Unions Options

[*Steven*]

So pretty much I think unions are pieces of shit. What with all the screwing companies over, having their members pay dues at the end of each month, making demands to the company that a similar company without a union would not have to meet, etc etc.

With minimum wage increases, unions instantly jumped all over that and demanded the same amount in the form of a raise for their employees.

Can anyone offer anything positive about a union, other than the "protecting employees from the evil bad guy who is going to lock them in a building with poor escape plans so when something catches on fire hundreds of employees die, companies"?

[sheridan_whitesi...]

I'm not buying the "get a better education and quit being so dumb" argument. If the idea was that if you want oh say, healthcare and reduced risk of dying on the job then you should be smarter (i.e. you or your parents can afford higher education), then who would build your lovely house with air conditioning and a spacious kitchen? While it's arguable that you could pay grad students very little to build it odds are it won't be built as well if a union carpenter did it. If I don't want to move on to higher education and I feel my contribution to society would be best as a carpenter then why should I then be denied rights afforded to the more educated? It's not a question of me not liking my job, it's how I'm being treated by my employer.