Why do some people complain about labor unions and how much they get paid?

Question

Like today I hear, "they pay them 20hr to sweep the floor". I always tell these people, maybe you should get paid that much. Unions are democracy in the workplace. Besides we would not need them if people were treated good in the first place, that is how you get rid of labor unions.

Answer 1

1) It's pretty ignorant to blame Unions for all the American Auto Industry troubles; there are many facets to their problems. Try looking at corporate bloat, arrogance (if we build it, they will buy it), government fines, no import tariffs, Environmental & Labor Laws (US has them, other countries don't), etc. It's more profitable to import goods & export jobs. Maybe people are also realizing they don't need a new car every year. Fuel prices. Different demographics than back in the heyday of the auto industry -- instead of the shift to the 'burbs, there's a move into the cities where there is less need for a vehicle.

2) Apparently, people are convinced that Unions are antiquated relics of the past; they ASSUME that since we have the laws, companies will actually follow the rules. Most people have NO IDEA how many thousands of blue collar workers have health care, pensions, OSHA regulation enforcement, etc because of their Craft Unions. Yes, there is a difference between Industry Unions (Teachers, Airline Pilots, etc) and Craft Unions (Ironworkers, Boilermakers, etc).

3) The Union workers I know deserve every penny they get and then some. Construction is 20% of on the job fatalities that occur each year. They're exposed daily to toxins that make them sick and shorten their lives. Welding rod fumes, lime dust, black liquor, and SO2 just to name a few. The beat their bodies up to provide things that most people take for granted. I would love to see all of the anti-union trolls live without everything my husband's trade provides them. They would no longer have electricity, paper, fuel, or anything else that requires a plant or boiler to be built or refit.

sprcpt, your former company had poor management. They didn't enforce the attendance clause. Many of your other reasons are illegal under the Taft-Hartley Act, so your former company wasn't standing up for itself anyway. My husband's current job (6/10s) is Friday & Saturday OT, Sundays DT (haven't had one yet, might toward the end of the project). In order to be allowed to work on an OT/DT day, the worker has to log 4 days on ST.

Answer 2

My issue with unions is they don't know when to stop. The biggest problem is that unions are a for profit. As such, they will do anything that increases dues. However they get very short sighted. Many jobs have been lost in the automotive industry because unions would not back off and make concessions when auto manufactures were loosing money. So the jobs got outsourced. In the end, the workers lost because of the union.

If the unions ever took over the fast food industry, fast food workers would get $20 per hour. All 4 of them. Burgers would be $15 - 20 each.

Answer 3

Unions are the reason Toyota, Honda, and Nissan are doing so well here in the USA. Labor Unions have driven up the price of American made cars, and to try and still compete Ford GM & Dodge are putting sub standards parts on their vehicles.

That's why the jap cars are cheaper and better quality. And I hate it too, I'm a Chevy fan but I've had to replace 2 year old items on my 2005 Silverado simply because the parts were already worn out, they were low quality parts from the factory.

Answer 4

I don't complain about how much union labor gets paid.

I complain about the corrupt work practices of union labor such as:

-Intentionally slowing down work so that they get paid for additional hours.

-Keeping non union people from working on a job.

-In the places that do allow non union laborers with union labor the union laborers sabotage the non union laborers work and tools. I've even seen them weld their tools to a cart.

-UAW people at Chrysler get 80% of their pay when they are laid off. This added cost makes the automaker not able to compete with non union import cars. Don't know if it is this way at Ford or GM.

I lost one of the best jobs that I ever had due to union corruption. The company made the consession of making the rare weekend shifts time and a half for saturday and double time on sunday without the 40 hour min before OT. All of a sudden we had massive numbers of people calling in sick on monday and tuesday to force the company to work every weekend.

Because the company was loosing 50 grand a week to this corruption, they shut down the plant and moved production to Sweeden.

Their own union corruption lost everyone thier job. This was the largest employer in the area and the local economy went to crap.

GREED, SLOTH AND APPATHY - the union motto.

Answer 5

unions are communism in the workplace. look at the history of unions. all started by commies. unions are out of control right now. i have a buddy who has to pay his dues and over $300 per month for MANDATED Health care he doesn't even use. he would make more money per year by making $10 less per hour and not being in a union. unions used to be good for workers, now they're corrupt money grubs. AFLCIO? run by a socialist john sweeney.

US auto makers? going bankrupt can't compete with Japanese WHY? BECAUSE OF BILLIONS IN GOLD PLATED SALARIES AND RETIREMENTS SECURED BY UNIONS. corruption.

Answer 6

you are exactly right...

Nobody forces companies to hire through the union either. They choose to.

Also, nobody is forced to join a union either.

Unions became popular because employers weren't paying fair wages.... They wouldn't exist if greed didn't exist.