This debate goes on at my company all the time...The majority of my company is Union and the rest is company...Why it's that way I have no idea, but it's been that way for nearly 60 years...The debate over what the Union really does for it's people, generally unknown to the workers as I have found by talking and listening to people complain...I hear "All the Union does is take my money and tell me who they want me to vote for." I was one who thought that same thought until a non Union employee became friends...For instance, due to the negotiations and as written into our contract,  a Unionized employee pays only 10% of our insurance premium. Our policy has a $2500 deductible which is payed for by the company...My health insurance for me plus my wife and stepson is $34 a week ( family plan for 3+ people). 2 people cost $16 and some change, one person is $13...The company people pay $54 a week for the family plan with a $500 deductible non paid by the company...

 

Some of the other negotiated things we have is Union employees can only be forced to work overtime 10 times per year, but only on Tuesday's and Thursday's, and only a half hour...Company employees have no limit on forced overtime...We all know that they aren't supposed to be able to force you to work overtime and we all know they do...

 

Union employees can only be forced to work on Sunday's for time and a half, 4 times per year, any other Sunday's must be payed at double time...If they do not post that we are required to work on Sunday PRIOR to Noon on Thursday, they must pay us at Double time...So no matter what, if we work on a Sunday, we will never be paid less than time and a half for Sunday, even if we don't get forty hours for the week.. Company employees get paid only time and a half if working Sunday puts them over 40 hours...

 

Union employees get dental and vision insurance for $5 a week,regardless of the number of dependents you have,  company employees have no dental and vision insurance..

 

There are other advantages to being in the Union, like the Union has their own Credit Union we can join, that company people can't, and other negotiated things, but I won't try and remember them all...

 

Now is a Union good or bad? Greedy and corrupted? No entity does anything other than for their own benefit...My Union is founded by and ran by minorities, and the money they raise is used to support politicians who are either minorities or support legislation for minority programs...

 

There are only a couple of unions that have any REAL power anymore...United Auto Workers, and possibly the Airlines, other than that Unions are not nearly the same as the Jimmy Hoffa days

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