Should labor unions be disbanded?

Old Rocker wrote:

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Am I understanding you correctly? Are you saying that you DON'T want to be held accountable for your work and get bonuses and raises not because of quality of your work but just because you show up every day? That is the ridiculous part.
If your work can be measured, it should be. It's to reward those who work productivly and accurately, not punish those who don't. It also helps weed out the slackers. You sound a little paranoid to me.

in my type of work as i stated its absolutely impossible to measure how one person is doing over the other by the way they do it. like i said i may have easier quick vendors to pay as compared to other people that my have more difficult ones to pay, how is this measure equal. it isn't. i do believe in people being rewarded for good work at the same time i believe that some people are not treated the same as others. it is such a political environment where i work that unless you know someone, walk over someone you are not given the same opportunities. i dont undestand why this is so hard to understand. it happens everyday in most businesses.

thats what i am trying to get across here it is human nature that people act this way. its the reality no matter what the stastics say.

The first mistake was using the word "should" the second are some of the assumptions that Unions are filled with lazy toads trying to get over.

These days they have to be productive or they are toast. There are too many folks around the planet doing the same thing cheaper.

Just like business, the unions who get it survive and can play a good role.

Unions are still very strong in the public sector and that is not changing anytime soon.

Robentcorp wrote:

The first mistake was using the word "should" the second are some of the assumptions that Unions are filled with lazy toads trying to get over.
These days they have to be productive or they are toast. There are too many folks around the planet doing the same thing cheaper.
Just like business, the unions who get it survive and can play a good role.
Unions are still very strong in the public sector and that is not changing anytime soon.

Like Paul Helder and the GREA. Thanks for recoginizing this.

Seenitbefore wrote:

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I understand what you're saying. It would be nice to be able to have the time to enjoy the fruits of one's labors.
Here in the States we work the longest hours for the least amount of (comparative) pay of any industrialized nation in the world. And that's a great source of pride for some. As if productivity was the original intent for life. To see how hard someone can work and accumulate is perceived as the highest reward.

Yes.
We've all seen at one time or another a press interview with or personally met someone visiting the USA from another country.
One of the most common comments they make is how "everything moves so fast here" or "Americans move so fast." Everything is always more and faster here.
I have a hard time believing the anti-union whiners' complaints about how lazy union workers and americans in general are. We work hard enough.
Just because some chinese or cambodian children are willing to do more for less doesn't mean we should lower the bar some more.
This race of "how low can you go" has to stop.

Unions are the only way the working class has of getting their share of the profits. Look at what has been happening with CEO salaries over the past 2 decades. The have had a 400% plus increase in salaries and this coincides with the loss of power and loss of membership in unions over the past 2 decades. Labor law is less favorable for unions and this began with the Regan administration. Karl Marx, the great socialist wrote in his book Das Kapital that Capitalism and Communism would both fail and result in revolution and that Socialism is the only stable form of government. He was not wrong about Capitalism because the revolution in this country was the forming of unions. I believe that unions is the savior of this country and a necessary check and balance over the abuse of the worker by corporations.

Mike wrote:

Unions are the only way the working class has of getting their share of the profits. Look at what has been happening with CEO salaries over the past 2 decades. The have had a 400% plus increase in salaries and this coincides with the loss of power and loss of membership in unions over the past 2 decades. Labor law is less favorable for unions and this began with the Regan administration. Karl Marx, the great socialist wrote in his book Das Kapital that Capitalism and Communism would both fail and result in revolution and that Socialism is the only stable form of government. He was not wrong about Capitalism because the revolution in this country was the forming of unions. I believe that unions is the savior of this country and a necessary check and balance over the abuse of the worker by corporations.

And yet they have not saved us from your grammar....Please most people own shares in companies....Don't be such a simpleton

Mike wrote:

Unions are the only way the working class has of getting their share of the profits. Look at what has been happening with CEO salaries over the past 2 decades. The have had a 400% plus increase in salaries and this coincides with the loss of power and loss of membership in unions over the past 2 decades. Labor law is less favorable for unions and this began with the Regan administration. Karl Marx, the great socialist wrote in his book Das Kapital that Capitalism and Communism would both fail and result in revolution and that Socialism is the only stable form of government. He was not wrong about Capitalism because the revolution in this country was the forming of unions. I believe that unions is the savior of this country and a necessary check and balance over the abuse of the worker by corporations.

Unions are the ONLY way? Hate to burst that one. I work non union, I know people who work my field who are union. My pay is equal, my benifits BETTER, I dont have to pay the union dues, and I can walk in to the presidents office and ask him if he head is stuck south or if he really thinks this idea will work.

