Arguments Against Unions

The document outlines the pros and cons of labor unions in America. The analysis takes into consideration how unions have improved the working environments for workers, and may continue to do so. The paper considers the power of unions for net social benefit, including the role they play in lobbying lawmakers, using collective bargaining to advocate for employees, and the prevention of abuse and discrimination. The cons of labor unions are also addressed. These drawbacks to labor unions include but are not limited to: decline in competitive advantage for American companies, corruption, potential decrease in productivity, possible reduction in employee motivation, and increased inefficiencies.

     The past of Unions is indisputable; however, the outlook can be altered to form a promising future. The reversal of history can be done through reconstruction and restatement of workers rights. A reestablishment of worker liberties should be considered in order to clarify any confusion in which present and prospective employees are faced with. Unions are notorious for being tyrannical and inconsiderate towards employees and thus union heads should confront this issue head on and give workers a voice (i.e. vote). In order to regain union strength in today’s society I believe Unions must give workers honorable rights and a democratic right to be heard.

The role of unions and their importance has changed over the years. A mixture of poor wages, high unemployment, non-existent benefits and insignificant professional stability amongst the more youthful era makes a ready demographic for restoration. The younger era is the slightest unionized section of our general public today by a long shot. Unions are important in today’s society because checks and balances are necessary entities in business and government, so if CEOs are just focusing on themselves and profits, unions are a necessary check to all that corporate power. Today and in the future, labor unions will continue to play an important role in our country 's work force and the quality of life for working families.

Unions do provide a lot of good services to its members, such as higher wages, better hours, more benefits, and safer working conditions. There is a price to pay for these services, though. Every union requires its members to pay dues, whether they are in the form of a percentage of each paycheck, or a flat rate. The money form dues goes towards lobbying politicians to pass union-friendly legislation, or better labor laws. The money also finances officers in the union organization, who are the ones calling the shots, as far as labor negotiations are concerned.

“Unions are no longer beneficial in our society because today we have so many laws protecting the rights of workers. In the 19th and early 20th century the workers of America had virtually no rights and were unable to improve their work conditions, salary, etc. With the arrival of unions, the state of the common laborer greatly improved. But today, with so many laws ensuring the rights of employees, unions are doing more harm than good. For example, many analysts believe that union's demand for so many raises and benefits for the auto industry workers has driven it into the ground, so they are no longer able to compete with other countries.” (Nett, 2014).

Labor unions can be viewed as unjust and immoral because of the actions they choose to take against their employers and employees. Labor unions seem to help their employees on the outside but in the long run, end up preventing them from doing things individually. There are many other industries that have high paying wages without being in a union. I am

Should prerogatives at the local or national level take higher priority when negotiating new agreements with employers? In my opinion, as long as the new deals are made in a collective bargaining; process that allows workers to face employers in unified groups, then prerogatives at the local or national level should not take the higher priority. Ideally, unionized labor is primarily meant to take care of the typical employee. Unions protect workers; by uniting them under a single union banner, to allow them to listen to one clear voice concerning the working conditions or other worker-related issues.Notably, Unions commonly have political agendas or other plans that need attention. Specifically, national unions often pass their political agendas by prioritizing the needs of those at localized levels.

Working is a necessity for life. Everyone has to work in some way to get money so they can live. With work being such a universal thing, there are bound to be some issues with it. Unions have come into question about whether they are necessary or not. In my opinion, unions should stay a part of the workplace. They tend to bring workers together to make their lives better at work. Unions have many ways to get what they want from companies, and negotiating is the most common practice. The main functions of unions are to help organize workers and bargain. With organization, workers can fight for better wages, hours, and conditions.

If unions are that beneficial to workers, why the increasing decline? Several reasons come into play. One issue being, there has been a rapid growth within particular categories, such as women. There are more women currently in the labor force, who are more prone to working sporadically and half the time compared to others. Secondly, there has been a decline in union’s actively engaging new members, as well as their being a steady increase in the employer’s unwillingness to take part in unionization attempts. Additionally, because society has shifted from unionized corporations with a manufacturing-based economy to a service-based economy has made it more difficult to unionize. Although, there have been uncontrollable and controllable forces that have led to the decreasing popularity of unions, they have still managed to make up for it in vital areas, such as wages, benefits, working conditions, and others. Whether or not individuals view labor unions as positive or negative organizations, they will always matter.

Everyone’s participation and contribution would make the union more successful. Union’s need people, the more that join the better the benefits, the cost would be less if all employees joined spreading the cost between more people. Members could get much more if there were more members. In order to get more benefits from the union there has to be more members join the union. If all the non-members felt this way there would be no union to negotiate and speak for the members when there are complaints. Non-members and the employer are always against the union at negotiations. They ae admitting the demands formed by the union are not appropriate, and the non-members are not allowed advancements in wages or working environments. The thing to do is join with the members and help make advancement probable. Supporting the union is every member’s responsibility to share equally the cost of the benefits. It is not fair to the members if the non-members receive benefits that the members pay for (SPFPA.org, 2015).

Unions always seeks to compress the differential of wages and salaries, meaning provide a better allocation of funds either in terms of direct compensation or in regards to benefits and other non-cashable perks. Unions try decrease any pay gap between its members and exclude any aspects such as age, gender, seniority and experience to work as a factor to which set a wage or an individual salary, but yet work to create a fair allocation of funds and compensation throughout its members, but why does this matter?

The rise of capitalism as the dominant economic system in the United States made the rise of unions inevitable; given the natural division between those with capital that control the means of production, and labor, who is treated simply as another factor of production (Hodson & Sullivan, 2008). While labor unions have made significant improvements to the working environment, with the regulation of safety, environment, labor and wage; labor unions have also contributed to the decline of U.S. dominance in industries like steel, automotive, education and airlines. In today’s global economy, can labor unions continue to be a force for good in the United States, or have they become harmful institutions?

In conclusion, I have found that I both agree and disagree with labor unions. I think they can be very beneficial but also very limiting. I think that the right to work movement is a great opportunity for a lot of workers and businesses to be able to escape some of the cons of unions. Labor unions can be tough but they can be helpful, because of them people can more easily speak out about issues as a group rather than individually, but because of some issues in each union, the right to work movement was created as a

The National Labor Relations Act was enacted by congress in 1935 in order to define and defend the rights of the employment relationship. The act allows employees of a company the right to form a union and have the union organization represent them through collective bargaining. Collective bargaining is the process of negotiation between both parties; Union representatives and a corporation, with the purpose of reaching an agreement for the best interests of employees and the corporation. In the negotiation process the attempt is to establish primary factors of importance which are advantages the union fights for and ultimately provide for its stakeholders that would otherwise not have

The relationship between unions and organization is a touchy one. Dating back to the start of unionization in the 19th century, the two bodies have held opposing viewpoints. Unionization was formed from the opinion that organizations took advantage of workers and some form of a negotiating agreement was needed. There were documented events of workers working long taxing hours for insignificant pay; no healthcare coverage; dangerous working conditions; and gender and or racial discrimination. Companies believed that unionization caused less productivity which endangered profits. Companies also believed that unions interfere in daily processes, and limits the employer’s say over compensation and benefits. The