Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Food for thought...

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I would like to recommend to all my brothers and sisters here at LTLboards to read Why Union Matter 2nd edition by Michael D. Yates. Because this is the kind of material that FedEx corporate or any other corporation from the U.S Chamber of Commerce doesn’t want you to read...
• Unions have been permanent features of capitalist economies.
Given the inherent conflict between workers and their employers, workers in most workplaces band together informally to improve their circumstances. However, unions provide workers with a more permanent and formal power at work.
• Unions benefits workers in many ways. Unionization has a positive independent effect on the wages and benefits of employees. Unions also give workers a voice in workplace decisions. Unions benefit all workers and not just those who are organized. Higher wages stimulate spending in the overall economy and this leads to more employment. Union reduces inequality in incomes and fight for things beneficial to all workers, such as unemployment compensation and universal health care. Nonunion employers frequently raise wages and provide workers with some voice just to avoid unionization.
• Unions in the United States usually operate under the provisions of the National Labor Relations Acts (or some similar federal or state statute). As amended and interpreted by the NRLB and the courts, the act makes it difficult to organize workers. However, unions that utilize aggressive organizing models can succeed in organizing workers and build strong unions despite the law. Unions can also be organized without using the act, and unions have begun to do so.
• Collective bargaining is one primary function of a union. Bargaining should be viewed as an extension of organizing and conducted as a militant and democratic campaign utilizing escalating pressure tactics, including work-to-rule, strikers, picketing, corporate campaigns, and civil disobedience. Collective bargaining agreements represent truces in the war between capital and labor.

Joe Nuno

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