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Two different types of people, both fall under the "union" label. Ironically I find that skilled union workers to be predominantly "right" leaning (Republican). Not really sure why.
Unions certainly are not perfect, and some public sector unions can be obnoxious at times. Nonetheless, it certainly isn't a coincidence that the decline in private sector union membership coincided with a declining middle class. The real culprit for this trend has been globalization, as the outsourcing of jobs to China was significantly weakened unions.
Unions can be good or bad. They can make financial cutbacks. While a company who doesn't have a union, has to keep to the laws of the state, the union can change things, like how many hours you must have to get insurance benefits. My husband got this notice with his union that states you have to have 96 hours per month to have benefits. So the part-time workers that have a base amount of 20 hours a week and were able to make enough hours to keep their benefits, now have to get more hours to receive benefits. It also matters if you were hired as a full time or part-time employee.
My husband had to go on a partnership strike as the hotel he worked at was going on strike, even though he's in a teamster union, and the strike was mainly for the seiu workers. He received money from the union as part of the union dues he put in, and also they gave him food. That was a whole month.
As part of a union, it does protect your job, being that they can't just lay you off. They have to place you in another job somewhere. My husband had to do that. The contract was up for his company lot, and they were outbid by another company (garage lot) and so my husband got placed at another lot. If he were not in a union, he could have been out of a job.
Two different types of people, both fall under the "union" label. Ironically I find that skilled union workers to be predominantly "right" leaning (Republican). Not really sure why.
As a former union member it's my opinion they only exist to keep the unqualified and incompetent worker (who would otherwise be fired) employed and the union management enriched at the memberships expense. Until this changes they are doomed.
Unions are a key reason for a solid middle class in America until the 1980's. A key feature of Reagonomics was undermining labor support and union busting. By every measure the number of families living in poverty from that point forward has risen and the middle class has shrunk. Real wages have shrunk not risen. However the wealthiest portion of America has gained resources and is financially solid. Unions set an independent standard for wages and benefits that force non-union employers to treat employees with higher regard. NO ONE ELSE IS NEGOTIATING FOR THE EMPLOYEE.
A strong, powerful labor market is critical to a healthy middle class. What is good for the wealthy is not necessarily good for the poor or middle class. This hype has led the middle class to surrender benefits, wages, rights, guarantees that have left them berift as they get older.
I'm in Canada. Without unions we wouldn't have some of the labour laws we have now. Without unions we wouldn't have had a middle-class. Now that unions are under attack, which always puzzled me, I see that eventually people will wake up and they will make a come back. I fear for a lot of younger people working today with no pensions, low wages. Not everyone can be a professional and without a solid middle-class our way of life will be under threat even more.
People are quick to blame the high cost of something on unionized employees, while ignoring the fact the CEO's etc salaries have skyrocketed many times over than what a mere employee gets. Also the money paid to said employees is spent back into the community.
Many successful companies are unionized. It's a myth you can't be both. Whenever a union has been busted or has less power it has never resulted in better pay and benefits for the employees. It always been better pay and perks by the executives.
Are all unions good unions? Of course not. However just because some haven't been angels doesn't mean they are all bad.
If the CEO of my company were reduced to 0 and spread amongst the employees, everyone would get a whopping $113 more per year.
Unions are a key reason for a solid middle class in America until the 1980's. A key feature of Reagonomics was undermining labor support and union busting. By every measure the number of families living in poverty from that point forward has risen and the middle class has shrunk. Real wages have shrunk not risen. However the wealthiest portion of America has gained resources and is financially solid. Unions set an independent standard for wages and benefits that force non-union employers to treat employees with higher regard. NO ONE ELSE IS NEGOTIATING FOR THE EMPLOYEE.
A strong, powerful labor market is critical to a healthy middle class. What is good for the wealthy is not necessarily good for the poor or middle class. This hype has led the middle class to surrender benefits, wages, rights, guarantees that have left them berift as they get older.
how else is a worker supposed to be able to protect his pay though?
By constantly expanding his knowledge, skills, and abilities, and proving his worth to either his current capitalist pig employer, or to a different capitalist pig employer who is willing to pay more.
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