why are conservatives against unions, do they think corporations look out for them?

Question

without unions most of the rights you have as workers would not be there- overtime pay
sick leave
vacation days
benefits
pay raises
bargaining power

thats good to hear chris.

Answer 1

I think the situation is multi-dimensional for why conservatives are anti-union. The first is that they don't know the history of American workers and their struggle for justice and rights.
Second, they don't know where they got the rights that you listed above. Somehow they think some benevolent corporation started it.
Third, they have been so duped by the Reagan administration and by Fox newscorp that they think that what is spewed there is truth when in fact it is anti-American and anti-American worker, pro-corporate propaganda.
This government which is essentially run by corporations, has taught the people how to vote against their own interests.

Unfortunately, another factor in all this is the unions themselves. Not all of them mind you, but some of them are very corrupt and the union bosses actually end up siding with the corporate owners and get kick backs and back door pay from them. Some of them even go golfing together. This kind of cozy affair is not in the interests of the workers that belong to this union. This actually happened at the machine shop my mom worked at. The workers rights in that shop were devasted. And, the laws in this country favor corporate rights over workers rights and the people's rights by far.

Answer 2

Appraently it's not just conservatives who are against unions. Union membership has just about halved since the 1950's. Can't all be conservatives not joining or trying to start union shop.

Could it be the lavish lifestyle of the union leadership that's turning poople off? Maybe its the fact that the union only wants you to continue sending in you dues every month, but yet, won't do nothing for you. Or maybe it's the fact that in order to become more competitive with the rest of the world (the rest of the world that you liberals think so highly of) that corporations in co-operation with unions had to get rid of feather-bedding jobs, un-competitive practices, and just plan waste of money.

Why is GM on the verge of bankruptcy now? They're selling cars for less than their actually cost. Pensions and health benefits for retirees comprise about 25% of the cost of an automobile sold by GM. GM has people sitting at home everyday, but still drawing a paycheck because they have union representation. How much longer can GM last like this? And when thye do go under, what happens to those jobs and retirees?

Answer 3

Unions became so corrupt that they lost their power. I remember a strike at a chemical plant (that pays very well) and the pickets were conflicted because they had so much stock in the business they were afraid they would affect their dividends. Unions were toads to the Dem Party for a long time and there was so much deciet involved that they just drifted away. I don't think this is a conserv/lib issue as I don't know if there are very many real libs or conservs. Most of this, like your question, is just political chanting without substance.

Answer 4

no longer in basic terms Conservatives, yet maximum non-union anybody is often against unions. Being in a union will often bring about bigger wages, extra effectual advantages, and perks that non-union human beings are not getting. that's the reason we dislike unions. I stay in NJ and the negotiated contacts with the staff unions and instructors unions have positioned the state right into a extensive debt and property taxes are the utmost interior the country. i do no longer blame the unions for this by using fact they are doing what they are meant to do, however the reality that a large type of the state has to go through consequently makes human beings dislike them very much. yet another situation with unions is they seem to be a destructive impact on agencies. the explanation why Toyota is crushing businesses like Ford and GM is via the fact they do no longer use union workers. They manage their workers nicely and relatively have very much of worker loyalty by using forged therapy of the staff...all and not employing a union. meanwhile, Ford andGM are shedding hundreds of workers, and forcing the unions to make concessions or face extra layoffs. the automobile union is choking the life from "American" automobile businesses and handing Toyota a extensive aggressive benefit. Unions have been needed returned interior the day, yet they are increasingly extra growing to be to be detrimental to the country. the days of pensions is coming to an end and 401k's are the recent fiscially to blame retirement account. bigger wages interior the US is killing the country by using fact the better expenditures are making us much less aggressive interior the international Markets. in case you owned a business business enterprise, could you pay $5/each and each for a undeniable section from a US business business enterprise or $2/each and each from a business business enterprise in Mexico? How approximately in case you mandatory hundreds of hundreds of the section...or thousands and thousands? It provides up and quicker or later Nationalism steps aside for Capitalism.

Answer 5

The people who are in a position to define "conservative" are typically people who have employees, or own stock in corporations. This is a generalization, but working-class people are less conservative than executives and the self-employed. Labor and management both gravitate toward the politics that will serve their self-interest, and the demands made by unions usually represent lower profits for their employers. The long, bitter history of labor-management relations in the United States also contributes to the animosity on both sides.

Answer 6

You don't NEED a union for overtime pay, sick leave, vacation days, benefits, and pay raises, but you damn sure do for bargaining power. I'm not at all conservative, but I was very anti-union. Up to this point, I had been treated well by companies that I work for. But Steve Wynn done and pi**ed us off, so now I do understand the need for bargaining power. We did vote in a union, so we'll see how it goes...

However, overtime pay in particular is guaranteed by law. They can't not pay you for overtime.

Answer 7

Where is the incentive to do a good job in a Union??? There is none. Is excellence rewarded in a Union?? Nope. Longevity is.
Why do we need Unions since we have all these things by laws?
Why are between 30 and 40 % of Union members Republicans, but 95% of Union political donations to Democrats??

I despise Unions with a passion!!!!

Answer 8

It's another way to deflect poor management onto a group of people who are not to blame for the demise of a company. They cry about unions while one person "earns" fifty million dollars a year for having the title CEO. In the fifties, an extreme growth period for our country, one in three Americans were in a union, the workers made a decent living and the companies were not struggling. America was strong due to our manufacturing capabilities. Today that's not good enough, CEO's are making sometimes hundreds of millions a year while people lose their health coverage, their pensions, and sometimes even their jobs, in an effort to find ever cheaper labor so those at the top can make even more. No ethics and no morals or caring about the average worker. I guess it's the workers who trashed GM and Ford, I'm sure thousands wanted to lose their jobs.

Answer 9

Here's a true story.
A friend of mine worked for Delphi, America's largest auto parts maker. Of course she was part of the UAW. She reported to work every morning with thousands of her coworkers. It took her 2 hours to complete the total numbers of pieces she was required to assemble in accordance with the union contract. For the rest of her 6 hours, she sat around reading a book.
For this two hours worth of work, she was paid $26 per hour for 8 hours. In reality, Delphi paid her $104 per hour for her productive output. Is it any wonder why Delphi is operating in bankruptcy, and GM and Ford are on the edge?
Stop and think about that labor cost being passed on in the cost of a new car. Labor in the American auto industry is only 25% efficient because of union contracts.
And another true story.
Two years ago, I helped relocate a factory from Ohio to Mexico. The company employed 350 metal grinders. These union metal grinders were getting $58 per hour when all benefits were considered. They were pressing for a 15% increase.
Guess what. The company moved to Mexico and is employing some very happy Mexican metal grinders for $16 per hour.

Answer 10

while i think that the unions have went to far on some things, without them we would make low pay, no insurance, and no set of laws to protect workers. they have been a benefit to every worker and there families.