Have unions outlived their usefulness? They WERE needed at one point, but are they needed now?

Question

Has the time come for there to be no more unions?
Do unions need to go the way of the typewriter, or audio tapes?
Or, more now than ever?
Why or why not?

Thank You

Answer 1

An excellent question and I am starring it. At my workplace I sometimes wish I had a Union. I have to work an average of 84 hours per week on 12 hour shifts, with little or no time off for just £6 per hour and get treated like **** by management with risk of instant dismissal if I cause any trouble.

But then I start thinking at least I have got a job to earn money I desperately need to support my dependents because my wage costs are "competitive". If a Union existed I could end up without a job?

So in response to this question I am not sure if the hypothesis "they were needed at one point" is really valid. In the UK the Unions used to rule the country because the Labour Party was formed by the Trades Union movement, But I do not believe Unions then were any more nor any less necessary than they are today, it is the Labour Party that has changed. Trades Unionism has also changed but that emanates from the Thatcher government.

Yes if you belong to a Union at your workplace you are better protected against the kind of abuse by your employer I suffer under. BUT it is also clear that Unions destroy their members jobs and are continuing to do so! This is happening today with Royal Mail and happened previously with the British merchant navy which was virtually wiped out by the strike by the National Union of Seamen in 1966 and its subsequent militance leading to the massive flagging out by UK shipowners etc. etc. And of course many well;remember the antics of Arthur Scargill and know what the result of that has been for UK miners jobs in the UK etc. etc.

Today apart from the Communications Workers, there are other Unions hell bent on destroying their members jobs by similar short-sightedness, like the Fire Brigades Union, RMT (formerly the National Union of Railwaymen) and ASLEF. For example, just when the government need to be trying to get people away from using their cars in favour of using public transport, the government knows that if they agree to more money going into the railway industry instead of into road transport to try to bring fares and costs down, what will actually happen is extra money invested will be bag snatched by the rail workers unions with strikes demanding huge wage increases. So fares will not come down and rail service will remain as bad as ever and in the end British Railways will go the same way as USA railways and virtually cease to exist.

Overall while I think on balance I tend to agree we would probably mostly be better off if Unions did not exist, it is not as simpole and clear cut an issue as some of the above answers have indicated in my view.

Answer 2

You hit the nail on the head. Right on. Pure inertia, mob connection and the sheep mentality keeps the unions alive. It's not so much the high salaries, whats hurting the industry, its the way the unions prevent competition and new technologies in this country. Example - we installed a neccessary control system (with lots of fights from the union). One day it needed an adjutment and we had a specialist flown in, for $2000 an hour. The union didn't allow him to unscrew the panel for access and we had to wait for a guy to get back from breakfast (2 hours), to loosen 4 screws. then we needed another guy to switch of power. All in all, we lost $640,000 on production for a 12 minute job, taking 6 hours.

Answer 3

Not just conservatives. More and more people are becoming anti-union as the union establishment has developed a big-business mentality at the expense of the workers. I say at the expense of the workers because excessive union demands play a huge part in big corporations outsourcing jobs to other countries and in bankrupting companies. Union bosses earn excessive salaries and bonuses just like big business executives. It's like the workers now need a union to protect them from the unions and the corporations. Public sector unions are completely unnecessary for the fact that we do have laws set in place to protect workers.

Answer 4

Yes the have outlived their usefulness. My dad belonged to the union in the late 1940s forward. The companies had terribly unsafe working conditions etc. They helped at one point in history. I never wanted or needed a union. I was able to negotiate my salary and benifits with my employer. I was able to retire at age 55 and I had 31 years of service with my employer.

Answer 5

There are a few unions I support. Electrical... Plumbing... These unions provide a dependable industry standard and are worth the extra money.

If the union is doing nothing but taking the dues of its members and putting employers out of business, it needs to go.

Answer 6

I am opposed to unions. Employers who hire workers should have the sole right to decide what they want to pay employees. In industries in the world economy, unions are forcing employers out of business.
In areas where unions thrive, such as government sector and school teachers, the tax paying public routinely gets screwed.

Answer 7

it is like the police nobody likes them but if you have trouble who you gonna call bet it wont be ghost busters it will be the police, union are a evil necessity unfortunately some companies will push the line . the lastest news in is that ppl on AWA's earn $106 per week less on AVG than those on EBA's ECT

Answer 8

In all honesty, unions needs to go the way of the dinosaur. The only thing they do these days is collect money from workers and drive up the price of goods.

Answer 9

My favorite bumper sticker of all time is "Labor Unions, the folks who brought you the weekend."

If Labor Unions didn't exist, we could go back to 80 hour workweeks, no minimum wage, no holidays off, and child labor. Whoopee!

Answer 10

Ask the players in the NFL if unions are outdated, they'll give you a resounding NO!