Unions?

[footfootfoot]

So, the unions you favor have given you a toothless law purporting to offer you recourse. I'm guessing, despite this 'law', you will not report Billy.

[Spexxvet]

Unions are not perfect - nothing is. There has to be something on the other end of the seesaw when employers are abusive. Individuals can't do it alone.

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

Unions are not perfect - nothing is. There has to be something on the other end of the seesaw when employers are abusive. Individuals can't do it alone.

Sure they can. They are not slaves. They can quit.

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by footfootfoot

Sure they can. They are not slaves. They can quit.

That's getting off the seesaw, not combatting abuse.

[casimendocina]

Originally Posted by footfootfoot

Sure they can. They are not slaves. They can quit.

I started off with an anecdote, but thought a general comment was more appropriate.

If you've always known where your next meal is coming from and you've always had options, then that argument works. If you're in a situation when quitting or taking issue with the boss over unfair conditions to the point where you lose your job means that you can't feed yourself or pay your bills, then you're at the mercy of whoever is your employer. The worker isn't always necessarily right, but neither should the employer be able to call all the shots.

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by footfootfoot

So, the unions you favor have given you a toothless law purporting to offer you recourse. I'm guessing, despite this 'law', you will not report Billy.

Why do you assume that the unions have given a law?

[SamIam]

Originally Posted by footfootfoot

So, the unions you favor have given you a toothless law purporting to offer you recourse. I'm guessing, despite this 'law', you will not report Billy.

We have no unions which cover the motel/hotel industry. In fact, we have almost no unions at all. The coal miners may still have a couple. I dunno.

[kerosene]

Originally Posted by SamIam

We have no unions which cover the motel/hotel industry. In fact, we have almost no unions at all. The coal miners may still have a couple. I dunno.

I don't know about hotels/motels. I found this list, though for Colorado.

[kerosene]

I think unions seem like they would be good and would work for some industries but from what I have seen and heard, they seem to be another excuse/opportunity for corruption.

[SamIam]

Originally Posted by kerosene

I don't know about hotels/motels. I found this list, though for Colorado.

Interesting. The closest union motel is 50 miles away in Farmington, New Mexico. They actually claim to pay overtime and have sick leave benefits. What a concept! I suspect that if Carmen reaches the point where she can no longer fulfill her duties here, Bill-the-Scum will either sell this place or allow it to degenerate into a third rate flop house.

Other than my genuine concern for Carmen, I couldn't care less what becomes of this place. I hope Bill goes bankrupt in his old age and ends up alone in a sleazy room in his former property. This situation here is a perfect example of why unions were created.

I have an appointment with voc-rehab on Wednesday, and you can bet that I'll tell them all about conditions here. In fact, I'm required to report the working conditions and pay I get from any job I'm attempting to work in order to move off disability. I'm certainly not going to jepordize any assistance I might qualify for just so Bill can keep cooking the books.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Unions have done a great job, increasing workplace safety, shortening the work week, and reining in first line management, usually by reporting their behavior to the people that actually own/run the company. I know there have been many cases of unions, usually the trade unions, keeping women and blacks out, but once they were let in, the unions made sure they were paid and treated equally by management.

The union's Achilles heel is that they are run by elected people. That sounds good until apathy settles into the membership, then the union leaders become nothing more than politicians. Democracy and unions are both great ideas, when the people are engaged and involved.

Unfortunately Americans, having it "too good for too long", have been so involved with "me", they've let control slip away. Now political & union elections have become, money talks, discourse walks. So the unions have declined parallel to the nation.

Blaming unions for driving manufacturing out of the country is ludicrous, how many Americans do you know that will work even eight hours, for a dollar a day? Same goes for quality, face it, skill level will vary, but every employee must work to the standards the company has set as acceptable, or they're gone, union or not.

If you cite a case of a substandard employee being protected by the union, it's because of lazy management not doing their job and blaming it on the union. Any union employee can be terminated for violating company standards, the union can only make sure the company documents those violations, so supervisors can't just fire somebody because they don't like their lifestyle, religion, or politics. No matter how good the contract, the law is the last word. Then if the company and union don't agree, the national labor relations board decides.

Right now, killing unions is the target of the Money-Class that's taken over politics. Not because of wages/benefits, but because they are organized groups that could hold political power. So they convince the non-union people that unions are bad, divide and conquer, stamping the last possible voting bloc they don't control.

Goodbye unions. Goodbye democracy. Welcome your new money-class overlords.

[SamIam]

Bruce! Rarely seen these days, but well worth the wait. The best explanation of the union situation that I have read so far.