AFL-CIO losing Union Membership

[desertangel]

Originally Posted by irishgrl

I might have KNOWN you'd say NAY......I guess I come from a blue collar background as my dad and my brother were both Union members and now I am too. I can tell you that the only thing that saved the prospects of the workers was the formation of Unions, before that it was definitely worker unfriendly with bosses treating employees like crap. Some Unions in the past seemed to be in cahoots with the Mafia (Hoffa?) but overall, I agree with what they stand for because a worker's only strength lies in numbers. This proposed split is a very bad thing in my book...

out of curiosity I went to the AFL-CIO website to get a List of AFL-CIO members
Interesting facts and stats

as a single mom, the only thing that has allowed me to earn a decent living and purchase a home has been my Union (Government) Job. I am thankful every day....especially since I wont be able to pursue the professional career I had once hoped for. As far as I am concerned, Unions helped create the middle class and since you arent blue collar Jason, you have no concept of how scary an employer dictated job world can be. Unions give the little guys a voice.

Yahoo-Sister! I'm in the SEIU as a gubment worker and was a single mom too (she's 26 now).. all for the same reasons, security. The union stood up for me when I had a very bad manager. They basically saved my job. Recently, union activity brought an end to a two year wage freeze and 7 year COLA freeze, well... for this contract period, anyway. I was always under the impression the AFLCIO had the mob ties... don't know if that's still true. But, SEIU is getting a lot more politically active than they used to be. They're still party line. Next election I'll have to pay closer attention to who they recommend and see if they're conservative liberals or what.

Laura

Purple is my favorite color... SEIU WhooHoo!!

[irishgrl]

Originally Posted by desertangel

Yahoo-Sister! I'm in the SEIU as a gubment worker and was a single mom too (she's 26 now).. all for the same reasons, security. The union stood up for me when I had a very bad manager. They basically saved my job. Recently, union activity brought an end to a two year wage freeze and 7 year COLA freeze, well... for this contract period, anyway. I was always under the impression the AFLCIO had the mob ties... don't know if that's still true. But, SEIU is getting a lot more politically active than they used to be. They're still party line. Next election I'll have to pay closer attention to who they recommend and see if they're conservative liberals or what.

Laura

Purple is my favorite color... SEIU WhooHoo!!

"conservative liberals"
do you approve of the SEIU breakaway? Even if it weakens ALL Unions?

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by irishgrl

"conservative liberals"
do you approve of the SEIU breakaway? Even if it weakens ALL Unions?

I don't think it will weaken the unions in the end.

[desertangel]

Originally Posted by irishgrl

"conservative liberals"
do you approve of the SEIU breakaway? Even if it weakens ALL Unions?

Honestly, I don't know how I feel about the split, being fairly new to the whole union mentality and coming from a family that was mostly anti-union. There's a lot of hype that goes with unions, which can be good and bad. You kinda have to read between the lines sometimes and use your best judgement. I guess I don't understand how the split weakens all unions. Our "leader" said she thought it would strengthen other unions who wanted to follow and would give us and them a chance to possibly pick up other members... I believe Wal-Mart was mentioned. So there's obviously more to the story than I know about right now.

As an aside: I've personally seen enough of big companies screwing over the little guy to better the bottom line that it's swayed my opinion towards unions.... So long as the union doesn't roll over on important issues. I was really pissed when SEIU let our governor freeze wages for two years because I knew it wouldn't stop there... and it didn't. But they stood up to it this go 'round and we won, so that made me pretty happy, obviously. Being in a union shop is a lot different... the management vs. employee mentality, which I loath, but whatever... it is what it is. I'm all for capitalism as long as the line workers are treated with dignity and respect. Everyone should have the right to a safe and stable work environment. Therein lies my own liberalism.

So... let me know how the split weakens all unions and I'll tell you how I feel about it. If it's simply a numbers thing, I'm not sure I feel that's a strong enough argument because numbers can be pumped up. Our own local is taking on a campaign to recruit fair-share members after our contract is ratified and I think it's a darn good idea.... we fought hard, we had fun and what we got benefited everyone.

Laura

[irishgrl]

Ive talked with my Union local VP and he said he saw this coming because Sweeny is an A$$ and should have stepped down.

Unfortunately, it IS a numbers thing because all those "numbers" represent dollars and that is crucial for the Unions too. I dont know how this will all play out but my feeling is, A HOUSE DIVIDED CANNOT STAND. When the common enemy (GOP) is so all powerful, every dollar, every member counts. Now, more than ever, the Unions need to stand together--ALL of them. With the SEIU breakaway (and the Teamsters, and possibly more to follow) we will most likely have splinter groups that will be less powerful overall than 1 huge group. The only thing management will listen to is POWER. Unions are losing it by splitting off, IMO.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by irishgrl

Ive talked with my Union local VP and he said he saw this coming because Sweeny is an A$$ and should have stepped down.

Unfortunately, it IS a numbers thing because all those "numbers" represent dollars and that is crucial for the Unions too. I dont know how this will all play out but my feeling is, A HOUSE DIVIDED CANNOT STAND. When the common enemy (GOP) is so all powerful, every dollar, every member counts. Now, more than ever, the Unions need to stand together--ALL of them. With the SEIU breakaway (and the Teamsters, and possibly more to follow) we will most likely have splinter groups that will be less powerful overall than 1 huge group. The only thing management will listen to is POWER. Unions are losing it by splitting off, IMO.

Well, they can always slash some more tires to get the membership numbers up