In this VICE video, there is a discussion on the why or why not workers at the Nissan plant in Canton, Mississippi should vote to allow the UAW to come into the facility. The short documentary focuses on 2 different workers at the plant to show each side of the argument. Betty Jones is an engine quality tester who is very pro-union, whereas Tony Hobson is a night shift forklift driver who is strongly against joining the UAW. Each side of the argument had many different Pro’s and Con’s they discussed in the video. The UAW used many different techniques to pitch their side of the argument. Their main point they used is that “ Unionizing the Nissan plant is the next rung in the long climb to equality for African Americans in the South”. The …show more content…
On the other side of the argument Nissan and many of the plant workers argued the exact opposite of this. The main reason workers had against the joining the union is their job security. As Tony mentioned while being interviewed, they have not had a single layoff in over 15 years. If the agree to allow the union to come into the plant the increase of having a massive layoff increases. Another Con many used against the union coming into the plant was the campaign that the UAW will turn the city and surrounding areas into Detroit. By this mean that by allowing the union to enter the plant, the city’s economy will collapse and leave many of the plant workers out of the job, just like what happened to the city of Detroit. Even the Mississippi governor tweeted something similar to this campaign to try and persuade workers to vote against the union. As mentioned in the prompt why are workers divided on whether to unionize if they all want to same thing (better benefits, better pay, better working conditions, etc.). The main reason for the split I picked up on while watching the video is that many workers do not want to change the system they have right now because they have the mentality of “if it isn’t broke, don’t try to fix …show more content…
(Insert stat of unions). According to James Sherk, a senior policy analyst in labor economics, the main reason we are seeing a declining member in unions is because unions have not adapted to the modern workplace. Many of the most powerful unions today were formed in the early to mid-1900’s when manufacturing and working in factories was popular in the job industry; whereas today, many workers are placed in offices. For example, the New York Public School system voted in 1961to organize a new union, so no one teaching today had a vote I the forming of the organization that represents them today. The landscape of the economy and workplace has changed drastically since then. Sherks states “Most employers today value employees for their skills and abilities - "human resources" - instead of seeing them as interchangeable cogs on the assembly line. Employees also expect to be rewarded for what they bring to the table”. This is the exact opposite of the purpose of a union. Unions bring everyone together as a single entity rather than individuals. Workers want to be able to work as individuals rather than groups of workers so that they can be promoted fasted because it is based on skill and knowledge rather than seniority or other way unions typically
In this chapter, it is mentioned that the United Auto Workers (UAW) was one of the largest unions in the United States, but it seems like it has been declining in the last couple of years. The traumas experienced by the auto industries in 2008-2009 required the UAW to make major concessions to help Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and GM survive. I think that the UAW hasn’t been successful in its attempts to unionize U.S. workers employed at Toyota, Nissan, and Honda plants because these employees are convinced that the benefits they are receiving are pretty good and that the union wouldn’t do any better. For example, Toyota, Nissan, and Honda plant employees feel like they are earning satisfactory wages, have adequate benefits, have satisfactory
You may think Labor Unions were bad and not a good idea because they got violent. The reason they got very violent was because nothing was being changed. They were still being treated badly and still were not earning enough money. At this point, they have fought for their rights for a long time and they were all tired of protesting.
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.
Unions in America today have grown smaller and smaller in the past 30 years. There are many reasons for this. The major one is that industries in other countries that are non-union have much cheaper labor costs, and therefore can offer products and materials at a much lower price than our US union-run, high wage cost factories. “During the 1970s and 1980s, a fifth of large unionized companies in the United States went bankrupt, unable to compete against companies with lower wage costs.” (Rachman, 308)
Unions can be understood to be both positive and negative in an organization just like everything. An employer might consider bringing unions into their organization to provide staffing for their organization when the staffing situation is in crisis. However, research shows that unions such as nurse union provide bargaining with the employer that has staffing issues a resolution to their problem which would create a positive employer look on unions (Clark, Clark, Day, & Shea, 2001). On the other hand, if the company had a union and they had staff that was not performing what was expected of them, they would have to go through a lot of hoops with the union to terminate the employee.
They have gone from one extreme to another. The unions are trying to run companies instead of protecting their members. A lot of the time they protect members that don’t deserve to be protected. They must protect the ones who have been treated wrong, not the ones who are doing wrong. Unions use to promote the fact that when you buy something union made you was buying the best. They took pride in their work and the products they produced. Now they don’t support the same principles. Union presidents should be the best employee, leading by example and setting the standard for the rest of the members. Today a lot of union presidents are the laziest employees hiding behind their union protection so they don’t have to perform their jobs to a satisfactory level. Like everything in life there needs to be balance. If we only had one political party running the country we would be completely on the left side or the right. I don’t want unions to go away but I do hope they see the big picture and take pride in their work like they once did. They must be satisfied with what is fair, not always fighting for more than they deserve until they price themselves out of
There is a proven history behind the efforts of labor union. Unions fought and succeeded in advancing the concerns of the work force as a whole. It is a testament to the efforts of labor union that even with the steady drop in membership labor unions are still able maintain safe work environment and provide good wages for members. This is impressive given that in the beginning it was the size of membership that gave the labor unions a most effective weapon in the form of a strike. Ultimately what is at stake here are our very livelihoods.
It is easy to see why companies do not want their workers to join unions. If workers join a labor union, the company will be split in half: the union vs the employer. Companies may be forced to change the way they run the things such as how much they pay their employees, how many benefits they have to provide, the safety requirements for the
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.
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.
Labor unions are an organized association of employees who come together who would all like to better the relationship with their employer. They have power to impact things such as wages, job training and other work related issues. So why would employees want to start and organize a union? Well, one reason employees would want to start a union it’s usually because employees are dissatisfied with something in their job and they would like to fix it. The ‘things’ they would like to fix could range from something as basic as wages and to job security (Hunter 1).
Being a part of a working union comes with a lot of benefits, for example, most workers that belong to a union have a better set wage than those who do not. Also, “Some 93% of unionized workers were entitled to medical benefits compared to 69% of their nonunion peers” (The pros of Joining a Labor Union). Union workers are not easily fired, they have a lot
Although at one time unions were exceptionally prevalent, people did not adhere to them in the storm of the changing economy. As a result, organized labor rapidly nosedived into the position of a more dormant influence in America. In fact, beginning in the 1950’s, union membership declined roughly 50% by the 1980’s because of numerous factors (“Labor Movement”). G. William Domhoff, a well-educated professor of sociology, gives two factors that he believes caused the decline of organized labor:
Labor Unions have had an effect of American history as well as world-wide history from the time they became popular. Following WWII Americans were predominantly pro-labor, however, as time went on union’s credibility fell short of perfect. Union strikes proved to be bothersome to both the general public and company. Unions were also suppressing to employees through fraud and lack of worker rights (in earlier years, before Acts were passed). Although Union labor had its shortcomings, this type of labor is noted to be the most productive and economically beneficial. With both sides shown, I feel Unions will again thrive in the future with a few key adjustments made.
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