I was never unionized until I joined the Department of Corrections. Now I never even consider not having a union. We make at least 50% more han officers in non-union states, have a ton of benefits, and a defined contract that lays out exactly what the employer can and can't do. It's no racket, it's the power of collective bargaining.

There are so many Union that are only fronts for the company that employed the union members!!!

It varies greatly from place to place, union local to union local, and industry to other industries. But one thing you can bet your ass on, without unions and a strong socialist movement in America's past, we would never have had a middle class, medical benefits for average workers, paid holidays, an 8 hour day, a 40 hour week, workplace safety regs and laws, etc. Those things didn't happen just because of the Great Depression and they sure as hell didn't happen out of the goodness of the hearts of big business or employers....

And most of the progress did not happen non-violently, most of them were paid for with the blood and even the lives of many people killed by strikebreakers and private cops hired by the employers.... But school history books rarely, if ever talk about those things, so most Americans, except for those who have been in unions, don't even know that history...

Current unions seem to do almost nothing. I was once a member of the UAW and that was a different story. In the last few years unions seem to be there just to take your money.

If you compare by state, so called "right to work" states have lower wages and benefits for workers in the same jobs. Thus, the so called right to work laws are often referred to as the right to work for less.

The problem is that unions don't hve much leverage when an employer threatens to move jobs to one of the right to work states.

Right to work states basically forbid closed shop union agreements, meaning employers, even if they have a union contract can hire nonunion workers, and employees aren't mandated to join the union. Under those circumstances, the union has very little power to bargain for employees.

@snytiger6
Absolutely!!!

The wealthy and their corporations will do anything to have the lowest paid workforce possible!!!

One question when no one has the money to buy theses products made and/or built by these low wage jobs, just who is going to buy these products???

You're either in the wrong union or the wrong line of work. My union, despite us being forbidden by law to strike, got me the biggest wage increase we've had since the '90s, added "wellness leave" time, $500/month bonus retention pay, and increased health benefits including free frames on my glasses (so I don't have to confine myself to choosing off the $99 rack). That was just in the last contract. If we manage to get our Governor reelected and she appoints another labor-friendly member to our Civil Service Commission, things could be brighter still in the future.

@Paul4747 Wrong line of work? So you are admitting that unions don't want to represent all workers, just the ones that work at jobs that make them worthy of union attention.

I’m retired and still a member of my Union.

@Barnie2years I was a member of ASFCME and began paying dues a week after they became my representative. I wish I could have stayed a member after I left that job and the Merit system it was in, but the job was killing my back and I couldn't stay in it. It was the only union job I ever had and it had by far the best benefits and pay I ever had, before or since. I too am retired, for the last four years.

@TomMcGiverin I was with ATU for over forty years. It permitted me to retire at 63 with a great pension and I kept my medical benefits until I turned 65 and got Medicare for only 35% of the full cost. I loved our Union, was an officer (Recording Secretary) for nine years. Side gig we had to work like everyone else.

@Barnie2years I have been a member of UFCW, SAG and AFTRA.

That is changing. There is a new interest in forming and joining labor unions, at least in the U.S.

Membership has mostly declined due to Republicans supporting union-busting measures on behalf of their corporate donors. The propaganda against unions has also risen steadily since Reagan, and people who only look at their paycheck deduction without considering everything the union does for that money buy the propaganda.