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DETROIT, MICHIGAN (RLUO) - I can only answer this question from my own perspective and my own experience as an American worker. With our economy reaching enormous levels of prosperity why would anyone want or need a labor union? Simply, because as long as power, greed, and tyranny dwell in the hearts of humankind, there will always be a need to protect the many from just such a few. Do American business people have a right to run their own companies as they see fit? Absolutely. But when employers begin to circumvent the laws of this country, when they take upon themselves the license to abuse American workers out of arrogance and power induced self-centered behavior then democracy mandates, no, it screams out it's canon that humanity alone deserves respect. The human at the end of that mop or broom or bedpan celebrates his or her dignity by being there. By sharing in the work. By helping American businesses to flourish. By being willing partners in this wonderful grand experiment we Americans call capitalism. And wonderful it is! We live not simply in a rich society, but a society full of riches. Riches like the American spirit, a spirit that has always been about more than just money. It's about caring enough to do our best even when no one's looking. A spirit that courageously empowers the American single Mom to grab a picket sign and say to her employer, "No, you are not going to do this to me anymore." How wonderful this American labor spirit is that it will never allow itself to be slapped with the abuses of a dysfunctional, abusive work environment. Joined together, these American workers stand tall, stand powerful, stand together with grace and the dignity that self-worth brings. Only through the commonality of such injurious experiences can the mustard seed of faith sprout so tremendously.
[font=arial][color=#000000]American labor unions are the breakers by which we steadfastly hold bac

 

http://www.uniondemocracy.org/

 

A Short History of American Labor
This brief history of more than 100 years of the modem trade union movement in the United States can only touch the high spots of activity and identify the principal trends of a "century of achievement." In such a condensation of history, episodes of importance and of great human drama must necessarily be discussed far too briefly, or in some cases relegated to a mere mention.
What is clearly evident, however, is that the working people of America have had to unite in struggle to achieve the gains that they have accumulated during this century. Improvements did not come easily. Organizing unions, winning the right to representation, using the collective bargaining process as the core of their activities, struggling against bias and discrimination, the working men and women of America have built a trade union movement of formidable proportions.
Labor in America has correctly been described as a stabilizing force in the national economy and a bulwark of our democratic society. Furthermore, the gains that unions have been able to achieve have brought benefits, direct and indirect, to the public as a whole. It was labor, for example, that spearheaded the drive for public education for every child. The labor movement, indeed, has served as a force for American progress.
American Labor's Second Century
Now, in the 1980s, as the American trade union movement looks toward its second century, it takes pride in its first "century of achievement" as it recognizes a substantial list of goals yet to be achieved.
In this past century, American labor has played a central role in the elevation of the American standard of living. The benefits which unions have negotiated for their members are, in most cases, widespread in the economy and enjoyed by millions of our fellow citizens outside the labor movement. It is often hard to remember that what we take for granted-vacations with pay, pensions, health and welfare protection, grievance and arbitration procedures, holidays never existed on any meaningful scale until unions fought and won them for working people.
Through these decades, the labor movement has constantly reached out to groups in the American society striving for their share of opportunity and rewards..... to the blacks, the Hispanics and other minorities..... to women striving for jobs and equal or comparable pay . . . to those who work for better schools, for the freedom of speech, press and assembly guaranteed by the Bill of Rights ... to those seeking to make our cities more livable or our rural recreation areas more available . . . to those seeking better health for infants and more secure status for the elderly.
Through these decades, in addition, the unions of America have functioned in an economy and a technology marked by awesome change. When the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions gathered in convention in 1881, Edison had two years earlier invented the electric light, and the first telephone conversation had taken place just five years before. There were no autos, no airplanes, no radio, no television, no air conditioning, no computers or calculators, no electronic games. For our modest energy needs-coal, kerosene and candies-we were independently self-sufficient.
The labor movement has seen old industries die (horse-shoeing was once a major occupation) and new industries mature. The American workforce, once predominantly "blue collar," now finds "white collar" employees and the "grey collar" people of the service industries in a substantial majority. The workforce in big mass production industries has contracted, and the new industries have required employees with different skills in different locations. Work once performed in the United States has been moved to other countries, often at wage levels far below the American standa

 

Steve, could you put that in a nutshell for me.

