Thank you! Someone had to say it! Unions had a time and a place, and now they NEED TO GO!
Personal anecdote time by a Woman on Caroline Street...
A few years ago, I was out of work and took any temp employment I could find. The agency sent me to a publishing warehouse to do some cost accounting. I finished the job super early and the office manager felt badly so she gave me a copying job so I could get a few more hours on my time card. She needed 300 copies of some addendums to be added to the employees' handbooks.
This place used a ton of pallette forklifts run by unionized workers. The company spent nearly a quarter million (I had just done the cost accounting, so I KNOW what they spent) in upkeep and maintenance on these things.
So as I'm copying these sheets and reading them. It all had to do with "horseplay" and "near miss accidents" with the forklifts. It went on and on about fourth and fifth occurrences of what would happen if you screw around on the forklifts. NOT ONCE did I see the word TERMINATED mentioned. Golly gee, I'd like to F&*! up four and five times for the same thing and keep MY job!
I think I'm gonna go to Walgreen's more often. Way to go!
We have a similar situation here involving the local public transit authority. Except for management, the employees (bus drivers, maintenance people, etc.) are unionized. The drivers I know make upwards of $80,000 a year with overtime. Yet, they can show up late, show up early or not show up at all -- and there is no way they can be fired. I know this because, where I live, we had one "steady" driver who was either late or wouldn't show up. People, including yours truly, complained. After months of letter writing and phone calls, I was told flat out this driver could not be fired. Amazing!
Most recently, there was an article in the paper that said these transit employees will now have to contribute to their health care premiums..and they were most unhappy. $80,000 a year and they can't afford health insurance. Where's my crying towel?
There was a time when unions did some good. Some better wages, shorter work hours, pensions and the like came about, at least in part, through the efforts of unions. But like a lot of things in this country which start out with good intentions, unions too have gone all to hell. They have a lot to do with why many companies have taken the jobs overseas.
I never worked for a union...never had to. I did my job, my employer paid me, and I got to keep on working. If I would not have done my job, my employer would have fired me. Rather simple and a very fair relationship. No need to complicate things with unions.