce has no or very little option but to accept their labor practices.

So your advice while seemingly practical, may not be so for everyone. It's never that simple.

while I do understand it would be hard on ones family, those workers asked to break the law (working unpaid OT, no breaks ect) MUST stand up and voice their rights...if you don't know em blame the public school system.

reporters writing those scathing articles should start doing some research and help the workers find lawyers..not just gripe about it.

we have a billion laws in the US making many companies ship many jobs overseas, why don't we use some of them to protect walmart employees?

I personally have never met someone who was truly forced to work illegally....but I have met many who refused OT at crunch tme, complained of few hours..while refusing to come in when called. folks who complain about getting a low wage yet continually fail at their job. folks who complain are apleanty..folks I would pay to work are rare.

[b4freedom]

I’m actually the Treasurer of our local

I have some major problems with unions:

1) Many unions aren’t democratic entities. This is especially true for Teachers unions.
2) Unions often don’t comply with the legal requirements. Such as financial reporting to its members (particularly agency reporting).
3) Union business models are outdated and inflexible. If anything, unions should ‘franchise’ themselves and provide training to locals the same way that McDonalds does for its employees.
4) Most small locals are run by a bunch of “do good idiots” that haven’t a clue.
5) Most large unions are run by a bunch of unelected, self hired thugs with very little oversight.

With that said, I still believe we need unions. I just think that unions need to ‘reinvent’ themselves. I think that often times there are too many abuses that workers face with no one to protect them. The argument being, “Well, if you’re not happy you can just leave.” The problem with this argument is that often times you can’t ‘just leave’. For example, if you’ve worked for a company for 39 years and you need 40 years to collect a full pension then you’re not going to just leave. A manager may become abusive and the union provides an advocate to protect the rights of that person.

Unions take a very bad rap that they don’t disserve. They are often the scapegoat for everything that is wrong with a company/organization/entity. For the most part, a company doesn’t fail because of a union.

Let’s take wages. Unions want a fair and equitable wage. Often times a company will close a plant and say, “We just couldn’t afford the union wages.” This places the blame on the union and not on the company. It’s a fact that it’s cheaper to go to China and pay someone $200/month to work 12 hours a day for 6 days a week. Why is this the fault of the Union? It would be against the law to pay someone so little in the US. Are you going to work for $200/month for 12 hours for 6 days a week? I don’t think so! Yet, somehow everyone thinks it’s the unions fault. The company is bypassing local/state/federal minimum wage laws. It’s not legal here, so we’ll go there.

[b4freedom]

There is a very very simple solution for any employee that is being mistreated by Wal-Mart..... go work at Target. Or Meijer. Or McDonalds. I don't really feel bad for someone that chooses to work for Wal-Mart when there are thousands of other companies that would employ them.

Wal-Mart employees are brainwashed by the little bouncing face that drops prices to incredibly low rates. My source: 107,000 artcles that come up when I google "walmart brainwashing".

[Angio333]

I am a union member only because I am forced to be one since I work for a city based EMS system. I am very antiunion and hate the fact that they take $50 a month from my paycheck.

I have never gotten in trouble, and watch as they spend tons of money to protect troublemakers who deserved to be fired several times over. Our last few contracts were a joke.