Seriously, I am interested in this topic, but that is way too much for me.

mud

 

sorry mud, went off to make a point. only one real point,not right for people here to go off like some did on union people. i been union all my life,and without my dad, most of us would not have any bennies ,even today, truth : some stupid people get this notion that all unions are bad . not the truth. just like same stupid people that think all bikers are trash,etc.. bunch of rubbish,sh<t,sounds almost like easy rider days back again,only this time against unions .

damn,i think the cold and snow getting to us all,what say ? peace : fly the freak flag. oh well,off to the rack,all have a good one,summer be here soon !!!!

 

Phew - just wrote a long reply and it was so long I got logged out - just as well.

There are good unions and not so good unions, good corporations and not so good corporations. You can do away with unions once the fat cat CEO turn down their $20 mil or $200 mil salaries and outrageous severance packages for running once good companies into the ground for short term profits. It's not the working stiff lining the pockets of corrupt politicians for favors. War profiteering, corporate malfeasnace, and natural resource squandering are driving a once glorious and noble nation into the ground and turning it into the laughing stock of the rest of the world. It's not just unions! It's GREED! And there's enough of that to spread around.

 

The perception among some here is that a union worker is overpaid and underworked...Hogwash! As a former auto industry worker,i gotta say that i worked my butt off and earned every cent i made.The union kept the company{relatively} honest. I sincerely believe that we wouldn't have had half the pay/benefits we did without the union....and the company would have had a revolving door of p***poor employees without the union.Yeah,unions have gotten greedy over the years...they've learned too much from the companies. If you are nonunion and are happy with your wages and benefits...more power to ya! But don't knock someone else because they have the ***** to stand up for themselves...together...for something better.Seems to me thats what we ALL want..isn't it?

 

Yes I agree, voyager1, chipstah and Phil k. I do think that both sides need to work harder at making things more equitable, maybe less $ being paid on the top end. Why is it a Kellogg CEO, or a HD CEO receives $6 mil a year? Why is it that a CEO at a health care provider has been allowed to have a contract where if he is let go due to a merger or buyout that pays him some astronomical amount of $$? These are issues that need to be addressed when talking about why a guy, who is doing the actual labor, should or should not be paid 1/100th or less of the CEO's pay. We really need to take a good hard look at the big picture, take control of health care costs as well as these other unreasonable costs, adjust the overall payout to upper management, and then look at the working mans wage. This is all spiraling out of control and corp.s like HD, Kelloggs, GM, Ford, Walmart etc., all want the little guy to remain little while they grow and prosper off of his labors. Get rid of Nafta, Cafta, grow a set and tell the world we no longer subscribe to this unfair agreement. If it doesn't do anything positive for us then we want no part of it. These trade agreements do NO good for the USA. I aks myself often, 'whats going to be left for my grandchildren?'........

 

The perception that all unions are bad, and that all unions are a decay on our society, ect, are simply based on pure ignorance.

There are well managed shops, and poorly managed shops, but the fact remains that union influence keeps wages up for everybody, even non union, and without the unions, the middle class would have little to no rights whatsoever in the workforce.

 

well,this sumes it up. my friends locked out by a company that will not even try to end this lockout
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=1674278

soon to be one year as ppl loose homes.etc. very sad story . there is a lot more to the story here,trust me . the company wanted us to return to work with no union in tact for a year perhaps. bullcrap.
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articl...4/ai_n16777113

now,perhaps some may see why i see red : yea,i am retired from here with my 30 and out,but,they want to mess with my bennies even tho i am retired from this hell hole. not right, as this place now has scab workers. it used to be armco steel.then it was a great place to work,those days gone now . you would have to live here to really understand the big picture. why you ask, greed from the company,NOT THE UNION .