are unions a problem?

Question

or a symptom of a greater problem?

vaughn,
if no worker felt cheated we would not need unions.
i am not anti-union
learn about Whole Foods' Madison WI store
they voted in a union the ceo came in changed management and with in a year they had voted the union out because they did not need it

SEE WHAT I THINK OF UNIONS HERE
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ak78roRxpQ0JjvTUBTA7rKoAAAAA?qid=20070808125313AAIfUgL

Answer 1

unions have done ALOT of good in the U.S.

Watch the movie "The Mollie McGuire's." and you'll know some of the good that brave men have done.

we are ALL benefiting from increased wages in the U.S., and that is DIRECTLY attributable to the unions.

in the past 30 years or so, unions have actually demanded TOO much in some instances, and have ended up just destroying all of the good work they had done over the previous hundred years....

Answer 2

Unions are a symptom of a problem Humans have had for thousands of years. The fact that we still have & need them shows how little human nature has changed.

As usual, everyone here seems to be lumping Industry (Teachers, Autoworkers, Government, etc) & Craft (Ironworkers, Boilermakers, Electricians, etc) Unions together - there is a difference!

Contrary to what most people think, Unions didn't start in the 1900s. Maybe the term Union came about around then, but the ideals have a much longer history. Unions are descended from the Guilds (one of the first can be traced to 3800 BC in India).

To put things into perspective, here's a little math (oh no, a four letter word!): According to Forbes, the top 500 CEOs combined made $5.1 billion. That works out to more in one DAY then we make in a whole YEAR! (5.1b/500/365). I'll generously say they work 12 hours, 365 days a year (although we all know that isn't true); their pay works out to be $2,328.77 per HOUR! That's definitely more than a construction worker for a 6/10s paycheck (that includes the 20 hours of time & a half). I seriously doubt a CEO has EVER worked as hard as some of the proud Union men (and women) I know. I have yet seen a good justification of a CEO's million dollar salaries and golden parachutes. Their pay is still great even if they run the company into the ground; they get more if they do well.

Just because we have laws to protect workers doesn't mean that companies will not bend or break them. OSHA isn't so specific that it covers every circumstance. That leaves companies some leeway to use their judgment; 99% of the time they are going to go with the cheaper option even if it isn't the safest. They can follow the letter of the law without following the spirit of the law. The fact that every year there are On the Job fatalities that could have been avoided with proper safety precautions by the Employer just shows the laws are being bent and broken all of the time.

For those working in industries that it is considered normal to work for several different employers throughout the year; their Craft Union is the only reason they have Health Insurance, a Pension, and jobs lined up. The Union dispatches them out to work and it holds (and administers) the Insurance & Pension funds which the Employer pays into during the term of employment.

The companies that are Union Signatory Employers actually have an edge over the non-union companies in our area. They can get trained, tested, and certified workers when they need them instead of keeping them on the books all year. The have a basically unlimited pool of workers to draw from; if one Local can't man the job, boomers come in from other Locals.

For all the benefits of Representation, our TAX DEDUCTIBLE 6% gross wage and monthly dues are a mere pittance.

Yes, some of the higher ups (International level) make stupid decisions that hurt the Rank & File. BUT, the Local level is very changeable (that's why we have elections!). The Locals can change the makeup of the Districts, and the Districts can make changes in International. A Union is only as good as its members make it!

Answer 3

Unfortunately we need unions.However I believe they have become too powerful and some of their activities leave a lot to be desired.
I am a firm believer,that the boss is the boss (providing they give their workers a fair go).
Unions,unfortunately have become too powerful and through this they have come to believ that they can dictate the terms of a business.
This overall has a devastating effect on the cost of living etc and due to their high demands for wages,in some cases have had the reverse effect where businesses have had to put people off or go broke.
Unions force the wages up,unfortunately that forces the cost of living up and we need a more balance system where unions and management can work together for betterment of all.

Answer 4

Unions are deeply rooted in American culture and protect workers from low wages and squalid working conditions. I am sure you'll understand someday.

Nobody has any respect for traditional American values anymore though. No sense of justice or humanity or basic civil harmony. It's all red and blue, who's side you on? That's why 90% of the Answers on Yahoo! Answers (especially political ones) are laughable at best.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're for unions you're a liberal little sissy, and if you're against unions your a heartless capitalistic chicken hawk type person who is probably driven by money and material possessions. Same old song and dance i have heard a million times.

Everyone go start reading

Answer 5

I'll say a bit of both. Unions create artificial values on wages beyond the supply and demand curve. They are generally needed at times to combat government induced shortages and poverty.

For instance, when you tax corporations, the corporations turn around and make their employees work harder for less, They make their customers pay more for less. The make their shareholders earn less on investments. When the common worker feels he is undervalued, and can't save for his retirement, and feels envy for the bosses who have all the money they need. He's likely to try and form a union.

The bosses who have all the workers they need, due to a sluggish economy (induced by high taxation) can treat the workers any way they wish. This leads to worker dissatisfaction and the worker is likely to try to unionize.

Unions will increase the cost of labor operations to create a product. The increased cost will be passed on to the consumer just like the business passes the cost of taxes along.

Answer 6

Yes, they are. I myself was the victim of having monies for my medical insurance deducted from my paycheck for almost two years when working under the Teamsters and then, they in turn provided no coverage for me - pocketing the monies instead. If I hadn't gotten deathly sick and gone out on FMLA - at which point they allowed me to be fired - I would have never known the difference. I had to get the insurance commissioner involved before I got my medical bills paid and my insurance re-instated, but I never was able to get my job back.

The problem with unions is that there is virtually no recourse against them when they act inappropriately as they did in my case. One has to have a big chunk of money to put down in retainer fees and wait years for the case to go through Federal Court only to have the amount of winnings severely limited in the end. Or, there has to be enough of the same complaint to file a class action. This almost always means that unions are free to extort monies and ignore the rights of the individual when it suits their needs, as long as they don't do it to connected individuals often.

Currently, my job involves working with union members on their benefits and everyday, I hear similar stories to mine. Unions can be very beneficial, but the laws regarding the right to recourse against them need to be changed to protect the individual.

Answer 7

Symptom of a greater problem (which means they themselves are a problem. I mean, if you have a bad tooth, that's the main problem, but you still want to treat the resulting pain). There was a time when unions were so badly needed in this country--just read THE JUNGLE by Upton Sinclair. There needs to be some kind of organized defenders of workers rights. But I agree that over the last several decades, unions themselves have often gotten out of hand--their unwillingness to compromise can sometimes cause as many problems as they solve. So... what IS the solution?

ETA: Thanks for the link! Good point about what unions have done for us... they really have been necessary.

Answer 8

Unions are today, the closest thing to organized slavery there is. Once you are stupid enough to sign that union card they OWN you. Think not??? See what happens to you if you try and put food on the table when they engage in an illegal strike. They will crush you!!! They will fine you exhorbitantly, and make your life a livng hell.
Once upon a time Unions WERE needed. Like any other bureaucracy, they have stopped working for the little guy and are only in it for themselves.

Answer 9

In thier hayday, they was very much needed. NOW, they are almost as bad as organized crime.
The Unions do not do as much for the member as they use to. AND they charge absorbanant amounts of money to the members.

ALSO Minimum wage is the standard for Union wages.
If minimum wage rises, they automatically get an increase based on it. So when you hear something about the minimum wage being raised, it is a payback to the unions for something...

Answer 10

They have become a problem, at once time back in the industrial revolution they were needed but now a days they are so corrupt, and do nothing but bilk their membership, they havent even addresed outsourcing, and refuse to consider how their demands are hurting the economy espically in the car business