Are you or have you ever been in a union?

[classical_hero]

I am just wondering how many people here have been in a union.

I myself have never been in one and my view is that modern employers should know that an happy employee is a productive employee, so naturally most unions are not needed. I certainly understand in the past there was a need for unions, but now we shouldn't have a need for them if the bosses are good to employees.

 

[JollyRoger]

By the same token, there is no need for limited liability protection for the owners of companies. After all, a well run business should not put the owners at risk for that much personal liability, if any. Get rid of that and we can talk getting rid of unions.

 

[AlpsStranger]

The OP is so delightfully naive. It's almost tasty.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I worked in a non-union factory. Some employees talked about unionizing it and before they could do anything they were all fired. None of my other jobs have been unionized but when I graduate it's likely they will be.

 

[peter grimes]

The credible threat of unionization is what's going to keep non-union employers on their toes. An absence of union organizing in an industry will result in worker exploitation, poor working conditions, and redistribution of wealth towards the company's owners.

In the USA right now, unions need to be stronger, not weaker.

I'm saying this as someone who is currently a union member, but who voted against union membership several times. I was wrong on those votes. Had I known then what I know now, I would have actively promoted unionization at the first opportunity.

And just to head off any red herrings about unions taking advantage of workers - that's just not true. Union leadership tends to come from the membership itself - men and women who have worked in the business for decades.

 

[AlpsStranger]

I worked in a non-union factory. Some employees talked about unionizing it and before they could do anything they were all fired. None of my other jobs have been unionized but when I graduate it's likely they will be.

Boy, I bet it sure would be a good idea to have some individual privacy to organize stuff like that so your boss couldn't fire you ahead of time.

Nah, I must be off my meds again

What's the saying? "Privacy for the weak, transparency for the strong."

 

[peter grimes]

I worked in a non-union factory. Some employees talked about unionizing it and before they could do anything they were all fired. None of my other jobs have been unionized but when I graduate it's likely they will be.

It's a sure sign of a badly managed workforce when the management is afraid of a union vote. They know that their worker's lives will be better under a union contract, and that the company owners won't be able to pocket as much cash from the labor of the workers.

 

[AlpsStranger]

I seriously wish the labor movement would put Wal-Mart under heavy siege. Nothing would bring me more pleasure.

Too bad we discarded any real power behind it ages ago.

 

[JollyRoger]

I thought that mankind was getting more depraved by the day and that the past was the good ole days. Given that companies are run by humans, it would seem that unions are needed now more than ever.

 

[AlpsStranger]

Brilliant JR. Love it

 

[bhsup]

I was once, but not by my choosing. I worked for AT&T for awhile back in the 90s and you had to at the very least pay dues to the Communications Workers of America, but technically didn't have to join. I filled out the forms to say I didn't want to join, but they put me on the membership rolls anyway. I had to fight tooth and nail to get my name off, so unfortunately yes, I was briefly a member of a commie organization.

 

[JollyRoger]

I would agree that AT&T is commie.

 

[Gucumatz]

I was once, but not by my choosing. I worked for AT&T for awhile back in the 90s and you had to at the very least pay dues to the Communications Workers of America, but technically didn't have to join. I filled out the forms to say I didn't want to join, but they put me on the membership rolls anyway. I had to fight tooth and nail to get my name off, so unfortunately yes, I was briefly a member of a commie organization.

Pinko

 

[classical_hero]

The OP is so delightfully naive. It's almost tasty.

The place where I worked wasn't unionised and it was a great place to work.

 

[Winston Hughes]

Along with 1.3 million other people, I'm a member of UNISON. The insurance and legal support the union offers is the best available for people in my line of work.

Sadly, very few of my colleagues around the country are union members, and, for that reason, we got absolutely screwed by the last Labour government, even as they poured money into the pockets of many other public sector workers.

 

[AlpsStranger]

The place where I worked wasn't unionised and it was a great place to work.

Ah, well I guess you can generalize about the entire world from your anecdote then. Carry on.

 

[downtown]

I was previously a member of the American Federation of Teachers in Louisiana, and while the union did do things I disagreed with, on the balance, I'm glad I joined. I was *very* skeptical of teachers unions before I entered the profession, and have a much more balanced opinion of them now I think. My membership in that union was not mandatory.

I do not anticipate ever having a career again where I would be unionized, since I work white collar jobs for corporate America now. If somebody say, hypothetically, tried to unionize my industry, I would not join.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Boy, I bet it sure would be a good idea to have some individual privacy to organize stuff like that so your boss couldn't fire you ahead of time.

Nah, I must be off my meds again

What's the saying? "Privacy for the weak, transparency for the strong."

In this situatiin I think it would have been more useful if Illinois had laws protecting workers from rabdom firing. As it stands you can be fired in Illinois for any reason at any time. No privacy laws are ever going to stop gossip and snitches, which is how the unionizing scheme was found out.

It's a sure sign of a badly managed workforce when the management is afraid of a union vote. They know that their worker's lives will be better under a union contract, and that the company owners won't be able to pocket as much cash from the labor of the workers.

Yeah it was a pretty ruthless business. They would only pay me minimum wage ($7.50 at the time) to churn out tape products worth thousands of dollars every day using equipment worth tens of thousands. The workers were the expendible resource in the process and it showed - up to and including the guy who got his arm destroyed when static charge pulled it between multi-ton rollers.

 

[luiz]

I'm legally required to be unionized, so yes.

 

[JollyRoger]

The place where I worked wasn't unionised and it was a great place to work.

The mosque where I went was a great place to worship.