Re: Headline News Thread
IMO, I don't think min wage laws are solely union anymore. As I said, many more orgs are out there.
I've been in warehousing for 23 years, none union. The biggest complaints I hear from union workers?
1. Union strikes? I can't cross, or I'll be a scab and will be frowned upon for anything good that comes up in the future.
2. Seniority. Doesn't matter if I can do the job better. Seniority wins out.
Unions started something very good, but they have outlived their usefulness, due to more efficient (and more in number) orgs and practices.
My own observation about unions.
First, I don't necessarily see unions as the mortal enemy that some more conservative people, or some business people, might. They can actually be a useful tool for businesses, whether it's insuring that you'll have enough electricians on the job site to finish the project, to enforcing certain employment rules. When an employee starts complaining about something, it is nice to have the second voice of the union basically telling the employee that nothing can be done about it.
That said, I personally would not want to be in a union because they have the effect of making everyone "average" in terms of wages, benefits, promotions, etc... When I was an employee, I tried to be of a mindset that if I looked to my left, I was a better employee than the person standing beside me, and if I looked to my right, I was a better employee than that person, too.
I really don't think the value of unions for employees is in the area of wages/benefits or protection from termination. I personally have had at least five instances in the last 30 years involving a union where we wanted to increase the pay of employees mid-contract to remain competitive in the employee marketplace. In a couple of instances we just elected to wait until the contract was up, but in two of the instances we actually had to go to the union and "negotiate" a mid-contract pay increase (an employer can't grant it unilaterally).
Also, even though many non-union employers can terminate employees for any reason so long as it doesn't violate something like human rights laws, most employers don't act arbitrarily like that. I know for me it is too hard and too expensive to find and train employees. I'm not going to fire them just because I can. If there is a real reason to fire them, I'll be able to meet any "just cause" requirements of a union contract.
The primary benefit for employees in being in a union frequently depends upon the type of job. I personally don't think your average administrative assistant sitting in an office building at the Minnesota state capitol needs to be unionized. But for jobs like MNS is talking about, or jobs in the healthcare industry or restaurant service industry, a union can obtain certain benefits that employees won't otherwise be able to obtain. For instance, a requirement that an employee called in on their day off receive at least "x" hours of pay. That way you don't get called in for just an hour or something.
I think the union system does create some problems for employees. As you alluded to, a strike can put employees in life altering situations, especially if they happen to be a relatively young or new employee. The seniority system can also result in a "s h ! t rolls down hill" workplace where it's always the young, new employees who have to get called in on all the weekends and holidays, etc..., making it very hard to attract and retain new employees.
It's not a perfect system, and as I said, I wouldn't want to be in one, but it also isn't the major obstacle to business it's sometimes made out to be.
