Labor unions have played a critical role throughout working history. Without the development of labor unions we would still be working in unsafe conditions long, grueling hours for little pay. Despite this, some people think that the value that labor unions pay today is more negative than positive.
The positives backing the benefits of labor unions are invaluable. For example, according to “Environmental Conscience”, labor unions aims to help worker protections, increase benefits and increase flexibility for workers, create more bargaining power for workers, provide higher wages and finally promote equality among workers. In times of economic crisis of which we are in right now, labor unions are increasingly important in providing worker protections.
Labor unions place disadvantages on both the worker and employer as well. For workers, labor unions often have high fees that suck up a portion of your paycheck. For the employer, they have to pay higher wages as negotiated by the worker representatives and be at risk of a strike. Unions also make it difficult to fire employees who are ineffective, increased costs and also having to pay a skilled negotiator to bargain wages and benefits for employees.
I would generally say that I’m pro-union, however I’ve had only one experience with labor unions and my experiences has not place them in a good light. During my time as a CCK clerk at Fred Meyer, we had very heavy union fees every two week that felt like a massive garnishment on our wages. For example, our union fees were $80 dollars every two weeks for every employee. This meant that 80$ was sucked out of our paycheck 26 times a year. Working there as a high school, I often had weeks where all I could work was 8 hours. I remember one week where I had to take time off and then only ended up working 8 hours over two week pay period. My pacycheck for working 8 hours ended up being $3 and some change. It felt wrong. It especially felt wrong because we recieved no benefits whatsoever, had the mos dangerous job in the store, and made 10 cents an hour above minimum wage. What was I paying the labor union for?
Unions are a backbone of protecting worker rights, ensuring safe working conditions and securing equality in the workplace. Although my personal experience hasn’t been this, I think that unions generally serve more good than harm, and I would like to be part of one one day to challenge my negative experience.
Work Cited:
29 Key Pros & Cons of Labor Unions. E&C. (2021, August 8). Retrieved December 4, 2021, from https://environmental-conscience.com/labor-unions-pros-cons/.
McNicholas, R. • B. C. (n.d.). Why unions are good for workers-especially in a crisis like covid-19: 12 policies that would boost worker rights, safety, and wages. Economic Policy Institute. Retrieved December 4, 2021, from https://www.epi.org/publication/why-unions-are-good-for-workers-especially-in-a-crisis-like-covid-19-12-policies-that-would-boost-worker-rights-safety-and-wages/.
