Collective Bargaining Rights – Yes
Yes. Yes. YES.
To start off, a basic history of how unions got started-
Unions were beginning to form in the mid 19th century, with the main cause being the oppression of the middle class worker. Work conditions were absolutely terrible- but more on that later. The first truly successful union was the American Federation of Labor, which was a collective of many unions, who worked together to set wide-spread policy with the employers of the day.
Now, union membership offers clear benefits to public workers- good benefits, a pension, etc. Many people begrudge them this, simply due to the fact that the private sector no longer receives such benefits- they used to, but no more (This to me represents a very bad mentality- because everyone use to have these jobs with great benefits. Since the economic crash, however, many people have lost these. The bad part of this is that, instead of thinking "Wow, they're lucky. Good for them", we react with "They're spending my money on what! Greedy union scumbags!"- basically, these benefits are what holds together the scraps of public education- without them, no teacher in their right mind would ever choose to enter the public sector.) However, these benefits didn't come without cost. They are the result of many years of bargaining, during which members of the union agreed to take pay freezes an lose bonuses, all for these benefits. However, none of this really matters, because the people at the heart of this issue (such as Wisconsin teachers and Walker's bill) have already agreed to take cuts in benefits. The union cuts are essentially out of spite.
Now, all this is great for union members, but what has it ever done for you or me? Well, a lot of things, when you get down to it. The most noticeable of these changes is a national minimum wage- the enforcement of a minimum paycheck that is deemed the LEAST a person needs to scrape by (7.25 is the federal standard). Now, that may still seem sparse, but it's a large improvement over what it used to be- and the remaining gap between that and livable wage is something unions will probably take care of one day. Another change is the end of child labor. Before unions, small children were often put to work in factories, but no more! You now must be 14 to get a job, and 16 for one that is physically demanding. The third most important change is the 40-Hour work week. Before this, employers set hours without limits- they didn't need to give you lunch breaks, or weekends!
Of course, all this is just the tip of the iceberg. Unions have also worked to set strict safety standards, and many other laws which make today's workplace much more safe and enjoyable than they were before!
