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When American unions were strong, working people got the minimum wage, the 40-hour week, weekends off, paid vacations, health insurance, pensions, dignity and respect.

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ORIGINAL: Kirata

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ORIGINAL: DCWoody

Unions insist on wage rises matching inflation or higher. Doesn't take a genius to see that's unsustainable.

A situation in which wages don't keep pace with inflation isn't sustainable either.

K.

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ORIGINAL: servantforuse

I was fortunate enough to be in a union ( CWA ) that understood basic business principles. If you put your company out of business, everyone loses. The Teamsters and auto workers unions never seemed to figure it out untill it was to late, for them and the companies they worked for. SEIU is next in line to get a dose of reality.

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ORIGINAL: servantforuse

I am almost sure that the federal government still has oversight of what that union does. They were the absolute worst when it came to stealing from their members.

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ORIGINAL: RacerJim

America is strong when our unions are strong? It therefore follows that creating more strong unions in America would make America stronger. It therefore follows that creating a new strong automotive mechanic/technician union would make America stronger. But let's not tell anyone that doing so would at least double the labor-rate for automotive repairs until after we've created the union and bought off enough politicians to force all non-union garages to close up shop.

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ORIGINAL: rulemylife


The Teamsters represent workers at some very profitable companies including UPS, where they represent everyone from the drivers and dockworkers to the pilots and aircraft mechanics.

I would also question your claim about the UAW.  The so-called legacy costs that it has become common to blame were not the cause of the problems at the automakers.  These benefits were deferred compensation that the companies had already calculated into their projections. The problem was poor management and a focus on selling the larger, more profitable vehicles.  Then when gas prices spiked to $4 a gallon no one was buying  the Hummers or the Escalades anymore, and that was the core of their profits.  

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ORIGINAL: Brain

Even though Americans have held the right to unionize since the National Labor Relations Act was signed into law in 1935, the working class has become less likely to pursue the option. The reason - increased corporate intimidation, scare tactics, combined with anti-union rhetoric from the right.

Since the 1970s, employers have generally chosen to violate the National Labor Relations Act, as penalties for doing so are negligible, rather than have their workers unionize.

As a result, the quality of life for the middle class has been in steady decline.



America is strong when our unions are strong

What difference can unions make? In 1945 labor unions represented about 1/3 of all workers. When American unions were strong, working people got the minimum wage, the 40-hour week, weekends off, paid vacations, health insurance, pensions, dignity and respect. This was when America built the middle class that everyone has been taking for granted since. Even the wealthy benefited greatly over the long run as more consumers with more money to spend lifted the whole economy.

But what has happened to us since the Reagan Revolution, when concentrated power of the big corporations weakened America’s unions? Since the days of FDR membership in unions has fallen, but in 1980 unions still represented 24 percent of American workers. The Reagan administration famously launched an all-out assault on organized labor, resulting in membership falling to 16.4 percent by 1989. And the trend continued: by 1998 union membership fell to 13.9 percent. By 2009 that had decreased to 12.3 percent, but only 7.6 percent in the private sector. And here are the results:

When you hear someone complain about unions and complain that people in unions are paid better than the rest of us, let them know that they are reaching the wrongest conclusion. They shouldn’t resent union members and complain about their pay, they should join a union and support unions, so they they and everyone else can come out ahead.

http://aworldofprogress.com/politics/2010/08/31/america-is-strong-when-our-unions-are-strong/

This is a chart of working people’s share of the benefits from our economy. Note the brief return to normal under Clinton, erased by Bush II. But the assault on working people has recently been bipartisan. Clinton pushed to pass the Bush I-negotiated NAFTA treaty which hammered the bargaining position of workers, while Bush II consolidated the practice of “outsourcing” labor competition from non-democratic countries where workers didn’t have rights or protections.

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ORIGINAL: DomYngBlk

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ORIGINAL: willbeurdaddy

Workers are strong when America is strong. Some unions are progressive and understand business, some are there to rape their employers and the taxpayers.

You speak as if management has no free will. I know that most are brainless hacks that are only interested in what the stock price is doing on a given day....but there  is a word....I think it is NO. Can always use it.