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I am in the same camp that in general I dislike unions.

The one point you make that I may disagree with:
The blanket statement that they are not needed.
While I can't think of any off the top of my head, there MAY be some current situations where a union is the answer.

But the large scale use of them we have now is counter productive.

By and large, most employers are willing to lay out reasonable rules, and stick to them.
Various labor departments (fed/State/OSHA, etc) have ensured the reasonableness of the rules.
When the employer gets out of line, there are other avenues for a worker to take that did not exist before unions.

If an employer were preying on vulnerable labor market in an unathical way (ie sweatshop full of undereducated workers that gets intimidated into unsafe conditions), that might be a situation a union could help. I'm sure it does still happen, but is probably by far the exception rather than the rule.

Do you honestly believe that your quality of life will increase if unions cease to exist?

No, I do not. However, I do believe that the continuation of unions as they exist today will make it much more difficult for me to maintain my existing standard of living.
Example: cost of a vehicle is significantly higher than it would be without unions due to the higher labor costs. As a result of the ever-increasing costs, it will be more difficult for me to replace my current vehicle with a vehicle of equal or greater quality down the road.
Example: The local school district just caused my property taxes to go up by about 10%. One of the major expenses in the education budget is benefits for teachers and other public employees. For the most part, the salary that these public employees receive is competitive to public sector jobs in our area. The benefits are 3 or 4 times better than public sector jobs. Without the unions, the benefits would not be what they are, and there would be less of a need for the school district to tap property taxes to meet budget.

There is a reason why the public sector (non-union) companies have given up on pensions, and other "traditional" benefits, for employees -- it is not economically sustainable to provide them. However, where unions are involved, in both public and private arena, it is almost impossible, short of bankruptcy, to adapt the benefits structure to reflect this reality.

Unions have the same problem that our Govt does: POLITICS

Unions are absolutely still necessary, much like any other walk of life it depends on the individual as to what brand of fair treatment one will receive. The premise that employers will automatically treat their employees fair and not put them in harms way on the job is ludicrous!!! Some will sure, because they understand right from wrong, many will not, as they are greedy, self serving pricks who think they can and should be able to run rough shod over those who have no pedigree ie:
a college degree. Your comment on individual bargaining is interesting, I've worked for companies who had a policy in place that dis-allowed employees from discussing wages amongst themselves. Now I'm ALL for raises etc. being based on merit and performance, that's how it Should be!! But far too many employers want to deal with folks one on one in hopes that some will not be as strong @ negotiating their own fate as well as others. Now that being said I saw far too many cases of people who did NOT deserve to have that job for numerous reasons and the union retained their job anyway. And I'm sorry if this offends anyone, but far too many of the employees taking advantage this way were black employees. Because they knew that not only did they have the backing of their union...... they also had the NAACP to file discrimination charges should they try to have them removed / replaced! I saw first hand guys /gals taking turns clocking one another in on any given night, only for the one who's turn it was to go home while on the clock.............SICKENING!!!!!! And don't even ask why I didn't turn them in, I had a phuckin gun pulled on me over a parking spot, how do you think it would go down if I narked out Ghost employees? Keep in mind I was only 18, pretty much a kid yet.......

Lets face it, far too many positions in life are garnered out based on WHO you know, not What you know or how well you do it. Far too often jobs are won / lost based on personality alone. If the manager / man / woman in charge likes you and think they can manipulate you easier than some one else.....ding ding ding we've got a winner!!!!!

And I'd like to know why all the fuss over Auto Unions / Teacher Unions etc. but no one seems to have a PHUCKIN problem with Players Unions in professional sports? This is in my opinion one of the biggest travesties out there!!!!!!!
Oh wait, that's right they entertain us and they could get hurt and their career would be over........So would mine if I fell off a roof. had a beam fall on me, loose a limb or two, or any other number of possibilities. The entire professional sporting industry is shameful yet no ill words for them....................The bastids threaten to leave a community if said community fails to build them a new stadium to play in, even though there's nothing wrong with the one they currently have and still owe $20,000,000 on.....if you ask me it's All in ones perspective.............

If only this were always the case......not All employers promote based on performance, and while I understand and agree with you that if you don't like it get another job.........there's not always one Available!!!!! So many times folks are "stuck" and have to endure a prick owner /manager......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su4PwZCWUdg

lulz

DD™

i work for Enteprise. we have never had unions. a few years ago, we bought national/alamo. Their car preps (guys who detail the cars) have a union. What happens at their stores is the old guys sit around and do nothing (and we cant write them up or terminate them) and they tell the young guys to do all the work and if they join the union, they will eventually get to be like the old guys. higher paid and less work. unions complete defeat a hard work ethic and discourage workers from separating themselves from the pack. not mention the absurd rules we have to follow with union workers.

i hate to break it to the USA but the days of retiring at 55 are gone. its crazy to think you can work for the city or state for 10-15-20 years then retire will full benefits????????? thats why states and municipalities are BROKE!

Rick:

I discuss a raise in pay with my employer on an annual basis.
It's called a performance review.
Good performance = better pay.
Poor performance = unemployment.

You are correct.
But do you think a company would let a superior employee leave over a few bucks?
If they do this, then they're bound to fail. Eventually they would pay to keep the good ones.
Adapt or perish. It's called capitalism.

And nobody is "stuck".

Bingo.

PRIVATIZE EDUCATION !!

There are no unions in European/world soccer.