Originally posted by blakespot
The American Federation of Labor--Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is the voluntary federation of America's unions, representing more than 13 million working women and men nationwide.
The AFL-CIO was formed in 1955 by the merger of the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
http://www.aflcio.org
Even if you are not in a union, you have likely been significantly affected by unions. There was no sick leave, vacation leave, medcial insurance, or other job benefits (none) before they were forced in place by unions and the powers behind the labor movement.
blakespot
I'm all for the objectives of the Unions, however some of its practices are controversial. When a national union makes decisions which are detrimental to the workers who they are supposed to represent, then things are all upside down. Look at the coal mining industry east of the Rockies. It has been destroyed due to the inflexibility of the national mineworkers union. Unfortunately, there are entire counties that are still in ruin due to the shutdowns of all the mines in those areas.
There are situations where company reps, working as authorized under the agreements with the unions, were threatened by car fulls of union guys. I've been on job sites where I've been threatened for being non-union and being on-site, and I was the guy responsible for hiring the union laborers.
I've seen teamsters show up on job sites and threaten to destroy equipment and trucks that were parked and not in use if additional teamsters weren't hired to sit in the cabs of those vehicles.
I've seen a union close a plant down because a non-union crew was working on the asphalt of a private residence next door to the plant. They apparently blamed management for the homeowners decision to use that company and refused to go back to work until the company did something about it.
(AFSME I think) argues that the State shouldn't shut down an old, out of date, prison to save a ton of money because it would cause some workers to get laid off or transferred. (I guess the 100 guards or so are more important than the millions of taxpayers)
Management has done some awful things in the past, and the Unions have done amazing things to protect workers, however, I question the Union's relevance today and I also question the anti-competitive effedts of the Unions. Why isn't every state a right-to-work state? Why is it ok for unions to make non-participating employees pay dues to the unions? Why are unions allowed to picket companies that are non-union?
(Remember blakespot, before you get too mad at me, that my job is to argue points I disagree with)
Since you're related to the Unions, you should make it union policy that no worker anywhere will work until all the PC's are replaced with macs.