One summer between college semesters, I took a job in an RCA factory. The union made all of us summer workers join, and the dues took over half my summer salary. So, yes, I hated the union there. As a teacher, I was forced to join the NEA, and I begrudged every penny I contributed to buy their new building, their wall art, their carpeting, and their endorsements of political candidates NONE of which were my own choices. When push came to shove, and I needed the union’s support, there was none. NONE. As in, you know, NONE. I honestly wish I’d just flushed all those thousands of dollars down the toilet, instead of giving them to the union. At least then, I’d have had the fun of watching them swirl before they disappeared forever. In the past, I believe that unions were invaluable. Now? No. I’m not kidding.

Unions provide a great service to hard-working and retired Americans, in most cases. They are necessary, because it’s been proven repeatedly that certain companies - large corporations, especially - will use and abuse their workers, as long as they can get away with it. However, some unions can become too powerful, and cripple an industry. Major League Baseball is a prime example. The players union refuses to negotiate with owners a salary cap for each team, fearful that a cap would keep overall salaries down by setting a limit on how much each team can spend per year on player payroll. As a result, the New York Yankees have a 2008 player payroll of $209 million (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_teams_by_payr…) while a smaller-market team like Kansas City, for example, has a payroll of $58 million). It is extremely difficult for small-market teams to compete fairly with large-market teams like Boston and New York, because they aren’t playing on a level field when it comes to the amount of money spent on payrolls. The smaller-market teams simply don’t generate enough revenue from TV contracts, etc., to carry the larger payrolls. (This year is an anamoly, however. The Yankees probably won’t make the playoffs for the first time since 1993, and Tampa Bay will make the playoffs with a total player payroll of $44 million.) Another example of a union that got too powerful is the United Auto Workers. The UAW arm-locked the Big Three automakers into making enormous concessions in negotiations in the 1980s and afterward. The result: billions of dollars locked up in legacy pensions and health-care. Carlist.com reports that nearly 50% of the 300,000-plus UAW members at the Big Three, Delphi and Visteon will qualify for retirement within the next five years. GM could end up paying them $32,000 a year in pensions. And with many people living much longer nowadays, that will add up very quickly. On the other hand, according to the UAW, only 44% of non-union workers receive retirement benefits. Seventy-five percent of all private-sector union workers receive medical benefits, 53% have dental care and 41% have vision care. However, about half of the non-union employees have no medical care through their employer, and less than that for dental and vision. Union workers are much more likely than their non-union counterparts to receive it, 82 percent compared to 51 percent. And the Economic Policy Institute reports that unions “raise wages more for low- and middle-wage workers than for higher-wage workers, more for blue-collar than for white-collar workers, and more for workers who do not have a college degree.” The same source states that unionized workers are more likely than their nonunionized counterparts to receive paid leave.

I voted ‘other’ because not only do I believe they should have more power, but I’d like to see them have it in Arizona, which is a right to work state. Our job market always offers lower wages because of a major lack of Union representation in our state. I come from a strong Union background, my step-father was a Union Contractor and my grandfather was in UMWofA and then UAW after he got ‘black lung.’ Tell me please, where have all the ‘Wobblies’ gone?

My home state, Wisconsin, has a right-to-work law as well. I’ve been a union steward, my Dad’s been a union steward, & one of my grandfathers helped start a union at a paper mill in northern Wisconsin. I’ve worked union jobs & non-union jobs, & if there is a kind & benevolent deity, I will never have to work a non-union job again.

I voted “other” too. I used to be a huge fan of unions but times change and you can’t turn back the clock. The response to unions has been the disappearance of manufacturing jobs and our dependence on non-unionized Chinese (and other Asian or Pacific) workers for almost all our manufactured goods. It would seem, with 20/20 hindsight, that unions are responsible for the loss of many jobs here in the US. For those still in a union, the protections offered are wonderful, but with Americans less willing to perform unpleasant jobs that involve manual labor (and with the arrival of slews of illegal immigrants who are willing to perform our manual labor for low non-union wages), it seems that unions are on the way out (yes, the teachers’ union is still powerful, but you can’t outsource most teaching). The “Bosses” hated the unions and, by sending manufacturing jobs overseas and employing illegals, they have basically succeeded in breaking the unions. It’s a shame but, as I said, there is no turning back the clock. Who remembers the song, “Look for the union label, when you are buying a coat, dress or scarf…” I bet none of us would find a single union label in our closets if we looked.

Imagine my shock to see your gasbag self (if that’s really you) Rush L…with that big turd hanging out of your mouth. Is that penis envy? Anyway, the discussion is unions. I have been in the food business my entire adult life. Done everything from grocery to wholesale distribution. As a college student, I worked for a non-union Mom and Pop chain in the DC area. Their stores were disguting “retro-fitted” national chain stores that had been abandoned. They had no provisions for employee breaks (i.e. no break room, not even a place to hang your coat), we were paid minimum wage, no benefits, once a year we got a “profit-sharing” bonus that amounted to roughly $100 and I don’t doubt it was some sort of mechanism to keep the company from being taxed on a percentage of income. Most of the employees were middle to lower class. Everyone was struggling, now mind you, this was the 70s! I think minimum wage back then hovered around $5/hr (this gives you some perspective on how far we’ve come…not). Being as the store I worked at was located in Virginia and it is a Right to Work state, employees had no protections. Some were fired just because the store manager didn’t like them, favors were bestowed arbitrarily with the same reasoning, to certain people. Then one day, the local grocery workers’ union decided to “go after” this chain. At the time there were 3 or 4 stores, today there are close to 20 if not more. It was an interesting excersise in democracy, I’ll tell you that. I was all for it, got involved and the next thing you know I’m farmed out to another store, much further away from where I lived and given a “non-position”-this was done knowing I would eventually cave and quit. I did, but I filed a complaint to the Wage and Labor Board. Anyway, bottom line-I lost, they won. I didn’t have money for representation, I was humiliated (believing the system would recognize that I had been forced out of my job). I was living on my own and paying for college, working two other jobs to make the whole thing function. Oh well. Someone said that unions were one of the reasons that our jobs went overseas. I agree with you but not because it was necessary, but because the business owners are greedy bastards who want to run indentured businesses without having to answer to anyone. Conditions be damned! Benefits be damned! Wages be damned! If anyone was watching the Democratic convention and listened to Lily Ledbetter, the grandmother from Alabama who had been ripped off for nearly 20 years simply because she was not a man (and consequently not as valuable as them even though she was doing the exact same job). She worked for Goodyear (poor little Goodyear, had to move their factories to China and other places). Her case went all the way to the Supreme Court of this great nation…but they ruled in favor of Goodyear. Maybe a union would have saved her way before someone sent her an anonymous note to warn her that she was being ripped off to the tune of 40% less wages than her male counterparts. Unions built this country, protected workers from unfair labor practices, enforced benefits structures and safe working conditions. I don’t think it’s a bad idea to take another look at unions. Amen to Sam Mirando who made the comment about finding a “union label” on our clothing. On the other hand, Sam, I really feel that even ‘though we may not be able to turn back the clock, we as a nation could take a closer look at business practices and hold them to a higher standard. God Bless America! Happy Labor Day to one and all!

Yes. They and the working people they represent have lost quite a bit of earning power in that past few years but we also have to remember the history of this country before unions and horrid working conditions for little money, for the child labour that went on then and never forget it.