How do you convince people that unions are necessary?

[politicat]

People who have professional, or administrative positions, people who have benefits and a degree of security? People in industries that are in need of unionization, but have no history of unionism? People who live in small towns and whose schools are underfunded at best, but whose teachers are paid even below local midline wages?

What are the arguments that convince people that unions are protective of people who work for a living, but they only work when they exist? How do you combat arguments that unions have become unnecessary, or even worse, corrupt?

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. There are teachers unions, postal workers union, government

workers unions as well as the AFLCIO ones. Collective bargaining is important. Unions have more power & influence than republicans would like you to believe.

[madokie]

9. Unions were what gave us what little good we have,

wether or not a person is union or not, his/her compensation for their work is much better because of them. One of the reasons I'll always like fords is because of Henry's paying a far higher wage that the prevailing wage was at the time, never mind his true intent which was to create a class who could afford his auto.

[focusfan]

16. He was a smart business man

I always drive Fords they even make my living was even concieved in a 1957 ford Fairlane convertible

[wickerwoman]

2. Tell them they're working twelve hour days without breaks.

Unions are an essential check to business. They mean everyone has a voice at the table. Some unions are corrupt, but it's easier to fix a corrupt union from the inside than to have to create a new one down the line because people are being exploited.

[Niche]

3. Example: My parents (long divorced) One union/One not --

Both in their 60s

Mother: Union, just retired, pension, two homes, health benefits - casino cocktail waitress - same job 35 years. Union protected her job, her rights, and her wage. She's traveling now....

Father: Non union, corporate sales, 5 companies over 35 years, pays outta pocket for health insurance, no pension, still working, 20K less than he made 15 years ago,

Unions work for people and protect their rights to fair wages and workers' benefits.

[FloridaPat]

4. Having been a member of a union once, I don't want to go through

that again. Unions don't work for their members -they work for themselves. Their job is to protect their memebers, but like big business, their needs come first.

One really big problem about unions is it's basically for men only. Women may be members, but it's a "brotherhood". As with gov't and corporations, a few get to call all the shots and voices are silenced when the few don't like what the many have to say.

[LeftCoast]

19. My interactions with unions has been much as you've described

I'm *really* not anti-union, but I wouldn't have a thing to do with the unions in the places I've worked.

[elocs]

5. Many don't like unions, but would love to be making a union wage.

A lot of it is jealousy. Unions do little to help their image when if in a certain area they make much more than nonunion workers, but strike, or threaten to strike for higher wages or more benefits. It makes them look greedy to the average nonunion worker. I worked for 11 years until last November at a food warehouse and was a member of the Teamsters Union. I made $4 or more an hour more than other nonunion warehouse workers in the area and with better benefits. They certainly would like to make the wage I did, but they wouldn't want the union because they didn't want to pay $32/month in union dues. It didn't matter that being a union member would bring them $400-600 more a month, they resented paying that $32. If you can't convince people with simple figures like that, how can you?

[moondust]

6. Describe

where wages and benefits would have remained without unions: somewhere in the dark ages.

[focusfan]

17. Our wages would be what China`s are or maybe less

[focusfan]

18. Our wages would be what China`s are or maybe less

[ThomWV]

7. Pink Slips Are Quite Convincing

[Fierce]

8. You can't organize someone who doesn't want to be.

All you can do is educate them. They have to organize themselves.

[politicat]

14. So how do we educate?

I get into conversations all the time with workers who don't believe that a union would do them any good - people working for small businesses with bad bosses, for large businesses that are about to offshore, techies who work 80 hour weeks and think that their palty salaries are adequate for the hours they work - and I don't know how to explain to them that while a union wouldn't solve their issues entirely, it would give them a better seat at the table.

How do I educate them?

[Fierce]

22. You already have.

They've chosen not to listen. You say yourself that the techies who work 80 hours a week on a paltry salary think that's enough. Why argue with a wall? Work against them instead. That's what I do.

[patcox2]

10. Ask them if they like weekends off and 8 hour days,

Or would they rather go back to the traditional 60-hour week, six days.

[politicat]

11. Double post

eom

[politicat]

12. They don't believe that would happen.

It's one of those quirks of people -- they don't realize that things can get worse.

[LSK]

20. thats were we came from

Thats what Unions have fought for in the past. People are so fucking clueless of history.

[politicat]

21. Yep. NT

[focusfan]

13. Teamsters in Wal-Mart would make me happy

[JHB]

15. For some, don't call them unions, call them "professional organizations"

Helps beat the class-bias issue.