Unions in the workplace.. union workers...

Alright, i hope i dont offend anyone who is in a work unionon here (lol) but, does anyoen else think unions are out dated?
I mean, they dont really serve a purpose, and alot of workers get fucked over BY THE UNION lol defeating the whole purpose... I think unions were a good idea, but aren't now.
how do you feel about people in unions and they way they are treated?

 

I think unions are great. when everyone in a skill class(say, electricians), is in the union, then a company is forced to take workers from than union. Yeah, it's a little mean, but it keeps us working and lets us have good wages and medical/dental plans, stuff like that. How is the union a bad thing?

 

there's good and bad sides to unions

I am a union electrician, and I joined the union because they paid for my school (in exchange for 5 years minimum service) and most of all for the pension and centralized benefits (if I change contractors, my benefits don't change, nor does my pay rate)

on the other hand, work is slow right now, so if I got laid off, I would have to go back to the hiring hall and get on the work list, instead of answering an add in the paper, etc. If I get caught working for a non-union contractor, I can be brought up on breech-of-contract charges, among other things.

I think for trades, unions are great, but sometimes in manufacturing and related businesses, unions can be used to coddle sub-par workers, which I don't like.

just my 2/100 of a dollar

 

In my experience, unions are a bit outdated, and often unfair to workers with the exception of a few.

 

I can only speak for my own experiences, and only here in the Former American Republic. Unfortunately, organizing a union is like starting a war. Or really, it is starting a war. Retaliation by companies will be swift, violent, extreme, and will leave many lives utterly destroyed.

In some cases, organizing a union might be justified, but it's not something to do unless you're willing to put the lives of your family and friends on the line, and are willing to literally kill people if you have to.

I once was active in a union (International Association of Machinists), and helped support some organizers in ways mostly indirect. Everyone involved in any way ended up hospitalized or imprisoned, and even those of us who committed no crimes ended up falsely accused, and our lives disrupted while we were facing criminal charges.

Unless/until activists and organizers learn to fight offensively using seriously hardcore, third-world guerrilla tactics, unions will never again have enough power to be truly beneficial to society. So yeah, in that sense, they are outdated.

 

Unions over here have become beurocratic nightmares, but the principal of having a worker lead orgonisation to aid working people is a fantastic one