I am a new young union representative...?

Question

I would like any ideas and views on workers unions'.

What would make you join a union?

Why would you pay the monthly fee?

At the moment all i have to work with is the fact that they fight for a good pension.... Who cares when your 25!!!!

Any answers will be helpfull!

Answer 1

You could be very useful is someone was victimised or bullied in the workplace. Or if management decided they wanted to sack someone.

Answer 2

You may not care about a pension plan when you are 25, but you should. Somebody you might be 50 and have nothing, and that's kinda late to be starting a pension plan. It's better than nothing at all, but you could have 25 more years of investments.
I have been in a union, and they always tell you the union is the workers, well that's not true, the ones that control the union are the ones on the resolution committe at the national level; if you submit a resolution and the committee does not like your resolution, it does not get voted on. Union dues are too high.
In the past, unions were good, but now they are the cause of a lot of factories closing up and GM losing money (along with poor management).

Answer 3

Why would I join a Union? Because management has been arbitrary, capricious and discriminatory. Has not listened to my complaints or comments. Has been unfair and the "open door" leads to the street.

Why would I pay the Union Dues? To pay for representation, dispute resolution and negotiation. Because the Union needs to build the strike fund (or is that another assessment, like the Political Action Contributions [PAC]?) So representatives and Business Agents can drive Cadillacs and Town Cars while the average worker drives a Corolla.

Unions have had their day, when there was no social legislation to protect workers from low wages, long hours, hazardous/ unsafe working conditions, no worker compensation, in short, when there was little or no protection for workers, especially children.

Today the workplace has changed. We are no longer a manufacturing society, but have moved on to being a financial/ information/service society where the workers are better educated, more articulate, and mobile than were our fathers and grandfathers.

While there are still some pockets of "union power", Unions are becoming dinasaurs. It is noteworthy that labor organizations are consolidating due to lower membership. The United Steelworkers, in the '60's had more than 1.5 million members in the US, now, even after absorbing the leather workers, paper workers, oil and chemica workers, and a few service worker group, they are still well below that peak.

What has the Union to offer? They can't guarantee job security, whether it be a disciplinary issue or plant closure. They can't guarantee wages and benefits, other than use the ambiguous phase "more". They can't guarantee....anything, other than dues and other assessments will be taken out of a worker's pocket.
How many jobs have unions created in the last 10 years? 20 years? 50 years?

As to your pension issue - Negotiate for a 401(k), with a company matching contribition, without limit. In other words, if a member contributes $10, 000/ year, the Company should match. (You won't get it but it's an opening gambit. Settle for 25% of the 1st 10% of employee contributions.)

If the Company goes bankrupt, they can dissolve the pension, turning it over the the PBGC - the Federal Government's Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation- which if it doesn't go broke, will pay out 50% of the "negotiated" benefit to the employee. A 401(k) is vested by the employees after 5 years of participation, and fully vested if the company ceases to exist.

Another "hot button" is medical benefits. The Company will try to shift costs to the employees - "3% wage increase, but we need $15/week/employee for medical plan". Be prepared to offer alternatives - HDHP with MSA (for younger workers), Indemnity Plans with "Cafeteria" feature for older workers, "Wellness Programs", Employee Assistance Programs, and the like to increase health awareness and foster "preventative care", which in the long run will control health care costs.

Want to be a good union rep? Ask your people what their concerns are and work to fulfill them, keeping in mind that the company needs to be profitable in order to insure job security.

Answer 4

Generally I dispise workers unions. There was one business here for over 30 years. One of the largest employers in the county. A few years ago they voted in a union, 3 months later the place burned down and never re-opened.

I think unions did more good back when they first started. The competition for quality workers in recent years should allow all employers a better bargaining position. As a union rep, think about what your responsibilities are and make the best out of ever dollar that the employee pays in dues. Are you/the union worth what they are paying, or is the union just self serving?

Answer 5

NO Offence meant but am a little baffled as to why you would become a New Young Union Rep, when you dont really seem to have any idea of what the role entails!!!

People normally join unions and pay the monthly fee, as kind of insurance, so that if any thing at work does go wrong they have someone to help, not just for wage rises, in redundancy situation, disciplinaries, grievances, they are their to support people, hope this helps

Answer 6

Do you not have Branch and Regional Officers to go through all this with you?

You should care about pensions at 25 because they take years of contributions before they're really worth anything, and in any case...if you are a union rep, why are you just thinking about yourself?? You are supposed to be thinking about your membership as a whole?

It sounds to me like you need some training...get onto your union quick.


EDIT:

WOW!!! Not one person on here has any idea at all of what a Union is!!!

Well...I charge a lot of money to talk about what I know...and I'm not going to waste my time talking on here,

Suffice to say, you all will get everything you deserve in time...and you all will get no sympathy from those of us who understand brotherhood and collectivism.

Enjoy your years of bitterness...to us they are funny!!!...LOL