Why are there still unions?

Answer 1

Because there will always be lazy workers who want lots of money and little work. That is why our industry is failing, jobs going overseas, and the like.
My brother made upwards to $80,000 a year sweeping floors, reading novels, and sleeping. That is why Ford cars cost so much and they are going down the tube, fast. The UAW has almost completely destroyed the automotive industry in the USA.

Answer 2

Because they are needed. You who are calling union workers lazy don't have a clue what you are talking about. My husband is a brickmason. He works in some very dangerous conditions in steel mills and oil refineries in the Midwest. He works hard and he comes home filthy and exhausted. His union has to oversee the conditions he works under. When he and his men see a dangerous situation in a coke oven and they go to bosses for the company they are told to just do their job and quit complaining. They then have to contact their on-site union steward to check the safety issue and declare it unsafe for them to continue until the problem is resolved. The company isn't going to let any unsafe condition continue that would cause an explosion, that might cost them money. But when it comes to the men wearing respirators and having protective gear they couldn't care less, the men's health isn't their problem. It's the union that has to make sure the workers are properly protected from all the chemicals and fumes they work in every day. If it weren't for the unions my husband would be retiring with the lungs of a 90 year old man. That's just one of the good things unions do for workers in this area.

Answer 3

I'm so tired of people saying that unions are only for "lazy" people. I know from experience how valuable a union can be. My boyfriend's company tried to fire him for taking time off when his son fell ill and had to spend some time in the hospital, and then receive special care at home. Under the "family leave" law of my state, it would have been an illegal termination. But would we have had the money to fight it in court by ourselves? No. The union stepped in and let the company know that they HAD noticed that they were attempting an illegal termination. His job was saved.

Some companies do try to get away with things like illegal terminations. They try to intimidate people out of taking advantage of the laws the people of this state have voted for. I feel sorry for people who have found themselves in similar situations and didn't have the benefit of a union to help them.

Answer 4

When I was 27 I got Toxic Bronchitis ( inhalation of toxic fumes).Working in a mill in upstate NY,making copper foil for your circuit boards.We worked 12 hr. shifts,no ventilation,no respirators.We where exposed to arsenic acid,sulfuric acid,hydrochloric acid,lead,zinc,chromate,mercury vapors,caustic soda,copper sulfate.When I asked for a respirator,I was told we ordered them,there not in yet go do your job.We had No Union,9 people died working there in the 2 yrs. I was there.I coughed up raw blood,nose bleeds that wouldn't stop,until I packed wet paper towels up my nose.Chest pains that would double you over.I'm now 49 yrs old and have been diagnosed with C.O.P.D.Thats chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.I also have been diagnosed with emphysema.Only God knows how long I will live.So,Unions are necessary to help and protect workers,because to Companies don't give a crap,just the bottom line...Money.The Factory I worked at Oak Mitsui made a Million dollars a month and they had 7 mills in the town.Hardly seems fair,just another slimy big business.

Answer 5

CEO's make millions of dollars even when their policies fail -
If management allows this, don't ya think they would really stick it to us (the working man) without unions.

Answer 6

Because they have attached themselves like barnacles to the political culture. In other words, it would take a leader with real guts to chip them off.

Such people do not exist.

Answer 7

To give employers something to hate....

Answer 8

because lazy people need someone to keep their jobs.

Answer 9

Because there are still abusive companies...

Answer 10

Kookoos got it right.