Posted on 08/06/2010 8:27:25 AM PDT by NetRight Nation
A common argument made by some Republicans and conservatives is that labor unions were necessary in society a hundred years ago, but they are no longer needed in today’s workplace. This argument, however, has many flaws. When looking deep into the history of the labor movement, unless you support a society modeled closely around that of the U.S.S.R., labor unions were not just unnecessary a hundred years ago, but have created lasting damage and are still continuing to wreak havoc across the nation.
Many fail to see the downside of the American labor movement at the time of its inception. Few remember that it was a product of the progressive movement, which created many of the problems in society that we deal with today.
Just take a look at the progress that the labor unions have made in their short history. From just 90 years ago, labor unions have gone from trying to “protect” the workers that they represented to taking complete control of the companies that they were “protecting” them from. In essence, they have a track record of completely dismantling the companies that they have set up shop in.
If you need an example of this, just look to Detroit. Of the Big 3 automakers, two have ceased to exist in the form that they did for most of the 20th century. One of them, Chrysler, has been completely taken over by the United Auto Workers, a union that sought to protect the employees of the car manufacturers from the supposed “greedy” leadership that was going to sell the workers short.
The UAW can even claim General Motors as a victim of their ruthlessness. GM has completely disappeared from being a publicly traded, privately owned mega company into a publicly owned, taxpayer funded zombie corporation all due to labor union malfeasance.
The goal of the unions has not been to protect the workers, but to stop private companies from turning profits that they claim do not enrich the employees that made them possible. Instead, the unions have taken far greater roles in dismantling the companies that pay the workers handsomely and in turn, destroy the companies while enriching only the union leadership.
In short, labor unions have turned into a total scam. They hustle money from the paychecks of those they represent and pad the pockets of those in leadership — selling short the employees that could live better lives without the so-called protection offered by Big Labor.
While the auto unions provide a good look at what Big Labor has done to private industry, the same type of damage has been done in the public sector.
Teachers unions have made it nearly impossible for poorly performing teachers to be removed from the classroom. The harm done hurts the students and the taxpayers that pay for these services. Teachers unions care nothing about the level of education offered, but look more to what they will earn on the taxpayer dole.
Just look at what is happening in New Jersey. When Governor Chris Christie attempted to clean up the New Jersey education system, he was met with stiff resistance from the teachers unions, even though the taxpayers wanted a change. The unions are not in the business of providing better services; they are simply in it for the interests of the union leadership.
The federal government should not go without blame either. It is the fault of Congress that has led to such powerful labor unions across the country. With legislation such as the Wagner Act, which created the National Labor Relations Board, unions have become institutionalized in America.
There is much more wrong with Big Labor in America and this is simply the tip of the iceberg. But at no point in American history has there evern been a need for such organizations such as the SEIU, AFL, NEA, UAW, and so on to “protect” workers in the workplace.
Americans have always had the ability to vote with their feet. If a job is bad, they can move on. But at no point has a hustler of one’s paychecks been necessary for the greater good. And to believe so is to lose trust in the free market system that made America great.
Adam Bitely is the Editor-in-Chief of NetRightDaily.com for Americans for Limited Government.
Read more at NetRightDaily.com: http://netrightdaily.com/2010/08/were-labor-unions-ever-necessary/#ixzz0vq7RAoDM
Under your example, why would anyone take that job? People have the ability to vote with their feet. Some other farmer would offer a better job and squash his competition. A labor union isn’t needed to correct that problem.
Article One, Section 10, Paragraph 1:
Section 10.
[1] No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.
Ax yourself: why in the world would teachers need to be unionized? What it is about their jobs, their workplaces, their work environments that require them to COLLECTIVELY bargain with management?
What in the world?
What Howie said.
Good question.
Unions love to paint the picture that they are the only thing standing between the worker and Armageddon. But their side of the story is the only one being told in most of our left-wing media.
Having spend 11 of my working years in a closed-shop union position, I can say with honesty that the union itself was a major obstacle for employers, and not for the benefit of productive workers. They continually stood behind the deadbeats and lazy, while mocking the productive workers (”you’re killing the job, man”). They insisted that everybody should earn the same money, regardless of their value to the employer or to the customer.
They tried to use gang-style intimidation to get more money for less work, regardless of the outcome for the company. And if the union “leadership” didn’t like a supervisor or manager, they instructed union members to “go after” that person, filing countless nuisance grievances and slowing productivity deliberately to make that manager look bad.
