Union Membership Rate Falls to 100-Year Low

a reply to: olaru12

Who is anti union?

I was a union member and a union steward for over 10 years it was a good gig only way to get fired is if you stole from the company or didn't show up for work 3 consecutive days plus you get payed to do less work and don't try and deny that but it still doesn't change the fact that unions will sell their members down the river.

I want to scream...but I can't. I've found even more perverse things among the Koch and walturds.

originally posted by: thesaneone
a reply to: olaru12

Glad it's working out for you but a majority of the unions out there screw their members.

I

Really? And you base this on what?

I used to work for a union but I also worked for major corporations. My job was to make sure finances were in order.

Unions are no more corrupt than large corporations. Yes, one time organized crime did take over some unions but courts have done a pretty decent job of taking over control in those cases. (I had actually interviewed to review the Teamsters fund - court over sight was going to end and I was going to produce the reports).

One of the main reasons why union membership declined was the switch from manufacturing to service. The main service employer, Walmart, spent huge resources keeping the union out.

There's a lot of people making authoritative statements about unions who haven't got a clue what they're talking about. I'd be willing to bet that most — if not all — of the (private sector) union bashing comments are coming from people who have never held a union job.

It's pretty useless to lump public and private sector unions together as they're fundamentally different beasts. Private sector unions are forced to contend with the employer's bottom line and public sector unions are not. Private sector unions and employers actually have a common interest in seeing the employer prosper; the better the company does, the more money there is for compensation (and additional due paying workers). This isn't something that public sector unions are forced to contend with so what's their incentive for maintaining high levels of productivity and efficiency?

Private sector union membership has been on the decline since it peaked around 1970 and that decline has nothing to do with corruption. Does corruption exist? Sure, try naming an organization of more than a couple dozen people that doesn't have some degree of corruption.

I think many Unions could have won the battles against the big employers.

I bet some planned failure tactics were used.

originally posted by: thesaneone
a reply to: olaru12

Who is anti union?

I was a union member and a union steward for over 10 years it was a good gig only way to get fired is if you stole from the company or didn't show up for work 3 consecutive days plus you get payed to do less work and don't try and deny that but it still doesn't change the fact that unions will sell their members down the river.

If you were a shop steward and your union was "selling members down the river" then the blame probably rested with you and the other stewards as well as the BAs. Also, all of the union shops that I've had experience with had performance quotas. What was the industry?

a reply to: xuenchen

Like local 1098 Saginaw?

a reply to: theantediluvian

The BA's and bosses didn't care what we said, at my last meeting as steward most of us stewards that voiced our opinions were escorted out by security they will do whatever they want they already have your money.



It was in the labor industry.

Union Sheet Metal Worker going on 26 years. I agree most union bashing comes from people with no clue, only repeating what they have heard.

In the building trades unions you would have a hard time getting away with being lazy. They will get your check in a heart beat.

We get no sick days, no paid time off, no paid holidays. But I make something like 49 an hour. Of that we vote on what to do with it. We are self funded in our medical insurance and pay a lot for it, around 9 bucks an hour, but that subsidises our retirees health care and out of work tinners. We put a bit over 10 an hour into our pension. We end up with something like 27 and change on our paycheck.

You look at the drop in Union membership and the recent "health care crisis" and tell me its not related.

It seemed to me growing up that everybodys father worked and their employer provided health care. Union and nonUnion.

We need to start pushing young people into apprenticeships that lead to careers instead of huge student loans.

originally posted by: ladyinwaiting
a reply to: xuenchen

People were actually killed fighting for Union Rights. I guess when factory workers have no protection against safety violations, not a sick day to be earned, and are subjected to all manner of diseases and injuries, it can begin again.

We are going backwards.

This is certainly nothing to be happy about.

eta: And where do those dollars go? You know damn well where they go.

Less labor power and rights translates into more power for elite thugs

a reply to: thesaneone

AFSCME, AF of M and PPAN...all three. Agreed commentors here have never been in one.

OF COURSE they are corrupt...but my wage is guaranteed, 401k, accrued vacation, sick and personal day guaranteed, insurance etc.

I can go anywhere for employment in any State, Federal, County, municipality (AFSCME)...music performance worldwide guaranteed $$$$ to play AFM-Federation of Musicians...and PPAN plant protection security ERT dispatch.

Still...unions aren't the best...but we got more than the average worker...and really really hard to get fired...ever...for most any infraction