Worker Wednesday

Unions have been taking a beating in recent years. Corruption in some has tainted all. They are seen as unruly and too powerful, pushing an agenda that damages business. As with all things, some of this is true, most of this is not.

Unions protect laborers from greedy business practices, they provide needed controls for health and safety and ensure fair treatment. If ever, we need unions to function now. We have seen many corporations use and abuse their employees. You have likely seen such practices as refusing to hire full time employees to avoid paying benefits, refusing to pay a living wage, exorbitant compensation to CEO’s while full time employees struggle to make ends meet.

Make sure you are getting good information about unions. Check out the unions in your community. Who is doing a good job? How can you be supportive of them? Which need to be called out for poor practices? This doesn’t mean you throw out the whole union, fix it, make it useful and honest.