EDIT: Come to think of it, if it weren't for the unions, we could ALL get raises across the board. It's just that they'd get a little less than their negotiations called for.
I don't get your logic.
Your employer just told you, and all the other non-union members, to take a hike instead of raising your wages and there is jack you can do about it.
And you think if all the employees were as powerless as you then your wages would have risen?
And you think if all the employees were as powerless as you then your wages would have risen?
I'm saying that if my employer wasn't FORCED to give the unioners a raise (because of contracts) and not us (because of no money left after that), they could instead give us ALL a little bit lower raise across the board and everyone would be happier.
(rant)
But the unions now are greedy. They served a VERY good purpose back in the 1920's and 30's when shop owners had monopolies and kept all the money for themselves. Workers got paid crap for VERY hard work. It made sense to band together.
Now, unions are just a pain in the collective ass of society. In the United States, we have minimum wage laws, corporate competition, the Better Business Bureau, and other checks and balances that have eliminated the need for unions.
Yet they still exist, and now there's a union for EVERYTHING. They take things too far today. Is it right that a union employee at a TV station can say "I will not move that microphone 10 feet because it's not in my job description?" How ridiculous is it that Major League Baseball players who make at least hundreds of thousands of dollars a year can go on strike because they're not making enough? It's insane!
All in all, unions (specifically their leaders) are an excuse for workers to lose their conscience, morals, and reasonable thoughts and exchange them for jealousy, greed, and money-grubbing.
(/rant)
And for those of you who are thinking "he just wishes HE was in a union," no I certainly don't! There's a vast majority of the population who consider unions the scum of the earth, and I don't want to be associated with that in any way.
p.s. bunge, no, management didn't give themselves a raise. I work for a city government and that would be a very unwise thing to do in the eyes of the employees and citizens.
I'm saying that if my employer wasn't FORCED to give the unioners a raise (because of contracts) and not us (because of no money left after that), they could instead give us ALL a little bit lower raise across the board and everyone would be happier.
What he was saying is that if your employer wasn't FORCED to give the unioners a raise they would have kept all of the money for themselves.
Imagine a world without trade unions...if forced to demobilize, say, through federal legislation: Would employers (tend to) take advantage, fire and rehire workers at lower wages and longer hours, to the natural approval/demand of majority shareholders? Or would employers (tend to) give the workforce a fair deal, thus rendering trade unions redundant?
Human beings are greedy in nature, and that hasn't changed one iota since the days of the Tolpuddle Martyrs. In the corporate world, 'Enron culture'and the law of the jungle reigns and always will, trade unions or not. How will removing working peoples' organizations affect standards of living for the lowest paid? I have my suspicions...
With the ever increasing power of corporations to regulate, control and monitor peoples lives...often to a greater extent than elected officials and government (which are beholden to big business anyway)....trade unions are absolutely relevant....more so now than ever.
If trade unions are an anachronism, try a world before they existed....um...no thanks. Give it 100,000 years of human evolution before we are civilized enough not to need trade unions.
Comments
Originally posted by CosmoNut
EDIT: Come to think of it, if it weren't for the unions, we could ALL get raises across the board. It's just that they'd get a little less than their negotiations called for.
I don't get your logic.
Your employer just told you, and all the other non-union members, to take a hike instead of raising your wages and there is jack you can do about it.
And you think if all the employees were as powerless as you then your wages would have risen?
Originally posted by CosmoNut
Something seems inherently wrong with the fact that my employer can't pay any of us non-unioners....
I'm going to guess that despite falling revenue, management gave themselves raises anyway. That's probably why you're not getting a raise.
Originally posted by stupider...likeafox
And you think if all the employees were as powerless as you then your wages would have risen?
(rant)
But the unions now are greedy. They served a VERY good purpose back in the 1920's and 30's when shop owners had monopolies and kept all the money for themselves. Workers got paid crap for VERY hard work. It made sense to band together.
Now, unions are just a pain in the collective ass of society. In the United States, we have minimum wage laws, corporate competition, the Better Business Bureau, and other checks and balances that have eliminated the need for unions.
Yet they still exist, and now there's a union for EVERYTHING. They take things too far today. Is it right that a union employee at a TV station can say "I will not move that microphone 10 feet because it's not in my job description?" How ridiculous is it that Major League Baseball players who make at least hundreds of thousands of dollars a year can go on strike because they're not making enough? It's insane!
All in all, unions (specifically their leaders) are an excuse for workers to lose their conscience, morals, and reasonable thoughts and exchange them for jealousy, greed, and money-grubbing.
(/rant)
And for those of you who are thinking "he just wishes HE was in a union," no I certainly don't! There's a vast majority of the population who consider unions the scum of the earth, and I don't want to be associated with that in any way.
p.s. bunge, no, management didn't give themselves a raise. I work for a city government and that would be a very unwise thing to do in the eyes of the employees and citizens.
Originally posted by CosmoNut
I'm saying that if my employer wasn't FORCED to give the unioners a raise (because of contracts) and not us (because of no money left after that), they could instead give us ALL a little bit lower raise across the board and everyone would be happier.
What he was saying is that if your employer wasn't FORCED to give the unioners a raise they would have kept all of the money for themselves.
Imagine a world without trade unions...if forced to demobilize, say, through federal legislation: Would employers (tend to) take advantage, fire and rehire workers at lower wages and longer hours, to the natural approval/demand of majority shareholders? Or would employers (tend to) give the workforce a fair deal, thus rendering trade unions redundant?
Human beings are greedy in nature, and that hasn't changed one iota since the days of the Tolpuddle Martyrs. In the corporate world, 'Enron culture'and the law of the jungle reigns and always will, trade unions or not. How will removing working peoples' organizations affect standards of living for the lowest paid? I have my suspicions...
With the ever increasing power of corporations to regulate, control and monitor peoples lives...often to a greater extent than elected officials and government (which are beholden to big business anyway)....trade unions are absolutely relevant....more so now than ever.
If trade unions are an anachronism, try a world before they existed....um...no thanks. Give it 100,000 years of human evolution before we are civilized enough not to need trade unions.
Originally posted by ena
I would have to say that AFL-CIO is definitely an ancronym.
Now THAT's funny.