Union Members
By ParaTed2k
@ParaTed2k (22940)
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
6 responses
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
19 May 11
I am against forced membership in unions. It violates the workers' freedom of choice of what to do with their own money. I have not heard of taxpayers paying to collect union dues, though. This prez is really pushing to unionize every business, as evidenced by the labor board's lawsuit against Boeing and his bailing out of unions with "stimulus" funds.
People should be free to choose membership in a union or not.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
19 May 11
One of the things the public unions in Wisconsin is whining about is the unions would have to do their own dues collecting. Right now, the state has to collect the dues for the unions.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
19 May 11
That makes no sense and should not be allowed, spending taxpayer money on collecting money for a private organization. That's insane. But it won't stop as long as our current prez is in office.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
19 May 11
Gov. Walker of Wisconsin is putting a stop to it.
@dark_joev (3034)
• United States
22 May 11
Well I am a Union Member so I feel that I should state that I think that workers should have the choice of whether or not to be Union Members or not. I think that they should look at the Pros and Cons of being a Union Member and what the Pros and Cons are of being a Non Member of the Union.
I also think that if a person chooses to be a Non Union Member that the Union shouldn't be forced to do any of the things that it would normally do for Union Members. I know in some cases even a Non Union Member still pays some form of dues to the Union as they are still a part of the Bargaining agreement and the Union is still providing that to them even though they aren't members of the Union.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
22 May 11
If unions should only have to bargain for their members, how is "collective bargaining" a "right"? If they believe it's a right, wouldn't they knowingly be discriminating against the rights of non union members? Or members of a different union?
I agree that people should be given the choice. No one should ever be forced to join any union, for any reason. If people don't want to be part of the union, they shouldn't have to pay the union anything...ever.
The unions hide behind laws to protect them, at the expense of workers... so much for them "caring" about the workers.. which I think is a lie anyway.
@dark_joev (3034)
• United States
23 May 11
Well Unions bargin for Collective Bargaining Units which in most cases covers certain jobs at a company and in the case of where I work we have the Millwrights and the Teamsters which deal with two different sets of jobs.
My state isn't a right to work state even though I remember having to sign a consent form to enter the Union and was told it wouldn't effect my job Kinda confusing now that I think about it.
The whole Collective Bargaining is like I said more on job function so if a person is hired for a Job at the company that is Unionized like lets say Safeway's Produce section is Union but the Cashiers aren't. So someone who is a cashier isn't apart of the Collective Bargaining Unit as they are a Cashier. But a person who is in produce is under the rules of the Collective Bargaining Agreement wether they are members of the Union or not. They are a part of the Collective Bargaining agreement whether they like it or not. They can opt-out in some cases but that still generally means they are paying some fee to the Union because they are a Collective Bargaining Unit for which the Union is Bargaining for. The Union has to bargain for these non member employees to keep the Collective Bargaining Unit Numbers high because the Company could push the Union out if it wanted to would be the worry that the Union has over it so Collective bargaining Units are certain jobs.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
22 May 11
Here in Wisconsin they are automatically collected with the state taxes. The taxpayers pay all the expenses of collecting the dues. There is nothing Constitutional about it.
The unions should be responsible for collecting their own dues, don't you think?
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
19 May 11
Well people on the left want to make your choices for you. What it really comes down to though is money. Every time I get in an argument with a lefty over this crap with union dues it all comes back to the Citizen United decision. They're pissed that corporations can give large sums of money to republicans and they want to make sure that unions have enough money to fund democrats. They don't care that this money is being taken from teachers, firefighters, and police officers who have no say in how that money is spent, or any say in whether or not they are part of a union. All that matters is that democrats get campaign money.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
19 May 11
Yeah, when people on the left bring out that decision, I ask them if they feel the same way about left wing "corporations" donating to political campaigns.
That's when I bring up unions, George Sorros, Bill Gates, most of hollywood.. etc. lol
@Rollo1 (16676)
• Boston, Massachusetts
19 May 11
When you take anything out of a paycheck before the employee receives it, it's as if it were never his money. The regular total after deductions is what he budgets and counts on. He doesn't think about that deduction for union dues too much.
Now, put that money back into his paycheck and suddenly - it's like a raise! He likes that larger take-home pay. Now, tell him to write a check to the union. The amount of the dues seems much larger, more of a sacrifice, it's more like his money that he is paying to the union. He's less likely to pay those dues, now.
It's of major importance to unions to keep the money flowing without allowing Joe American to touch it first. Once he touches it, he tends to think of ways to spend or save it. He imagines how much he can do with it. Unions know that they will not look as attractive, the dues will seem like more of a burden and they will be less likely to collect it. Plus, it's going to cost the union more to collect the dues from the member instead of through paycheck deductions.
@petersum (4522)
• United States
19 May 11
Obviously the US unions are very different to the UK ones. In Britain you pay your fees regularly - then your fellow unionists kick you out of the job! It has happened twice to me in my younger days. Now I'm only a member of the Federated Union of Lighthouse Painters and Garden Gnome makers.
