The Role of Unions in a Free Society

[OnePimpTiger]

The Role of Unions in a Free Society

Labor Day is a good opportunity to consider whether unions help or hurt ordinary workers in America.

The answer is yes and no, depending on circumstances, but that’s actually the wrong question. The real issue, at least from a public policy perspective, is whether government should be a neutral referee in labor matters...

...In a free society, people obviously should be free to join unions and companies should be free to negotiate with unions. But that also means that companies should be free to resist union demands and hire non-union workers. There is no right or wrong in these battles, just as there is no right or wrong when McDonald’s decides to sell french fries for a particular price. The market will reward good decisions and penalize bad choices. The only appropriate role for policy in this area is to enforce contracts and protect public safety...

A good article.

[theonedru]

Unions exist to make the union leaders rich men on the backs of the workers

[Star_Cards]

I personally don't see the need for unions these days. There are more industries that have non union workers than union workers and we are fairly treated within the work force... at least in my experience.

[Joncamburn]

Unions exist to make the union leaders rich men on the backs of the workers

Not in all cases, the union came into my business and turned all of our workers into union guys and new we have to pay them almost 3 times what they made before. None have any college experience, and some don't even have a high school diploma. Not they are making as much, if not more once you consider overtime as the managers in the office. I am sure the union leaders are doing well also, but I know for a fact that the union employees aren't hurting at all.

[duane1969]

The only time I support union involvment is for legal/labor issues. Often having a union rep or legal aide involved will keep the employer from taking advantage of a situation.

Unions having say in what a business pays it's employees is a conflict of interest IMO since the unions profit from the salaries that the members make. I put that in the same category as politicians voting on their own raise.

[mrveggieman]

The last job that I had when I was living up north was a union job. The pay was pretty decent and whenever we had a issue with the supervisor or discipline the union was always there for us. When I moved down south I worked jobs that were similiar to what I did up north but none of them were not unionized. You could tell the difference. The pay was not as much as it was up north and the supervisor or the job could do whatever the wanted and change the rules right in the middle of the game and your only option was to either deal with it or find a new job. In my experience unions are good for the worker and keeps the employer in check.

[jeeptrader]

the last job that i had when i was living up north was a union job. The pay was pretty decent and whenever we had a issue with the supervisor or discipline the union was always there for us. When i moved down south i worked jobs that were similiar to what i did up north but there were not unionized. You could tell the difference. The pay was not as much as it was up north and the supervisor or the job could do whatever the wanted and change the rules right in the middle of the game and your only options were to either deal with it or find a new job. In my experience unions are good for the worker and keeps the employer in check.

+1

[Star_Cards]

The last job that I had when I was living up north was a union job. The pay was pretty decent and whenever we had a issue with the supervisor or discipline the union was always there for us. When I moved down south I worked jobs that were similiar to what I did up north but none of them were not unionized. You could tell the difference. The pay was not as much as it was up north and the supervisor or the job could do whatever the wanted and change the rules right in the middle of the game and your only option was to either deal with it or find a new job. In my experience unions are good for the worker and keeps the employer in check.

There are also lots of instances where unions have ultimately hurt their workers because they were not willing to adjust wages to help keep the business alive. Ultimately causing the workers to not have jobs at all. I think each situation has it's differences, but there are plenty of examples of non union businesses taking very good care of their workers.

[duane1969]

The last job that I had when I was living up north was a union job. The pay was pretty decent and whenever we had a issue with the supervisor or discipline the union was always there for us. When I moved down south I worked jobs that were similiar to what I did up north but none of them were not unionized. You could tell the difference. The pay was not as much as it was up north and the supervisor or the job could do whatever the wanted and change the rules right in the middle of the game and your only option was to either deal with it or find a new job. In my experience unions are good for the worker and keeps the employer in check.

By the same measure, I worked with a guy this fall that did NOTHING. He was a total slacker and loser. He would sneak out half way thru the day, he never got his work done, he took very long lunch breaks, just a total waste.

When they tried to write him up and get rid of him he brought in a union rep. He kept his job and actually has his duties reduced because he claimed that he had too much work to do to get it all done and the union insisted that his duties be reduced.

He resigned a few days later because his new duties involved him checking in on a regular basis and having his work monitored, so he wasn't going to get away with slacking anymore and was actually going to have to work.

There are certainly cases where unions help the labor process and cases where they hurt the process.

[mrveggieman]

By the same measure, I worked with a guy this fall that did NOTHING. He was a total slacker and loser. He would sneak out half way thru the day, he never got his work done, he took very long lunch breaks, just a total waste.

When they tried to write him up and get rid of him he brought in a union rep. He kept his job and actually has his duties reduced because he claimed that he had too much work to do to get it all done and the union insisted that his duties be reduced.

He resigned a few days later because his new duties involved him checking in on a regular basis and having his work monitored, so he wasn't going to get away with slacking anymore and was actually going to have to work.

There are certainly cases where unions help the labor process and cases where they hurt the process.

Instances like that may occur but I promise you that they are few and far in between. Some unions will actually displine their members for comining to work late or other workplace infractions. Unions do far more good than harm.