Option 1: Labor Unions

Labor unions are a controversial topic, at least in the US; to dive deeper into labor unions, we will start with the pros. The pros of labor unions include providing worker protections, unions promote higher wages and better benefits, unions are economic trend setters, and political organizing is easier. The cons of labor unions include: unions require dues and fees that some workers don’t want to pay, labor unions discourage individuality, unions make it harder to promote or terminate workers, and unions can drive up costs. I currently do not know anyone in a labor union, but have only heard negative things about it. The materials I learned in this week’s lecture contrast to the research I have done online regarding the jobs the highest unionization rates occur in. I found online that mostly manufacturing jobs, construction jobs, and telecommunication are involved in labor unions; meanwhile in lecture the highest unionization rates are in protective service occupations, education, training, and library occupations. My key takeaways regarding labor unions is there are both positives and negatives; I think overall the negatives outweigh the positives and it really comes down to whether or not a company’s culture is ripe for unionized workers. I also found in my online research that union workers are not very diversified, although it has become better with time. I personally would not want to join a union due to all the negative aspects discussed above, and it has never been something I have been interested in involving myself in. The only thing that would make me consider joining/supporting a union is if I didn’t receive a well deserved/earned pay raise in a long amount of time, and the working conditions were becoming increasingly poor. 

References:

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

https://aflcio.org/what-unions-do