I believe every word of what he wrote because I have seen it happen. People will fight against the union by simply not having work for those involved. Those who do join the union will have to pay all kinds of fees with the promise they will get help when they need it.
For crying out loud, these guys are having a hard enough time with gas costing what it does. If they are in house, they do get some benefits such as gas card and vehicle, but still do not make tons of money. If they choose to stir things up, they will find themselves unemployed either way, union or not.
They are damned if they do, and damed if they don't. A raise in the minimum wage is definitely in order. Perhaps a little more legislation to regulate wages, rights, and benefits to help with the cost of living. The law is the only thing that protects workers. People have to obey the law, but they do not have to retain union workers if they choose not to. Business owners know they can get out of having to deal with the union without getting into trouble.
Where does this leave the workers? It leaves them with a reputation as trouble makers in the eyes of big business. I just cant see how a union protects its members. It sounds like a good idea to so many desperate employees who feel they are getting the short end of the stick. It sounded good to me when I worked in a union shop. This is what happened to me:
I worked at a grocery store in the Bakery and had to be at work at 4:00am to start baking and get ready for the day. My co-workers were gossiping and working nearby. One of the guys made a remark that he thought our supervisor was a homosexual because he seemed to favor a certain young good looking employee. Everyone laughed and teased with the young man,and continued to work.
The next day, we came in to work as usual, and went to check our schedule for the next week. None of us were on the schedule. When we asked the supervisor why, he said he did not have anything for us to do that week and laid us all off. When we went to our union for help, they did absolutely nothing. They did not even advise us as to what we could do as individuals. Some of us were guilty only by association. Only a couple of people actually said derogatory things about the guy, but all of us suffered with absolutely no recourse.
Unions have a very strong history not these incidents. I think that business's likes to keep people hungry so they will work harder. They cant miss a day or they wont get paid, hourly, or piece rate, in house, and 1099 alike. They have to give notice for time off. They cant look for other work because they are too busy working long hours, and how are they going to get to interviews? Many guys think they cant ask to speak to the head guys at the company because the boss will look down on them for complaining and label them a trouble maker. The truth is that most Bosses are not aware of what is going on in the minds of the staff because no one wants to be a troublemaker. So, everyone just suffers including the company. The company looses revenue when the workforce is unhappy. Unhappy employees, do not try their best to do a good job, show up on time, get sick more often, and generally portray a negative image to the public and customers, giving the company a poor reputation.
I think an open door policy with the right to anonymity may help. Communication, cooperation, and mutually agreed compromise for the benefit of both sides would help. Their should also be some so of reward system as well as discipline policies. Contests, bonuses, and commission opportunities work wonders to raise moral and motivate workers. In return for the rewards, you get more respect as a company, better productivity and quality of work, and a better reputation. What do you guys think?
