Are you jealous of workers that belong to unions?

[senseandsensibility]

Every Labor Day, since I joined DU I've tried to start a thread thanking unions for worker protections. I've asked the administrators to run a banner on the front page thanking workers or saying "Happy Labor Day." After all, Labor Day is not just any holiday. It's a progressive holiday, paid for by the blood of workers throughout history.

But I rarely get more than ten responses, and of those, several are negative. Some posters complain that they have no union protection, and seem to resent those that do. In a way, this is understandable.

HOWEVER, unions fight for more than just their membership. Thanks to unions, all workers have paid vacation, paid overtime, paid sick leave, forty hour work weeks and more.

Instead of being jealous, ORGANIZE!! Support unionized workers even if you don't belong to a union. The unions have given to all workers; it's time we all give something back. If we don't, unions may disappear in our lifetime and America will be a very different place for YOU, whether you belong to a union or not.

[OzarkDem]

1. Very true

It seems workers feel to intimidated to organize these days. Lets hope more of them find a way to organize.

[More Than A Feeling]

2. Once the Employee Free Choice Act gets passed

(which all Democratic presidential candidates have pledged to do) there will be no need to be jealous: everyone who wants a union will be able to get one.

[liberal N proud]

3. Not really, but I am lucky

I work for a company that gives it's people what they need and treats them very well. The people have no reason to unionize here. I am now in management anyway.

I have been in a union and the union was even responsible for saving my job from a crooked supervisor. Those who have union representation where it is necessary are lucky as compared to those who should have it but don't.

[Sukie1941]

4. My best jobs have been union jobs

One was at a Fred Meyer store in Portland, Oregon (variety store) and the other was with the State of Oregon (Oregon Public Employees Union) at my university job.

Best salary, best benefits, best medical/dental....in fact when I retired in 1997 it was from the state job and thank gosh I have those benefits today.

[trashcanistanista]

5. Yes

Most of the workers in the place I work are unionized and I am in the one department that is not. They receive much better benefits and have easier working conditions. Attempts to unionize or discuss organizing in my department are solid grounds for dismissal. We are threatenend regulalry with suspension and dismissal for even the slightest infraction or error.

[theNotoriousP.I.G.]

6. Not in the least

Everyone should be union as far as I am concerned!

[BlooInBloo]

7. DU isn't a union-friendly place. Here's to unions!

:toast:

[HereSince1628]

11. I suspect that isn't really true about DU, and here's to the good things Unions do!

[theoldman]

8. I think unions are very necessary in some companies.

Some companies are smart and provide better benefits than companies with union workers but this is the exception rather than the rule. A hundred years ago when there were no unions the workers were treated like slaves. However I do not like an area where the unions dominate everything. Here in Texas we have a good balance. Remember that you can never make everyone happy.

[eridani]

37. If the threat of unionization weren't hanging over the better behaved companies--

--what do you thin your current benefits would be like?

[JustAnotherGen]

9. The Company I work for

Has great benes and treats its' people well . . . we have no need for a union. Although :rofl: many of us in the mid-level who don't get a guaranteed 40 hour week (most of my peers and I work between 60 and 80 on average) would love to have those demands on our time we reduced. The people that work in our stores though? They get paid well, commissions, health care (includes vision and ental), 40 hour weeks, regularly scheduled breaks . . . etc. etc.

I'm in telecom and many many people I work with had GC or MCI turn on them when the telecom bubble burst so it's nice to work for a company where I can see my Senior and Executive Management team in the building at 8:00 p.m. WITH me.


But I feel nothing but happiness for those in unions who don't have to put in those kinds of hours to put a roof over their head. They are so lucky! :smile:

[B Calm]

20. What is the average yearly salary for a new hire in?

[Ishoutandscream2]

10. Well, I'll thank the unions now

As I remind my fellow workers in this "right to work state," if you like your 5 day work weeks and benefits and holidays, then thank the unions. We wouldn't have these advantages without them.

