Are Unions Good For The Country?

Question

I was just reading about all of these different Unions across the US striking and I asked myself are they good for the country? Whenever you hear about a union striking, you hear about what will come out of it for the people within the union, but what about the rest of the people in the US? Whenever airplane mechanics or pilots strike it just messes up productivity in the country and puts thousands if not millions of people's lives on hold because a small group of people want higher wages. What ever happend to looking out for your country and doing what is best for your neighbor? What is your take on this subject?

Answer 1

I save my money for 30 years and have 5 million to open a manufacturing plant.  I hire 30 people and start making widgets.  I pay a scale based on skills and value to my company.  They unionize and then 6 months later go on strike for better pay or whatever.  They put me out of business and I'm out 5 million dollars.  The union guys are out of their job and just move on to another.  Who got screwed?  

I could care less what happened to the workers 75 years ago.  The US has standards that have to be addressed by companies and as long as those standards are met we are fine.  Unions are a joke and they make workers less competent to do a good job.  Incentive to move up in the company flies out the window with your union dues.  

US companies moving operations overseas are primarily sick of dealing with union in America and I don't blame them on pennies worth.  

Why are Japanese cars so much better than those made in the US??

Why are electronics all made over seas????

Quality has driven manufacturing overseas - and the unions can thank themselves.

Answer 2

They r looking out for there country ok!and since I use to be in a union myself 1199 they are good for this country because if employers had it there way we would be getting wages like some of these third world countries give there employees and no medical or job security as well.

Look how many jobs have been outsourced to all of these other countries because of there cheap labor started by Clinton and that idiot that is still in the White House,and u ask if unions r-good for this country I mean please and tell me this what does my neighbor have to do with me wanting more money and job security and better medical to take care of n support my family not unless they work at the same place I do and the same union not a thing so what is with this neighbor bit u say is beyond me,I am not saying all unions are good for this country but if u have a union that is behind its employees one hundred twenty percent than I am all for it but if u have one that all they want is ur dues n dos nothing else in support of u than that is the type of union that is bad for the country and the people it is suppose to defend and represent get the point now.

Answer 3

Strikes are never the first choice of unions. but if employers refuse to negotiate a contract in good faith--they are the ones causing th eproblem.  But the right-wing insists on blaming the workers--the victims.

Look at it this way: in any organization,the managers constitute a power block--and can organize to present a united front.  So why shouldn't workers?

Look, unions aren't perfect--especialy some of them around today.  But htey are a valuable check on abuses by employers.

Try reading some labor history--that will give you a better idea of why unions are important.  Here's a few titles you can check out:

Fink "Workingman's Democracy"

Hall "Like a Family"

Kelly "Hammer and Hoe"

Krstad "Civil Rights Unionism"

Livesay "Samuel Gompers"

Lichtenstein "Labor's War at Home"

Walkowitz "Chants Democratic"

Answer 4

I will let you decide if unions are Good for our country.

Unions are the reason you have to pay $30,000.00 for a car

that only cost $10,000.00 or less in material to build

Unions are the reason you pay 4 times the amount of what an airline ticket used to be.

Unions are the reason you pay almost $2.00/lb for pork products, when it used to be $1.29 not too mention they're at fault for the rise in beef and half of the other things some people eat.

Unions are the reason auto manufacturers are going out of buisness or filing bancruptcy the unio always has it's hand out wanting more more more. it is that theology that will force american made products to take a backseat to imported products ever more so than now, you see the union played a good role in the early years, that role then was to segregate work areas and bring a group of people together in union to keep freelance workers from taking jobs away.Their position evolved over the years, now they make sure that the lazy bum working next to you is treated the same you are even though he does half the work you do and he never has to worry about losing his job.In todays world i see little use for unions.it is hard enuff to get people to stay with an employer, the employer is in  such  a position, in order to keep people they have to treat them right.

there is only one thing a union fights for that i agree with.They negotiate with insurance compnaies to insure it's members get halfway decent benefits.

Answer 5

When unions first started they were good for America. They stopped companies from treating workers like slaves. But they've now forgotten where they came from

A few years ago, I was working through a temp service making a little over minimum wage. I was sent out to a jobsite and put to work helping some brick layers. Come break time I went to sit down like everyone else, when the boss yelled "Your not a member of the union! You don't get a break!"

Needless to say I never went back after that day. Where unions once looked out for the little guy they now concider themselves elite snobs.

Answer 6

Before unions became legal in the 1930's the American worker was worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a week in deplorable and dangerous working conditions with no benefits what soever. When the unions won a contract all the other laborers won, because the unions put in specific laws and if a non union company did not provide almost the same conditions, they would of course lose their work force to union shops.  Hence it was good for all of us.

Also not only benefits but wages also went up so as to give workers more spending money to buy more products and so the economy grew.

Since President ReaGUN put the brakes on the unions, the American workers wages and benefits have plummeted along with their spending power.  That's why we have such an enormous homeless population and poverty level, and slaves working for or below minimum wages.  Not very good for any workers pocketbooks.

Answer 7

Nobody wants a Strike; especially not the workers who aren't working. And don't try to tell me that the "strike fund" compensates for that; that's like saying L&I "time loss" payments are compensation! It's a percentage of wages to get you by (barely). Not all Unions have Strike Funds, and you can't get Unemployment if you are out of work due to a strike.

In this day and age with the plethora of non-union companies and pro-business laws/social views, it's a usually a very big deal if a Craft Union goes on strike. It hurts the workers, the union, and the employer. Most Craft Union Locals work WITH their Signatory Companies; they both realize they need each other to survive. The Halls need the Companies to put their members to work; and the Companies need the Halls for trained, tested, and certified workers that won't be on "the books" all year.

