Tyek wrote:I am not in favor of any socialist system where I work hard, some guy does not and we get the same things. You see it in Unions today. They did great things once. Now they seem to reward and protect the weakest members of their union. Guys who should be fired, potentially create dangerous conditions and they are obligated to protect them. (A-ROD included)
I think that's an easy out when it comes to Unions. It's like pointing out that someone died while waiting in the ER and no one noticed, so all of the Health Care industry is shit. Perhaps more appropriately would be a comparison to our justice system which struggles to defend an obvious criminal. It's low hanging fruit, and disingenuous.
Just a few things Unions gave us that people take for granted:
-The end of child labor
- The right of workers to negotiate with their employers over wages, benefits and working conditions
- The 8 hour work day and paid overtime
- Compensation for workers injured on the job.
- Unemployment insurance.
- A minimum wage
- Pensions
- Healthcare insurance
- Paid sick leave, vacations and holidays
- Elimination of job discrimination by ethnicity, color, religion, sex or national origin
- Family medical leave
You can look at line graphs and see the devaluation of employees, the middle class, income, and a plethora more that will trend right along side declining Union memberships.
When there were Unions protecting the employees and working in their favor, the US did not have the unbelievably lopsided pay difference between CEO and employee. There were more Unions around when America was at it's peak than there are now when it is trending downward. Taking a step back and seeing exactly who started and continues the war on Unions make me think we should see a resurgence. For example, I wish every employee at Wal-Mart was in a Union.
Full disclosure - I really kind of hate Unions. I have had minimal interaction with a few smaller ones and they've all been quite useless. But the big ones have real power, and if used correctly that is something the American worker could really use right now.