[pop goes the weasel]

12. nope

I'm jealous of people who live in states that don't have right to work laws!

[B Calm]

21. Oh yes, the right to work for LESS states...

[Popol Vuh]

13. Thank You

And THANKS HARRY! (Harry Bridges).

I am a 15yr member of ILWU local 13 Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor and we do work hard not to just help ourselves receive fair wages, benefits and a safe working environment. But we also have a long history of working hard to support others organize all around the world for the same. We've help and continue to help others form unions. We've also help labor friendly political leaders in their time of need.

I am proud to a member of the ILWU and to have participated in helping others struggle for labor justice. Today lets remember the Unions.. :thumbsup:

[Robbien]

14. In answer to your question, no. But it is a positive no.

No I am not jealous, I am proud of each and every one. Each Union member is standing between what America was once and could be again and what kind of country the elites want to make us become.

I admire Union members. Not jealous of what they have, but admire what they are trying to defend.

[nashville_brook]

15. no unions for us wrist-mangled graphic designers

we're expected to work 60-hour weeks whenever an account executive has a pitch or deliverable -- and NO, we don't enjoy the commission that the AE makes (we just do ALL THE WORK). we're expected to come in an hour before anyone else and stay to lock up. we're expected to take work home and we have ZERO job security. if a client walks away, we're the first to be screwed.

so yes, i REALLY envy folks with union protection.

[senseandsensibility]

19. Sometimes jealousy is healthy

I hope it spurs you and your fellow graphic designers to organize. I don't mean to sound snarky, and I know it wouldn't be easy, but I really believe it's the only answer. Happy Labor Day to you!

[hfojvt]

16. yes and no

Post Gompers unions are kinda sold out. Unions typically seem to strike and agitate for better wages for union workers. 'More' for them, but what about the rest of the working class? I worked in a union plant - as a janitor and as a temp. Can unions not do anything for other workers in union plants? The Kraft plant where I worked as a temp for three years. There was some talk about starting a union there (and the company brought in a group to give a presentation for two hours about 'why you don't want or need a union'. I did not see the presentation, I stayed on the floor working while they went to it.) The union would have been for them, people who had jobs that I wanted. It would have done nothing for us temps.

On the other hand, there is no organization which does as much on working class issues as the unions. So :toast: :patriot: :applause:

[senseandsensibility]

17. Hey, I already got more than ten replies

and not one is negative? :toast: :toast: :toast: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :party: :party: Also, thanks for the five recs. We made the greatest page with a pro-labor thread on Labor Day! I call that progress.

[durrrty libby]

18. I have fond memories of the AFLCIO. It was a great few years

Then I went and got my nursing degree and have never come close to

those amazing Union benefits

Cheers to Unions :toast: :party: :toast:

[stillcool]

22. I worked in the hotel/restaurant business...

for ages. No union, no benefits, and really no pay. Often at the end of the pay week, I would owe the house money because of tips given on credit cards. We had to pay the 5% the credit card companies charged the restaurant to use the card. When the 5% amount of the tips, exceeded the miserable hourly wage, we had to pay the house. Somehow at the end of the year I owed taxes. Never did figure that out. I often chose to work for nothing...just tips....everyone was happy.

[cui bono]

23. Go Unions!

Glad to be in one.

:toast:

[smoogatz]

24. Not jealous; supportive.

As unions go in this country, so goes the middle class. When the last labor union turns out the lights and locks the door in this country, we will all be thoroughly and completely screwed.

I do wish the state govt. here in Wisconsin would get its head out of its ass and change the law that prohibits UW system faculty from unionizing (that's right--we're prevented from unionizing by state freakin' law). Virtually all other state employees in Wisconsin are unionized, but not us. The result is that our standard of living, benefits and job security are being slowly whittled away, while our workloads increase incrementally every year. Give me half a chance to unionize and I'd sign up in a heartbeat.

