Union greed is not good for America

The unions are concerned about losing jobs yet unions have helped devastate the American steel mills, the airlines, the big three automakers and countless other American industries by their relentless demands. It’s the union way or the highway. So companies fold or move overseas.

Unions are against free trade. How are American companies going to stay in business if they can’t sell overseas? If unions block trade with other countries, those countries will not buy our stuff either.

That baloney about working conditions in other countries being the reason that unions don’t want trade with other countries, how lame is that? As if a bunch of teamsters are concerned about the welfare of the people in other countries, what a joke.

Those poor children working in sweatshops, heck let them starve in the streets, that would be better than working I guess.

BTW, those sweatshop jobs don’t take jobs away from Americans, few if any Americans care to do the tedious manual labor that can be done easier and faster by machines here in the states. But those tedious jobs are a god send for people living in Third world countries.

Union bosses are paid the big bucks to spew misleading information to their flock. And they certainly need the money, those Cuban cigars they like chewing on in the backrooms of union halls are made in sweatshops by children and they don’t come cheap.

Unions are definitely a two sided coin, not the godsend some people make them out to be. No one denies that workers need representation. But Unions have devastated American industry and have been one of the driving forces in outsourcing. It's especially bad here in Toronto where any contract work for the govenment has to be done by union labor. There are all kinds of crazy laws like that...Unions have Canada by the short and curlies. LOL plus so many of them are blatantly racist (if you care about that sort of thing) like any sort of masons or pavers or anything to do with stone or concrete...if you're not Italian or Portuguese, well then you're not going to be in the Union.

Haha unions really suck. That is, unless you're in one.

Hmmmm, without unions, would we have all those benifits? 40 hour work week. Overtime pay? Health benifits?

My employer does not give me my benifits out of the goodness of thier hearts eh?

Now that not to say that unions could show improvement. Our Union 9of which I am on the contract negotiation team) is an independant nurses union. We represent 2400 nurses employed out our hospital. Dues are $30.00 a month and everyone working for the union has to be a nurse employed at the hospital. From the president on down. That way everybody has a vested interest in what goes on as it effects them directly.

Originally posted by FredT
Hmmmm, without unions, would we have all those benifits? 40 hour work week. Overtime pay? Health benifits?

There is no union where I am employed. Yet I still enjoy all those benefits. I am not saying they would exist without union influence last century. However, in this day and age, unions are not necessary to have those benefits.

Originally posted by FredT
My employer does not give me my benifits out of the goodness of thier hearts eh?

Certainly not with a union strangle hold around the employers' necks. The union simply take what they want or else

Ford was not union and he provided high pay and many benefits back when he started the Ford Motor company. There were many people like him also. But unions bosses don’t ever talk about the thousands of good companies only the few bad ones.

Unions did have a positive affect in some industries at the turn of the century but like the horse and buggy they served their purpose, we don’t need the horses and buggies today, all the poop in the crowded streets would be distasteful and an environmental nightmare.

Yet, we keep outdated unions around to harass companies and eventually bring them down or run the companies out of the country.

The union disease is now infiltrating government agencies. That is good for the union bosses but very bad for the taxpayers who will be held hostage to union tantrums. And as in union made cars you don’t get what you pay for.

unions have their place in protecting their members and nothing else. though my personal opinion is this one, they have lost sight of what their mission is, to make sure working environments are favorable for the workers and nothing else. unions have lost sight of that by demanding more and giving less to their members. i understand everyone wants a piece of the pie, but when the pie is getting smaller, so should the piece you get.

i have family who were union members and when they were mistreated by their employers the union did nothing to help them keep their jobs, instead they just turned their backs to them. mind you they paid their union dues, were good employees, never had any conflicts with co-workers or management.

i work in an environment where there are union and non-union positions. i see union workers who are well above the age of retirement, who are collecting on pensions and social security and still working. yet the quality of their work is downright poor, as many a time i see them asleep at their post. also their skills are obsolete as new technology does what they did. they are retrained and now cannot perform the new assigned duties, but yet they are kept around, why, the unions protect them and not the younger guys trying to earn a living.

unions need to reevaluate exactly what it is that they are trying to do and reach out to the younger workforce and work in concert with their employers to keep jobs here in america.

a good example of a union is the WGA, and their strike to give writers a fair cut of internet and new media when the shows they write for are broadcast, sold and viewed.

but the good examples are few.

