this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2023
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Been a union member at my workplace for 20years, they only give a shit about pay increases for the workers and Linus pays his workers above minimum wage which is what the union would ask for.
In this economic climate no one will strike for just one person when it's those members that are part of the problem.
Unions aren't what they used to be and shouldn't be treated as such.
Your union sucks then. Unions have done all sorts of things besides get more pay. They fight for benefits like vacation and sick time, make sure you can't be fired without cause, ensure good work/life balance, make your job physically safe, and help bad management be held accountable.
Striking isn't the only tool in a union's répertoire. They'll also do things like help pay for lawyers to fund legal action (hard to do as an individual) and negotiate on your behalf. Most people don't want to be negotiators (especially the most vulnerable) The union does that undesirable work for you and can often hire experts to do it.
Work to rule is an alternative to striking that is similar but keeps you working. That's doing exactly what your contract says and nothing more (eg, bus drivers have done it by not collecting fares, but still driving their routes; teachers have done it by only teachong their classes without doing any extra coaching or supervision on the side). And since your comment suggests that people won't strike because they can't go without pay, they can also pay you for the duration of a strike.
I know your paid for a strike but not at full pay and people are stupid and live paycheck to paycheck.
In our industry (mining) the government is alot more strict then the union ever is about safety or the government will remove the mining lease and shit the place down (been done to other pits in the area).
We work a rotating roster that the company sent to the union during EA talks and they said yeah that's fine without consulting the workforce, and it's been that way since and trying to get the older guys to change to a better roster is a nightmare.
Sick leave and vacation time is government mandated.
You might live in a destopian country with a shitty government but our unions ride the arse of the governments country wide employment mandates and then say they do alot.
Unions have been stripped of power repeatedly and told to fuck off by governments repeatedly.
In Australia it couldn't be a more true statement.
But I also think it depends on your union, right?
Still better a weak union than no union at all
It also depends on the country they're in, union culture is still stronger in Canada vs the USA... Heck, labor laws exist everywhere in Canada, just that is a step ahead of the US...
Unions still have a lot more upside than downside and should be treated as such.
I'm not going to put one union on a pedestal for the sake of other unions as there is alot of shitty unions out there.
On the flipside, you also shouldn't use one bad union to drag down the concept of unions in general.
I never stated I wasonly ever in one union I only stated I have been a union member for near 20years. There has been 3 different unions at my workplace and this 3rd union isn't any better then the other 2.
Yes unions have gotten workplaces alot better over the last 100 years, but in the last 15years governments have stripped union powers effectiveness. In Australia most of the benifits unions have gotten have been put into law making 1/2 - 3/4 of what they do not anything different to legal requirements making them only good for pay increases and then calling them "benefits for the employees" and in our case in our last EA agreement it was extremely sub par us members forced the union to go back 3 times for a 2% pay increase per year over 5 years.
You're the union, it's not separate from the workers, it is the workers. Not happy with what the union is doing? Get involved.