My husband's Local shows more concern for the community than most employers ever show. Our Hall has a list of local charities that the Hall contributes to; they do fund raisers as well. When a man (or woman) dies or gets injured, we are the ones raising money for the family. There are no phone calls raising money for one of the almost 2,000 construction workers that die on the job every year - we take care of it because no one else cares. We contribute to collections for men/women who die on the job, off the job, or even in retirement. We've even raised money for a non-union man's family that died since no one else was helping them. Does that count for helping out your neighbor? What about paying for the first week of a guy's hotel room when he spent the last dollar to his name getting out to the job? A lot of these Union men/women treat their fellow members as extended family - they are Union Brothers & Sisters, not just co-workers or acquaintances.

Our country depends on Blue Collar Workers while at the same time they look down their noses at them and treat them like second class citizens who were to stupid to get a better job. Someone has to build/refit the refineries, paper mills, electrical generation plants that Americans take for granted EVERYDAY. Until you beat up your body and risk your life doing their job, why don't you have a little appreciation for these men and women?

Answer 8

Unions are good. But they are in the business of politics. They secure some guarantees for their members that make their jobs more secure than their non union counterparts. The higher wage they can win for their members the bigger cut they can take in Dues. We could all live on the wages of 100 years ago if goods cost what they did 100 years ago. when the local Union grocery store has to give its employees their annual raise they just raise the price of food to cover it. And while they are raising the price any way might as well put a little more in their pocket too. Now every body goes backwards. Even the grocery store guy that just got his raise.

Answer 9

The only reason unions strike is so they can get better working conditions, benefits and pay that they most likely deserve. Unions are important or some companies wouldn't give decent wages or benefits to their employees. They also give a forum where employees can complain about things without fear of repercussions from management i.e. they can file a greivance so the union will help them correct a problem.

Answer 10

Do you get health insurance with your job? Paid sick leave? Holidays off? A safe working environment? Workers compensation for an accident at work?

Unions are responsible for all of these - so yes I would say they are a good thing.

Answer 11

Only ones that take money from their pitiful, ignorant members and give it to me, which is pretty much all of them.

So, unions are great!

Answer 12

Unions are not good for the rich,if wasn't for the unions,the workers will be making the same money as 100 years ago

Answer 13

NO!

Answer 14

Things weren't always like that.  When more than 50% of the nation were union workers it raise the bar for everyone.  Bosses would pay their people even more than the unoin wage because they did not want them joining a union.  Why?  Because the unions were the voice of the workers.  Then the Unions got greedy and Reagan did all he could to kill unions.  In doing so, however, he killed the middle class.  The middle class shrinks every year; people are working longer and for less money.   We need unions, but unions that serve their members and not the crooks that run them.

Answer 15

In general, yes, they are good for the country. If it weren't for unions and the workers insisiting on equitable compensation there would not be laws on the books in support of worker safety, a fair working wage, the 40 hour work week, retirement benefits, and medical benefits.

Unions represent the middle class folks of our country. It is the middle class that is the backbone of any country. These days, the middle class is shrinking. It takes two workers within a family to exist, compared to one person thirty or forty years ago. I believe this can be traced to the union busting policies of Reagan. He did more to damage the middle class than any president of the last century.

So, don't fault the unions for demanding equitable wages and safe working environments. If it weren't for unions, wages and working environments would be much, much worse than they are now.

Owners never want to pay an equitable wage. All they are worried about is their bottom line. If they were able to achieve it, there would be nothing but third world working conditions in our country. Look at any third world country the corporations have moved into. They exploit the people working for them for slave wages and no benefits. It would be the same way here without unions, or the threat of them, to keep employers mindful of the need to be equitable with their employees.

Answer 16

This is a great question.  Here is my opinion:

When unions first came along, they were desparately needed.  The treatment of workers was shameful and, until they were able to band together, there was no reason that it would improve.

Through the years, unions became stronger.  Not only did the organizations themselves have more power, so did those who ran them.  It wasn't long until corruption was exposed.  You could argue that the crimes committed by the union bosses were equally inhumane as those perpetrated by big business years before.

Any time the pendulum swings too far in one direction there is the potential for problems.  

A portion of my organization is covered under a union contract and I see them cry over things that I consider ridiculous - that they should have six days off for bereavement leave instead of five, for example.  I wanted to make an appointment with my son's teacher after school (when I could get off work) and she told me her union contract says she doesn't have to stay late.  Whatever.

To sum it all up, I think the unions of today are comprised of mostly lazy, annoying people looking to do as little as possible.  I think that businesses are made up of greedy, self-serving people that would sell out their own mother to make a dime.  So I suppose that they're their both needed to even things out...

Answer 17

Unions are a bunch of scam organizations set up to pay people too much for too little work. Oh but they whine and cry when they see their jobs going overseas where the same money paid to one union worker here will get the output of ten workers there. Poor babies, it's not your fault right?

Not to mention that they are like the Mafia who for some reason find kinship and brotherhood with unions - funny why the Mafia likes unions. Last but not least they're belly crawling slaves to the Democrats

Answer 18

Without unions the coal miners would still be working under horrific conditions. Children, pregnant woman used to work in coal mines. Some mines were so small that the men could never stand up in them. They dug coal standing in water up to their knees. If they were killed, the coal Barron's paid their wives 97 dollars. The unions corrected that.  Anyone ever seen Highgate in Fairmont WV. A really fantastic home with servants quarters, built by one of the coal barons. Contrast that with where the miners used to live. In coal camps, they really owed their lives and paychecks to the company store.

And yes it is true that some Unions abuse the privilege, but that is what checks and balances are all about.