Ford reaches tentative UAW contract.

Huntindog wrote:

Shinerbock wrote:
Actually, no one here is bashing union in general.

Oh there have been a few general bashings.... I think Fish was one of the first.

I have been a Union organizer, member and Shop steward since 1994.

I can tell you from experience, that not all Unions have it as good as the UAW, or the public sector Unions. They are the most sucessful, perhaps too suscessful for their long term good, and some of them like the UAW get a lot of press.... Some public sector Unions such as teachers enjoy good press.... In spite of the built in negotiating advantage they have as public sector Unions.

Many Unions are still fighting the battle to get their members into the middle class..... Which Unions were a prime driver of creating.

Many things that we now enjoy, and think of as a normal right came about because of Unions. OSHA, 40 hour work week, vacation pay, sick pay, holiday pay, greivances for unfair discipline, etc.

These things (and more) exist now in both Union, and non Union companies because of Union efforts. The non Union companies went along and provided them or were forced to by legislation to keep up with the Union standards.

The UAW has members that often do highly specialized jobs,(skills) that will not transfer easily to another company.... And the automakers have a highly cylical business that makes obscene profits in boom times. With that much money available, thay are often able to secure contracts that are unheard of in other industries.... But they usually suffer in downturns.

As for the bad actors that pop up in Unions occasionally... Whenever there is a huge pot of money available, there will be those that cannot resist partaking in it... It is part of the human condition.
I will point out that there have been PLENTY of people in the management/company side that fall into this catagory as well.

I have worked both Union and non Union, and have seen the benefits, and downsides first hand.

I believe that Unions are necessary to balance the unfettered power that companies other wise would have.
If they were to disappear from the workplace, we would see many benefits that we take for granted disappearing as well. This would go for Union and non Union workers alike.

This is false. I was fed this propaganda too until I researched it myself.

The 40 hour work week was created by Henry Ford long before his plants were unionized because he thought that his employees would buy more Model T's if they had time off to enjoy them. Henry Ford, along with Jewish(Saturday) and Christian(Sunday) religion, also played a big role in the two day weekend long before his factories were unionized.

Paid sick leave was first created in foreign countries, and is still not a law in the US even though most companies, union and non-union, give it to their employees.

Paid vacation came about because employers in the early 1900's saw that their employees having time off made them more productive.

Holiday pay is not required in the US and is up the the employers discretion. Many companies offer it for the same reason they offer vacation and sick pay, to attract workers. There have been recordings of Holiday pay in US companies long before unions were even established here.

There are many other things that unions take credit for, but had little or no impact on their implementation. Many of these things just took a natural progression as communication became more instant and the traveling time between places decreased. People were able to be more selective on where they wanted to work, and employers had to find way to entice the best employees.