Unions: The Double-Edged Sword

The company that I have been with for the last 6+ years, I have been in a union for the entire time. I must say, up until this summer, I was a huge fan of being in a union. I felt protected, I felt like I was paid appropriately, and I have great benefits. However, when my company was facing mass layoffs, I learned quickly that the Union can get in the way of making the best choices when it came to laying off people. I always knew that working in a union was a double-edged sword, but never really experienced quite like this summer. Instead of laying off the people who were poor performers, or the people who were most detrimental to the state budget, by our contract, the lay off list was ONLY based on seniority. This is consistent as what was noted in our week 10 Lecture 1: Introduction to Labor Relations. I have to admit, if the layoffs go through with my company, then we will lose true assets to the company. These people are very hard workers, smart, and dedicated. On the flip side, you have employees who are incredibly lazy, do not perform, and are an all-around morale killer, but since they have 20-30 years in the union, they are untouchable. Another issue I have with the union is if they got everything they wanted (I know this would never happen) the state would be bankrupt. The reason it bothers me is it reinforces the negativity around unions.

After saying all this, I am still thankful for my union. I believe that they are fighting for my best interest, even though at times it may not feel that way. I have great benefits, great pay, and outside of this budget mess with my company, I feel very secure with my job. know a lot of people dislike paying union dues, however I have opted into paying my dues, as thanks for fighting for my rights.