It’s possible that it will happen sooner than you’d ever expect.
UNions are democracies. They do not dictate to their membership. They have votes, public meetings and open conferences to determine what policies they will follow. They are democracies up against corporations which are not.
QFT. In my union local, anything really important is decided by a vote of the general membership. That includes things like approving a contract or authorizing a strike. More routine matters are decided by a vote of the executive board; as president there is basically nothing I can decide by fiat. Moving up the ladder, the dues the local kicks up to the state association pays for services we receive from them. We are not controlled in any sense by them nor are we constrained to follow any suggestions they may give us. At the national level, they are so remote from us that I have never actually dealt directly with them, much less had to do anything they wanted.
WRT things like directing their memberships how to vote in government elections, the union does nothing more than state “In our opinion, Candidate A is more likely to favorably represent our interests than Candidate B.” We have no way of knowing how any member actually votes or even if they vote.
I can never get on board with vague rants about “these” people. Which people, and which specific tactics are you ranting about? Unions can be good or bad, like any organization, so I’m perfectly OK with demonizing some unions, and perfectly not OK with demonizing others.
America, land of towering irony. Just a few months back, we witnessed a spectacle of greed and incompetence previously unimaginable. Some of the best-paid “workers” in the world robbed us blind, pillaged pension funds, gutted the savings of millions of lesser paid folk, and looted the public like no one ever dreamed was possible. And we had to rescue their sorry asses, because otherwise the tower of shit they had constructed would fall over and crush us.
Consequences? Rather a stern talking to. A firm “tsk tsk!” was delivered. Old folks who had looked forward to a well-earned, secure but modest retirement took jobs as Wal-Mart greeters, having no choice. Non-union jobs, of course, we wouldn’t want to encourage their avarice, now would we?
And here we are. Talking about the dreadful greed and dishonesty of people who’s yearly salary wouldn’t cover their social betters bar tabs for the year. Surely, we mustn’t tax their asses off, we simply cannot squeeze money from them. Why, that would be class war! We gasp in horror at the very idea of class war, don’t we?
What goddam fucking union do those assholes belong to? What vital services do they perform such that they earn a thousand times more than a fireman, a teacher, or a social worker? Must be something vital, something we cannot do without.
Am I missing something here, or is everybody else?
Some people with a faint grip on reality think someday ,that will be them. And that is what they would do. Get extremely rich and not pay taxes ,the American dream.
Cite?
I work in IT. Granted, I am salaried, but I have never belonged to a union (in IT) and have had no troubles with excessive unpaid overtime. In fact, the last time I was threatened with it, I quit and found a better job.
Unions are generally for the benefit of unskilled laborers. If you are in any kind of demand, you don’t need a union.
Regards,
Shodan
I wouldn’t say “unskilled”. I’d say unmotivated. Or those without initiative. They may have the skill to do a particular job, but they don’t want to feel the burden of doing their job better the people around them. Or batter than some average.
Assuming you are correct, and I probably wouldn’t disagree with you, why shouldn’t these people be allowed to organize themselves any way they desire?
In America, if you have a product I want and you are the only one who can provide that product then you can charge me as much as you can get out of me. God bless America. Why shouldn’t a group of citizens with skills, limited though they may be, be allowed the same privilege?
For example: If the boss of a coal mine isn’t making a profit anymore, he shuts down the mine and too bad for anyone who wants coal. If the miners aren’t making the profit they want, I don’t see why they should be expected to soldier on for the common good.
Yeah…everyone in America deserves the right to belong to a compulsory institution that undermines the basic principles of a free market and funds itself through unconscious payroll deductions as opposed to continuously selling itself to its consumers through monthly or at least annual reminders to pay for the “services” they’re getting.
Sure there are some benefits of unionization, but mostly they’re little better that a protection racket to both workers AND bosses.
I’m not sure why you’re bringing up Social Security. 
Nice broad brush you got there.
Don’t get me started. 
There is no such thing as the “free market”. It has no principles to undermine. It does not now and has not ever existed. What sort of rational system loves a salesman a thousand times more than a firefighter or a teacher? Undermine it? Fuck that, burn it down, if it can’t do any better than this!
Um…no. Basically none of that is true.
In the UK the RMT have often been accused of going out on strike with a low vote. The Mayor of London is pushing for a 50% minimum of all eligible voters, as often strikes seem to take place with perhaps 20% of voters actually voting in support of action.
If the miners want to pony up the investment capital to open their own mine and sell the coal on the open market, more power to them
I would certainly hope that he extends the same logic to his own election.
In 2008, Johnson received 43.2% of first place votes for the Mayoral office. Turnout was 45.33%. So it looks like he was elected by under 20% of the eligible voters.
When is he going to quit the Mayor’s office?
I work in IT. Even in IT, times can turn. Unions are generally for those bad times. Anyone happen to notice that real income declined for most people over the last couple of decades along with the decline in union membership.
I’m glad your circumstances are good. They aren’t so good in general for IT. Wages are down (in general) over the last decade. Sure, you can pick specialties that grew, but they’re the exception.
Corporate interests are playing the divide and conquer game. “You don’t need unions to hold you back and rob both your pocket and that of the public.” Except of course that unions not only provide a partial counterbalance to corporations, but that effect extends even to people in non-unionized jobs.
“Why do I need insurance until I need it?” You have the advantage of working in a society supported by decades of union action. It turns out it doesn’t work unless it is active and continually supported.
I have never been ‘compelled’ to join a union. I have been ‘compelled’ to wear various uniforms while working for various companies, required to purchase those uniforms from the company itself. Rather than take a business deduction, they would rather use their employees as another revenue stream. But no employment is compulsory. If you do not like the terms of employment, apply elsewhere, or work freelance.
As far as trade unions go, freelancers are also free riders, enjoying market rates established by the unions. Seems fair they should require practitioners to join. It is comparable to lawyers being ‘forced’ to join the bar, or accountants required to meet CPA requirements if they want be more than a glorified bookkeeper.
I have little sympathy for those who enter union trades, and then refuse to join their union. There are many ways to make a living. (Not saying you are in this category, Inigo. I have no idea what you do for a living.)