Poll of the Day > Do you generally have a positive opinion of Unions?

(+) Yeah! (+)

labor unions, obv.

Mostly.

Yes.

No

I have no opinion on a social construct that will never have a role in my life because I work in a merit-based field.

Judgmenl posted...

I have no opinion on a social construct that will never have a role in my life because I work in a merit-based field.

oh really? what do you do though?

Yes.

No. The unions of today are not the unions that gave workers important benefits.

jsb0714 posted...

No. The unions of today are not the unions that gave workers important benefits.

Mostly this. There is a need, but most aren't making significant differences and/or are fighting for the wrong causes.

Yes, I work for a union, and we've had some big wins for some of the industries we help represent.

I dont know a lot about unions

I do know that it is important for workers to have a form of collective bargaining, otherwise they will be exploited by most employers

Judgmenl posted...

I have no opinion on a social construct that will never have a role in my life because I work in a merit-based field.

This is your brain on liberalism

RagOnAStick posted...

This is your brain on liberalism

Sorry, I live in reality.

Never been part of one, but yes.

Judgmenl posted...

I have no opinion on a social construct that will never have a role in my life because I work in a merit-based field.

To be realistic, this isn't fair either. The worst unions have given themselves bad names by defending workers who shouldn't be defended (to the detriment of their coworkers) and championing the wrong causes at the wrong times. There is still a need for unions, however, if there is a large power imbalance between management and workers OR if "management" isn't truly motivated to succeed (i.e. it's a government legislature). I work in a merit-based field (engineering) but I work for the government so the salary for the position I achieve is still determined by legislative whim. We need a union to navigate that, like it or not.

Likewise, I have seen my wife's school union protect from some abusive (or at least negligent) practices: they do some good things when fighting small battles. They just need to pick better battles on big stages.

If unions didn't exist the gap between big and small would be even larger than it currently is.

Yes, but I think mandatory union membership sucks ass

Unions are good.

Mafia bad.

Also, there should be room for competition unions... like if there are TWO steelworkers unions and one cuts a better deal they can work instead

No. Although Unions played a roll in some of benefits people do have. They're not the same at all. Like most businesses, they look out for themselves and really do not care about people's needs. Especially in my many personal experiences with them, I have seen them cost some people dearly.

My only personal experience with unions was my short time at a processing plant for the usps. It was incredibly negative.

Yes. They're hardly perfect but they're better than the alternative. The wage gaps between the unionized and not-unionized should be more than enough for anyone to reason this out.

Gaawa_chan posted...

Yes. They're hardly perfect but they're better than the alternative. The wage gaps between the unionized and not-unionized should be more than enough for anyone to reason this out.

This is pretty much the main answer. The only thing negative I'd like to point out is employee bullying. To this day that shit still happens and the culture isn't stamped out. They claim there's an effort to to stop it, but it's the culture in certain spaces that is perpetuated.

It's the same as prisons. Any and all misconduct and bullying should have zero tolerance. It is a bad influence and cannot be allowed into the new world. We are not going to evolve if we allow any of it to persist.

A lot of money is spent to get workers to turn on their own unions, some people buy it and others don't.

Not generally. I understand why the exist, but they make my job more difficult.

Yes. Unions are regular people organizing and working together to negotiate better terms and conditions in the work place.

I understand why they're necessary but fucking hell they're awful to interact with.

Depends on:

1. the industry and
2. the specific Union.

Traditional labour unions work in regulated industries that usually represent a fundamental interest into the operation of the Country as a whole.

My bargaining unit was the direct result of Liberal deregulation in the 90's, it also eventually resulted in the elimination of union jobs, mine included, under Harper's reign.

When it comes to traditional labour unions you have to bargain thrice, once with the boss, then the government, and then with the people who elect the government. Elect a more progressive government and maybe they will give you what you negotiated with your boss.