People NOT Wanting to Join a Union.

In My Humble Opinion
61

[QUOTE=Jim B.]
Well, if it is not too late for me to respond, I still believe in my original points, that unions are necessary to secure the rights of workers. I have to admit though, some people have brought up some very interesting points on this discussion. And I have found this discussion to be very thought provoking. Thank you everyone for sharing your stories and views on the matter.
[/QUOTE]

I certainly hope that my post wasn’t so harsh as to make you get all sotto-voice. :slight_smile:

I also have learned a lot from posts from folks who are on the pro side of joining. Rather than invoke Czarcasm’s ire, I wonder is this a good time to start a thread (to stay in GD) titled something like: “I think unions are necessary/not necessary to secure the rights of workers”. That seems to fit GD better and would not hijack this further from the realm of IMHO.

62

[QUOTE=Evil Captor]
BTW, unions are great. We need a lot more of them, especially in the white collar sector. Most office workers should be in a union of some sort.
[/QUOTE]

Yeah, some of my best friends came from working with them in a union. Some of us were true fups, others weren’t. It got to the point though where I didn’t want to cover for some of our fups when they came late to work, or were counterproductive, leaving the rest of us to pick up their slack. So I did something about it…I left and started my own company…with employees that I can actually trust and direct as I wished within the labor laws of our state. I took the good things from our union handbook and made them better within my company, and I ignored the crappier policies because they made would have made our workplace and employees mediocre at best.

I did not employ even one single friend from our union, and for good reason. We had the SEIU come up here a few years ago and not one of my employees were impressed about what they had to offer, because:

  1. We already have what they touted.
  2. It would hinder the company and our ability to compete and kick ass.
  3. It would have made adversaries out of owners and employees when it’s been great so far.
  4. The employees didn’t want to be limited by union policies.
  5. I the employer didn’t want to be limited by union policies.
  6. I already respect my employees, I don’t need to be forced to respect them.
  7. The employees respect me because I do care about their well-being and I can be flexible with them.

A union is a lousy way to foster any good employee-employer relationship.

63

I paid CWA dues for 23 years, but I never was a member. I’m not the type to join any organization, and I hated the Union’s “you’re with us or against us” mentality. People who were my friends for years turned on me because I criticized the Union and it’s inability to address issues that were clearly defined by the contract. No thanks, I don’t need to hang with those kind of folks.

I’m back with the same company now, sans Union. Our small office has a great boss who hired a bunch of people who work extremely well together. The CWA stewards came by and tried to get people to sign cards, but nobody was interested. I have to admit, if we had a terrible boss, it might have gone differently. But for now, we love not having those dues taken out of our checks and team awards every year.