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Allow any individual employee at a unionized company the option to leave the union, not pay dues, and not receive benefits from the union, and I'm 100% behind them. If a person thinks they can do better negotiating for themselves, they should be free to do so in that company.
Only a fool negotiates without the power of collective bargaining when that is available.
Only a fool negotiates without the power of collective bargaining when that is available.
I personally think a motivated, intelligent person would be a fool to settle for a collective bargaining agreement when they could negotiate for better outside of a union.
That being said, do you have a problem giving people the option to opt-out of collective bargaining in a unionized company? If unions do provide a better deal, giving people the option to join or leave wouldn't be an issue.
While I can agree with your second sentence, I can't agree with the first. The eighties saw excellent pensions and the seventies saw health insurance that was fully paid for. That has changed. The first thing was that the full pension with health insurance was replaced with a 401K with a 3% match. Now, if health insurance is not being withdrawn entirely, the employee is certainly paying a larger chunk of it.
What's wrong with a 401k? It's my retirement. Why shouldn't I save for it? It's my health insurance. Why shouldn't I pay for it? The group rates are cheaper than paying independently.
If you have a union, be grateful. Companies do not want any kind of democratizing force in the workplace. Why do people think that companies spend so much time and effort to stop unions? A union gives workers a seat at the table. That is unacceptable. Management has to have complete say over salary, benefits, everything, period. If you don't like it, get out. A lesson I had to learn the hard way, unfortunately.
Not always, but they certainly should. I was in one that hung me out to dry when I was being falsely accused, abused, and unlawfully retaliated against. And while that left a very bitter taste in my mouth (they've done it to others since me), I am pro-union and became a steward in another union after that to make sure what happened to me doesn't happen to someone else. And I'll quit my position before I'd defend the most useless bum we have. Fortunately he's not really a union guy, but he could become one if he ever gets caught doing what he does. I'd like to toss him to the wolves myself.
Unions also protect excellent workers. IF you have a chance to join a union, go for it.
Exactly. There are hard-working, knowledgeable workers, but they are not good at socializing, flattering the management, and they are disliked by some insecure, disrespectful and unfair managers. There are some managers who micromanage employees by their own personal feelings. Those employees who are not strong at talking and if they are disliked by that kind of managers, they could have hard times and lose their job easily. The Union is there to speak up for them and protect them. I like Union. I'm glad I'm in the Union. I know I'm a good worker, I'm very knowledgeable about my job, I work hard and I rarely, rarely called in sick, I'm nice with my co-workers. Except I don't like small talks so much, what does a manager expect from an employee like me?
Yes, there are good and bad, excellent and mediocre workers in the union; so are there in the non-union. There are all kinds of people in every walk of life. And there are many managers who are not as good as ordinary employees (I underlined ordinary word because managers actually are just employees working for the company too); they become managers just because they know how to talk to make the higher-up feel good and/or most of people don't care to apply for the position, and they apply so they get it. Many people just want to do a good job and go home. Many people don't want to babysit big, whining babies at work. Many people want to have a title, a little bit more money and have power so they can show off and bully others. Everything happens for a reason. Everybody is different.
I do agree that there are many very good leaders and managers who are knowledgeable, respectful, fair, helpful and supportive to the employees. They want to step up to take more responsibilities, to make a difference, to change the workplace to be better for everyone to work. I do have a few leaders and managers who are very selfless and lead with example. I really admire and respect them.
Last edited by AnOrdinaryCitizen; 07-06-2019 at 03:39 PM..
Allow any individual employee at a unionized company the option to leave the union, not pay dues, and not receive benefits from the union, and I'm 100% behind them. If a person thinks they can do better negotiating for themselves, they should be free to do so in that company.
I was so glad to be promoted years ago and no longer eligible for the "mandatory" union membership at my place of employment. It saved me the wasted union dues, I performed and negotiated my own salary and rewards, and I never looked back.
Unions are there now to prop up "those that can't or won't". Don't need them. I would much rather fend for myself.
The last union job I had was at a GE plant where they had moved a production line to Mexico and had to hire temps like me to take up the slack while the Mexican factory was getting started. What the union was concerned about was getting more money from the people who were left to make up for the dues they lost by jobs going across the border. Not a word about NAFTA, getting the jobs back, getting another product line. Getting the money was what they were there for.
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