Posted on 09/22/2006 12:38:08 PM PDT by John Jorsett
Although their clout has declined markedly over the past 30 years, unions remain a major influence in the lives of millions of Americans. One in eight Americans belongs to a union, and in 28 states workers can lose their jobs if they do not become a union member. Even in firms with voluntary membership, unions represent both unionized and non-unionized employees at the bargaining table, meaning it often makes sense for workers to join in order to have a say in the entity that negotiates their wages and workplace conditions. When workers join a union, they get more than collectively negotiated terms of employment, however. They also get a leadership that pursues its own priorities outside of negotiating employment conditions, priorities which may or may not reflect union members’ wishes. For all their influence in the workplace, it is not clear whether unions actually represent their members’ values. While it is true that union members elect their leaders, union leaders appear to pursue an agenda disconnected from the concerns of their members. One way to test if unions represent their members’ priorities would be to give workers the option to choose whether or not to support a project backed by their union. If support remained at the same level, it would indicate that the union leadership’s priorities matched those of the members. Decreased support would demonstrate that the unions’ priorities do not reflect their members’ wishes. Just such an experiment has taken place over the last decade. Many unions are heavily involved in political activism, spending their members’ mandatory dues to elect candidates favored by the union leadership. However, several states have passed “paycheck protection” laws that require unions to obtain written permission from their members before they can spend membership dues on political causes. In these states, the union’s political activism becomes essentially voluntary for its members. A detailed examination of union spending in states in which political donations are voluntary reveals that union leaders choose to spend far more on politics than their members would prefer. In particular: Many union leaders are pursuing an agenda that their members do not support. This fact suggests that America’s workers would be well served by giving them greater freedom in deciding whether or not to belong to a union, and union members should be given greater sway over how their dues are spent by their leaders.
That's why unions have fought these laws tooth and nail.
I take issue with that one. Who hired Mr. Dumbass to start with? If he is truly inept, document it and prove it. It can be done. I don't want someone who is a safety hazard to themselves and others working in a precarious enviroment.
Economic evolution at work! Can't fool mother nature can they?
You sound like a good man, applying the same principles I applied to my coworkers when employed, that I now apply to my vendors and customers. I'm glad you found a situation you're happy with, whether that be in a union or out.
Funny story: I used to work in a company where my boss, the VP, was philosophically anti-union because he thought "each employee should be able to negotiate with the company on his own merits". I had some problems with unions in practice, but had no problem with the actual concept, so we ended up agreeing to disagree. I found out what a hypocrite he was when I learned that our company and three competitors in town had an agreement between their management not to hire each others employees.
So in the "mind" of my boss, collective bargaining of the small against the large is unfair, but collective bargaining of several larger entities against individual small entities is just hunky dory. What a maroon he was.
You saw through his hypocrisy. The problem that is faced is that with power and authority comes resposibility and some supervisors cannot overcome their base desires to feel good about themselves by degrading and humiliating others. A union is not the perfect answer but it does level the playing field somewhat. There are abuses on both sides to be sure. The companies and societies best interest are set aside in this category.
Does making a mistake in hiring a dumbass mean that you should have to keep him on forever? Sure, there are typically ways to get rid of somebody, but the union seeks to make them as onerous as possible. The worst examples are teacher's unions whose contracts have firing procedures so convoluted, lengthy, and adversarial that principals rarely exercise them no matter how bad the teacher is.
If he is truly inept, document it and prove it. It can be done.
I have come across BAD teachers and other dumbasses. I do want them terminated. The administration is too lethargic and lazy to do their job of documentation. My son was left out-of-state on a school trip because the teacher didn't do a head count. My son was at the appointed time/place but the teacher left early because of the weather. They should have fired her.
There are many steel workers, at Nucor and Oregon Steel for instance; both nonunion, very competitive companies.
Or to send union business agents to go work for political campaigns while supposely working for union shops in the area.
Two things I will never do under any circumstances: work for the government or join a union.
Thank you for this post. As a former JS and Bus. Rep. I always found myself stuck between trying to keep the membership happy and the employers. I always stuck to the contract. If the union member wasn't happy then I would encourage him to bring it to the next meeting, but we are not going to have the discussion on the shop floor. As the same goes I would fight with everything I had available if the employer was trying to violate the contract. They were usually just trying to find ways around a clause or trying to save a buck at the cost of us giving up precedence. I always won because I knew if I gave in that one time then they would expect it again in the future.
Proud to be a Republican, Conservative, Fully Armed, Union Member.
NO2
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