Wow, maybe the second time I've ever agreed with Hoz. I worked union construction for about 30 years and in my experience it was beneficial for both the companies and the workers. The unions and the companies both contributed to training and safety and most union locals understood they couldn't grab so much that they'd put the companies they had agreements with in jeopardy of going bankrupt. Sure there were disputes and sometimes strikes but in the long run I think both were happy.
We never had any union job security and could be layed off or canned at any time. Union seniority meant nothing other than for apprentices and I sometimes found myself having my previous foreman, general foreman or even super, working for me on another job. The union locals act as a hiring hall and this is supposed to go in rotation although it isn't perfect with some workers able to get hired on by request. This isn't that out of line as some journeymen specialize and have certain tickets that are required for a particular job.
When we worked most of us took pride in our job and wanted the company to succeed. There was a stigma attached to a job that went bad and it could follow the men on that job.
So what I'm getting at is there are many types of unions that have evolved for each situation and a blanket condemnation of all unions is just showing your ignorance. Like someone else alluded to, probably 90% of you are riding on unions backs to get the wages you're getting and you have the gall to besmirch unions.
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