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What other weapon does labor have against capital?
Capital has lobbyists and legislators and cops on their side.
Unions were one of the best things for this country 70-100 years ago. In today's America there are a bunch of labor and employment laws that protect workers from the big bad man.
Besides Unions are so corrupt and more about the Union itself than about the workers these days that it's almost sickening. I hired a field superintendent after we meet for a dinner interview on a Friday. He was supposed to start for me the following Monday, and on Sunday he called me and said that he couldn't take the job, his conscience wouldn't let him. And you know why? Because he was a union spy. The Union was going to pay him an extra 25% of his salary to work for us and report back to them all on our business dealings and they were going to give him a $50,000.00 bonus if he could get enough people in the company together and spearhead a vote for us to go union. That is shady and corrupt.
__________________ "I carry a gun because a cop is too heavy".
I have not been able to reconcile as to why the common man has decided that corporate America/ big business has the worker's best interests in mind. This has been the trend for the last 30 years + or - 10 years. Wait until those pensions become bankrupt and check in on the change of heart and mindset.
__________________
In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." --Voltaire
I've been in a union since '95. I really only see their benefit during contract negotiations every 3 or 4 years. The result is I have awesome benefits compared to just about everyone I know and I get a guaranteed 7-10% raise every year so I don't complain. Prior to that I worked in a non-union position doing the same general thing, made much less and didn't get health coverage. I felt very underappreciated at the time and hated watching my bosses get bonus after bonus on my work while I was made to believe daily that I should feel lucky to draw a paycheck.
I can understand an employer not wanting a union, but I can't understand how an employee wouldn't?
because i'm skilled enough to negotiate my own contract, knowledgeable enough to know the laws, etc
i don't need to pay people to do things that I can do myself
for the most part unions only exist to do the same thing corporations are doing - prey upon those who aren't savvy enough to look out for themselves
nothing like rigging the marketplace and crapping on those who make the decision to not join the club
anyhow, the validity of unions is far from the point in regard to this legislation
whether you are for them or against them in todays times is irrelevant
i still fail to see how getting rid of the secret balloting for union elections is a positive thing - you should be allowed to vote for or against your office becoming a union shop free of any potential prejudice
__________________
"Civilization is a limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities."
Samuel Clemens
I have not been able to reconcile as to why the common man has decided that corporate America/ big business has the worker's best interests in mind. This has been the trend for the last 30 years + or - 10 years. Wait until those pensions become bankrupt and check in on the change of heart and mindset.
and if labor unions were so great at securing these things then why is the airline industry one of the absolute worst ones to work in? - How are those defined benefit plans at large union places like GM looking for everyone? I'm sure they're fine, right - after all they have someone looking out for them.
__________________
"Civilization is a limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities."
Samuel Clemens
because i'm skilled enough to negotiate my own contract, knowledgeable enough to know the laws, etc
i don't need to pay people to do things that I can do myself
for the most part unions only exist to do the same thing corporations are doing - prey upon those who aren't savvy enough to look out for themselves
nothing like rigging the marketplace and crapping on those who make the decision to not join the club
anyhow, the validity of unions is far from the point in regard to this legislation
whether you are for them or against them in todays times is irrelevant
i still fail to see how getting rid of the secret balloting for union elections is a positive thing - you should be allowed to vote for or against your office becoming a union shop free of any potential prejudice
Irrelevant perhaps, but isn't that what they say they want to protect? Peoples privacy to say either way?
Based on your post, I'm curious.
Do you have better benefits than your co-workers? Do you believe that an employee in a union isn't able to negotiate furthor than what the union helped provide for everyone?
The Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 800, S. 1041), supported by a bipartisan coalition in Congress, would enable working people to bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions by restoring workers’ freedom to choose for themselves whether to join a union. It would:
Establish stronger penalties for violation of employee rights when workers seek to form a union and during first-contract negotiations.
Provide mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes.
Allow employees to form unions by signing cards authorizing union representation.
The most troubling is getting rid of balloting and going to card signing. The rest is just noise
here is the bill being presented to the senate - a bunch of amendments to the NLRA
this is the language that pretty much gets rid of balloting - it also builds in more cost and beaurocracy
Quote:
`(6) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, whenever a petition shall have been filed by an employee or group of employees or any individual or labor organization acting in their behalf alleging that a majority of employees in a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining wish to be represented by an individual or labor organization for such purposes, the Board shall investigate the petition. If the Board finds that a majority of the employees in a unit appropriate for bargaining has signed valid authorizations designating the individual or labor organization specified in the petition as their bargaining representative and that no other individual or labor organization is currently certified or recognized as the exclusive representative of any of the employees in the unit, the Board shall not direct an election but shall certify the individual or labor organization as the representative described in subsection (a).
then they have to add more cost and red tape to develop a procedure to make sure that the "authorizations" aren't fraudulent
They talk about stopping employers from illegally firing workers - that's right - they will valiantly help setup something that is already in place
It is illegal to fire under the premise that they mention - if it happens to an employee, they are within their rights to sue - if it's too daunting of a task then there are places like the EEOC and various state agencies that will investigate the matter on your behalf
to the supporters of this bill, why would it be a good idea to get rid of balloting?
__________________
"Civilization is a limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities."
Samuel Clemens
Irrelevant perhaps, but isn't that what they say they want to protect? Peoples privacy to say either way?
Based on your post, I'm curious.
Do you have better benefits than your co-workers? Do you believe that an employee in a union isn't able to negotiate furthor than what the union helped provide for everyone?
aside from the legislation, yes & no - i'm vested in our defined benefit pension plan (which I hold little value in ever receiving, defined benefit plans really aren't something to count on by their basic nature) - I also have a little more vacation time, etc
I also have flexibility - i recently received an off cycle bump and job offers that would provide even more than I am making now in all regards - however, i like my place of employment and the opportunities it present - but the option is there
i know that in unions some can also negotiate - however, in many other instances the scales are rigid and not transferable
for example the airlines - it's all seniority - even if you worked for continental flying their regional carrier, highest certification and 20 years experience and then wanted to fly larger planes for continental proper you would fall all the way back to the bottom of the barrel
same deal if you were with ATA or some failed airline - you can't get a wage & hours commiserate to your experience and skill because you are now the low man with your new employer
same issues in the world of education - you are so heavily slotted into your district that movement is very difficult - creates a very stagnant workforce - districts are not able to compete for the best educators, the best educators are unable to shop their talents, those unhappy in a school/district have a nature discentive to move which creates a bitter workforce and once tenure is reached there is little recourse against a teacher if they become poor at what they do
__________________
"Civilization is a limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities."
Samuel Clemens
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