The union was a thorn in my side, and I, being the bullheaded type, chose to be a thorn in their side as well. I can count a couple of instances where things got physical between me and a union “brother” or two. Fortunately, I had many more friends than enemies and the union could never get a full gang-style movement against me.
The highlight of my union years when when I ran for steward for the sole purpose of antagonizing the vice president of the union with whom I worked at the time. I had quite an ad campaign, and might have won if I hadn’t backed down near election day. I didn’t want the position, and I ultimately voted for someone else, but it was fun getting his feathers in a bunch. Oh, my motto was “It’s time for a change”. Seems that change approach is sometimes successful.
Unions are communism.
[1] No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility
This is a prohibition from States doing so. Not Congress.
Wow, presser from union HQ with all the usual arguments in absurdity.
Unions were not necessary to the development of child labor laws. Cultural evolution was. That is all.
The only reason for labor unions is/was to promote socialism/communism!
The industrial revolution did not create horrid working conditions, did not create rapacious owners, nor did it create child labor. It simply brought those same practices from the country to the newly created cities.
Unions did NOT improve anything. It was the increase in wealth, from greater productivity, which allowed a politically stronger middle class to form, allowed greater leisure and choice, more opportunities for education, and allowed the creation of the concept of “childhood” (invented by the Victorians)
Are you really that ignorant?
People took jobs like that because there were no other jobs to be taken. Where else would they get work? There were no other farmers. There was no competition.
You know those anti-monopoly laws? They weren’t around when the Unions started.
Good point. Unions are indeed communism. The free market corrects problems. Unions seek to institutionalize the problems under the auspices of creating fairness. This has never worked.
I’m not going to argue that their were poor working conditions at points in our history. But we assume that unions were the only correction available for these conditions. What happened to letting the free market fix this?
We can now see that the unions were in it for themselves, just as they alleged the companies were.
I was thinking of coal mines too. You’d have to be an ideologue not to sympathize with coal miners around 1900. Mine companies had an indifference to safety, they short counted the coal mined, and ran a retail monopoly with compulsory company stores. It was like feudalism.
“we can work on dumping some of those pesky child labor laws.”
They should never have been enacted!!
I ignored them and worked illegally ,BY CHOICE, but was smart enough to keep my mouth shut so they couldn’t stop me!!!
There is no such thing as a job too dangerous because of age!
Find the section that authorizes congress to do so. Congress has only the ennumerated powers.
The states, on the other hand, have the power to do all but what they are prohibited to do.
.
Capitalism works great when there is fairness in the marketplace. A level playing field where the law is impartial and everybody has the opportunity to succeed or fail.
We are not talking about a time period where that concept even existed.
In many cases, there was de facto slavery of workers, sometimes for generations. Being paid with company scrip, being forced to work hours without pay, being forced to live on company ground with armed company guards to enforce company rules. Sound like a situation that you can just walk away from?
Some of those "pesky" child labor laws are just that - pesky. Children need to learn a work ethic, but in today's society, they cannot.
When was the last time you've seen a paper boy or paper girl? It was common when I was a kid, and I had a successful paper route for 4 years. But today, it's illegal in some places due to these child labor laws.
I don't disagree that we don't need children working in factories for $4 per hour, displacing adults in the same positions. On the other hand, I don't see anything wrong with apprenticing a 14-year old to assist in some of these jobs so that they can actually learn the value of money and labor, and so that they can learn how to do something useful. They won't get that vocational training in today's government education system.
Thank you for the lovely family photo, Commissar!
.
The original assertion was that the Constitution prohibited it. I just wanted to know where I had missed that specific prohibition.
The 14th amendment does outlaw slavery and child labor during the turn of the 20th century was slavery.
Article One is a tough read, with much accomplished in each lengthy sentence.
.
I wouldn't agree with that either. I strongly disagree with the concept of the "closed-shop" union, where membership is mandatory for holding a given position. Such is the case at Ford, GM, Chrysler, and numerous other places. The USW had its lock on the steel industry for decades, before foreign competition busted that monopoly. Electric utility workers are generally bound to be union members in many places - if you want to work as an electrician or lineman, you have to be a member of the IBEW or UWUA.
Closed shops are even law in some states.
What we need is a national "right to work" law that outlaws closed-shop union contracts, and allows people the freedom of association as outlined in the constitution. That is, people should be free to associate as they see fit, and to join a union or NOT join a union as they see fit. It's time for the union monopoly to finally be busted.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.