WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan

Should labor unions be disbanded?

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.  (9 min ago | post #325)

WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan

Should labor unions be disbanded?

This is a good example of someone who is jealous of unions jobs.  (Yesterday | post #192)

WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan

Should labor unions be disbanded?

I know what their rights are and how they function. I have read various union contracts and know exactly how it works. This is how I know a lot of what you surmise is off, but you're giving it the best guess that you can based on the biased info you have and lack of real experience. There is no such thing as "inflated wages of the union" as you say. This is merely right-wing big-business propaganda which is disguised to look impartial on those websites you read. It came as no surprise to me when I looked up the source of your "information " and found it to be written by one of George W. Bush's appointed cronies. You specifically used the word "proof" to describe it. Maybe you haven't noticed in the last 7.5 years that America's economy has been in a downward spiral under republican policy, and yet you swallow their propaganda, hook, line, and sinker, and call it "proof." There is no way that the solution to our economic problems is to reduce wages and working conditions and rights. Instead of trying to justify tearing down union wages, rights, benefits, and accomplishments, why don't you work to raise the non-union standard up?  (Yesterday | post #191)

WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan

Should labor unions be disbanded?

What rights do they hold? The concept of a centralized 'employment center' is off-target, but since you don't really have any experience with unions, you don't really know any better. A lot of what you surmise about unions and how they work is incorrect. And since when did high wages become a "problem " as you put it. I don't see any problems with having unions. I do, however, see a problem with the decrease of unions and the attacks on them.  (Yesterday | post #183)

WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan

Should labor unions be disbanded?

How? The company chooses who to hire. The company assigns work. The company manages the workers. Please explain to us how unions control the "employee pool." Please give us an example from your personal experience of what you have seen.  (Yesterday | post #172)

WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan

Should labor unions be disbanded?

Wrong. Unions do not hire workers, the company does.  (Yesterday | post #166)

WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan

Should labor unions be disbanded?

They help everyone. Even the anti-union people. What many of these anti-union people don't realize is that union workplaces set the standard that all other workplaces are measured against. Unions improved wages, working conditions, and safety for their members decades ago, and non-union workplaces raised their standards in order to keep workers from unionizing. The people who badmouth the unions have directly benefited from what unions have accomplished. There is no evidence that they "hurt the plenty" as you say. I'm not aware of unions hurting anyone (except for maybe those strikebreakers they beat up back in 1911.)  (Yesterday | post #141)

WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan

Should labor unions be disbanded?

Oh. You're funny. I don't take you seriously because you preach your "economics " yet ignore the issues of workers' rights, safety, and fairness. Furthermore, I think your economic perspective is skewed in favor of big business interests, considering that is where you get your propaganda. However, if you feel you are being discriminated against because of your gender, please file a grievance with your union steward.  (Yesterday | post #130)

WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan

Should labor unions be disbanded?

LMAO that's funny!  (Yesterday | post #119)

WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan

Should labor unions be disbanded?

You will never convince me that I am better off by giving up my rights.  (Yesterday | post #113)

WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan

Should labor unions be disbanded?

I read it. I don't really see anything in it that shows unions are awful, even as biased as it is. I especially loved the part which says unions are the enemy of blacks because some union workers beat up a couple of black strikebreakers 97 years ago in 1911. (I'm pretty sure they beat up the white strikebreakers too) This biased article you posted was produced by Morgan O. Reynolds, who was the US Dept of Labor chief economist during G W Bush's first term. Did you really think Bush is going to appoint someone who is not biased in favor of the right-wing big business agenda? Reynolds info is here: http://en.wikipedi a.org/wiki/Morgan_ Reynolds What you posted is not proof that unions are bad, it is propaganda.  (Yesterday | post #105)

WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan

Should labor unions be disbanded?

There is union employment and "at-will " employment. "At-will " workers can have their pay and/or benefits cut at any time. "At-will " workers can be fired for any time without just cause. They can be fired for merely speaking their mind. There are only a few federal protections of unlawful discharge, those are racial/ethnic/hand icap/gender discrimination, whistleblowers, and union organization. If an "at-will " worker is fired in violation of one of these federal protections, they almost always do not have the money to fight a court battle against the wealth of big business. In "at-will " employment, nepotism and favoritism largely determine pay and job assignment. The uneven enforcement of rules, special people getting special favors, and you've all seen it before. "At-will " workers do not have a CONTRACT like union workers. "At-Will " workers do not have a grievance procedure or arbitration. They have no recourse against unfair practices by management. "At-Will " workers do not have representation of stewards. A common bullying and intimidation practice in at-will places is to call a worker into an office all by themselves, only to be confronted with 3-4 members of management. "At-will " employment is a horrible way to work. Union is better.  (Yesterday | post #94)

WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan

Should labor unions be disbanded?

I'm afraid I can't, because no such literature exists.  (Yesterday | post #87)

WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan

Should labor unions be disbanded?

The question on this thread "Should Unions be Disbanded" is moot, considering our first amendment guarantees us the right to assemble and free association. Any workplace that has a union also has a history of mistreating workers, otherwise they would never have unionized. Workers have the right to protect themselves. This is America, not Cambodia.  (Yesterday | post #81)

WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan

Should labor unions be disbanded?

No it would not. Unions built the middle class. The disappearance of union jobs correlate to the diminishing middle class. What is happening, and would happen sooner if unionization were illegal, is the widening of the gap between the ultra-rich and the poor, with little in between.  (Yesterday | post #77)