Poll of the Day > Labor Unions

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://youtu.be/mcgC-kuPEuo?si=-YDZ1d0JmlkeZlWu

No, because I've never worked in an industry where there was labor union.

No; never had a job where the employer hired union workers.

I'm in one right now. We just had a strike earlier this year, with considerable gains as a result.

Nope, and based on what I've heard from friends/family in unions it sounds like they take your money without actually doing anything besides making sure the shitty workers can't get fired

I was in one briefly, seemed like a good organization. They were responsible for a lot of rules related to safety and preventing overwork that felt important for the workers.

I like the legal protection they can provide, protection should be given to all labor workers across the country. I do not like the fees taken out to be a member, or how mafia-like it is that you have to, in some cases, be a fee-paying member or not work that job at all.

No, never been in a union.



Muscles posted...

Nope, and based on what I've heard from friends/family in unions it sounds like they take your money without actually doing anything besides making sure the shitty workers can't get fired

This is more or less my experience - most of the people I knew who were in a union constantly complained about it. From their perspective, it did little more than take their dues, and the union leadership benefited more than anyone else in the union, and would generally sell out their fellows to their corporate masters most of the time anyway.

I also don't know that I'd say that unions even keep people from being fired - I know people who had union jobs who lost them because their positions were downsized or their specific workplace had been shut down.

Hearing that sort of thing has always sort of given me the impression that some unions are worthwhile and strong, while others are either weak or corrupt or inept - so whether or not a union is good or bad depends entirely on which union you're talking about.

In terms of current events, my opinion of the Hollywood guilds is extremely low at the moment.

Been part of one. I worked for Telus, the largest Telecomm in Canada. I'm very pro-union, but ours was a massive disappointment. They advocated not supporting a very bad deal, and then with a few minor tweaks, they insisted we support the (still terrible) contract. When that bad contract went through, they threw us under the bus. It was gross.

I enjoyed the $10,000 signing bonus so I can't say it was all bad.

I worked a union job from 2015 through 2022.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/7/1/AAQwHjAAE773.jpg

Huge fan. They've benefitted my job so much. People quickly forget how much the union has done and chalk it up to the job. Pay raises, ample sick time, vacation weeks, personal holidays, holiday pay days, etc are all thanks to my union bargaining, not my employer.

I notice most complaints are second or third hand stories or people complaining about crummy workers in general.
Yeah, there's a fee, but your first pay raise covers that fee and then some.
The people that stand around, thanks to the union, will eventually quit or get themselves fired because they're bored and don't wanna work. Whenever i hear that, i hear a dozen plus stories about people being fired for no reason without a union.
The amount of times unions can't help, is because people expect magic. If you're fired for stealing money or company time or something, don't expect the union to make that go away. If you're being unfairly treated and expected to do more, then expect the union to do something. you gotta have realistic expectations of them.

If unions didn't help their employees, then why are companies like Walmart and Starbucks so determined to squash them?

No I'm not in one, and I'm actually getting majorly affected about the current auto union strikes.

I'm also pro-union and am jealous about the benefits they're getting from it.

captpackrat posted...

If unions didn't help their employees, then why are companies like Walmart and Starbucks so determined to squash them?

This reminds me of when I worked at wal-mart. During the hiring or orientation phase they showed me an anti union video. Then, after, they told me to go out into the lobby and sit on this one specific bench while they discussed things. An old man came over, sat down, and asked me if I was applying for wal-mart and when I said yes was talking all kinds anti-union stuff. So obviously a plant in hindsight.

My view is not all unions are good. Some are and some aren't. The union my employees are in is alright, their contract got negotiated and they got some decent stuff. The union I am in generally follows suit so if it's good for them it ought to be good for me.

Ultimately the best is a company that actually gives their employees good wages and benefits and matches for inflation, but that hardly ever happens, so unions come in and some are good and some are bad, but I doubt if the job sucks and union sucks the company itself would be any better left 100% to their own devices.

Places like Wal-Mart and Starbucks are scared of unions, but I have to ask why...because we all know these companies don't actually care for their employees but somehow when it comes to unions they care enough about their employees livelihood to make sure they make the right choice.

One of the best benefits of being in a union as far as I can tell is job security. In a union job it is harder to get fired. So while yes, terrible workers can be retained because of the union, people cannot be fired for bullshit as much.

