My problems with unions.

There was a time in our nations history when unions were a necessity, and they did a great service for the people in which they served. That time was gone a long time ago and it is not going to come back any time soon.

Let me explain why I believe this. When unions started they were initially purposed with improving the safety and working conditions of members in a time when a lot of employment was dangerous, hard, physical work. Many were being taken advantage of and unions did do a great deal to bring about changes to safety and labor laws.

Things have changed since then. We live in a society where OSHA reigns supreme when it comes to workplace safety and labor laws are extreme to the point of driving inflation. How many of you have joked about the lawsuits that are out of control these days? You remember the case where a woman got millions out of McDonald's because she spilled her coffee?

The point that I am trying to make is that the government has gone overboard in regulating business so that anything that could possibly harm us has been dumbed down so much that a lot of it's utility has been lost. That relieves the unions of the responsibility of trying to make our jobs safer. To be sure there will always be dangerous jobs. Most jobs that I know of that do not involve sitting all day at a desk have a degree of danger to them that must be managed, but the employers are so afraid of lawsuits that they compensate for that by training and supervision so that they do not have to cover the costs of litigation and medical reparation to their employees,

So that leaves the only thing to negotiate for the unions being wages and benefits. This is where I have my problems with the unions. I worked for a “union shop” when I lived in Southern California in the 90's. What this means is if you wanted to get a job at this particular place you needed to join the union. (In my case the SEIU, or Service Employees International Union)

I enjoyed my job and was good at it. I don;t want to seem like I am bragging, but I was among the best at what I did. I consistently covered for others that could not handle the workload that they were assigned. I worked usually 50 to 60 hours a week, and was there for about 2 years. The problem that I had was the pay structure set up by the union. Anyone who was able to get the job only had to do the bare minimum to keep the job and they got guaranteed raises and increased benefits just because they had not yet been fired. I was one of the lowest paid employees but did outstanding work according to my job reviews.

This is what happens with all union jobs that I am aware of. You can work your tail off and get paid just because of your job title and the amount of years that you have been there. There is no incentive to work harder, to go above and beyond, to innovate or improve in any way. Just put in your time and you are covered.

Let's say you started a small business. You built this thing from the ground up and were the initially the only employee. Through countless hours of effort you struggled and built this business to the point you added employees and grew. You like to think that you treat your employees fairly and many have become like family. You wish you could pay more, but you are trying to grow the business and provide for your family. Then one day you are contacted by a union that tells you that many of your employees have come to them and they want to represent your employees. To be honest, if I were the owner of this business, should the union be voted in I would close the business the next day and sell everything. It would be FAR better to start again from nothing than to have a bunch of bullies tell me what I am going to pay, what kind of benefits I am going to provide, and who I hire.

Don't get me wrong here, I am all for paying well. I am all for providing benefits. I am also all for paying the most to those that do the most to help the business grow. I work very hard. I believe that my goal as an employee is to provide more value to the business than I am paid. If I am able to provide significantly more value then nice things happen like promotions and raises in pay.

Unions destroy competition. They hinder innovation and make an employee – employer relationship an adversarial one rather than a partnership as it should be.

That is about it for the soapbox for today. Until next time stay safe and I'll see you down the road.