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The UAW over-reached. but we had tremendous growth in this country for decades while unions were a fixture in most workplaces. The stagnation of personal income roughly parallels the decline of unions.
There are definitely some problems with unions, as there is with unrestricted capitalism. Overall, unions are more of a positive thing than a negative.
Unions were formed at a time when the labor laws were non-existent. Laws now cover a majority of the abuse that unions used to handle.
Labor laws help, certainly. But wages have stagnated for decades while corporate profits are booming. Minimum wage has lagged inflation for years. Exempt employees are expected to work 60+ hours weekly and the definition of exempt keeps expanding. Vacation and sick leave don't exist for many, and job security is practically non-existent. These are all things that can be addressed by unions.
The UAW over-reached. but we had tremendous growth in this country for decades while unions were a fixture in most workplaces. The stagnation of personal income roughly parallels the decline of unions.
There are definitely some problems with unions, as there is with unrestricted capitalism. Overall, unions are more of a positive thing than a negative.
Unions certainly have their place in human history, allot of progress came out of unions. But the question is to their relevance today.
Labor laws help, certainly. But wages have stagnated for decades while corporate profits are booming. Minimum wage has lagged inflation for years. Exempt employees are expected to work 60+ hours weekly and the definition of exempt keeps expanding. Vacation and sick leave don't exist for many, and job security is practically non-existent. These are all things that can be addressed by unions.
All these things you think people should have they can be negotiated for as part of pay negotiation.
Unions, by definition, can only benefit the below average of a group at the detriment of the above average.
Unions certainly have their place in human history, allot of progress came out of unions. But the question is to their relevance today.
I completely agree with you.
I think that a few facts show that they are. Corporate profits are up, productivity is up, but wages have stagnated. Pensions have virtually been eliminated, and individuals pay more every year for health care. More jobs are PT with no benefits, companies are reducing or eliminating vacation and sick leave, and more and more jobs are being outsourced as 1099 work where the employee has a higher tax burden. Corporate tax rates are down, executive compensation has skyrocketed, and companies shift production facilities and headquarters at a whim to take advantage of tax breaks, laying off thousands in the process.
The power won by unions over time has diminished and corporate power has increased. There is a role for unions, albeit a somewhat different on than in the past.
All these things you think people should have they can be negotiated for as part of pay negotiation.
Realistically, no. If your thought was true, we would see wages rise for 50% of the population, in fact we have seen wages stagnate or fall for 90% of the population. The facts differ with your version of reality.
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Unions, by definition, can only benefit the below average of a group at the detriment of the above average.
Nonsense. There is no such definition.
Employers have more leverage than workers in the current world. Much of this is due to corporate friendly laws.
There's plenty of illegal activity occurring in human resources departments. I'm sure there is also some other "corrupt" things happening on a regular basis, but I don't see your overall point. Are we all supposed to drop out of the system? Sorry, but even with any issues that exist, I'd gladly take my salary/benefit, and go to work every day. I don't doubt that there are certain industries, locations, and businesses who exploit their workers, but there is generally some transaction between employers and their employees, so that can't really be "exploitation."
Even though I'm not a senior executive, I've seen enough ugliness from unions, that I would never join one. I even saw someone come in for their workday, work about 30 mins., and then spend the rest of the day openly not doing any work. They did this daily. Why didn't they get fired? The union. I've also seen some terrible things done by teachers and electricians unions.
I'd rather chart my own course and find ways to build my income without needing to become a union bully.
Even though I'm not a senior executive, I've seen enough ugliness from unions, that I would never join one. I even saw someone come in for their workday, work about 30 mins., and then spend the rest of the day openly not doing any work. They did this daily. Why didn't they get fired? The union. I've also seen some terrible things done by teachers and electricians unions.
I'd rather chart my own course and find ways to build my income without needing to become a union bully.
I'm not a union defender, but one can easily find examples of people within every segment of the labor market who are "misbehaving." I mean, do you really want to start w/ senior executives.
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