Unions

This was first published in the Philadelphia Inquirer a few years ago:

 

Let's think about unions for a minute, okay? Unions came of age in a time when business owners treated employees as expendable, when those that made products could not afford to purchase what they were making. Unions didn't just help with wages though, it was the unions that brought workplace safety to the fore, saving countless lives in the process. Unions galvanized the working class, for the betterment of the Nation.

A union card was a badge of honor, not easily earned. There was hard work involved in joining a union. One needed to learn the trade first, through schooling, or long apprenticeships, and only then, could the worker join the union. There was pride in the work, and the union label was synonymous with the highest quality available, whether textile, steel, or masonry. The union card then guaranteed the worker a fair wage for the quality provided, everyone benefited, and America became the strongest and richest nation ever to grace the planet. Now, however, something is changing.

A union card no longer means the same things it meant even twenty years ago. A union card is another form of entitlement today; the holder entitled to high wages, exorbitant benefits, and security from job loss regardless of productivity. Before you assume I know not of which I write, I have a union card in my wallet. I know what the unions do, and I know what the unions do not do. While I will not name the union to which I belong I will tell you that unions, in their current incarnation, are useless entities, holding on by a liberal political thread.

In the union, everyone is equal. A worker can do almost nothing, and another can work his tail off, both receive the same reward. Actually, sloth is rewarded, while hard work is frowned upon. If one worker produces more than another, she makes the rest look bad, even if the rest could perform to the same higher standard; it is the perception that counts. Everyone must perform to a low standard, that way, there is the bargaining chip of higher production come contract time. A union, as it stands today, is socialism, pure and simple, even approaching communism.

The union bosses rarely work in the trades, collecting high salaries from the wages of the workers. If any particular plant closes, for any reason, the union elite move on to another post, it is the worker that suffers. Those same union elite also make political donations with the union dues without polling members, seemingly forgetting that the membership is as diverse as the Country. Considering the socialistic nature of unions, is it really a surprise that democrat candidates benefit the most from those donated union dues?

There seems to be a new movement, a breaking away from the huge power hungry AFL/CIO's of the Nation, and this can only mean good things for America. Perhaps there will be a return to the quality and pride that once made us the envy of the world.