Labor Unions Are Not An Exception Essay

Labor unions were established as a way for workers’ needs and grievances to be heard by management. According to Fossum (2012), “forming a union creates a collective voice to influence change at work” (p. 7). The collective voice of workers in a union holds much more power than any single employee’s voice. It can loudly draw attention to mistreatment or abuse of workers. The organized collective voice of workers demands to be treated in a fair way by its management in terms of wages, hours, benefits, and working conditions.

A Union is a group of workers who wanted something better from their company or facility, they are called strikers. Unions benefit workers in many ways, they help get workers' rights. Unions  are formed because their working conditions are irritable. They all needed and wanted a change; Labor Unions were created to help the workers with work-related difficulties such as low pay, unsafe or unsanitary working conditions, long hours, and other situations. .

First some disclosure about myself: my mother was a strong union member for General Motors for over 32 years where she held several different offices in the union. My stepfather was a member of the local iron workers union and then a member of the union at Tinker Field Airbase. When I got out of high school I worked at General Motors wishing I could join the union. Within a year of being out of school I hired on the fire department and joined their local union where I was a member for over 22 years. Needless to say I have a long history with labor unions and the benefits they provide. I know unions have done great things for our nation and have been a counterbalance to greedy companies that take advantage of

Unions are incentivized for mobilizing citizens to engage in politics. Some join unions to gain employment. Most union members do not have prior political experience. Once they become a member, this begins to change as the union will teach the members political skills. Unions attempt to change the political identities of their members. One way they do this is by exposing their members to pro-labor situations. (Kerrissey, J., & Schofer, E., 2013) Unions are a partisan interest group that is in cooperation with the Democratic Party. This is as a result of the fact that Democrats are pro-labor and labor is the most important part of a union.

As a child, I grew up as a pro-union son of a United Auto Worker who worked 28 years in an iron foundry as a millwright. My father was also a UAW shop steward just like his father had been before he took over that position. Often I found myself sitting around my families' kitchen table at meetings between my dad and various union members as they worked to improve their work conditions and to provide a livable wage to its employees. This union was a family who had everyone's backs to improve everyone and was always willing to fight to get it. The UAW

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

Unions have been an essential element in the progression of our nation through making the work environment safer, increasing the pay for workers, and insuring that health and retirement benefits are preserved. The basic idea behind Unions is to put together all the different needs and opinions of the people and make it into one unified voice that brings people struggling to an area of financial security and stability with additional benefits.My relationship to the Union and Labor movement is that my mother is a follower of it. My mother being a follower in the force has affected me greatly in terms of my stability at home and mentally. I don't have to worry about her in regards health, financial stability, and benefits. This is done great

Unions have a way of having pros and cons, which working in the union is either good or bad. Not everyone likes or supports the union, but there are those who demand to have a job in the union. Over the times of history, unions were very big but have started to decrease in time. If you work in a job setting that might be a manufacturing job or government job it’s good to have the union supporting you. You don’t always think the union will have your back but never underestimate that you job is secure, which having a union job or not, your chances of losing a job is always possible. After working in a position that was a union job, I can agree to some facts that the unions are good for representing you, but sometimes

​Are you guaranteed a pension after your retirement? Union workers are more likely assured a pension when they choose to go into retirement. Union jobs allow for a secure life for single parent homes with children that need a stable job and good benefits. Union jobs allow for higher wages for employees. Union members have the benefit to join as a collective power and go on strike if they feel things are going wrong or unfair in their business.

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.

Joining this union meant a greater weekly income (than that of an un-unionized worker) that allows my father to fully support my family and me. It also meant better benefits as well, like health insurance that includes my brother

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.

Lastly, unions improve working conditions and rights of the employees. In the past, workers had to go through harsh working conditions such as dangerous workplace and long hours of shift with a low wage. With having the unions around, they were able to improve these problems. When a demand isn’t met, a unionized worker can tell the union their issue’s and the union will handle it by talking with the employers. Most often the rights of the employees aren’t really protected because the employers take advantage of them. “Research has shown convincingly that unions have played a significant role in enforcing these laws and ensuring that workers are protected… Unions make a substantial and measurable difference in the implementation of labor laws.

The average labour union represents its membership by negotiating on pay standards, benefits, and safety and security issues. Benefits of belonging to a Union Joining a union has many of its advantages. As a union member, employee has a collective voice regarding pay and wages, work hours, retirement benefits, health insurance etc. Generally, union members receive more benefits and higher wages than

My own reflections on Unions, I come from a family of union works, my mother was a union representative. My son, sister and her husband are in the hospitality union which is SEIU Union. And my husband who tried to organize a union where he was employed at that time. As I speak, my sister just went back to work, because they were in contract negotiations with her place of employment. I was in the most powerful union of all to me the Teamsters, now that I have, change careers into management, when I was employed at University of Illinois.as an retail supervisor. I was not eligible to join the union. Therefore, I had to learn the guide line of this big humongous book ;( to me. About SEIU Union laws. An extra note while I was there they did strike. The question is? why labor unions are formed?