I find the original intent of unions admirable. People should not be forced to risk their life at work to escape poverty. Unions belong the developing world.
Having most progressed beyond that in the developed world, I find certain aspects of unions incredibly frustrating. Fighting against improvement and efficiency in order to preserve jobs goes against my entire being - I'm a big fan of doing things more efficiently and cheaper. I imagine the Bell operator union fought long and hard against replacing operators with computer switches, that sort of thing.
I also find seniority a ridiculous method of advancement, I much prefer merit-based promotion. An example at work - there is an inept programmer who has been with us for three years, and a brilliant programmer who has been around for two. We've been forced to cut back due to a cancelled project and now face the prospect of losing our best programmer while keeping someone who actually hurts us when he programs.
The limitations on what employers can do is also burdensome. We're desperately behind on a bunch of things at work. The additional costs of employees (partially union-inspired) means we can't get new permanent staff. We have a one-time need to stuff 5,000 envelopes in two days. We *could* hire unskilled temp staff at $20 an hour and get it done for $300. But instead we're forced to used skilled employees in overtime at over twice the cost and much slower (since you can only fit in so much overtime). Our skilled staff then take additional sick days because of the stress and overwork.
I like how the union provides options to employees who have been wronged. They help balance the power between an individual and a corporation. But they've taken too much power and done the wrong thing with it.
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dancing_serpent
(no subject)
Date: 2005-05-06 02:41 am (UTC)I find the original intent of unions admirable. People should not be forced to risk their life at work to escape poverty. Unions belong the developing world.
Having most progressed beyond that in the developed world, I find certain aspects of unions incredibly frustrating. Fighting against improvement and efficiency in order to preserve jobs goes against my entire being - I'm a big fan of doing things more efficiently and cheaper. I imagine the Bell operator union fought long and hard against replacing operators with computer switches, that sort of thing.
I also find seniority a ridiculous method of advancement, I much prefer merit-based promotion. An example at work - there is an inept programmer who has been with us for three years, and a brilliant programmer who has been around for two. We've been forced to cut back due to a cancelled project and now face the prospect of losing our best programmer while keeping someone who actually hurts us when he programs.
The limitations on what employers can do is also burdensome. We're desperately behind on a bunch of things at work. The additional costs of employees (partially union-inspired) means we can't get new permanent staff. We have a one-time need to stuff 5,000 envelopes in two days. We *could* hire unskilled temp staff at $20 an hour and get it done for $300. But instead we're forced to used skilled employees in overtime at over twice the cost and much slower (since you can only fit in so much overtime). Our skilled staff then take additional sick days because of the stress and overwork.
I like how the union provides options to employees who have been wronged. They help balance the power between an individual and a corporation. But they've taken too much power and done the wrong thing with it.