deepthunk
Justadude with a keyboard
- Feb 19, 2011
- 313
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I think it's safe to say that we have all heard the right wing press repeatedly attack, bash, and even openly slander the public service unions in Wisconsin, as well as unions all accross the board and the country. I'll not lend greater credence to such none sense by repeating it here, however i do wish to share my personal opinion as to why unions are in fact good for business's and for america.
First and foremost one of the most important rules established by early unions was to require breaks (both meal and rest breaks) to be given to employee's at reasonable times throughout the day. this is vitally important not just for the health and well being of the employee's themselves, but also as a matter of workplace safety and productivity. Studies relating to "drowsy driving" have found that if a person works an eight hour day without and meal or rest breaks and then gets behind the wheel of a car, that person is in fact impaired to the same degree as a person who is intoxicated by alcohol. What this means is, having a person on the clock for eight hours without a break is the same as having an intoxicated person on the job site (not to mention operating heavy equipment). An exhausted person on a construction site for example can stumble into a trench, step back into the path of equipment, or make any number of foolish mistakes that said person otherwise would not make. further more though an employer may believe they are gaining work time by not allowing breaks,but they are in fact loosing far more money in the form of lost productivity.
Because i live in a right to work state (Arizona), i can assure you from personal experience that without proper labor laws or union rules employers will abuse employee's in the most atrocious ways. This is because they constantly fail to recognize their employee's as their most valuable asset, and instead consider those employee's the least valuable.
In the fast food industry for example, corporations consistently give the restaurant employee's the worst possible treatment while complaining nearly constantly about the rate of employee turnover.
Fast food restaurant's invest heavily in maintaining their equipment, the restaurants buildings, and the "procedures" that guide employee's. However these corporations fail to realize that the employee's greet customers,prepare the food (product), as well as maintain the buildings. further more even the best employee turns into a horrible employee when they are exaushted. In short, if these restaurants were to unionize and enforce reasonable worker protections it would result in better performance for the companies, and a better experience for the paying customers.
let us also not forget that before unions were established there was virtually no such thing as workplace safety standards, not to mention health insurance benefits. before unions were established workers (some as young as ten years old) were constantly being mangled in senseless and easily avoided accidents. the burdens caused by those accidents were being carelessly tossed aside to be carried by hopelessly poor families and society as a whole. when unions came to power (through collective bargaining) they established laws to prevent the exploitation of minors, safety standards that would later become OSHA law, and health insurance benefits to force companies to be responsible for the public health problems they themselves were creating.
now after all this time and with all this history as a guide, modern corporation's and their representatives are complaining about the expense of the unions and the vary benefits they give to their employee's and to america as a hole? I think this vary fact alone is proof enough that we need those unions now, more than ever
First and foremost one of the most important rules established by early unions was to require breaks (both meal and rest breaks) to be given to employee's at reasonable times throughout the day. this is vitally important not just for the health and well being of the employee's themselves, but also as a matter of workplace safety and productivity. Studies relating to "drowsy driving" have found that if a person works an eight hour day without and meal or rest breaks and then gets behind the wheel of a car, that person is in fact impaired to the same degree as a person who is intoxicated by alcohol. What this means is, having a person on the clock for eight hours without a break is the same as having an intoxicated person on the job site (not to mention operating heavy equipment). An exhausted person on a construction site for example can stumble into a trench, step back into the path of equipment, or make any number of foolish mistakes that said person otherwise would not make. further more though an employer may believe they are gaining work time by not allowing breaks,but they are in fact loosing far more money in the form of lost productivity.
Because i live in a right to work state (Arizona), i can assure you from personal experience that without proper labor laws or union rules employers will abuse employee's in the most atrocious ways. This is because they constantly fail to recognize their employee's as their most valuable asset, and instead consider those employee's the least valuable.
In the fast food industry for example, corporations consistently give the restaurant employee's the worst possible treatment while complaining nearly constantly about the rate of employee turnover.
Fast food restaurant's invest heavily in maintaining their equipment, the restaurants buildings, and the "procedures" that guide employee's. However these corporations fail to realize that the employee's greet customers,prepare the food (product), as well as maintain the buildings. further more even the best employee turns into a horrible employee when they are exaushted. In short, if these restaurants were to unionize and enforce reasonable worker protections it would result in better performance for the companies, and a better experience for the paying customers.
let us also not forget that before unions were established there was virtually no such thing as workplace safety standards, not to mention health insurance benefits. before unions were established workers (some as young as ten years old) were constantly being mangled in senseless and easily avoided accidents. the burdens caused by those accidents were being carelessly tossed aside to be carried by hopelessly poor families and society as a whole. when unions came to power (through collective bargaining) they established laws to prevent the exploitation of minors, safety standards that would later become OSHA law, and health insurance benefits to force companies to be responsible for the public health problems they themselves were creating.
now after all this time and with all this history as a guide, modern corporation's and their representatives are complaining about the expense of the unions and the vary benefits they give to their employee's and to america as a hole? I think this vary fact alone is proof enough that we need those unions now, more than ever
