New Summer Hot Take just in! Every worker should be part of a union.

[Wildswanderer]

Being self employed can definitely be better than being in a union. But being in a union is better than being in a non-unionized workforce such as mcdonalds, walmart, amazon ect.

That probably depends on the employee. I worked Union and nonunion factory jobs.
For some reason we seemed to have less freedom under the unions.
But I've never really been a great team player. I was more of a "let me do my job and go home" guy. Stocking shelves by myself might have been a great job for my personality, now that I think about it.

 

[Friend of Mara]

It's the special interest and lobbying associated with unions that I have a contention with.
.

And that is different how from the current system? Except it would be both corporations and unions?

 

[Twilight Hue]

And that is different how from the current system? Except it would be both corporations and unions?

That's true. I would love to see the end to that type of practice.

 

[Friend of Mara]

That probably depends on the employee. I worked Union and nonunion factory jobs.
For some reason we seemed to have less freedom under the unions.
But I've never really been a great team player. I was more of a "let me do my job and go home" guy. Stocking shelves by myself might have been a great job for my personality, now that I think about it.

I've worked in unions and non-union areas. Honestly I have seen the opposite. There is this kind of myth that if you work extra hard you can get the promotion because you deserve it but more often than not in non-unionized places it goes to the ones the bosses like. So you get friends, kissasses and those that are just really good at blaming others first. Also in most cases its "do you have a bachelors degree". A lot of very capable people who have been doing the job for a long time get totally passed over because someone went to school a little longer.

Also with work that isn't unionized I didn't have any kind of say over my schedule and if I had a complaint I could put it in the shredder. But in the one union job I have had there was a full open door policy for me to report things and I could do so anonymously. Retaliation by management was non-existent and no one made me feel like a deadbeat for taking the vacation days they gave me. I also made like 4 more dollars an hour compared to the non-union work with better insurance so that was also nice.

Also I suppose if I'm just giving my experience this was in nursing. Non-union nursing hospitals I worked at were understaffed a lot. We were overloaded with patients nearly every night and given cheap platitudes like "when next quarter rolls around we will have the budget to hire more". That is obviously a lie. Yes they hired more but enough quit that it didn't make a difference. The union set pretty strict rules on how many patients we were allowed to be assigned and made sure that we were well staffed enough. The fact I made more and benefits were better was actually just icing on the cake. The real benefit of it was that the hospital couldn't just throw us under the buss to save a dollar.

 

[Friend of Mara]

That's true. I would love to see the end to that type of practice.

I'm glad we can agree to that. Do you think it would affect your vote if your representative did something like that?

 

[Twilight Hue]

I'm glad we can agree to that. Do you think it would affect your vote if your representative did something like that?

I would even vote for a Democrat who wants special interest and lobbying eliminated.

 

[Friend of Mara]

I would even vote for a Democrat who wants special interest and lobbying eliminated.

splendid.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I'm in a union. It's not worth much except for making it near impossible to be fired. The work environment is still crap and there's a lot of corruption (favoritism, nepotism, etc.) going on. Our pay is still crap, too. Target has a higher starting pay than my job.

 

[Friend of Mara]

I'm in a union. It's not worth much except for making it near impossible to be fired. The work environment is still crap and there's a lot of corruption (favoritism, nepotism, etc.) going on. Our pay is still crap, too. Target has a higher starting pay than my job.

I'm curious. What do you work?

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I'm curious. What do you work?

Kroger

 

[Friend of Mara]

Kroger

Interesting. I'm not saying it wasn't true when you worked there but currently Kroger is 15 an hour while target is only 12.

 

[Shaul]

Unions are an anachronism. They are outdated and needless. I have had to work at locations where there were union thugs. Unions care about unions, not workers. A pox on unions.

 

[Friend of Mara]

Unions are an anachronism. They are outdated and needless. I have had to work at locations where there were union thugs. Unions care about unions, not workers. A pox on unions.

So who does fight for the worker? Or is the worker screwed? I mean if the worker is just screwed them I'm all for armed revolution. Or is there another step we can take before things get dicey?

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Interesting. I'm not saying it wasn't true when you worked there but currently Kroger is 15 an hour while target is only 12.

I work here now (literally, even - I'm at work now). Wages start at $10/$11. I only make about $11.50/hour. I don't know what Kroger you're talking about but it's not any one here.

 

[Shaul]

So who does fight for the worker? Or is the worker screwed? I mean if the worker is just screwed them I'm all for armed revolution. Or is there another step we can take before things get dicey?

This is a false dichotomy. Individuals today are quite capable of fighting effectively for themselves without unions or violence.

 

[Twilight Hue]

The desperate people who are mistreated by their unscrupulous employer, under conditions you would not wish on your worst enemies flea bitten dog while being paying less then minimum wage.

For a start

I wonder if Jimmy Hoffa would like this message?

 

[Friend of Mara]

This is a false dichotomy. Individuals today are quite capable of fighting effectively for themselves without unions or violence.

But... They aren't.

 

[ChristineM]

I wonder if Jimmy Hoffa would like this message?

Ask him??? Oh right

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

I wonder if Jimmy Hoffa would like this message?

Did not know that Hell was linked to the internet.

 

[Shaul]

The OP asks if every worker should be part of a union. Currently in the U.S. only about 11% of workers are in a union. Seems more likely the 89% would be right than the 11%.