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Let's stipulate to the first sentence of your comment (and ignore everything that comes after it). If you're adding value to an organization, you shouldn't need
by kenko 14y ago
Let's stipulate to the first sentence of your comment (and ignore everything that comes after it). If you're adding value to an organization, you shouldn't need a contract.
Wonderful! There you are, being a positive influence on your organization, knowing that you shouldn't need a contract. But! Suppose some manager doesn't recognize that you're being a positive influence? Or just wants to throw his weight around? Certainly, a person in a position of power who wants to throw his weight around shouldn't target someone who's a benefit to his organization. But perhaps he's perverse, or doesn't care, or views you as a threat, or (again) has made a mistake in his estimation of who's "adding value" and who isn't. You shouldn't need a contract in part because your superiors shouldn't do that kind of thing. But hey! They might do it anyway! The wonderful thing about being contract-free, or in an at-will employment state (i.e. almost any state) is that there's no such thing as wrongful termination and you have no recourse if you're fired---"but I was adding value!", in particular, is not going to be effective. In this sublunary world, you'd have to be delusional to maintain that if you're adding value, you don't need a contract.
Actually, I can't resist; let's look at the rest of the first paragraph in this light. How do you know that union employees in, say, Flint, were uninterested in "adding value" to the manufacturers who shut down the factories? People working manufacturing jobs---a skilled trade, you know---take pride in their work and I'm willing to assert, just as blithely as you were willing to assert the opposite, that they'd be plenty willing to try to improve the product, improve processes, etc., if they were but asked (and lots of improvements can, indeed, come from the rank-and-file in that way). It's true, of course, that when residents of Michigan are asked to add value to the company by accepting wages no greater than those commanded in Mexico, they are likely to balk.
- anamax 14y ago> Suppose some manager doesn't recognize that you're being a positive influence? Then one of you is wrong. Yes, bad managers make bad decisions. A contract doesn't protect you from bad managers - it merely makes it easier to stay around to be subject to their badness. Why do you think that's worth something? Contracts actually make bad managers look better that they would otherwise. Yes, bad managers survive longer when unions are involved. Why do you want that? Life's too short to work for a bad manager. Of course, if all managers are bad (for you), maybe they're not the problem. > People working manufacturing jobs---a skilled trade, you know---take pride in their work and I'm willing to assert, just as blithely as you were willing to assert the opposite, that they'd be plenty willing to try to improve the product, improve processes, etc., if they were but asked (and lots of improvements can, indeed, come from the rank-and-file in that way). We can test that hypothesis by looking at what they demanded through their union representatives. Care to predict the result of said "look"? I'll save you the trouble - they didn't demand anything to improve product quality or increase productivity. On a related note, the head of one of the US teachers unions said that he'd start caring about kids when they started paying dues.
- typicalrunt 14y agoI don't want to mar the conversation with a pro or anti union debate. Let's take it out. You have to turn those "what ifs" into "so whats" because there is always the chance that a manager is going to fire you unjustly. If the organization is setup properly, the loss of your employment would adversely affect your department's profit numbers. Since the manager is responsible for those numbers, one can assume there will be repercussions for a decrease. This all assumes that the organization is a well-oiled machine, but since a vast majority aren't, you have to assume that you will be fired for any reason. The good thing is that if you can provide value to one company, you may have a good chance at providing value to another company (especially if it can be quantified on a resume). These are known as transferrable skills, and they're what good employees retain in order to get a high-paying job.