Are American workers better off if they belong to a labor union

During my many working years I had the opportunity to set on both sides of the table first as union officer and later as a part of managerment. There was a time when the Unions were necessary and we can be thankful that they changed the working conditions in our country for the better. Over the years the Unions have evolved into a business them selves and they care more about keeping their own jobs than about their members. On my last job I helped start a new company, it was and still is non union the reason being that we paid a competitive wage and we treated every one fair. The unions are not necessary as long as every one remembers that the American worker will stand up for his/her rights if they have to.

Not in most cases. There are a few unions that are good, but most unions are very corrupt and only serve to take money out of the pockets of workers while fighting management and business owners tooth and nail on every little nit-noid issue, especially when it comes to what is in an employee's job description. As a result, products produced by union labor cost a heck of a lot more and are usually not very good quality. The exception to that rule is in skilled trades like masonry, carpentry, plumbing, electricians, and millwrights. It costs more to have union folks do this kind of work, but you know that these workers are licensed and bonded. That makes it much easier to get problems resolved -- they either fix it or you take them to court. As for the rest, however, the majority of unions demand that management and business owners pay them much more than they're worth for work that is mediocre at best.

Unions can be good and they can be bad. If both sides realize that the contract is an "agreement" and neither side tries to take unfair advantage of the other, it can be a good thing. Look at Government employees. They are all union including the Teachers. I find that the automotive unions have ruined what could have been a good thing by demanding more than they gave up. On the other hand, you can't blame unions for companies moving overseas, since the reason was cheap labor, but have you seen the price of autos drop since they have done this?

yes, my current job doesn't have one and i get milked all the time for work that isn't in my job description and if i don't like it i get fired or lose my position. but when i worked with a union they took a dollar for ever hour i worked but my job was all i had to do. it was against the rules for the boss to ask me to handle more then my duties. we got treated right.

although i like the job i have now better. the other job was hard work.

No. Unless, of course, they enjoy watching jobs continue to move overseas due to the high labor costs here. There needs to be a tight balance between labor cost and fair pay and benefits. We need to keep in mind who we are competing with and recognize that we either need to lower costs of producing goods in the U.S. or cut back on production capacity to match the decreasing demand for goods at the prices we need to sell them at.

The only purpose labor unions exist today is self-perpetuation and to artificially drive up the cost of production. There are labor laws now protecting the employees that did not exist when unions first appeared. Labor unions are no longer needed and economically, are a bad thing.

They don't do a very good job serving their membership anymore. I'm all for the principle of the Unions keeping employers in check and all that. But there's a very good reason they're almost dead in this country and it's a purely partisan political problem with their leadership. Unions aren't about member benefits anymore they fight for state socialism.

The union my hubby is in is just about worthless.. he would make more money if at a non union job doing what he does.. seems his union only protects those that don't really come to the job to work. There are people he works with that come in and sit on a stool all day and they have to go through a write up process before being let go

Unions today are not what they were. Today they are nothing more than a support system for incompetent lazy workers...Stop complaining about "its not part of my job" sometimes we have do a little extra to get things done..that is also a way to move up in the work place.... Get over it.... Unions need to stop covering for the inept!!

In past years labor unions served a good purpose. They made employers clean up their act. Nowadays they aren't necessary for most jobs. I wouldn't say we could do without them completely though because they always are a good threat.