Among Friends

[hsawaknow]

My Father was in a union when they really were for the worker. They had excellent benefits and retirement plans and they paid very well when he retired and took very good care of us as a family. 

Make sure you read everything and know what your getting into. They can be very beneficial.

[Montana]

I actually benefitted from belonging to a union. I had a part-time retail job and out of the blue, the supervisor wanted to fire me.  There were absolutely no problems with my work or with her.  Because I belonged to their union, she couldn’t do it.  I never did find out the reason why she wanted to let me go.

[Tinkrbl44]

As a kid, I recall one of our neighbors had worked for the Ford plant nearby.  Time was up to negotiate a new contract and management wasn't budging.  It was something like a 20 cent an hour increase ... or something to that effect.  Small increase.

The union threatened to strike if they didn't get what they wanted.  I recall our neighbor telling my father that none of the workers cared that much about the proposed hourly increase, and would actually lose money if they went on strike.  They didn't want to be out of work for any length of time.

The union declared a strike that lasted a few months, but finally got the increase.  Unfortunately, for the workers who had earned zero dollars while on strike, they were financially in the hole ....  the 20 cents an hour didn't really mean anything to those that lost months of work.   

[lovesrecess]

Unions aren't always on your side...many dues simply make the uniion boss rich and back political candidates you may or may not support. I would never join one myself...my dad was a union chief for years with one of the biggest unions in the country....I also became a member of a union under false pretenses when I moved to another state and was told the "fee" that was taken out of my check was not for a union, just "a teachers group".

[CalminHeart]

I don't know why anyone would not want a union.  Unions brought us:

40 hour work weeks

vacation time

safe workplaces

health benefits

pension/401(k) benefits

child labor laws

minimum wage laws

collective bargaining

and so much more

[CrazyDaisy]

Funny how people seem to think that if you do not belong to a union you must work in dangerious conditions, long hours, no benefits for slave wages.

What I would ask is what do you hope to get out of it.  If talking truck drives, definitely check out the promise of a pension further.  Most multi employer pensions are in critical condition and in danger of failure.  They will not tell you that.  Not all unions offer better benefits than non union employeers.  They all promise the moon, some deliver others really miss the mark.  Depends on what is important to you.

[151949]

My employer of many years was not unionized. We were required to work horrendous overtime and be on call 2 or 3 days every week.Sometimes they'd schedule us call on a day off !And, compared to nurses in other parts of the country we were low pay.Unfortunately in Pittsburgh there are several colleges and nursing schools graduating thousands of new nurses every year and so they did not have a shortage of replacements if you quit.Occasionally we would try to unionize but the hospital would fight that by giving raises and people would back away from the union.

[CalminHeart]

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@CrazyDaisy wrote:

Funny how people seem to think that if you do not belong to a union you must work in dangerious conditions, long hours, no benefits for slave wages.

What I would ask is what do you hope to get out of it.  If talking truck drives, definitely check out the promise of a pension further.  Most multi employer pensions are in critical condition and in danger of failure.  They will not tell you that.  Not all unions offer better benefits than non union employeers.  They all promise the moon, some deliver others really miss the mark.  Depends on what is important to you.

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No one had protections, health care, retirement benefits, 40 hours a week, etc etc, prior to the century long efforts of unions.  As a result of unions, these things flowed over into non-union workplaces.  

[CrazyDaisy]

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@CalminHeart wrote:

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@CrazyDaisy wrote:

Funny how people seem to think that if you do not belong to a union you must work in dangerious conditions, long hours, no benefits for slave wages.

What I would ask is what do you hope to get out of it.  If talking truck drives, definitely check out the promise of a pension further.  Most multi employer pensions are in critical condition and in danger of failure.  They will not tell you that.  Not all unions offer better benefits than non union employeers.  They all promise the moon, some deliver others really miss the mark.  Depends on what is important to you.

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No one had protections, health care, retirement benefits, 40 hours a week, etc etc, prior to the century long efforts of unions.  As a result of unions, these things flowed over into non-union workplaces.  

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There are Federal Laws in place to protect workers, in my opinion Unions are no longer needed.(and I work in a Union industry).

[LTT1]

@Kachina624@Chicagosuburbangirl

I am questioning this because of personal experience.

DD worked for a major but private university and there was no union. She was bullied (extreme) and worked in a term position (no contract). There was nobody to take her side.

What are these laws people are posting about? I was not able to find any laws for her situation?

I retired from teaching. Our state does not allow unions (I think). Teachers do not pay into Social Security. The state is pilfering the teacher retirement fund for their own uses. There are very bad health conditions in the schools. (air ducts) Teachers are treated badly, if management says so. An extreme number of duties encroach on lunchtimes and planning times. Maybe that is just in education.

to add: there are several teacher professional organizations in our state. 

Once, when I was being evaluated by the PRINCIPAL a student directly asked me in front of her if teachers had unions.

I answered the student truthfully that although teachers  did not have unions here, they did have the advantage of their professional organization which existed to back the teacher. My principal was so mad at me. Go figure.

(haha lol)