Having been raised in a "company" family and marrying into a very strong "union" family, I can see both sides so clearly it is scary. LOL My father was clearly extremely dedicated to the company for which he worked, tried to save them money at every turn, worked long hours, not a lot of pay, the owner made lots of money but Daddy was so dedicated and appreciated his job so much and loved it. He tired from this same company, was well loved and did a superb job. That was a great reward for him, being respected for the job he did and how well he did it. He retired head of the department of Data Processing. He grew up in a time that jobs were scarce at times and paid very little. His goal was to provide for his family some security that he didn't have growing up. He did that.
My husband was a construction worker that had gone through an apprenticeship program, so was well trained in his field, later was certified in several areas. He was paid well when there were jobs, nothing when there were none. However, he too took great pride in his work and abilities and skills. He was greatly respected by co-workers. He had a Business Agent who found the jobs all over the area and gave him a work order to that job. His retirement plan is terrific, insurance is also wonderful. The negative to his jobs was mainly that he had to leave home quite often to work, find a place to stay, find places to have meals at a decent price as were were paying house payments here as well as a place for him during his job since we do not live in an area with much growth.
(The businesses in our area fight against unions but keep up with pay scales and insurance and do take care of their people so as long as they do that, no need for the union. There are some businesses here that are union but don't seem to provide what they are purposed to do for their people.)
Both my dad and my husband were respected, both loved their jobs, both excelled at their jobs. The difference was that my husband had people fighting for his wages to be solid, his benefits to be solid, retirement to be solid, while he worked on the jobs building Nuclear Power Plants, Fertilizer Plants, Energy Plants (Electric, Gas, etc.), if there were problems, there were job stewards that were on the job to stand for him if an employer was trying not to treat the workers right or with respect.
There are good strong unions and there are unions that take dues and misuse the money, do not protect their workers and are not worth being a part of. That is one draw back I see in our town that some of the unions have become so weak that one would be better off without them but those that are good and strong, so necessary. There are companies who respect their employees, treat them right and fair and there are companies that treat their people like they are scum of the earth and holler at them, make unnecessary demands on them. They have no advocate. If one belongs to a good strong union, they do have a strong advocate that goes to the site and makes sure the workers are safe and treated properly. If in a good union, the safety standards are much higher on jobs than a weak union or a company that is only interested in making money for the owners.
Today, there are so many "temp" workers that there is very little job security. The "temps" are great workers, willing workers, but generally no insurance is provided. They work a certain length of time and then the company can choose to hire them full time or not. If not, that temp changes jobs and the company just hires another temp so they do not have to pay insurance or benefits on that employee.
Movies from past years have made unions out to look like murderers and tough guys. If one does not educate ones self on Unions, this picture is all they have to go on and would choose not to join a union perhaps out of fear.
The main purpose of the unions in the beginning was to protect the workers, get wages at a decent level and provide benefits. When the unions became strong, the companies that were not Unionized, brought their wages up to standard and benefits also to dissuade their employees from organizing a union so to speak. The unions were a great balancer of companies. The unions are getting weaker because of our economy and are giving up lots of benefits they have had previously. If the unions keep going down in strength, the companies will once again begin mistreating their employees with lower pay, less benefits because the "balancer" will be gone.
(I am not including all companies. There are many that are absolutely wonderful to their employees. I am speaking in a general term so please do not misunderstand. My dad was treated very well, just worked long hours, salaried so gave tons of hours to the company for free but that is what he chose to do.)
I realize I probably have not addressed your question exactly concerning unions but maybe something I have shared in this epic will shed some light as to why some would prefer to join a Union.
Both my dad and my husband are completely content with each of their choices but for different reasons.
I am not clear on what "new collar" means so I apologize if this was just a wash out for your question. I mean well though, does that count???
Best to you.
Linear Mode
