What is the Point of Unions?

So unions don't like to compete... Interesting.
And if others can and are willing do it for less, get government to make it illegal... Got it.

 

"Lack of employer contributions"

Are they refusing to pay what was agreed for them to pay? Are they failing to live up to what they agreed to do? How is it the employers fault? Not seeing that connection.

"New organizational efforts are white paper"

Guess they are learning from the possible down sides to offering a defined benefit. One can either hope and trust that there will be something there to pay out or maybe take the funds under your control and live on the defined contribution side instead of the defined benefit side of retirement.

 

This all started with a senator and a congressman who were trying to protect their constituents from low wage boomers from the deep south from coming up north and depressing wages. So they wrotethe Davis Bacon Act.

 

Yup... Just like I said... LOL

 

Join the union or be unemployed? Doesn't that sound just a bit like force to you? Especially when the employer doesn't want a closed shop but is forced to by law.

 

No, because noone's forcing anyone to work there. A person can always go somewhere else to work, someplace that isn't union.

 

Absolutely nothing. But that isn't what unions do. Unions use force, either directly or through bought politicians, to coerce employers into paying their member more than they are worth. And they use force to prevent fair competition from non-union workers. They use threats of violence and threats of legal action by partisan government agencies, then with a straight face call it "bargaining".

Get rid of David-Bacon, Norris-La Guardia, Taft-Hartley, and the Wagner Act. Gid rid of the various state level closed shop laws. Then, by all means, bargain away.

 

Nope. In most industries that means finding a different career, not just a different job. In union states there are trades where you join the union or you don't work. Didn't you see the news article yesterday about men sleeping in the streets for a chance to sign up to become a plumber's apprentice in New York. The union owns the law and you can't legally work as a plumber if you aren't in the union.

 

Oh wow... You mean that the Right to Work movement started in the 40s and 50s?

Learn something new today.
Thanks for sharing.

 

Which local are you based out of? Different locals have different initiation fees.
Local 401 I think I was paying about $55 a week in dues. Now that I'll be switching over to Local 463 out of Philadelphia I think my dues are about the same but the Initiation fee would have been much higher out of the Philadelphia local than the crappy local 401.