Pro or against Unions

[tritran5555(poetri)]

After reading that workers from Lowblaws in Ontario have overwhelmingly voted in favour of giving their union authority to call a strike against Canada's largest grocery chain if negotiations don't improve after months of stalled talks.

Is having a Union, a good or bad thing.

http://www.thestar.com/business/art...oblaw-workers-vote-97-for-strike-mandate?bn=1

 

[cashflowpatrick]

In the past working conditions were quite bad. The employers held all the cards and did not concern themselves much for their employed. The industrial revolution initially was not too good for the average citizen. Events like the fire at the Triangle Waist Company in 1911 started a change in this.

The quality of the work enviroment is important. Not just for the workers but for those they work for.
Improvements in work enviroment are a good thing all around. Now whether or not unions are a good thing is something I'll leave for others to answer. But improving the condition of the workers is almost always a good thing.

In the past unions have sometimes been the only way to keep employers honest.

 

[jonathan st.thomas]

Sometimes unions take things too far like we saw with the auto industry and GM...too many benefits from the corporation caused an inability to compete in the marketplace. Other times, unions provide a basis of reasonable pay and benefits especially in dangerous professions like steel working, mining, etc.

I am 50-50 on this one.

 

[nirvanafan12]

I'm generally against unions, but I'll concede that they can serve a valid purpose.

There shouldn't be a need for unions if good management is in place. (i.e., fair minded, long-term vision, etc.)

If management is short-sighted and oppressive, unions are needed.

The problem is when they get too powerful and impede competitive flexibility. It's all about balance and compromise on all sides.

 

[irish83]

All 3 great points guys, wonder why China has no unions. :gasp:

 

[Frankie]

I was active with a union and their reps for a few years and this is actually a shared view of the ones who are in the job for the right reason. A few are in it for the money, power or other reasons but those in it for the good of the people belive if employeers treat employees correct there is no need for unions.

Unfortunately what the public hears about from the media is the GM, garbage strike type story and paints a poor picture. Most unions help most professions and trade workers, it would be nice to hear about the positives for once. I would like to hear a stories how the worker received modifed duties while rehabiliting after a work injury and not the TTC worker who fell asleep at his post.

 

[jmau]

To be fair, abuses occur on both sides.

Just as management can abuse their authority, labour can abuse their benefits.

The one that gets my gourd every time are sick days. Since when did sick days become an entitlement (rather than an accommodation for legitimate illness)?

 

[ShadowsWithin]

There is little need for labour unions in modern day industry and public service in North America. Labour laws are such that employers cannot take advantage of workers like they did back at the dawn of the industrial revolution.

Conversely, the shoe is now on the other foot, and labour unions continue to take advantage of their employer...

Case in point CUPE, OSSTF, TTC union, etc.

 

[sweethoney785]

I have been on both sides of the fence with unions.

I hated the union that I was a member of for many years. They protected the drunk and incompetent, limited the ability of good workers to improve productivity, undermined all management efforts and eventually forced the closure of a company employing 3-4000 people.

When a union got a foothold in another company that I worked for in a management capacity, I left the company. In speaking with the people who stayed, both union and management, it seems that they have done much more harm than good.

 

[pookpunk]

Is having a Union, a good or bad thing.

http://www.thestar.com/business/art...oblaw-workers-vote-97-for-strike-mandate?bn=1Historically speaking, I think Unions played a very significant role in helping us enjoy the standard of living we do today. They fought for decent wages, working conditions and benefits for most working people. But today they have become largely irrelevant over political organizations full of egotistical and corrupt leaders whose main interest is either the feathering of their own nests or or fulfilling their personal political agendas. They generally protect malingerers and the incompetent who get in the way of the honest workers who really do want to do a good job. That's not to say there are no sensible unions around but they certainly do not include teachers or civil servants.

Having said all this, there is a saying among labour lawyers that "a company gets the union it deserves". Probably true!

 

[i H.S.P.]

Unions had their time and place, but that time has long since passed.

The problem with some unions now is the the lack of checks and balances. Many have just gotten too powerful and corrupted with greed, especially in the public sector. To an extent, the private sector still has those checks and balances in place... if the union demands too much, and productivity falls too much, the business simply cannot sustain itself and closes down, end of that union and unfortunately those jobs along with it.

The public sector is an entirely different beast... they have a seemingly endless well to draw upon. As salaries and benefits rise, the government simply raises taxes to compensate. As productivity falls, they hire more workers and the government raises taxes to compensate. This is where our country is going to learn a very hard lesson in the future. This house of cards will collapse at some point and it's going to be very painful indeed.

I work in the public sector though not in a union. I've seen first hand what an incoming union does to people's attitudes. Where there were perfectly productive and well compensated employees pre-union... post-union, those same employees having bought into the rhetoric, became barely productive, in-fighting and constantly grieving "brothers and sisters". This affected the whole institute around them.

I won't paint ALL unions with that same brush, not all unions are bad. There are still some unions that actually help their members and have their best interests in mind. But one day, those other unions are going to bankrupt this wonderful country

 

[Martin the baby]

I am opposed to unions.

Why? Personal experience.