Do Labor Unions Really Work?

[MJCRO]

So what do you guys think about Labor Unions, Do you think they are good? Policies are fair? Workers get what they want/need?

 

Any personal experiences, ideas, beliefs, etc. are more then welcome!

[OwinC]

I had union rules thrown at me when I worked at a register printing plant. I used a razor and cut across a run of paper to splice it with a new run. And one of the other press operators caught me when I sliced the paper. I was called into the plant managers office with my press operator, the union president, and the operator that caught me doing union work. No I was not a union member.

 

I had to plead my case to them to be able to keep my job with the company. Of course I made my statement and they made theirs. What I did was take a union paid operators job away from a union paid operator.

It all came out in the wash. I was able to keep my job. But I had to wait about six months before I could apply for a union position with the company.

[Voltes_5]

I am with a local union. Sad to say this, there are many in our union that does not deserve the pay grade they are getting. When I was an up and coming apprentice, a 60%, the company I work for and still work for gave me a responsibility an entry supervisor would perform. I dealt with 3 strict inspectors that represents the State and the people that hired us to build the homes. I had journeymen under me, and they helped me make sure that the houses I was turning over to the realtors and homeowners were up to the specified contracted standards. I saw first hand how journeymen my senior did not have the complete knowledge of the trade. A lot of them have singular specialty pertaining to the trade. The policies of our union is excellent, health insurance is top notch, it includes family. My retirement plan is taken care of an excellent firm and I can instruct them how I want my money invested, but I just let them do what they do best and so far, my money gets great returns.

[94Camaro]

I find it amusing that the title of this thread has "union" and "work" in the same sentence. As if those two things go together!

[Voltes_5]

I find it amusing that the title of this thread has "union" and "work" in the same sentence. As if those two things go together!

 

Care to elaborate on the amusing aspect?

[fire_storm]

They use to work but not so much anymore.

 

Nowadays when workers say they want more job benefits they companies just move out of the country to a place were there is cheap labor or get workers visas from the government to bring in forien workers who are willing to work for a reduced rate.

 

I've worked in a cable factory for a summer job and have found that labor unions are just nothing but trouble. I've had to watch what type of jobs I was doing other wise I'd hear a complaint from a person in the labor union complaining that summer help workers were taking away work from union workers. I'd also constantly hear complaints from the labor union workers complaining that they were not getting paid enough to do already easy jobs that they probably shouldn't be even paid as well they were already.

[AnomalousX]

I think between Unions and Taxes it's become almost impossible to be a competitive manufacturer in the US except for some states like Texas where it's a right to work state and employee difficulties are handled by a work force commission, usually when you institutionalize things the government is renowned for making it even more inefficient which is probably happening, but it's more efficient then a union ironically.

Edited December 18, 2009 by AnomalousX

[ccokeman]

It depends on who you ask. The last time I had to work a strike the offer that was accepted was worse than the original offer. Nice huh! In this day and age I think they go a long way towards raising the costs of consumer goods because of the high wages and benefits that are given. The unions about killed the big three auto makers. I do not like them because there is no pay for performance. If you do a crappy job but fall within the letter of your contract you get the same increase as the guy or gal who busts their rump. There is no incentive to excell just to do!

 

Sure you get paid well but what happens when those same good paying wages make a company unprofitable? When the cash is gone the jobs and company are gone! I dont care for them!

[AnomalousX]

I do not like them because there is no pay for performance. If you do a crappy job but fall within the letter of your contract you get the same increase as the guy or gal who busts their rump. There is no incentive to excell just to do!

 

Sure you get paid well but what happens when those same good paying wages make a company unprofitable? When the cash is gone the jobs and company are gone! I don't care for them!

 

Yeah unions aren't much better then communism, I can understand if people are being sent into unsafe work conditions and if they don't go the company takes their house or something but I don't think there are any evil Pennsylvania coal mining companies like that anymore, and whenever their in the news all they seem to be demanding is more money and doing less work it has nothing to do with unsafe working conditions or abusive employers.

 

Another irritating fact about unions is they collect dues when it's the workers who do all the work or take the penalties of striking, and that money goes to a guy or group of people who might not even work for the company except that the company has to negotiate with them. So basically that workforce has to piggyback a person on their paychecks so they can live a upper middle class or even high class life style, and all they do is take complaints until they figure out a scheme to get more money, then they shake their stick at the company.

 

They will fight tooth and nail to get paid too, like OwinC who was saying he made a small mistake and 2 bosses and the union rep were up there and all over him, that's because the Union rep knew right away if you got away with doing that job without being union and paying dues eventually it would catch on and he would be out of a cushy job- he correctly identified and dealt with you as a threat to his lazy life style.

Edited December 18, 2009 by AnomalousX

[slick2500]

That is why I love South Dakota it is a right to work state, there are no such things as unions here, you work you get paid, you don't work you don't get paid. Your raises are based upon your performance or how well your store or whatever is performing. You don't get an automatic set amount raise every year you have to earn your raises. I don't have some union boss getting me my raises or my health benefits I earned them through hard work.

[LoArmistead]

There's nothing wrong with collective bargaining in and of itself. Unions had the ability to work up until the federal government became involved in the arbitration and negotiation of union contracts (Thank you, FDR). Ever since that point, unions have been less and less about the well being of the workers and more about how much political capital they can raise. They're political organizations fighting for the DC politicians to do their dirty work for them. So long as DC can stay out of the process, I don't have a problem with organized labor. But, seeing as how DC can't stay out of it, I'm against organized labor.

[flareback]

I think unions were a good thing a long time ago. They fought for some good causes like better and safer working conditions. Now they just keep companies labor bills higher than they should be. There is no incentive to work hard and it's near impossible to fire a union employee. (I work at a place with a union though I'm not a member).