Let’s talk about unions

[Dale Gribble]

I have never been in an union. I’m not sure exactly how they work to be honest. My father used to be in a union at a factory, and they made sure they got fair pay, and a cost of living allotment. They went on strike a few times over the years. That makes sense.

What doesn’t make sense, is someone like me who works at dealership and shops. How do I join a union? What will it do for me? What’s the point? The IBEW is a great union, although I’m not an electrician, But they do offer top notch training. So how does something like the IBEW ensure you get fair pay? Can you only work union jobs? Doesn’t make sense.

What do y’all know about unions?

 

[Houseman]

Some unions are good, and some are bad. There are pros and cons to having a union, and not having one. "Basic Economics" has a section of labor unions in chapter 12.

A union might seek to give artificially high wages to workers, as opposed to wages set by supply and demand. This leads to fewer workers being hired. It's great for those workers who are already hired, but not so great for those who want to work, but can't get a job.

A union might also seek to improve working conditions through safety, limitations on hours worked, or other amenities, such as free water or snacks. These things have a cost, too, which may not directly come out of the workers paycheck, but may limit the workers paycheck. And if the money for these things are "passed on to the customer", then that makes the product more expensive, which leads to fewer products being purchased, and hurts the company as a whole.

If employers were free to create unfavorable conditions for workers, this is a self-correcting issue. Workers who are unsatisfied with their conditions can get jobs elsewhere, where conditions are better, assuming no monopoly exists.

Government unions are exempt from these problems, because A) They do have a monopoly, and B) they do not care about profits, they spend the taxpayer's money.

 

[Vendor-Lazarus]

Some unions are good, and some are bad.

Or they can be made bad collectively, like in Sweden. Where the Union of Unions are led and controlled by the Social Democratic Party.

 

[Battousai]

Over here a lot of big unions are basically organized mafias who use their rights to call mass protests or general strikes to force governments to see things their way, but their way doesn't really mean fair treatment and pay for workers or some shit even though its masked that way. What the union leaders are doing is protecting the privileges they have earned over the years by exploiting the system, a lot of those dudes are millionaires who basically steal money from the common members of their respective unions.

The concept of unions isn't wrong its perfectly fine for workers to organize themselves and demand better conditions overall, what's wrong is that a lot of these are fucking corrupt and the average members are non the wiser because they believe the propaganda of their leaders. Membership in a union should not be demanding a part of your salary as payment for being a member of said union, unions should be non profit and focused on the workers well being, this isn't a country club membership ffs.

 

[Dale Gribble]

Some unions are good, and some are bad. There are pros and cons to having a union, and not having one. "Basic Economics" has a section of labor unions in chapter 12.

A union might seek to give artificially high wages to workers, as opposed to wages set by supply and demand. This leads to fewer workers being hired. It's great for those workers who are already hired, but not so great for those who want to work, but can't get a job.

A union might also seek to improve working conditions through safety, limitations on hours worked, or other amenities, such as free water or snacks. These things have a cost, too, which may not directly come out of the workers paycheck, but may limit the workers paycheck. And if the money for these things are "passed on to the customer", then that makes the product more expensive, which leads to fewer products being purchased, and hurts the company as a whole.

If employers were free to create unfavorable conditions for workers, this is a self-correcting issue. Workers who are unsatisfied with their conditions can get jobs elsewhere, where conditions are better, assuming no monopoly exists.

Government unions are exempt from these problems, because A) They do have a monopoly, and B) they do not care about profits, they spend the taxpayer's money.

I mean, everything goes up in price anyway and doesn’t come back down, and we still don’t have a livable wage in the us.

Fun fact the term redneck comes from the coal miners in Appalachia forming a union. They would wear a red bandanna around their necks to signify they were part of the union.

 

[Dale Gribble]

Over here a lot of big unions are basically organized mafias who use their rights to call mass protests or general strikes to force governments to see things their way, but their way doesn't really mean fair treatment and pay for workers or some shit even though its masked that way. What the union leaders are doing is protecting the privileges they have earned over the years by exploiting the system, a lot of those dudes are millionaires who basically steal money from the common members of their respective unions.

The concept of unions isn't wrong its perfectly fine for workers to organize themselves and demand better conditions overall, what's wrong is that a lot of these are fucking corrupt and the average members are non the wiser because they believe the propaganda of their leaders. Membership in a union should not be demanding a part of your salary as payment for being a member of said union, unions should be non profit and focused on the workers well being, this isn't a country club membership ffs.

I could definitely see that happening. My father told me you had to pay union dues.

He got a job after the recession at a different place that also had a union but he opted not to join that one because he felt like they didn’t do anything and didn’t want to pay them for nothing.

I guess my problem is the places I work at are generally too small to really form a union.

 

[Battousai]

I could definitely see that happening. My father told me you had to pay union dues.

He got a job after the recession at a different place that also had a union but he opted not to join that one because he felt like they didn’t do anything and didn’t want to pay them for nothing.

I guess my problem is the places I work at are generally too small to really form a union.

That's the case in a lot of unions basically, they do jack shit, and you end up paying monthly union dues for nothing. In a lot of unions all they do is get together and talk about their problems or the state of things and that's it. It is more about maintaining a sort of status quo rather than constantly be on the offensive or defensive depending on the issues, I mean if there are constant problems in you job that's not ideal either of course.

However while maintaining that status quo you are still paying monthly dues to the union and most of that money gets pocketed by union leaders while the rest barely gets used for something actually useful, which is what tends to happen over here.

 

[Vendor-Lazarus]

Riksdagsledamot fick inte vara med i facket |

samtiden.nu

 

[Dale Gribble]

Riksdagsledamot fick inte vara med i facket |

samtiden.nu

I can’t read that you raw fish eating asshole

 

[Dale Gribble]

That's the case in a lot of unions basically, they do jack shit, and you end up paying monthly union dues for nothing. In a lot of unions all they do is get together and talk about their problems or the state of things and that's it. It is more about maintaining a sort of status quo rather than constantly be on the offensive or defensive depending on the issues, I mean if there are constant problems in you job that's not ideal either of course.

However while maintaining that status quo you are still paying monthly dues to the union and most of that money gets pocketed by union leaders while the rest barely gets used for something actually useful, which is what tends to happen over here.

Yeah I would definitely have a problem with that. Then it’s just a grift and doesn’t protect the worker at all. I have definitely heard about some great unions over here, just never had the chance to join one.

 

[Vendor-Lazarus]

I can’t read that you raw fish eating asshole

Do you even internet you redneck troglodyte?

Just translate it. goog..... DeepL or something.