Michael Lewis wrote:
> On Sun, 9 Sep 2007, Simon Richter wrote:
>
>> I don't care about people who simply work faster than I do if they
>> achieve the same level of quality, after all, they are securing my job
>> as well by enhancing the competitiveness of the company; in the same
>> way slackers decrease my job security.
>
> And yet I know for fact that people who work faster, without quality
> problems ARE told to slow down so the others don't look bad. I'll be
> willing to accept that it's not every time, but I know for fact that it
> does happen.
>
> I'm also not arguing with your "slacker" comments. In "reality", unions
> establish a "rate or work" if you will. People who are slower then that
> rate are terminated. However, I have personal experience, as does my
> father, as does several coworkers of mine, that working above this rate
> WITHOUT a decrease in product quality, will result (at times) with being
> directly told by a supervisor to slow down. Not for quality reasons,
> but so the others don't look bad.
>
> I am now anti union, as is my father, as are several coworkers of
> mine... Not because we are "pro big business" or "anti labor", but
> because we are simply "anti union". Were our experiences out of the
> ordinary? I don't know, but our experiences were real.
>
>
That is your only problem with unions? You must have some more
substantive reason for being anti-union. I've never been told "slow
down" if someone did I'd tell them where to go.
My personal experience with unions is limited to one not terribly
'militant' union. I found the union was like a big rusty ratchet: it
never goes backwards, but is very difficult to move forward.
Pros:
Don't get fired for no reason.
Better benefits than most non-union jobs (in my limited experience)
Less favoritism when promoting people
Management follows labour laws much better
Cons:
hard to fire people who abuse the rules
inflexible job descriptions / work force
Can take longer to get promoted for merit as opposed to for seniority
more red tape in general
I know people who work for well run non-union shops who don't want to
unionize as there would be no benefit and they would have to pay dues.
But the more common situation is that non-union people have a harder
time negotiating better wages and benefits unless they are extremely
skilled.
Alex Russell
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