Many people do not realize that where unions have bargaining rights employers cannot raise wages or improve benefit plans any more than they can reduce them without of the consent of the union.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I sometimes think that unions don't understand that we live in a free society, and people have the right to not select union representation if they don't want it.
If you don't have collective agreements between unions and employers, governments have to legislate more.
Now workers should have the right to join unions. But unions should not be forced upon workers. And unions should not have the power to take money our of their members' paychecks to buy the support of politicians that are favored by the union bosses.
The reality is that no one can be forced to join a union against their will, and a union cannot take action against those who decide not to join their union.
There is nothing that says unions have a God-given right to be there. We have to work at it and make ourselves relevant to every section of the workforce.
This is the crux of the problem: because the Republicans and the right wing have been successful in almost eliminating unions, everyone else has suffered as a result.
That's what unions do. They can get money, they can get support, they can get manpower.
The unions may continue to decline, but if they do, it'll be their fault.
It has no enforceable standards to stop a union from conspiring with employers to keep another stronger union out or from negotiating contracts with lower pay and standards that members of another union have spent a lifetime establishing.
What's going on in this country? Unions stand against those trends. We've got to somehow insulate the robust American economy from this global economy that seems to want to devour our standard of living.
No opposing quotes found.