what happened to make the older generation dislike labor and unions?

Question

Does anyone have any idea why the older generation seem to dislike unions and labor? Im 22, and so is my partner, we're both going to vote labor, however all the guys my partner works with (who are all above 40yrs) have a very storng dislike towards unions and labor - we get the feeling that something must have happened a while back that we dont know about, something bad the unions or labor did perhaps? does anyone know if this is the case? what happened, and when?

after thought: im talking about the Australian labor party and Australian unions....

Answer 1

I'm only 28 and I hate union officials. Maybe you just need to be around a bit longer to know a bit more about life and how things work. If the labor party wasn't full of union officials/thugs I might vote for them but as it stands I'd rather vote for the hippies in the Greens!

Most of the media is very left wing...so labour gets a very good run in the public media even the Murdoch papers.

Answer 2

With the new IR laws, very few workers are prepared to say anything positive about Labor or the Union movement.
You may see a change of attitude after the election. Probably not though, I've rarely heard anyone admit they voted Labor.
Even after a landslide victory by the Labor Party.
It's the Australian way. :-)

I have always found it surprising that even though some people spend their time bagging the Unions, very rarely has anyone refused the better hours, better working conditions and pay rises those same Unions fought for.

If it wasn't for the rise of the Union Movement we'd still have little children working down the mines.

(It may have been an idea to mention, in your question, that you were referring to the Australian Unions and the Australian Labor Party, too. I'd say some of your answers are referring to the USA.)

Answer 3

Labor unions always were controversial. Some parts of the country more so than others. In some parts of the country laws were written in a way to make it difficult to organize and not many people saw the benefits of unions.

A lot of things that labor unions brought about for their workers were eventually made into law, such as limitations on working hours, a living wage, workplace safety, etc.

Some people feel that they are no longer needed because of that, but without labor unions, those laws could be removed by a 'deregulation' movement - small government, in other words.

Answer 4

Unions were good back in the day, when workers had no rights and needed to group together to gain fair pay and such.

Unions nowadays have mostly deteriorated to large beauracracies, full of the usual red tape and corruption. Most people get upset at having to pay large union dues, only to never see that money come back to them. Many people I know are absolutely disgusted with their unions; they pay and pay and pay their unions, but no money ever comes back to them. Where does it go? Often, like any large beauracracy, it goes right into the people at the top's pockets. Which is illegal, of course.

The only redeeming quality unions have anymore is that if you get in trouble, i.e. you get injured, sued, or someone tries to fire you, the union is supposed to step in and help you keep your job or your benefits or whatever. This is why unions are still around, despite the griping; when you need them, they definitely come in handy. However, this is also a problem, because unions have become so lazy nowadays that often they won't help their workers at all.

I know a person who is in a union, and their union refuses to hire a lawyer during contract negotiations. I don't know how much you know about contracts, or negotiations, but having some kind of attorney around to make sure you don't get fleeced is usually something you NEED to do. Instead, that union doesn't hire any attorney, and they end up never getting their employees any kind of raise.

Its not that something bad happened a while back, or there was any incident or anything. Its just that as you get older and see more of how unions work, you will see that most unions are corrupt and all they do is take your money. Its more that those old guys are jaded by years of being screwed by unions, more than there was some kind of incident or "something happened" that turned them off of unions.

Answer 5

It would depend on who they worked for, and how much they were paid, considering that most worker's wanted better working condition's and much safer work places.

With you being only 22, and your partner is working with those about forty I would say that they may be complaing about BOb Hawke and Paul Keating, but never complaining about the 9.6 Billion dollars that John Howard left them with to fill when Howard was treasurer under Malcom Fraser ( Liberal Party ) intrest rates were at 22% .

But Howard is complaing about Labour ' 17% during 1983 you see Howard does not want to acklowdge that 22% 1975 - 1983 in 8 years Howard left a 22% intrest rate , an $ 9.6 Billion Dollar hole to fill, Yes I would see that some would be still wearing Rose Colored Glasses , and not see the Big picture, I am thanking God now that it is not Howard who is the Treasurer, because intrest rates would be running at about 80% and having an about a $ 102.billion dollar hole for the labour party to fill. Howard is a spender , and it will take 10 years for the lastest amount to be spent on Technicals Schools , Howard wont be here to see any of it so who is going to implement these schools

Instead of working for a company that did not care less about the worker but only amount of profit that they could get with out paying a decent wage eg : the lowest wage that they paid.

But these workers also benifitted from the union's but by being on the sidelines while the genuine workers wanted these conditions,

The Australian Liberal Party is getting rid of the working condition's that their fathers fought so hard to get , unless they were born with a silver spoon or gold one in their mouths, and spitting their dummy a lot,

Vote for your working rights, and never let anyone tell you any difference. Its your Vote so make it count.

Answer 6

Unions have out lived their usefulness. Unions were originally created to protect against unfair labor demands. Today this does not exist. Unions only send jobs to Mexico.

Answer 7

I don't understand the Labor part (Texas is a right to work State) But the unions here don't do squat for the people only the big leaders get a healthy sum for themselves.

Answer 8

I just asked my Grandfather if he disliked labor and unions, he said no, he worked for over 40 yrs for a company that had a union, and he did pretty good.

Answer 9

well, labour has been known to have big ideas (not nec right or justified or in the best interest of the people), they like to spend money, tax payers money, put the country in huge debt, high unemployment, high interest rates, high taxes. they support unions, which only line their own pockets whilst making token gestures of 'helping' the people; high cost of living. the more the labour party spend & the more debt the incur, the more tax we pay & the higher the cost of living & the higher the interst rates go. many older people had to literally suffer when interest rates were in the high teens, many lost their homes, those that didn't only just didn't, many people could barely afford to feed themselves let alone their families, many people could barely pay their rents & afford to eat. have a chat to some of those people your partner works with & listen to their stories. labour has not been good to the people & country that it is supposedly working for.

Answer 10

the union leaders got greedy and lined their own pockets. the union workers got paid higher and higher salaries to line the pockets more. they eventually closed businesses and the union leaders crawled away looking for other targets to prey on.