Guest MINDSETTER ™ John J. Tassoni Jr: The Workers’ Voice Fades Without Union Representation
Sunday, August 23, 2015
I was at a party recently when a person I had never met before barely said hello before telling me that he hated labor unions.
He clearly did not understand the true purpose of unions.
Historically, labor unions developed out of a desperate need to protect workers’ rights. Better wages, the 40-hour work week and reasonable work hours, safe working conditions, the end of child labor are a result of unions. The Labor Day holiday is a result of unions. And the list goes on.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTUnion strategy is very simple. By working men and women joining together, they can have a voice at work about what matters most in the workplace. Sick leave. Family-friendly policies. How the work gets done. A productive environment for better products and services. A strong middle class is the result of unions.
The workforce and workplace are forever evolving, and unions are meeting the needs of workers in today’s flexible and non-tradition work environments.
So why such scrutiny of labor unions?
Because workers in labor unions get a voice in the economy that they helped create, and this irritates non-unions workers and employers.
These days, many employers concentrate on growing their business and profits at what seems to be at the expense of employees. They are shirking the responsibility of providing comprehensive health insurance, pension plans or 401K plans, reasonable work hours and other safeguards.
Employers are making jobs and salaries less secure through downsizing, using more outside contractors, and sending work offshore. Made in America has been replaced by Made in Everywhere Else But America.
Now more than ever, workers need the collective voice and union bargaining power so that we don’t revert back to the working environment of the 19th century, where sweatshops, meager wages and 80-plus work weeks were the norm.
Sadly, we are more than halfway there again.
Immigrant workers are again working in sweatshop conditions thought to be long gone.
As the economy worsens, unions become more important than ever.
Though labor unions are not as prominent as they once were, they still play an important role in protecting America’s workforce. Unions and labor groups are working along with social activists to monitor and eliminate these all too familiar scenarios.
Unions also help employees bargain for wages and provide a support system against workplace discrimination.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that a typical union worker made $970 a week in 2014, compared to $763 a week made by a non-union worker. That 27 percent spread has remained relatively constant since 2000.
Unionized workers have a tendency towards higher job security than their non-unionized peers because the union makes the final decision about termination and disciplinary actions. Unionized workers also have the benefit of Union representation to advocate for them in the workplace. Today, approximately 93 percent of unionized workers have medical benefits compared to 69 percent of their non-union counterparts.
There are many advantages for the employer of having a unionized staff. Unionized workers are viewed as a more stable investment for training and time as they are bound by union contracts. And yes, there are some disadvantages, too, the first being a strike. Unionized workers must strike if the majority votes in favor of doing so, which can result in loss of income for employees, and productivity for the employer. Then there are the dues and fees, which may offset wages.
But union representatives work out these details as a part of the collective bargaining agreement with the employer.
Unfortunately, declining unionization rates mean that workers are less likely to receive good wages and be rewarded for their increases in productivity. Labor unions need to remain strong to be a prominent force in the quality of life for America’s working families.
Building power in unions means fairness for all working people and creates standards for a stronger middle class across America.
John J. Tassoni Jr. is a former senator (D-Smithfield) and publisher of Common Ground a monthly newspaper that provides relevant information to the working families and businesses of Rhode Island, and host of Common Ground Talk Radio, Mondays from 4-5 p.m. on AM Talk Radio 790, which features interactive discussion of business and union issues.
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