on the merits of sticking SOLIDARITY stickers all over my face

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

Will the protests further stoke the resentment many harbor for public worker's unions? Or will the backlash in reaction to Republican attempts to throttle organized labor be the bigger impact of these events? What about people like me, people who have criticisms of some aspects of public unions but generally support the idea that public workers should have decent wages and pensions? (Really all people should have the opportunity to work for those things.) Are these events making "nuanced" positions invisible?

I mean... I'm ticked off enough to start sticking SOLIDARITY stickers all over my face. (Will that help?) yet, I don't feel this accurately represents my views on the essential, yet easily corruptible role of unions in this country. *sigh*

Comments

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

Also their compulsory nature is something I have never been able to justify.

That has always bothered me as well. I have had one job where I was in a union and I had no choice in the matter. (Well, I could have stayed out, but I'd still have to pay dues... and I would not get to vote... so what was the point?)

I found that union very much tone deaf to the needs of younger members, I thought their negotiation methods were ham-handed and blunt. I felt ignored and under-valued. They didn't even bother telling us new members when the union elections were! But, you can bet they had a bus ready to pick us up when they needed a few thousand warm bodies for one of their protests. (I had never been to a protest where someone just slaps a tee-shirt on you and gives you a sign while you are still just trying to understand what the protest is for and why you're there. It was a really belittling experience!)

That said, my pay was decent at the job, my pay now, at a job that requires much higher degree, and more refined skills is much lower. (But I like this job better... so...)

People I know who are loud avid union supporters say that I am naive, that I don't know how bad it can get-- (this may be true!) They say that if you give an inch they will take a mile. I can admit that that scares me. I know what its like to work without any collective bargaining power on your side, when you can be fired at will and be jerked, frightened and pressed in to working longer hours off the books just to keep your job... You do want to HAVE a job right?

I know what it's like to be scared to complain about anything. It sucks.

And really, I'm not bothered if some union members make good wages, I'm glad someone in this country has some financial security! More people should have that. IMNSHO. Union pensions seem "fat" to some folks? Well GOOD, I say.

I just have some reservations about the priorities of unions. Public sector unions must not lose sight of the fact that they are there to serve the public-- they cannot become insular protecting even their worst members at all costs. And they must welcome new members... they must think of the future of their profession not just their own pensions and pay-scale steps.

Maybe its becuase they feel cornered that they often seem so vicious and uncompromising. Maybe if there were more healthy unions in the private sector this wouldn't feel like such a desperate last stand.

[nevermind6794.livejournal.com]

I think I made this comment a while ago, but I wish unions would sort of police themselves. I know teachers' unions will protect teachers that they know are horrible.