Do you think that labor unions do more good or bad to the american worker???/?

Question

DO you think that they Are bankrupting employers and causing non-union illegal workers to appear and sending jobs to mexico and china

Answer 1

they have put the auto industry in terror. With fringes and pensions the auto workers make average $70 and hour

Answer 2

Interesting, since only 7% of workers are currently unionized. Amazing how powerful that tiny percentage can be, destroying the whole economy. And they have nothing to do with excessive spending on the military, tax cuts for the wealthy that have cut back on government income for thirty years and contributed mightily to the debt. Yet, still, they and they alone are destroying the country, right? Here's a hint: Americans ARE labor union members. When are you going to start opposing your fellow Americans? Oh, that's right! You already have!

Answer 3

If it were'nt for Unions--your parents probably wouldn't have made enough to even think of conceiving you. My non-union counterparts(electrician) make about 2/3rds my wages and benefits and they run like dummies with no representation. I get paid because my skills are top notch, work ethic and standards are first class and I was trained--by the best in the industry. You may pay a little more for the Union, but you are getting what you pay for. The Conservative/Corporate push to eliminate Unions goes hand in hand with the pipedream of the Republican Party. A society of elites and poor--with nothing inbetween. Just look how ANY type of Union or pro-worker legislation instantaneously has VETO threats from the WhiteHouse--Look how they treat Federal workers who wish to Unionize. Their constituents don't want an organized workforce. They'd rather see us race to the bottom and compete will illegals for employment. As Unions are a major contributor to Dem National Party campaigns--anti-worker legislation aimed at Unions and their ability to influence elections is why the GOP NEEDS TO BE BIATCH SLAPPED IN 08'.

Labor is the only cost in Business that is variable--all other costs are fixed. The piss poor trade policies of NAFTA, CAFTA, THE WTO and Bush's Fast track have eliminated the tariffs that used to be in place on foreign goods coming into the country which used to protect our manufacturers from foreign goods competition. Did you know that the outgoing Republican Congress eliminated or suspended 200+ of these tariffs in their last week of Office?

Answer 4

If you want to know what life was for the working man before the labor movement. Read " The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair. With out the union movement, we would have never had the strong middle class ( which is shrinking ) . Big Business will always go to the cheapest supplier whether it be materials or manpower...Heck even Mexico is to expensive now...plants are picking up and moving to Vietnam!

Answer 5

Unions certainly were a good thing to begin with; they protected workers from sweat-shop working conditions, fought for fair wages, and discouraged unfair labor practices.
But, as with everything else: the larger any organization, corporation or government gets, the less manageable it becomes, and the fewer people benefit from it.
Unions today have outgrown their usefulness because they have become too enamored with their own power, wealth and influence. Just as American politicians have become the most corrupt in the world, and just as "big" has corrupted the very nature of fair and equal business practices, unions have become ineffectual as they've ignored workers' needs and groveled within their own need to amass power and wield control. It's a terribly human condition, unfortunately. -RKO- 06/04/07

Answer 6

First, no union EVER bankrupted an employer--except in the right-wing fantasies of employers who are looking for excuses for their own incompetance.
Second, the strongest advocates of closing the border--and of limiting outsourcing of jobs--are the labor unions.

Which anyone with half a brain knows. The right-wing antipathy to labor unions is simple: it gives workers enough power to get a fair deal. So no excess profits to go in the good old offshore accounts.

Answer 7

Long Shoremen in San Francisco make $90.00 an hour plus perks. Parts for American cars are made in Mexico. The V.W. factory workers in Mexico went on strike to increase their wages to $30.00 a day. I have a friend that is the parts manager for a Ford dealership. 90% of the parts boxes say made in Mexico. He claims the unions priced themselves out of a job.

Additional: Alpha Beta stores were forced to sell most their stores last year because of a union strike in Ca.

Answer 8

I'll go with 90% of RKO and add that I watched strikes in the 80's at a steel plant (not mill) and a concrete pipe plant put them all out of jobs. Both places shut down. Their customers went to others for product.

Their glory is long past.

Answer 9

Definitely more good. We owe child labor laws, minimum wage, fair wages for journeymen, overtime, retirement, health benefits, unemployment insurance, and fairness for the workers to unions. Without collective bargaining workers would be at the mercy of their employers. Management has always been organized, why shouldn't labor be?

Answer 10

Teachers unions are the perfect example of unions protecting worthless slugs from getting fired. In NY alone, with about 80,000 teachers, less than 5 get fired each year, does anyone think they are all that good? Does anyone think it is good for this country to have incompetent teachers who we can't get rid of?