Trade Unions

[Brizzle Kicks]

I haven't seen this discused on here and would like to see what people think of them. I belong to one myself and think they do a good job in giving the average working man a voice against big companies. They can do a lot of good like getting better working conditions, better pay, fighting your corner if you feel you have been unfairly dismissed etc. But now that I have seen the unions in action on both sides of the fence my view of them is changing slighty don't get me wrong I think they should exsit I just think they hold too much power and in some cases do more harm then good and instead of coming to a compriese on big issues they would rather play the trump card and strike all to easily.

So what are your thoughts on trade unions.

 

[Cylos]

Socialist topic! WHOO! Right, I believe that Trade Unions are, on principle, one of the greatest political features of our society. In Britain we have one of the greatest levels of inequality in Europe and Unions help combat that. But in all honesty I don't think Unions strike enough but that's because we have one of the most restrictive Trade Union laws in the world (excluding dictatorships) because of Thatcher's implementation and Blair's maintaining of them.
For poorer people to be ensured a better quality of life the unions do need more power. However they're too focused upon striking, they need to find alternative ways to bring forth the voice of the workers. Those at the top of the union ladder are also paid huge amounts, creating an oxymoron. How can they fight for the weak in society yet prop themselves up on the donations of the poor? If the leadership was better handled and there was less restriction the trade unions would make Britain so much better.
I don't how the Americans feel about them, but America's naturally right wing (give or take), and I mean there are few lefties I'm not saying there are no liberals. So America will probably have greater opposition towards them than we do over here.

 

[Irish]

While I realize unions can do some good against big business, I don't think anyone should be *required* to join one if that is not what they wish to do. There's plenty of corruption in unions, just like big business, so I'm not completely for or against them. I know a lot of them in the US base promotions off of seniority, which isn't exactly fair because if a newer person performs his/her job better than the one who's been there for 10 years, why shouldn't the person who is more suitable get the promotion? There's drawbacks and positives to unions, for sure.