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Unions exist to improve the lives of workers and provide more work opportunities for their members, not necessarily improve the organizations said workers are e

Unions exist to improve the lives of workers and provide more work opportunities for their members, not necessarily improve the organizations said workers are employed by. Unions are responsible for some of the benefits we tend to take for granted - weekends, 8 hours workdays, corporate healthcare, retirement plans, etc. At the same time, any organization with power can become corrupt, or at least have its interests diverge. Some examples that come to mind are the myriad of stories my mom tells me about working as a teacher. One thing that annoyed her to no end was the IT labor union at her school. Teachers, even ones with technical skills, were forbid from touching any of the computers (even so much as plugging keyboards back in if students unplugged them). When computer Labs were being set up, one worker would put in all the computers, but a separate worker would come in the plug them in. Seriously, they'd come in for two hours to attach power cables. However, when the school started 'not renewing contracts' after 3 years of continuous employment but then 'rehiring' after a month, so that teachers wouldn't get tenure, the union got the school to stop. The union's power base came mainly from holding the school hostage - you 'couldn't' work there without joining the teachers union, else the union would have the teachers strike...

aksss 7y ago
I got the crap grieved out of me (well mgmt and my teams) multiple times over work protection and “past practice” issues. Won most of them, but it’s a good example of how I can understand the theory, but how the practice doesn’t support a nimble work force, evolution of skills, responsiveness, etc. plus the union habit of eating their young during layoffs means the codgers are the ones sticking around. Like, the company has a mission and it will die if we do not do a good job at it. We don’t have time to wait for crap like finding the computer plug-in guy. I think much of that stuff can be put back on management for not being involved and educated enough in crafting equitable bargaining agreements. It takes a lot, lot, lot of management involvement to get a good one, and you can’t just rely on counsel and execs, but you often need a lot of middle managers providing input on daily operations to avoid situations like the one you describe. Most private companies, much less public sector organizations, don’t put that kind of forethought into their agreements.

aksss 7y ago

I got the crap grieved out of me (well mgmt and my teams) multiple times over work protection and “past practice” issues. Won most of them, but it’s a good example of how I can understand the theory, but how the practice doesn’t support a nimble work force, evolution of skills, responsiveness, etc. plus the union habit of eating their young during layoffs means the codgers are the ones sticking around. Like, the company has a mission and it will die if we do not do a good job at it. We don’t have time to wait for crap like finding the computer plug-in guy. I think much of that stuff can be put back on management for not being involved and educated enough in crafting equitable bargaining agreements. It takes a lot, lot, lot of management involvement to get a good one, and you can’t just rely on counsel and execs, but you often need a lot of middle managers providing input on daily operations to avoid situations like the one you describe. Most private companies, much less public sector organizations, don’t put that kind of forethought into their agreements.