[Fla_Democrat]

25. No

Had a chance to join them, and didn't like what they had to offer.

1-1 on 1-1, solidarity, brothers. :rofl:

[philly_bob]

26. Absolutely. Not just for my wages and benefits, but for the society.

When labor unions have political power, they support good education and infrastructure and defend the separation of church and state.

Unions also offer an alternative route to power for the young; better lean and hungry young union leaders than lean and hungry Young Republicans and Gordon Gekkos, as we have seen.

[Wiley50]

27. Yes, Always Have. I was a Floor coverer for 30 years

Carpet, Sheet vinyl, tile, wood

And I was paid as a sub-contactor by the carpet stores I worked for

I had the responsibility of furnishing my own truck, tools, supplies, helpers, everything.

I picked up the goods at the store, transported it to the job,moved the furniture out

took up the old floor and hauled it away, installed the new goods and moved the furniture back.

I had no benefits at all and even had to sign a Workman's Comp waiver and work without it.

For this I was paid $1.75 a square yard (9 Sq Ft) in 1973 when I started.

By the '80's I managed to get a raise to $2.00 a sq yd.

Not until the late '90's did I make it up to $3.00 sq yd.

During this same period, the price that the carpet stores sold carpet for increased over 800%

I was always told that if I didn't like what I was being paid, they could get mexicans or some inexperienced kid who would.

And they could and I watched it happen many times.

By the early '90's, I was in increasing pain from doing the work and slowly was increasingly able

to turn out less and less sq yds, until by the late '90's, I could only do 1 room jobs instead of whole houses.

But I had no medical coverage and couldn't afford the specialists and imaging to tell me what was wrong.

In 1999, I remarried and became covered under my wife's group policy.

Turns out I have severe degenerative disk disease with chronic progressive nerve damage and am now disabled.

But I had no Workman's Comp coverage and got behind on paying my taxes the last 5 years, so no SSDI either.

I finally got SSI after 3 1/2 years and a lawyer.


So, Yes, I am quite jealous of those that have union jobs, but I bear them no ill will.

In '04, I volunteered at my county Dem Hq for three months. My county includes Spring Hill, TN Home of Saturn.

So, the county party is heavily populated with UAW members. I absolutely loved how hard they worked together.

[senseandsensibility]

33. It's great that you bear the union workers no ill will

I'm just sorry that you had to go through non-union hell for so many years. Did you ever try to join a union? I know that union jobs are not falling off trees, but back in the eighties there were still some that my friends mangaged to get into right out of high school. Of course, it helped to know someone. Glad to hear you're doing better, now. Happy Labor Day, Wiley!

[KitSileya]

28. As a fourth-generation union member,

I am not jealous of union members, I am one myself. In fact, I think it's pretty much only CEOs and business majors who disdain unions, everyone else take them for granted (not to mention, employers have organized too.) It is quite amazing what labor unions have accomplished here in Norway - compared to the US, we've got a worker's paradise. We've achieved a 40 hour work week, paid maternity leave, 5 weeks paid vacation, worker's protection, salary negotiations - the list is quite long. That doesn't mean that we don't have some trouble areas, and that we don't have to strike, but at least we have protection should we go on strike. Our government can't pull a Ronnie Reagan on us. I can't help but think that the fact that we celebrate Labor Day on May 1st may have something to do with it.

[Kansas Wyatt]

29. I just ran into someone last night who had some misconceptions of belonging to a union

She thought that union members are lazy, get everything handed to them, and they never have to worry about losing their job.

I said, no, we have to do a better job, work harder, and be more productive to compete with the non-union side, otherwise we are out of work, which meant that we do not receive any contributions to our benefits either. She said, but the union guarantees your job. I said, either I work harder and better than the non-union side or I am out of work, because my company cannot compete for business, and there is nothing the union can do about that.

She just could not grasp the fact that union members work hard and have to be productive to earn what they are paid.