My father was responsible for starting union work in the harbor area of Long Beach in the 50's,he said at the time it was to get a decent wage and insurance coverage for family,but later on in the 70's he said the union was actually hurting buisness,costs were to high to show a profit ,and they had to close doors so yes I believe at one time union was a good thing,now they are trying to dictate how you run your buisness,and as far as union workers better workers,most get in the union because they have a family member in it,I too worked in a union shop,but I think I represent myself better than organized crime

Mr. Burns is reminiscing about his grandfather's old Atom Smashing Plant

Burns Grandfather: Come on, men! Smash those atoms! You there, turn out your pockets.

Two goons seize a waifish worker and turn out his pockets

Burns Grandfather: Aha - atoms! One, two, three, four... SIX of them! Take him away!

Waif: You can't treat the working man this way! One of these days we'll form a union, and get the fair and equitable treatment we deserve! Then we'll go too far, and become corrupt and shiftless, and the Japanese will eat us alive!

Burns Grandfather: The Japanese? Those sandal-wearing goldfish tenders? Ha ha! Bosh! Flimflaw!

Mr. Burns: Oh, if only we'd listened to that young man, instead of walling him up in the abandoned coke oven.

EDIT:
apostrophe in "Burns' Grandfather" seems to break color tags. Boourns!

[edit on 9-4-2008 by deadboi]

In Massachusetts, where I live, there are 2 particularly high-profile union stories in the news:

1. Recently, 2 Boston firefighters where killed while fighting a nasty fire at a restaurant. There autopsies later showed that one was legally drunk, and the other had coc aine in his system. The public was aghast, and somewhat shocked when it was revealed that firefighters and paramedics in this state are not drug tested. The public outcry forced the mayor and local pols to insist that random drug testing be part of the new firefighers union contract. Predictably, the union rebuffed the idea. The union won't even consider drug testing without a corresponding "concession" from the city (read money). Mayor Menino was quoted as saying "These union leaders do not seem to realize what everyone in this city knows, that it is not right to ask for pay raises as a reward for putting a stop to these abuses of the public trust".

2. Massachusetts is the only state in the union that requires, by law, that roadside work details (power company servicing lines, road construction, phone pole work) be staffed by either local or state police officers. Flagmen are not permitted to do this type of work. Cops usually get $30 and hour, minimum, for these details while a flagman would make less than half of that. Guess who pays for the extra cost? It is an obvious perk that police unions rigorously defend. Police claim it makes roadwork safer. By their logic (and the tremendous amount of money being spent) Massachusetts should be one of the safest states to drive in. Wrong. It is one of the most dangerous, according to accident statistics. But the police unions strong-arm the state government with gusto, forcing taxpayers to line their pockets for no good reason.

Union may have once had their place in American society, and they probably have their places in other, developing countries. But as far as I am concerned, American unions are only proficient at the following:

1. Intimidating elected officials
2. Increasing the cost of a product
3. Fostering and even encouraging average or sub-par work performance
4. Protecting uneducated workers
5. Exploiting uneducated workers
6. Cultivating an environment of "Do nothing unless you get something"

Of course, I am biased. I have been threatened with bodily harm and had my personal property damaged by striking union members (this despite the fact that I was neither company management, or a member of the union).

My dislike of unions is strong enough that I welcome with open arms my all-Honduran cleaning crew that shows up every day. I've got to know many of them, and they are sheepishly instructing me in rudimentary Spanish. I don't even care if they illegals or not. I'm just glad they work hard and aren't in the union.

unions have lost their way. instead of working with businesses and industries to find a means to an end, they only want what's best for themselves (higher ups who run the union that is) and nothing else.

sadly union shops create an environment of "us vs them" when the majority of people just wan to earn their wages.

i am sure that some unions are actually doing good, but for the most part they are just irrelevant. especially when incompetent, unskilled and substance abusing workers are protected based solely on their union membership and nothing else. While skilled and competent workers are shunned because they have not "paid their dues" as members.

Despite all the great teachers out there the teachers' union makes sure the few bad apples continue getting their apples.

In America, we spend huge amounts of money teaching our children yet they are low scorers on the world stage. Just one look at the spelling abilities on boards like ats and one has to wonder about our education system, or lack thereof.

reply to post by gdeed


You're not seriously suggesting that Corporate Greed is better are you? The collapse of the Greedy Green machines with Enron and 9/11 are certainly not helping the economy or job rate here in the USA.

What others are saying is that Unions 'constructively forced' benefits like overtime pay, vacation pay, etc., out of the corporate rank and file. Unions have leveled the playing field in many respects. Sure they have a ways to go but thats not to be fueled by destroying them.

If YOU have a better way, run for office and put it in place. Put greed (a vice) in its place.