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0 pointsMeph5045y ago0 comments

So from 1977 until 2018, you could be required to pay union dues, even if you weren't a member of the union even in "right to work" states, 22 of them.

So it isn't like you've been free and clear to not have a union interfere with you being hired.

It took the supreme court (which over threw its own ruling) to remove this.

Additionally, even in places where you have union and non-union employees, the unions can make things difficult, and costly for non-union employees. My personal experience was that I removed from a wall mount a wi-fi router, rebooted it, and placed it back on the wall.

This resulted in me reprimanded, my department having to pay a 4 hour call out fee, to the union electrician.

So, my choices are to call out a union electrician to service the mounted piece of equipment. Or "accidentally" bump the IO switch on the surge protector.

It was this, and countless other stupid shit, that made me really dislike working in a place with a union.

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ahepp5y ago

This is pretty much the only complaint about unions I can get behind. I think the best solution is to give the union a substantial ownership stake in the company, so that they have an incentive to operate efficiently

Meph504OP5y ago

I get what you are saying at a high level, but owning the business even in part would totally screw up the way unions work.

If the union has a vested interest in the betterment of the business, they loose the impartiality to serve the workers.

A lot of the places the unions end up with negotiated metrics that either had direct cash payouts, or effect the terms of the next union contract.

This doesn't seem to carry the weight you think it would, generally the bar is set low enough, and the reward is minimal, so I guess the incentive isn't that appealing.

ahepp5y ago

How can unions lose their incentive to serve workers? It's a collective body of the workers. When workers are owners, incentives are aligned.

If you're talking about union leadership being beholden to management, that is an issue unions often have, but I don't think it is relevant here.

I'm saying, create a union trust fund with 25% of the company's stock. It pays out dividends to all union members equally (not a slush fund for union leaders).

Thus union members have some say in how the company is run, but also have an incentive to be efficient and competitive in the marketplace.

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0 pointsMeph5045y ago0 comments

So from 1977 until 2018, you could be required to pay union dues, even if you weren't a member of the union even in "right to work" states, 22 of them.

So it isn't like you've been free and clear to not have a union interfere with you being hired.

It took the supreme court (which over threw its own ruling) to remove this.

This resulted in me reprimanded, my department having to pay a 4 hour call out fee, to the union electrician.

So, my choices are to call out a union electrician to service the mounted piece of equipment. Or "accidentally" bump the IO switch on the surge protector.

It was this, and countless other stupid shit, that made me really dislike working in a place with a union.

0 comments

ahepp5y ago

Meph504OP5y ago

I get what you are saying at a high level, but owning the business even in part would totally screw up the way unions work.

If the union has a vested interest in the betterment of the business, they loose the impartiality to serve the workers.

A lot of the places the unions end up with negotiated metrics that either had direct cash payouts, or effect the terms of the next union contract.

This doesn't seem to carry the weight you think it would, generally the bar is set low enough, and the reward is minimal, so I guess the incentive isn't that appealing.

ahepp5y ago

How can unions lose their incentive to serve workers? It's a collective body of the workers. When workers are owners, incentives are aligned.

If you're talking about union leadership being beholden to management, that is an issue unions often have, but I don't think it is relevant here.

I'm saying, create a union trust fund with 25% of the company's stock. It pays out dividends to all union members equally (not a slush fund for union leaders).

Thus union members have some say in how the company is run, but also have an incentive to be efficient and competitive in the marketplace.

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse