Talk:Labor

From Pete Ashdown Campaign Collaboration Wiki

Labor unions are an interesting phenomenon. They don't seem to necessarily fix the problems they are intended to solve, but just move them around. Instead of workers being abused by employers we have employers and some workers being abused by the other workers/union in many cases. Workers don't seem to be as motivated to work when they have too much job security (look at the education system for examples). Perhaps the better approach is to enforce existent laws which promote fair treatment of workers and employers. --esk

We need to help unions have an easier time to organize. If I remember correctly, the Taft-Hartley Act made it very difficult for unions to organize, and put a lot of peoples' jobs at risk. We need to help repeal the Act (or parts of it) to help workers be able to organize. Too many industries have difficulties organizing because individuals cannot be publicly known as union supporters without losing their jobs, or being stigmatized. Unions also have traditionally worked on a firm by firm basis here, or a collective bargaining technique in opposition to the government back unions that win concessions for entire industries in some European countries. Workers in low-paying jobs often do not correspond with those in other parts of the country, so an infrastructure may be hard to build.

I think that is a great idea and worth discussing.--Brett 13:12, 31 March 2006 (MST)

This is worth exploring, but I want middle ground between organizing and industry rather than seeing the problems with labor in France come to America. How can worker's rights be protected while industry moves forward?--pashdown 09:24, 3 April 2006 (MDT)

When the labor unions first started they helped make GREAT advances in worker's rights. We need to get back to the days when unions helped instead of hindering. I know someone you Might like to talk to Pete, my wife's grandfather. He has seen the rise and fall of the usefulness of unions. Let me know.--Projektdotnet 13:39, 2 May 2006 (MDT)

Wired.com recently had an article called "Tech Workers of the World Unite". It is definitely an interesting read, but the idea wasn't very well received, overall. I can't say that I favor a union for myself. As a software developer, I'm in a good place right now, though I'm constantly aware of the possibility of it all going "boom!" again. I have friends who are union, as my ex-husband was. For some fields, unions can be great. My ex-husband was in a laborer's union working for pipeline companies. I can't see that being a good situation if the union didn't exist. However, another friend of mine in a union has told me some of the stories of people he works with, who cannot get fired, almost no matter what they do. If you wanted to tackle fixing the unions, I suppose it would be a worthy cause, but as they currently stand, I think unions for many types of jobs ends up being a bad situation.