Why do we need unions today? I understand the history and necessity of them in the beginning. But, it seems as if unions are there to preserve jobs (even when someone should be fired), inflate salaries, and provide a ridiculous amount of benefits.
Tell me I'm wrong and why.
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It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.
Anyone who has had a manager exercise, or attempt what one might consider unrighteous dominion over him/her in the workplace for whatever reason (usually self promotion in my experience) should at least understand the advantage of having a union in that situation. As an apprentice machinist I was part of the bargaining unit (IUE) at a huge factory complex, and saw abuses and attempted shenanagans on the part of both management and the union leadership. There was unfairness on both sides.
Hmm, an issue that lundbaek and i differ a lot on. That's unusual. Shortly after my mission I worked for UPS for a while, which is a union shop. I was very unimpresed with my experience as a union member. And I think that many union rules work against productivity. For instance, a mason friend (someone who lays bricks, not someone who has a secret handshake) told me that told me that, on a job, if he needs help lifting something, and someone is standing right there, he can't help him unless it's in his job description. From everything I know, unions are one of the things killing the auto industry.
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If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! - Samuel Adams
lundie, don't we have laws to prevent abuse of power? Because of the work of unions from days gone by, we have employment laws. So, truly, I don't understand the role of unions today.
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It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.
OK, my only "union action case" occurred when a project manager insisted I work 1/2 hour extra each day and cut my lunch from 30 minutes to 18 minutes, without additional compensation. But I was aware of dishonesty and attempts at dishonesty on both sides. The last place I worked before retiring was a large manufacturer of aircraft engines. The management was generally poor, but always respectful of the tradesmen and their needs, who never indicated to me an interest in being unionized, and were not adverse to working outside their job description, including sweeping up, etc. Shop floor conditons at a similar factory of my prior employer were such that a union had years before proven desirable, but later placed demands on the company that forced it to relocate much of its manufacturing operation and eventually shut down some of the union shops and open multiple smaller facilities and establish a broader supplier base.
One of the most interesting union battles I was aware of occurred when 1/2 way to the end of construction of an oil platform in N.E. England, the trades insisted, in violation of original contract, on a substantial "finishing bonus". Management refused, trades struck, and management had the rig towed across to the Netherlands for completion.
My impression of most union stewards and leadership was bad. They struck me as people with lesser skills in the trades, who found ways to keep themselves in a job thru their positons in the unions. But I also encountered many office and shop floor managers who, given 1/2 chance, would exploit labour for their own self aggrandizement.
Labour and management both have contributed greatly to loss of jobs and industries.
