Unionize This!

"Why should I work hard if some lazy bum gets the same wage as me for less work?"

Unions. Organized labour. Combinations of workers. Call them what you want, they're all 'lumbering dinosaurs'. They served their purpose, and now they are in sunset. I've worked for 2 unionized companies and 2 non-unionized companies, and I found the distribution of work more equal in the non-unionized companies than in those with unions. In the companies with unions, my coworkers were lazy, slow, and had poor work ethics. When it came to team work, I would rather someone working with me who is afraid to lose their job than someone who was secure and didn't care. So let us systematically prove that unions have no further use in much of today's economy.

1: Unions raise the wages of all, and especially of those who are in the union.
Untrue. The government sets minimum wage, which usually applies to crappy jobs for the unskilled anyways. The true high wages are given according to skill. Large business corporations never have unions because they pay well for good skills. In today's economy, if you don't learn a skill, you doom yourself to a minimum wage job. Everybody should know this by now. Also, why should those in a union be paid more than those who are not, for the same work? Unions also take dues, which you could otherwise use to buy things. They spend these dues on their corrupt administration, lobbying, and costly strikes. Finally, a raised wage is no good if the company cites rising labour costs and runs off to Mexico to produce their product cheaper.

2: Unions promote equality.
Untrue. Those who work hard will rarely be rewarded for it, while those who are lazy get the same pay for less work. This is not equality. Further, unions tend to be predominantly male and white, so that immigrants, new entrants, and women are often discriminated against. Unions are often clubbish and exclusive, and their benefits only apply to a core of full time employees. Unions often promote temporary and part-time work to prevent job loss for those who are already in the union, and these new positions are often not unionized and paid far less than a unionized employee for the same amount of work.

3: Unions represent the worker's interests.
Untrue. Unions are businesses in their own, and concerned with their own survival. They will often sell out their workers if it means staying in business. When it actually comes time to help out the workers, unions are often nowhere to be found, or in bed with management.

4: Unions protect jobs.
Untrue. The cost of running a factory with a union is larger than the cost of running a non-union factory. This causes companies to seek a better bottom line in new labour options. The unionized worker is then replaced by a machine, or the factory moves to another country.

5: Unions help democracy.
Untrue. Unions are interest groups that funnell workers' dues into their preferred political party. In some countries unions have the politicians in their pockets, and run the state. Unions have an interest in getting one party into power, and keeping them there. They do this regardless of their members' political leanings.

6: Unions increase productivity.
Untrue. Studies have been unable to show this connection. In some cases, the formation of a union results in the loss of productivity from time spent at meetings, more holidays, union demands, and increased worker indifference to management.

7: Unions encourage achievement.
Untrue. Unionization brings with it more generalized wages for all, so that there is no incentive to work harder and increase production. Everyone is paid the same regardless of how much work they do. Promotions are viewed by the union with suspicion, and the strife they cause with management results in worker-management antagonism, which in the end hampers the goals of both.

8: Unions fulfull a useful social justice role.
Untrue. The state plays a larger role in this. Unions are selfish exclusive. See 2.

9: Unions give their members a voice in the company.
Untrue. Suggestions from employees are veiwed with suspicion by management because of the antagonism created by the union. Often suggestions are never passed on to management, because the union deems them useless or even contrary to their cause. Further, there is no incentive to make suggestions because the union will claim the reward of such suggestions for itself.

10: Unions make the workplace safer.
Untrue. State laws and inspectors require companies to provide maximum safety for their employers. Failing this, workers can contact the worker's rights tribunals and inform on their company's lax practices.

There. Ahhhh, that feels good. The main thing that bugged me about unions is that whenever I worked really hard, I never got recognized. I also never got rewarded, and the lazy guy next to me who never did anything got the same wage as me. When I worked for non-unionized companies, I was rewarded and respected for my hard work. Now that's fairness!

I'm also a very strong capitalist, and believe that unions cost the economy a great deal through antagonisms, strike, extraction of fees and dues, and lazyness. They usually only protect those who do not have any skills, a condition which itself is the product of lazyness. Unions also drive up wages and reduce labour demand, resulting in less job creation. The threat of unionization causes businesses to shut down and move elsewhere.

So there you have it. Reasons not to join a union. Unfortunately, there's this law called the Rand Formula, that states that if you work permanantly for a unionized company, you must join the compan'y union and pay its dues. Yet another instance of inequality and lack of voice.

What's the point of unionizing a Sprawl-Mart anways? Employees last about 6 months there.

Confusion to the UFCW!