Good questions
In some states it is illegal to do some jobs without belonging to a union I think. I don’t know about your state.
I’m glad I live in a right-to-work state but if I wanted to work at a Kroger’s or for the GM factory in Arlington, I will have to join a union or not be hired. Even here in Texas.
Sounds your friend is describing a trade association or something.
Which is stupid.
What he describes there is 'right to work'. In non right to work States, you must belong to the trade union to work in the specific field, you have no choice about it. A right to work state means you have a choice to join or not join a union. You are free to choose the path that is best for you. His description is not accurate for non-right to work states. In those states, licensing for a trade is dependent and through the union. You can't legally be an electrician, for example.
That is in essence, a corporate monopoly on employment- with the union playing the role of the evil 'corporation', pushing small, independent workers out of business.
Ask him what would happen if he was in a non-right to work state and the union took a turn he didn't like. He would have no choice to work independently outside of union membership.
Right to work means freedom for the employee. They can freely choose to join or not join a union.
If his paycheck is hindered by the freedom of others, that says a lot about the monopoly of the union. How different is that than Wal Mart pushing-out(sic) small, independent businesses?
Freedom of association and right to assemble.
Trade unions or guilds advertise their professionalism to potential employers seeking a certain level of standard within a trade. As long as those trade unions don't seek political power--seeking legislation for example, that requires government contracts to employ only trade unions, I don't see anything wrong with that. I would say your friend made a bad choice, vote-wise.
Tell him to watch Top Gear on BBC and their episode on British Layland.
Unions crushed the British car industry and the only thing left is vacant lots. It was quite shocking to see.
Detroit is going the same way.
He should ask his union-buddies how they would react if he became non-union, and arrived to work at a jobsite that is held to be the "domain" of union labor. Such as a university, large hospital, airport, etc.
Sure, he would live . . . but his equipment?
Yep - he's has drunk the Kool-Aid...
The ONLY positive I have been able to gather from "Trade Unions" - aka general skilled labor unions in Union states, is that it has made it harder for illegal immigrants to steal jobs in the construction business from Americans.
But that being said - even worse is 4 more years of job-killing (skilled and unskilled) Obama.
Your friend is blinded by his union buddies. But you are not likely to change his mind.
I'd be very interested in hearing your friend explain how the President, whoever he is, matters a dingo's kidney to state "Right to Work" laws. Maybe if Romney was running for Governor might it matter.
The comment is true as far as it goes. It does not take into account other action the unions (thru politicians) have caused to be emplaced. In relation to government contracts for roadway, government facilities etc. the contracts include langue that requires wages that are based upon the union model. If a non union labor hall was to be set up it would have to meet these wages not based upon supply and demand but because it is required by government edict. This is the coercion and the unions try to get this to apply to other businesses also.
You can find out some info on your friends union here.
http://www.unionfacts.com/union/International_Brotherhood_of_Electrical_Workers
Unions = Extortion. They have no use anymore and are a detriment to our society.
To put it very simply, and generally, trade unions have long since shed their ideal of “ensuring good work” to “protecting bad work”. The crazies who have emerged in the last few decades as “Union Leaders”, like Richard Trumka, Stern of the SEIU, Leo Gerard, etc. still operate as if it’s 1936, when workers still had to “fight for their rights”, and were arguably exploited by employers, At this point, Labor has become MANAGEMENT,(remember that dichotomy), while Management
has had its own rights subject to permanent review,challenged,
if not outright thrown out the window. And I say this as someone who has worked independently in the building trades for 35 years. We fortunately will always have customers who
are not crazy about having to pay the exorbitant rates dealing with Union this or that involve.
For all these newly emerged voices and faces who we’re by now overfamiliar with, THANKS TO OBAMA, America is still
stuck in 1936, when they could arguably make the case that they were being exploited. To put it simply, THEY are now the problem, and Obama is granting them their Last Hurrah as their memberships steadily and deservedly decrease year after year,
You are not safe being in the woods with this guy.
“Dues” is the key word...the Linemen from other states, like Georgia and Alabama, have all of the training and certifications for their job, but were turned away by the northeastern unions because they weren’t “members”...and the only thing missing was the “dues”.
Meanwhile, people who suffered damage from “Sandy” are still in the dark.
Unions build mediocrity in workers; sure, pay is equalized, but it’s also restricted so that those who don’t want to wander with the herd cannot exceed at their jobs and be rewarded for it.
“Security” of the paycheck? Benjamin Franklin said it of the government, but it applies to unions as well; “He who gives up freedom, for security, has neither.” (paraphrasing).
The union employees at the Hostess plant had “security”, until their union massas got greedy and now they have NO paychecks...over 18-thousand of them.
The bottom line, unions are mob rackets and benefit no one but the union leaders.
Right to work states have all of the services that they have up north, and do them just as well, of not better...with NO unions.
Unionism is a farce...it’s a microcosm of socialism/communism and it’s all about the leadership...not the members.
I worked in the Electric Shop at the shipyard in Pascagoula MS for a while and had to join the electric union and I did it because I needed the job at the time. It was pretty ineffective and the union bosses were pretty much rubes who thought they were big shots. Never did anything beneficial and also caused some other issues - I spent 24 years in the military working on electronic/computerized communication systems and I was offered a job shaking down the ships comm gear. They offered it to me because unlike most of the riff-raff that used the union to get away with quitting and just walking out, then coming back for their jobs when it was convenient, I was a good worker and had turned in my 2-week notice. I asked what the pay differential would be for moving into the more technical area and was told there was no difference - it was all eclectic shop. I suppose there are more powerful trade unions, but I’m not a union person and would imagine that they don’t really serve a big purpose.
There are a handful which were actually useful once upon a time in certifying people to a certain skill level before they worked in the trade.
But I cannot think of one where that holds true now. IOW, you will probably get a better carpentry job done by hiring an Amish businessman than by calling on a crew from the carpenter's union. The union guys do most of their work at inflated prices from government entities (or their contractors) which have no other choice than to deal with the cartel.