UNIONS
HO BOY!
Trying to find a neutral site that gives the pros and cons of the benefits of unions, is no easy task, almost all the sites I found argued either pro OR con about unions. Some think they are a curse, others think they are a necessity for workers.
I did find one site that gave a balanced view, if you can ignore the imbedded ads:
https://smartasset.com/career/the-pros-and-cons-of-unions
BUT more importantly, what are YOUR experiences and YOUR views with unions?
Despite my being a leftist snowflake, my experiences have been negative, but then again, maybe I have just been lucky enough in my work history to never have felt that I needed a union, perhaps if I had worked in an industry that underpaid or misused me, I would feel different.
The best example of a negative impact of a union is thus:
In my early working life I worked in a plant that made storage tanks, and it was privately owned, and the owner was more than generous. Yearly Christmas parties, generous wages, decent working conditions, etc.
Then the plant ran into some financial problems, as orders for storage tanks went into decline, and the owner called a meeting with all the employees. He basically said he didn't want to lay anyone off, and asked if he could skip wage increases for a year and he might have to reduce our hours so he could keep everyone on.
No sooner had the meeting ended when a few agitators went calling to a steel-workers union and began to organize. The result?
An unhappy work place, no more Christmas parties, every cent of wage increases bitterly fought over, BUT at least safety standards did improve (not that they were that bad to start with) and worst - having to pay union dues.
SO NOW YOUR TURN.
I DO GET that unions DO have a purpose in some areas of the workforce, just that MY own personal experiences have been negative. WHAT ABOUT YOURS?
Trying to find a neutral site that gives the pros and cons of the benefits of unions, is no easy task, almost all the sites I found argued either pro OR con about unions. Some think they are a curse, others think they are a necessity for workers.
I did find one site that gave a balanced view, if you can ignore the imbedded ads:
https://smartasset.com/career/the-pros-and-cons-of-unions
BUT more importantly, what are YOUR experiences and YOUR views with unions?
Despite my being a leftist snowflake, my experiences have been negative, but then again, maybe I have just been lucky enough in my work history to never have felt that I needed a union, perhaps if I had worked in an industry that underpaid or misused me, I would feel different.
The best example of a negative impact of a union is thus:
In my early working life I worked in a plant that made storage tanks, and it was privately owned, and the owner was more than generous. Yearly Christmas parties, generous wages, decent working conditions, etc.
Then the plant ran into some financial problems, as orders for storage tanks went into decline, and the owner called a meeting with all the employees. He basically said he didn't want to lay anyone off, and asked if he could skip wage increases for a year and he might have to reduce our hours so he could keep everyone on.
No sooner had the meeting ended when a few agitators went calling to a steel-workers union and began to organize. The result?
An unhappy work place, no more Christmas parties, every cent of wage increases bitterly fought over, BUT at least safety standards did improve (not that they were that bad to start with) and worst - having to pay union dues.
SO NOW YOUR TURN.
I DO GET that unions DO have a purpose in some areas of the workforce, just that MY own personal experiences have been negative. WHAT ABOUT YOURS?
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