Why the Unions need to Stay – No
During the early Twentieth Century, working conditions were nothing like they were today. Immigrants were coming to America from all around the world seeking jobs. Often, it didn't matter if the worker was a man, woman or a child. If he or she was able to work, they were immediately hired. Unfortunately for these workers, the pay rate was horribly low, and the conditions were extremely unsafe. Some workers could lose limbs from the tasks he or she had to do. Others risked being burned to death in factory fires. It was because of these unsafe conditions and low pay that the labor unions were born.
Over time, the labor unions have changed how we work. According toThink Progress, if it wasn't for the unions, we wouldn't have the weekends. Before the unions, Americans worked, on average, 61 hours a week. Once the unions were formed, they organized strikes to gain shorter workweeks to spend time with families instead of slaving away all week. They are also responsible for giving workers fair pay, ending Child Labor, being the first organizations to make the employers help pay for your health insurance, and make your employer provide Family and Medical Leave. Of course, when the unions were first formed, they were just for factories. Over time, teachers, police officers and firemen formed their own unions, and they fought for the same rights as Think Progress has mentioned.
Unions have become a thorn in the side of a lot of businesses. As well as a lot of politicians. Some people love them, and some people hate them. At the same time, people have to be careful about talking about them at work. For example, when my step-father worked at one of my jobs, which I will not mention the name of because I'm still employed there; he once told me that if the company ever found out that there was a union formed behind their backs, it would immediately close its doors to its employees. Now, I'm not sure if this is true, but the message behind it was clear. The company was anti-union.
My second job is a substitute teacher. During the lunch hours, I often talk with the teachers about their experiences because I often consider going back to school to become a teacher myself. Often, I hear complaints about the Unions as of late because it seems to be all about the money. The most common argument I hear against the union is that people that are a part of them are fat-cats only in it for the money. I cannot speak for everyone in a union, but I can say that a lot of people I know in them are not rich at all. A lot of teachers, for example, often take out of their own checkbooks to provide materials for his or her classrooms, for the schools cannot or will not provide them enough money to do so. I've never been clear on which. I think that it's very possible that some unions may be getting too big and too greedy, but there are still others out there that are genuinely caring for the people that are in them.
With the passing of the Right to Work law in Michigan, causing mass protest in the capital, it'll be interesting to see the next move of the unions. It's clear that the unions have done enough good that they need to stay around. At the same time, if there are people that are part of the union grumbling about the organization itself, maybe it's time for the organization to have a bit of reform.
