I'm getting exhausted hearing how people are protesting so much in Wisconsin... a product of our economy.
Why do we have unions? By that I'm not asking what their purpose is, but why do they need to exist?
I've only been a part of one union, ever. It was while working in regional grocery store and being in the union was mandatory. We seemed to have this union for a few reasons. It provided scheduled raises over time, made it more difficult to fire employees, and provided me with an opportunity to give away part of my paycheck that I wouldn't see again.
So scheduled raises... we would need a union to enforce those because we don't trust the ones who run the company we work for. what does that say to our management?
The raises also ended up being based on time employed and not skill level or merit.
Which makes the argument that one would be deserving of a raise because they have existed for a period of time, not because of worth.
When a company needs to downsize, apart from making the process difficult, they would require the company to select from the bottom of the list, the employees who have not been there as long and have less 'seniority', instead of selecting from the poorest performing individuals... this process is setup only to prevent the company from disposing of the individuals who are paid the most money.
This process insults the integrity of the companies' interest of having a better preforming company over spending less money on their overall workforce.
The union dues that I had the obligatory privilege to pay went to pay "union officials", which is basically the group that controls the rights of the union, wants to be seen as the 'voice' of the union, and wants us to believe that the company we work for would pay us less than we deserve.
So we have the unions because company wanted to screw over their employees.
Without any real facts or data, (because i can't be bothered to look it up) how many companies in the list of "best companies to work for" have unions?
Also in this economy, companies are pressured to retain their workforce, while pinching pennies to pay them, while employees are having a difficult time making ends meet with the little bit they are being paid.
I don't care if you are a trash man, a postal worker, a restaurant server, a florist, a mechanical engineer, a used car salesman, ect. I just want you to take pride in how you do your work, and go home each day satisfied with the effort you made.
In a perfect world, companies would reward effort.
but we don't live in a perfect world.
On a side note: I am very fascinated by strikes... they can be very effective, like sanitation strikes, and airline company strikes. But with those who strike, they must be willing to let their company completely fail without them. A strike must be able to show a company that they need you, not as an worker, but as an individual.
A strike must be personal and must be an ultimatum and not a means to a compromise.
