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Originally Posted by Flame Of Liberty
wow, Americans are really living in a Charles Dickens novel, aren't they?
Please.
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Take a look at your basic Walmart worker.
That worker has no chance of unionizing, and therefore has no way to fight against poor wages. Walmart limits hours to prevent paying for health care. That worker would probably love to work 40 hours at a reasonable wage, but Walmart prevents it. That worker making minimum wage <40 hours a week cannot afford health insurance and often can't afford enough food for his family. So he applies for assistance from the government to keep his children fed.
He has no chance of advancement, no chance of making a better wage, no way to fight for his rights as an employee, and if he tries to unionize he can be terminated for whatever reason the company decides fits their cause best.
So he depends on the ER for health care (which taxpayers pay for) and on food stamps to keep his family from starving (which taxpayers pay for).
If Walmart and others would merely pay their employees a reasonable wage and cover their healthcare, far fewer people would need public assistance to survive, the economy as a whole would be stronger, the workforce would be healthier and likely more productive, and the only group whose profits would suffer (slightly) would be corporations.
If corporations/employers were willing to treat employees with respect and basic dignity, there would be no need for unions.
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Originally Posted by Vulcan
Once a year my union magazine publishes the wages of all our union locals in NA. It's easy to spot the right to work states as their wages are far lower, maybe about 60% of the rest of the states and provinces. So while on a total employees percentages of the wages, it may be only a few percentages lower, when it comes to union wages, they are much lower.
One other thing is that the union worker's companies have to compete with the non union worker's companies as it is. The union workers and companies set the standard for wages, safety, and other benefits that the non union worker enjoys. This eroding of worker rights is a step back for every employee, not just union employees. If you are an employee of any kind, this is bad news.
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Exactly. This doesn't just affect employees who are members of unions, if affects any worker in a general area.
What's "good for business" is not always good for human beings or the economy as a whole. What we have right now is a ridiculously strong and wealthy upper class and a weak and shrinking middle class--and look how wonderful our economy is doing.