Why Unions suck Follow

Wal-mart goes above and beyond to squash even any hint of union uprising. Take a look at "Wal-mart: The High Cost of Low Price". Kind of old documentary, but I'm sure most of it still rings true.

With respect to Wal-Mart, it's a perfect example of unskilled workers failing to manipulate the system. Really, how hard is it to stock shelves and run a bar code over a scanner? Do you really think those people deserve much more than minimum wage? Are you willing to pay more out of your pocket for it? Personally, I'm not... but that's a question everyone has to decide for themselves.

I keep glancing at this thread title and thinking it says "Why Unicorns Suck."

Your opinion of whats happening is exactly what this is.

This doesn't make the statement I made false now does it?

It benefits them. Only short term though.

Marry me.

I frequently see cases where companies try to use the workforce as cannon-fodder for the incompetence of their own management decisions.

Not marginal at all.

Thankfully, I'm debating with someone who sees cites as a luxury for unicorns and zombies.

Edited, Dec 16th 2009 7:19pm by Nobby

What does that mean though? A company makes bad decisions and does poorly and people may get laid off? Yeah. That happens. Does having a union prevent this? It prevents the lay offs, but that just means that the company continues to lose money and has to cut elsewhere. Perhaps causing the very pension disaster which started this.

IMO, it's healthy and normal for folks to get laid off if the company they work for can't afford to pay them. While it may seem like a great idea in the short term to force them not to, it's usually worse for labor in the long run.

Unless you meant something else?

I'm not currently in a Union. I don't really plan on being in one either.

The carpenters union around these parts is total bogus. Many of the Union workers I've been exposed to in this Carpenters union are quite terrible. They emphasize 'milking' the job by taking a long time to do anything.. (Cut 25 gauge steel with a chopsaw wtf?)

You have to work at least 26 weeks to qualify for the benefits that you are paying $13 an hour of your wages to receive. Also, you might get laid off randomly before that 26 weeks of work. This does happen, and it happens often. We have employed union members temporarily while they were laid off, and sometimes they were forced to picket outside the jobsite because the union ordered them to.

At one point, the Union employed the efforts of the Break Truck girl to tell workers to sign a card to be put into a drawing for free food for a week. We found out later that she was actually paid by the Union to hand out cards to sign people up! (Construction workers are kind of low-brow by the way..)

I'm not saying all Unions are terrible, sure the pipefitters union, tinknockers and electricians union are great to their members! These Unions are great examples of how a union can protect your rights.


So yes, -some- unions are great. Some of them, however, decide to hold a strike on the week of Christmas and cause their company to lose thousands/millions of dollars, lose out on one of the biggest markets of the fiscal year, and ultimately make the red ink appear on the spreadsheets. That's a perfect way to get your point across!


P.S.I also have no idea how anyone can say the Automotive Union has protected their member's jobs. Instead of taking a simple healthcare cut or benefit cut, you'd rather picket and have the entire factory closed down. I don't believe a person that sweeps refuse for 8 hours a day deserves to make $20.00 an hour.

It's not the Union's fault that instead of getting a raise now, they agreed to the managements terms of increased benefits at a future date. You can't *just* blame the Union, the management is at fault as well.

What do you work in?