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I voted union. While not perfect if the union in question is run like a business for the members and has their head out of their posterior then all should go well for everyone concerned.
If,however, the union is corrupt or has their head up their posterior then I'd vote no on unions.
....When unions force an employers profit to drop too low to stay in business, the employer has an option, move off shore or go out of business. Many times that is what they do. Those jobs are lost forever and it is caused by government regulations and unions. No product is worth more than what people will pay for it, so if a union forces the cost of a product to be too high, you can't sell it or have trouble selling it.
I disagree. Companies that go offshore do so to take advantage of slave wages. Even minimum wage/no bennies here is far, far more than Bangladesh.
Nahh, the ones that go offshore were going anyway. They may come back someday though...when American workers get desparate enough to take a buck or two an hour.
I agree! Unions cause mediocrity in the work force. Ask anyone who has union workers working around them. Also, unions force non-union jobs to pay the 'prevailing wage'. This situation makes construction jobs cost more than they should, and it keeps some companies from bidding on the jobs. Where I live there is one electrical contractor who owns a union shop. Most of his workers have been laid off because the people who are building are calling non-union workers to do the work. I would think that a wage that is a bit lower than a union wage would be better than no wage at all. Yet, most dyed in the wool union workers can't see it. But this winter when they have to pay the heating bill, they can feel it.
What causes mediocrity is the wage paid, not union vs non-union. Don't expect a pro or hard worker for $8/hr.
The second part of your rant is contradictory, if union wages raise pay how are there lower costing contractors out there doing the work the union jobs used to do?
A few months ago I would have told you I hate unions, but now I voted for union. A fellow at work was screwed (fired) for something absurd, I'd like to think he would have had a fair chance with a union. You would think there would be fewer lazy bastards being private, but that's not how it looks from my POV.
It's not as if hating unions is without foundation, there are certainly some downsides. As with just about any controversial topic, there is rarely a clear answer. You are neither right or wrong for liking/disliking unions (imo).
People should be paid what the market says they are worth.
This is exactly the comment I would expect from somebody high and mighty like you that thinks everybody is beneath him. Not everybody can have a cushy office job like you. The average working man really doesn't have much of a chance by himself but when you get group of people to fight for what is right collectively, it makes it very hard for the company to ignore them. This is the reasons unions were formed in the first place. Now it seems everything unions have fought for has fallen by the wayside.
Yes I know there are some unions jobs that pay too much. There are also companies that are very profitable in spite of paying union wages but are using the economy as an excuse to move jobs out of the country. It seems as though good profit isn't enough anymore. These companies want to make a killing at all cost just so they can please the shareholders and the CEO can make his multimillion dollar bonus. The bottom line is they will never be happy until the average worker is living in mud huts.
I've also known a lot of people who hated unions until they got a union job. Once they had a chance to see what unions could do for them, they would never want to go back.
Did the UAW save the thousands and thousands of auto jobs that have been lost over the last 20 years? Has the steel workers union saved all the jobs that have gone overseas to other countries who are making it cheaper, cheap enough that the shipping costs included is cheaper than making it here? Unions were needed when companies were using children and even the adults were treated unfairly and were made to work in unsafe conditions.
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