How do you feel about Big Labor and its history of violence, intimidation and racketeering?

Question

Isn't it time for an end to organized labor in the USA? We have things like OSHA and Dept. of Labor now to ensure worker's rights.

The Mafia has long had great influence in labor unions. This is an anachronism of a bygone era when beefy thugs would break kneecaps, intimidate so called scabs and worse. Their history is filled with coercion, corruption, fraud and even murder.

Why don't we abolish this embarrasment, once and for all?

Answer 1

If they're smart, they will. Unions are busting companies that simply can't compete in the market place (they have for decades). The recent negotiation with Delphi of a drastic cut in pay, is proof that they're now paying union hierarchy to do nothing more but represent them for future pay cuts and other losses.

Answer 2

Reforming it to correct the abuses may be a better way to go for everyone. They are on their way out anyway without legislation. Labor organizations are corrupt and do very little for their workers anymore. The mafia are still abundant in the auto industry too. I don't think anyone should Have to belong to one once they get a job in a particular place. And I don't think the unions should be tied to politics but operate in a non political organized way.
However if we abolished them it might send a bad message to places like China that really still have sweat shops.

Answer 3

You may be getting your wish. Our labor force is so flexible, so diverse, so high tech, that the kids today would call the labor union movement, "So 20th century."

Alvin Toffler predicted this as America moves into his "Third Wave society." We haven't been the highly regimented, highly industrialized society since the early Sixties, when the Census revealed that America's industrial workers were no longer a majority. We had become a fledgling information society then. We are now a full-fledged information society.

The one sour note here is the high percentage of union membership among government workers. So it would appear the liberal politicians and the liberal labor leaders are propping each other up.

The percentages are so low for union membership, that you may have achieved your dream already. Check this out:


"Unions Continue to Be Rejected
By American Workers
New data shows 3% drop in union membership in the past year

Washington D.C. - Americans for Tax Reform today hailed new statistics showing that union membership in America suffered a steep 3% drop in just one year (2004).

The non-partisan Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that worker union membership decreased from 12.9% of all workers in 2003 to 12.5% in 2004, a decline of 3%. This is the lowest percentage of union workers on record, dating back to before World War II.

"Most workers know that they don't need a union to own their own home, own their own health care, own their own retirement, or own their own small business," said ATR President Grover Norquist. "Unions no longer represent the best interests of their workers. They represent the best interest of union elites, who are too often aligned with the radical left wing of the Democrat party."

Unions continue to find their strength only in the government sector. While the private sector union membership rate is at a record-low 7.9%, a staggering 36.4% of all government bureaucrats are dues-paying union members.

"Increasingly, unions are little more than agitators for big government. When the majority of union members come from the beehive cubicles of government bureaucracy, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that higher taxes, more government and more dues-paying bureaucrats are good for increasingly-desperate union bosses," concluded Norquist."

Answer 4

'Ya gotta' wonder who put the 'Dead Marxist' up to asking this questionable question. I wonder if it could be the influence of the trans-national corporate dons that would love to extingish the last remmants of the American wage-earners dignity. OSHA and the Dept. of Labor? Now a fully owned subsidary of Really Big Business. Do these reactionary stooges really care about Joe and Jane Lunchpail? Sure they do, and Jesus is going to fall out of the sky as well. During the labor wars of the 20's, 30's and the post war period, the fact that labor had to get its troops where it could to deal with the union-breakers and company thugs seems lost on Mr. Marxist. I suspect he would prefer that the American worker be more like some Chinese coolie or a Mexican peon, taking what's offered or doing without. Guess what...? When labor was strong we had a massive blue-collar middle class. When labor was strong workers could look forward to decent working conditions and benefits. When labor was strong politicians listened to ordinary Americans. Abolish labor unions? Let corporations run 'our' country? Not even close!

Answer 5

Unfortunately, OSHA and the Department of Labor
do a lousy job - especially when they are controlled
by an administration that is so pro-business.

I agree that labor organizations can get out of hand ...

But, we have needed them in the past and we need them now.

Yeah, I can name a bunch of reasons why labor unions
suck - I also have relatives that would be dead if it wasn't
for labors sticking up for the rights.

By the way, your icon and user name are a pretty good clue
that you are anti-labor, pro-business. If you want anything
other than gut reactions, you probably should change how
you come across.

Answer 6

The mafia has long had great influence in all business, period.

The unions came into existence because big business has a history of violence, intimidation and racketerring.

Besides, only 16% of working Americans belong to labor unions. What are you afraid of?

Answer 7

How do you feel about Big Business outsourcing labor, lying about the safety of their products, exploiting their workers, exploiting cheaper labor markets around the world, polluting the environment, immorally influencing politics and politicians, their history of anti-workers rights and union busting, their history of tax dodging, insider trader, becoming huge conglomerates, becoming monopolies, and receiving corporate welfare that comes out of tax payers pockets? ? ? ?
You SHOULDN'T feel good about that at all!
Unions have their flaws, but without them, big business would walk all over their employees. Without Unions we wouldn't have a 40 hour work week and there wouldn't be any Child Labor Laws, we wouldn't be entitled to Over Time, Vacation and Sick time or Medical Benefits, or Pensions. Without Unions there would be standards for ergonamics in the workplace, no guaranteed breaks or lunch hours, no standards for working conditions including temperature, etc., and there would be no minimum wage. So THANK A UNION and VOTE DEMOCRAT!!

Answer 8

The current times have brought an end to organized labor. Delphi just got the UAW to cut pay by over $11.50 per hour. UAW members working for Delphi will make between $14 and $16.50 per hour. A big drop from the $28 per hour they were getting for their unproductive work.

Answer 9

OSHA doesn't ensure worker's rights....it just ensures that employers are meeting safety guidelines....while there are aspects of big labor that are crooked, reform would be better than doing away with the system altogether, as that would just give big business unbridled power...Uncontrolled Capitalism leads to sh*t like bovine growth hormone being used, as companies will care about nothing but profits.

Answer 10

Big Labor v Big Business
One bloated, power-hungry, evil keeping another in check.