[robinlynne]

30. excellent! Yes I'm jealous of union benefits. But very very glad they exist.

Our greatgrandparents knew what to fight for.

[lonestarnot]

31. Scabs have no conscience, jealousy is a way of life.

[Stargleamer]

32. SEIU is good. . .

but I'm more envious as to what the International Longshore and Warehouse Union has been able to accomplish for their members. It's harder being a govt. employee with no ability to strike, but SEIU does what it can.

[Ratty]

34. Not too long ago we voted on it

We voted to join a union but it didn't pass. I ended up voting to join but I admit to feeling ambiguous. On the one hand we enjoy a great deal of flexibility without union restrictions. Even non-union workers have great health plans (which I'm very glad to have just recently) and enjoy significant legal protections (I work for the state). I realize that those benefits I enjoy are the result of unions, even though I'm not personally represented. I've also come up against some very frustrating barriers when trying to hire union employees, which, frankly, were the result of abuse by our own administrators so it's hard to feel angry about it. A relative recenty became very disappointed in her own union when she needed it. It was clear that they had the union's best interests at heart rather than an individual member and I think this happens a lot and it's not surprising really. You find ladder climbers everywhere, people whose main purpose in life is to advance their careers at the expense of everybody else. Even people who work for a union.

But in the end though I voted to join because, despite my relative's experience, it can be very nice to have a union at your back when you really need it. That kind of security is worth losing a bit of flexibility. I can't say unions are perfect and that they don't have their own problems and abuses but I support them, particularly now when they are under such a concerted attack.

[in_cog_ni_to]

35. Jealous? Nope! My father was a Union Member, Steel Workers Union, and

that job is what gave us a pretty darn good life. A house, food on the table, clothes on our backs and enough money to pay the bills. Unions MADE this country.

Happy Labor Day!:hi: Unions ROCK!:yourock:

[Coexist]

36. You will get only support from me - read this if you have time

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/FLDem5/125

its my Union household story. I have decent teeth and great health thanks to Unions. I had my Dad home in the evenings and on weekends thanks to Unions. We had a small, but decent house thanks to Unions.

[KillCapitalism]

38. K&R Happy Labor Day to all workers union or non-union! n/t

[senseandsensibility]

39. Thanks for the support, DU!

And I sincerely hope everyone had a good Labor Day!

[DarkTirade]

40. I'm not part of the union at my job

but I sure as hell appreciate the benefits and job security they give me.

[ret5hd]

42. Do you mean you COULD join but choose not to?

[DarkTirade]

45. I mean when I first got the job I was in such desperate straights

that I couldn't afford the 5 dollars a month it would have taken.

And now that I've been there a while I can afford the five dollars a month, but not the start-up fee that it would require that I wouldn't have had to pay when I first started.

And I'd thank you not to jump to conclusions about someone you don't know.

[ret5hd]

46. So now asking questions is "jumping to conclusions"!!!

:rofl: you kill me man. You jump to conclusions about a question i asked, accusing me of jumping to conclusions, and then you VERIFY the very conclusion i jumped to!

[diane in sf]

41. I think the citizens of the US should have a general union, instead of making

the union specific to the job. This would be more in the European tradition and could take on health care, minimum wage, vacation time, etc.

I teach at two universities. One is unionized and one is not. My salary at the uninionized one is 70% higher, I have Kaiser HMO largely paid for by them and some retirement benefits. My other has some retirement benefits, but no health care.

[Marrah_G]

43. We all need to strengthen the power of the unions.

[senseandsensibility]

47. amen to that.

:)

[noonwitch]

44. Union workers generally have good health care, too-I do

I have Blue Care Network, which covers almost everything.

[Snarkturian Clone]

48. Fuck yeah with a cherry on top!

I'm a unionless teacher (Charter School). I'd get paid about 15% more and my job would be more secure, I wouldn't have to worry every year that the school will drop me just to save money.