My first post to GD; I hope it’s worthy.
I have started a new job and will soon be approached by a union representative and pressured- er, given the opportunity to join the Data Communication Workers Local 322 or whatever it’s called. I have previously worked in a shop environment for a major company that had a strong opposition to labor unions and always discouraged employees from signing cards if approached by a union rep. The reasons they gave us seemed like very good ones and I wasn’t too thrilled about a big chunk of my already tiny paycheck going towards union dues. Over the past ten years at that shop I have had the opportunity to chat with a couple hundred other technicians/laborers who came from all over, and of the ones who had previously belonged to labor unions, I can only remember one who was even mildly in favor of union membership. The vast majority had been union members at some point or another and said that the union never did anything for them but take their money. I am of the general opinion that no boss fires a useful employee, and both my former and new employers have an open door policy that allows escalation all the way up to the president or CEO if you aren’t satisfied by lower management decisions. They even have associate hotlines to help resolve heavy-duty issues that may arise in the work place.
The only other reason I can think of for being a union member is bargaining for pay increases, benefits and similar issues. However, the company I am newly employed with promises reviews & pay increases every six months, and already has (in my opinion) excellent benefits. The work I do is in great demand and I could easily get employment elsewhere if the company decided to lay workers off. I doubt I need to worry about that because (at present, at least) business is booming and they can’t hire fast enough to satisfy internal clients.
I have already met the union steward who works there and think he’s a jerk because of the way he calls certain non-members “John Scabber” or something similar. I don’t know enough about unions to make an informed decision, but I already feel like I don’t want to be part of an organization that would have him as a member.
So, what do we all think about labor unions?