British Expatriate Network

Good bad or what?

I think they have their place in society and history, but think they need to adjust and become more flexible. There is no point demanding s*it when the company is doing nothing and at the same time do demanding more in the good times.
After all a company is really the sum of the people that work for it.

To quote that guy in Layer Cake, that's quite an expansive question.

If unions get too much power they get corrupt. If the company has too much power they get corrupt and exploit their employees. Pendulum swinging.

Corporations are specifically cutting US jobs to go to countries where exploitation of employees is perfectly legal.

Sometimes I've thought in my work (nursing) really needs a union. But what I would really settle for is proper labour laws versus working in a "Right to Work State" - read Right To Get Fired Because We Say So State.

I look at the Auto Workers union and wonder what they've been smoking. But there are many industries that either need some sort of Government regulations or are in desperate need of a union.

I don't know why you pick on the Auto unions, they work with the companies on strategies etc. Sure they have to shout now and again, or the bosses would eat up the profits in self-awarded bonus'.

Who is actually in a union here?

I'm in SEIU. It's pointless not to be as they do some weird "fair-share" scheme where you pay the union due equivalent as a member or not - so I opted to join and get something for my money.

Not me. Vegas is a very non-union tolerant city.

So maybe the question for you should be, are you part of the Family?

the UAW is run by people who still think it's the 50's and that no-one buys Japanese cars and health insurance costs 50 cents a month to cover a family of five.

How so? Las Vegas Culinary Workers Local 226 is the largest local union in the United States - 48,000 members (something like 90% of the hotels' workers are unionised).

Reno fits your description better - definitely non-union and the fact that the median wage for workers is 40% higher in Vegas underlines that fact.

Considering GM is sinking due to this reason alone I tend to be iffy about unions. Add my father-in-law was a fire chief in Niagara Falls and firemen there would get all kinds of crap like face lifts just because they could. I also remember during the fiscal crisis in Erie County that when they laid off home carers that the local unions demanded that their guys get those jobs back first. Basically a bunch of dodgy mechanics and auto-repair goons ended up on £50,000 salaries to sit around an elderly home not doing anything.

Unions are good or bad depending on what side of the fence you are on .
if you are the lazy do as less as possible worker you have the union to protect you against *(unfair firing ) .
if you are the go to it gungho worker you are held back by the union cus * its not your turn* and your work mates arent nappy you do more then them and call you a *brown noser *
the union gets uptight about profits the share holder make yet always manage to invest there funds in blue chip shares that bring in a nice return on investments .mostly insurance / real estate .

i dont agree with * have to join union states expecially when they by policy not votes give to one party .and by the time you have payed dues to some suit sitting in a office who tells you his is *working for your interests * and obey there sometimes restictive rules you are not much better of then working for a *free company * where your effort will reap its own reward .free enterprise is the name of the game .

having better wages then your compratriots in a non union job is fine but with a lot of trademens plumbers /carpenters etc who are working for a union co the work is not any better .faster / more efficent than non union labour yet the cost is usually considerable highter .

as i say it bepends were your at .

if some of you started a company tomorrow how many of you would agree to let the union tell you what and when to employ and how much to pay ???

there is as with most debates 2 sides to the argument .

Really? So you think the Wal-Mart (clearly the most anti-union company in the country) system is fair to the retail industry workers? It's free enterprise out of control - almost a monopoly with dictatorial policies that takes huge advantage of most of its workforce. Sadly, many people including yourself, continue feeding the bear.

If I started a company tomorrow, it would have a mission statement and part of that mission would be to provide a fair, comfortable workplace with benefits and pay that told my workforce that they were valuable to me and that I cared about their well-being. In return, I would expect a fair day's work. What need is there for a union when both sides pull their weight? Workers generally don't start asking to organise until problems develop so why not compromise and avoid it entirely? Of course, someone like Wal-Mart puts a few million dollars each year into union busting/surveillance of workers and has a "strike team" on standby in Bentonville, AK to deal with any such "issues". It's worth it when they are creaming off millions by stiffing their employees.