Labor unions are a somewhat polarizing topic due to the fact that some have extremely good experiences with unions will others do not. Having been a member of a labor union I find that in many workplaces they are not necessary and at times do not follow through with their promises.

One of the pros of labor unions is that you are better able to negotiate pay and benefits which was something that I was not able to do although I sought it out. Another con that I experienced was that it became much more difficult to terminate employees who did not put effort into their work or didn’t come to work on scheduled days. That being said, just because my experience with a labor union was not good that doesn’t mean others have not benefitted from them.

As stated in Lecture 1 of Week 10, unionization is viewed as a solution and allows some protection against management. This is similar to what I found in my research and personal experience. While the pay side was not positive, I did find that talking to management without fear of repercussion was easier. In the same lecture it says that unions constrain what managers can and cannot do, though this was different from what I found in my research. Generally what unions allow and do not allow managers to do are things that they should or shouldn’t be doing in the first place.

Overall, I found that labor unions have a plethora of pros and cons that are viewed differently based on the values of each person and what they are looking for in a workplace. Personally I would not want to join a union again because I feel satisfied with where I work and do not need what a labor union can offer. I would only consider joining a labor union if the place I worked at did not continually raise their pay or the workplace became dangerous.

Reference:

Lecture 1 of Week 10