One of my co-workers at wal-mart got fired because a manager who did not like him claimed he recieved more customer complaints than he has ever had levied against him, apparently, in a matter of hours in one day. No union, you're let go. No way to prove you didn't get those customer complaints and even if you have grounds for legal recourse is it worth the time and money? It may not be. In a union, the union provides you legal representation, but even just in general a story like that where a manager claims they recieved 4 customer complains about an individual in one hour might just be laughed out of the room, because if there is no proof these complaints happened, there simply is no proof they happened.

I'm a salary worker and part of a union. Big fan. When covid hit the university issued a statement saying they would no longer be doing their 10% match for retirement contributions, but since support staff is under various bargaining agreements that didn't affect us, just hit the non union faculty staff. It's still crap that they had to eat the loss, but the union saved us from it.

The only job where I could have potentially been in one, the company was so small (<10 employees) that they couldn't afford to hire anyone in a union. In my limited experience though, they did kind of bankrupt the company they worked for and screwed my mom out of SSI for like 5 years.

Dikitain posted...

The only job where I could have potentially been in one, the company was so small (<10 employees) that they couldn't afford to hire anyone in a union. In my limited experience though, they did kind of bankrupt the company they worked for and screwed my mom out of SSI for like 5 years.

If you're going to be a cool boss with only 10 employees and unionize, just fully commit and make it collectively owned. That's the point of a union, to at least give you some protection against the owners exploiting you.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/an-introduction-to-game-worker-cooperatives

Never been in one but I'd love to unionize my job.

Never been in one, but I support them in principle.

Haven't been in one for a long time. Currently in a position that cannot unionize at a mixed union/non-union workplace, but I support unions in principle. Just wish the union would stop dishonestly using some of the perks of my position as a bargaining chip.

You know what I'd like to unionize? Being a Gamefaqs moderator. Imagine the short-term chaos.

Yes, I'm in one. In the film industry, you basically have to be, which is great since it's already a crazy industry WITH union protections.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

In terms of current events, my opinion of the Hollywood guilds is extremely low at the moment.

I would be curious as to why, if it's disliking the strikes disrupting content, or figuring the demands of the WGA/SAG are too much, or...?

argonautweakend posted...

Places like Wal-Mart and Starbucks are scared of unions, but I have to ask why...because we all know these companies don't actually care for their employees but somehow when it comes to unions they care enough about their employees livelihood to make sure they make the right choice.

There isn't much need to ask why. They're scared of unions because it takes control away from them. They've become as large as they have by cutting as many corners as they can legally get away with, particularly when it comes to wages and employee welfare. Unions take power away from them, limiting their ability to watch their 10-figure bottom lines keep going up indefinitely, and they don't like that. Any narrative they spin about how unions cost employees so much or are somehow bad for them is 100% propaganda to protect their bottom line, not any sort of genuine concern for their employees (usually, those concerns are outright false, since on average union wages exceed non-union wages by significantly more than their dues).

adjl posted...

There isn't much need to ask why. They're scared of unions because it takes control away from them. They've become as large as they have by cutting as many corners as they can legally get away with, particularly when it comes to wages and employee welfare. Unions take power away from them, limiting their ability to watch their 10-figure bottom lines keep going up indefinitely, and they don't like that. Any narrative they spin about how unions cost employees so much or are somehow bad for them is 100% propaganda to protect their bottom line, not any sort of genuine concern for their employees (usually, those concerns are outright false, since on average union wages exceed non-union wages by significantly more than their dues).

It's extra cute coming from Wal-Mart, the largest employer of people on welfare by a Kentucky mile.

Indeed.

CyborgSage00x0 posted...

It's extra cute coming from Wal-Mart, the largest employer of people on welfare by a Kentucky mile.

ya, that's what I don't get about big corporations. If they break up unions then your poor workers are taking up health care and welfare and everything abounds from your personal tax dollars... but if they got these benefits as part of a union it would only be taken out of pretaxed income, saving you probably millions

Lokarin posted...

ya, that's what I don't get about big corporations. If they break up unions then your poor workers are taking up health care and welfare and everything abounds from your personal tax dollars... but if they got these benefits as part of a union it would only be taken out of pretaxed income, saving you probably millions

This assumes Walmart actually pays their fair share of taxes instead of hiding as much income as possible in offshore tax havens.

I'm self employed but I fully support unions