To say that unions are the only way is just as assuming as this whole thread was at the start. Unions have there place, its just not as important anymore. Though with unemployment through the roof that may change.

This who cut and dry yes or no just doesnt work in this situation.

that whole not who

Nadia_80 wrote:

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So you admit that union members get 35$ to sweep a floor.....a job that ANYBODY could do. This job is not worth 35$ on the open market. That is the problem with unions. They act as a sort of monopoly withholding employees. A simple lesson in economics: When the supply of labor is held artificially low and people who are qualified for the labor are denied access to said labor, the wages will artificially be held high. These people should be paid their worth.....which does NOT include paying a highschool dropout with very little human capital and general experience 35$ to sweep a floor. This same example can be applied to UAW workers who simply place a screw in a piece of metal.(My mom's friend tells me all about her job detail at GM which is exclusive of this very task.)

Are you willing to work in over 100 degree temperatures? Some manufacturing jobs are sweat shop jobs. Are you willing to sacrifice your mind doing a "screw in a screw" job all day? Do you think that is easy? IT DRIVES PEOPLE CRAZY! You should really watch the movies MATEWAN or NORMA RAY. If it weren't for the UNIONS, we would still be working in the horrible conditions you want to put workers back into. And by the way, this "you aren't worth that money" talk, came right out of the mouths of Big Corporations trying to get rid of the Unions. You fell for the biggest bunch of propaganda around!! Oh and while I'm on a roll, you will find MANY COLLEGE educated employees working in these jobs, because the jobs that are out there with the college education doesn't pay to survive. There again, the BIG guys in the company are making ALL the money.

Nadia_80 wrote:

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It sounds to me that you and Union are threatened by the intelligence of a woman. I have to ask myself, if my name on this forum was Steve or Mike, would I be taken more seriously? This is still a common problem in our society unfortunately. Men are used to the subserviance of a female.....which with my generation is thankfully declining.

ASSUME...you are wrong...I fear no woman. As a matter of fact I am quite fond of the weaker sex.LOL

Unions are a legalized extortion scam of the working folks. We all pay. How can an illiterate obese chain smoking UAW line worker putting bolts on a car make $125K/yr--the same a surgeon would make after twenty years of education and $500K in loans, not to mention the resposiblity a surgeon has and the malpractice litigation hanging over his/her head...explain this to me again. What have the unions done for me other than create gross inequality that I have to pay for...the unions, particularly the UAW and longshoreman, should be disbanded.

Robentcorp wrote:

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And yet they have not saved us from your grammar....Please most people own shares in companies....Don't be such a simpleton

Dr. Evil...be nice.

Robentcorp wrote:

The first mistake was using the word "should" the second are some of the assumptions that Unions are filled with lazy toads trying to get over.
These days they have to be productive or they are toast. There are too many folks around the planet doing the same thing cheaper.
Just like business, the unions who get it survive and can play a good role.
Unions are still very strong in the public sector and that is not changing anytime soon.

Wow. well said.

RonRam wrote:

Unions are a legalized extortion scam of the working folks. We all pay. How can an illiterate obese chain smoking UAW line worker putting bolts on a car make $125K/yr--the same a surgeon would make after twenty years of education and $500K in loans, not to mention the resposiblity a surgeon has and the malpractice litigation hanging over his/her head...explain this to me again. What have the unions done for me other than create gross inequality that I have to pay for...the unions, particularly the UAW and longshoreman, should be disbanded.

I have my compass out, give me directions to these 125K line jobs, please.

obese extortionist worker wrote:

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I have my compass out, give me directions to these 125K line jobs, please.

Yeah...the union job that pays what a surgeon gets.
Best joke I heard all week.

Tickled wrote:

Hell yes! You want to know why our economy sucks? You want to know why some of the biggest auto makers in American are slowly going down the tubes? The damn unions! Blood suckers are overpaid and way too demanding.

WahWahWah

Nadia_80 wrote:

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I've had plenty of friends who have worked for GM....as far as I know they gain labor from the union. The only reason they were able to gain employment there is b/c thier father or mother had been employed by the union. Unions play the same game....you must know somebody who knows somebody. This isn't even a 'right' per say. Nobody has a right to get a promotion, the same as nobody has a right to recieve a drivers license.

100% false. I work at GM and have NO relatives there.

Nadia_80 wrote:

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The union controls the employee pool, not the company.

WRONG!!!!!!!!!!

I have worked for a union and hated it. Why should I pay someone to keep my job for me?
If I am not worth having then I don't deseve a job. I have been in G.M. plants and have seen people with a job that only requires them to push a button a couple of times a day. With benefits they make over 50 bucks per hour.
If you take a job at a company and don't like the way you are treated QUIT!!
It is time to send the LAZY union workers packing.