I don't have to pay extorted “protection money” to a third party entity in order to do, or keep my job.
Business is down. I didn't get a raise per se, but my employer absorbed my portion of increased health insurance rates, along with their own...so my pay wasn't cut.
Because I am a valuable employee, and care almost as much about the company I work for as the owners do.
We will sink or swim together, by our combined efforts.
It is not an adversarial relationship. We truly wish each other well, but they really don't want my LOTTO winnings to reach retirement level.
At one point in USA history, labor unions were absolutely essential in forcing comprehensive labor laws to be written regarding fair employee protections against unscrupulous employers.
Most American workers and employers decided a long time ago that fairness is a two way deal.
Hense the decline of Union extortion rackets.
Now if my employer and I work hard enough together to get a bloated and corrupt government out of our way....next year I might have more money in my paycheck, instead of merely treading water, and those deepening worry lines my employers have sprouted might ease a little. Labor Unions only have power when Union membership is mandatory in order for any potential worker to be employed. No thanks! I would much rather earn an honest wage while doing an honest job.
I sincerely hope things improve for you & the company, as there is a relationship that is often lacking between employers & employees. I wish every state was a right-to-work state; the mandatory membership thing is as much a violation of a worker’s rights as banning unions.
I have never been a union member (though it was offered when I worked in maintenance for years in my younger days); I think they’ve done a lot of damage here in the recent past, but remember what they achieved in an even more distant past.