Well that depends entirely upon your skill set Anathema
It won't effect go-getters because they've the drive to get another job if shit doesn't go their way - same reason that go-getters don't need unions. I almost gauge the success of an economy by it's union participation (out side government) because if the workers are ethical and hard working, and the jobs are available, everyone ultimately profits from the situation. From what I've seen it's only when employees suck ass that they need a bully union to 'protect' them from getting shit canned, or shit on.
I've never been in a union, never once worried about being fired - I've always made sure that I am providing a service the companies don't want to let go, or at a minimum that I'm giving them with more than the other peons heh
It is actually quite simple: he is a goldbricking slacker, doing the bare minimum to not gt shit-canned, and hiding behind the skirts of a union any time he gets called on it.
SHE is going to slightly disagree with you on that point, devils in the details as it were. While it is true that he's using unions to be 'mediocre' he's admitted it fair and square and that is a respectable trait for an employee of any stripe - even a 'least necessary to get by' type. Guessing here, but he likely prefers to dedicate his time to family or hobbies - this is acceptable so long as the jobs assigned to him get done; and my instinct judge of character says it does.
In this world there are leaders and there are followers, the engines and the gears, there is no dis to either type; merely the drive and desire within the heart and mind of an individual. Far more important that the gears find cogs to properly connect up to the engines to propel the nature forward - than some idea that all gears and cogs must be engines. hmm not such a good analogy I think...
Without followers there can be no leaders, and a follower who is honest, trust-worthy, and will get the job done, even if without that extra spark of enthusiasm, is still a good and worthy thing to have. Admittedly at times leaders forget how important the followers are, and unions, the original traditional unions, were kind of the reminder, the angel on the shoulder of many employer's who'd forgotten that there is a partnership between boss and employee. Yes, it is a bit of an 'uneven' partnership in that the employer, the manager or business owner, has the authority, but there must remain respect for ones employees - they are not slaves and should never be treated as such by a proper manager or business owner. By the same token the employee must also too understand that the manager or owner are not there merely to pay them, there are more things to consider than the employees paycheck. There is a balance, a natural and fair agreement that is reached between the two.
In the old days, way back, every single hire was a bit of a private discussion, it was a more intimate relationship. The ranch owner spoke to the ranch hand, they talked about the little details of how many heads of cows, where they needed to go, where the rancher had permission, or lack of permission, to run his cattle through, etc. That closeness was lost in modern employment, and it's true many businesses as they grew, the national chains as it were, lost touch with that unique relationship - not specifically through greed, but rather a weird mix of social culture and unrealistic expectations, generally by the promotion through proxy and the silly practice of placing non-leaders into management positions. I cannot count the number of companies I have advised who failed to assess their management team, just stupidly gave them the job due to seniority, and frankly how many, like Anathema here, who are quite simply not leaders and have no desire to be leaders, become so fed up with the chore of management that they basically shut down. This is unhealthy for the system because you've got a 'I don't really give a shit' failing to manage a bunch of 'I don't know what I'm doing's, or 'I don't want to be here's,' and the system falls apart - the employees have no idea what they're doing or where they are going and feed off the 'meh' of their boss, then they don't care, and the whole damn train derails. The proper promotion of employees based not on social 'equality' nor seniority is one of those things that the SJWs have seriously fucked up in America. The government has /no ******* idea/ how to run a business, yet they're going to tell you how to do it regardless - and worse they think that mere social outcry can change reality and accounting. It's rather silly.
Small businesses are, perhaps were, the perfect function of capitalism, the fair and reasonable partnership of employee and employer, the perfect balance of supply and demand, the wonderful junction of American unity that so uniquely expresses why this country was able to rise above all others and lead the entire world as the greatest nation on Earth. A lovely dance, until someone steps on their partners toes... When the government interferes in this perfection, when international corporations and box stores lose touch with this foundation, the train derails. Adjustments came first in the form of Unions, and they worked well for a while, but then they got greedy and corrupted; along with society losing touch with the delicate balance of everything that made it work. We're struggling to find that new balance in a completely different world; folks are too busy worrying about who's fault it is that they do not ever take the time to understand and work out what is needed to straighten out the tracks. I have faith that it will all work out eventually, all things naturally find balance after all, it is a law of the universe. We merely need to keep moving the gears around until we find that missing interconnection again.
Respect is the magic ingredient we've misplaced. Respect for a persons individual abilities, skills, talents, and qualities in a position. Respect for a companies individual challenges, margins, flaws, and successes. Respect for the individual, unique, and separate jobs of government and business. Respect for the trifecta quasi-replacement of union to employee to employer. And, perhaps in largest part, respect for each other as people, individuals who do not fit cookie cutter molds or needs or levels of desire.
TLDR: Business are a jigsaw puzzle; it does no good to try to force a piece where it does not fit, one must instead intuitively understand that there is a spot that every piece goes and seek it. Not everyone can be an edge piece that defines the borders, gives direction to the process, and makes completion both easier and possible, but the pieces in the center are no less important in the end; they are after all the ones which complete the picture.
