The pros and cons to labor unions in the US

Labor unions play a huge role in the construction industry today, but the biggest question revolving unions is that are they worth the dues and restrictions? In every job site that I have been on, required every trade to be union in order to receive the work for that project. This was required because of prevailing wages and the push for workers to have health benefits attached with them. Unions provide great benefits to employees because they promote higher wages and better benefits than non-union companies. This is because they are more structured on pay by the hour rather than pay per the job. Another benefit from unions is that they provide better worker protection. For example, firing an employee as a union requires a much more in detail process than non-unions where they can fire employees at will. In a union, there has to be a just cause to every firing and there must be evidence of wrong doing. Although these benefits seem amazing for unions, there are a couple disadvantages that employees in unions deal with. One of the main cons they face is the dues and fees that come with the union. These dues have been increasing every year for the last 10 years and is something to consider before joining unions. Typically, dues can be around 2% of an employees pay check on top of tax. Another significant disadvantage of unions is the difficulty to be promoted within. Since these unions are very oriented in experience, this makes it hard for younger workers to be promoted and receive a wage increase compared to non-union. Overall, I support unions in the construction industry mainly because of the protection that it provides to employees. Construction is a hard enough industry, so providing workers with higher pay and benefits is generally a step in the right direction.

References:

https://www.hrexchangenetwork.com/hr-compensation-benefits/articles/pros-and-cons-of-labor-unions