HUH! Buck didn't argue his MORON comment. I guess he concedes!
Unions.. the root of all evil. Just ask any Conservative.
For the rest of us... Thank a Union for:
Weekends without work
All breaks at work, including your lunch breaks
Paid vacation
Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Sick leave
Social Security
Minimum wage
Civil Rights Act/Title VII - prohibits employer discrimination
8-hour work day
Overtime pay
Child labor laws
Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA)
40-hour work week
Workers’ compensation (workers’ comp)
Unemployment insurance
Pensions
Workplace safety standards and regulations
Employer health care insurance
Collective bargaining rights for employees
Wrongful termination laws
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA)
Whistleblower protection laws
Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) - prohibits employers from using a lie detector test on an employee
Veteran's Employment and Training Services (VETS)
Compensation increases and evaluations (i.e. raises)
Sexual harassment laws
Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
Holiday pay
Employer dental, life, and vision insurance
Privacy rights
Pregnancy and parental leave
Military leave
The right to strike
Public education for children
Equal Pay Acts of 1963 & 2011 - requires employers pay men and women equally for the same amount of work
Laws ending sweatshops in the United States
Let's take a little look at this list...
Thank a Union for:
Weekends without work - Does not happen everywhere, but even after your full work week is over, some employers do require you to work weekends, and if they decide that you need to be there and you're not, you're fired for insubordination. Where's the union to help?
All breaks at work, including your lunch breaks - you mean that unpaid time that you need to take off, whether you want to or not, whether your boss needs to bring on another person to work at LEAST 4 hours to cover your 1/2 hour off?
Paid vacation - Nobody says that they NEED to give you paid vacation, and if they did, wouldn't everybody at every job get the same amount of time?
Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) - unpaid time off for not working. It's called talking to your employer and... get this... NOT WORKING! Go figure.
Sick leave – this would be the same as paid vacation
Social Security - A program that I will pay into for 50+ years that I will get absolutely nothing out of. Yeah, thanks, union bosses...
Minimum wage - Just raises the prices of everything that I need to go to work to earn money to buy. Yeah, thanks, union bosses for raising the price of bread from a nickel a loaf to $2.
Civil Rights Act/Title VII - prohibits employer discrimination – which means that those who are now protected have more rights than those that were not being discriminated against prior to the law taking effect.
8-hour work day - funny, I don't even work an 8-hour day. If the employer requests I work less, I work less. If they request I work more, I work more.
Overtime pay - Again, I work the hours my employer asks me to work. Imagine if unions had actually done something here. If I work more than my normal schedule, I get nothing extra, unless I work what the UNIONS state is "enough hours." At the same time, when I start my job, I agree to the company rules of how many hours I will work prior to them paying me extra. I might be making more (or less) if the unions / government didn’t step in to take care of this, but also, at that point, it would be a decision I could make as far as if I wanted a job or not. If they’re not going to pay it, I have the option of taking the job or not.
Child labor laws - Instilling the great work ethic in all children, including all those hard working kids, especially all the ones that don't carry their knives and guns to Schenectady High.
Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA) - AKA Common Sense. If it's not safe, you don't do it. This is a law that is there to help lawyers keep their jobs, and to keep idiots safe because they can't protect themselves. If this wasn't there, there would be less idiots in the workforce over years, therefore helping to keep the unemployment at a lower number than it is now.
40-hour work week - Think this would be a combination (now, tell me if I'm wrong on this, since I could have lost it while going through this, but...) of the 8 hour workday and the weekends off above, so use those explanations.
Workers’ compensation (workers’ comp) - combination of OSHA and getting what you pay for. If it’s the employer’s job that hurts the employee, it should be the employer that pays for the employee to get better.
Unemployment insurance – a handicap against small businesses that have to pay into a government system just in case they accidentally hire someone who shouldn’t have been in the position. Imagine how much more small businesses would be able to do if they didn’t have to pay the government for “insurance” in case one of their employees doesn’t know how to do their job. This would mean that they could either hire more people to get the job done easier, or lower the prices that they charge their customers, both GOOD things for any business.
Pensions – spending other people’s money so that you can have money after you’re done working. That’s generally called retirement, and something that most people need to put money aside for. It’s called planning ahead. Pensions are retirement for people who can’t figure out that they need to save some money to pay their own bills when they don’t work anymore.
Workplace safety standards and regulations – Workers’ compensation / OSHA
Employer health care insurance – another item where employers are being forced by the government to take money out of people’s paychecks to pay for something, whether they want it or not. This is the same as “overtime pay” above in this way: “At the same time, when I start my job, I agree to the company rules of how many hours I will work prior to them paying me extra. I might be making more (or less) if the unions / government didn’t step in to take care of this, but also, at that point, it would be a decision I could make as far as if I wanted a job or not. If they’re not going to pay it, I have the option of taking the job or not.” This would include the benefits of health care.
Collective bargaining rights for employees – if this is a benefit for all, all would be able to do it, and they don’t. Also, you are only as good as your weakest link. If you’re bargaining for all employees, you’re bargaining for the employee who sits on his butt all day and doesn’t do his job as much as you’re bargaining for the employee who puts his nose into his work as soon as he gets to the office and concentrates on nothing but getting the job done until his work day is over (except for those mandated breaks, brought to you by the unions).
Wrongful termination laws – Should not exist. In fact, at my workplace, they don’t. It’s called at-will employment. If I don’t want to work there anymore, I don’t have to. Also, if my employer doesn’t want me working there anymore, I don’t have to, and they don’t have to have a reason, they just have to say that I am no longer needed.
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) – protecting against discrimination only adds discrimination. Discrimination means that you are generally giving someone more rights by… TAKING THEM AWAY FROM OTHERS.
Whistleblower protection laws – they only have to find another reason to fire you, and believe me, they can find plenty of reasons at any point. Whistleblowers aren’t generally around for too long, as they find another way to get rid of them.
Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) - prohibits employers from using a lie detector test on an employee – polygraphs are not admissible in court, and if you’re going to lie to your employer, then the employer probably doesn’t want you there as an employee.
Veteran's Employment and Training Services (VETS) – a law that helps veterans get into positions with additional training. As an employer, I would be happier bringing on a veteran into the job and training them on exactly how I want them to do the job, instead of having someone else train them. Another way that the government will now turn around and spend employers money because it’s better for the employer.
Compensation increases and evaluations (i.e. raises) – In ANY job, if you can show that you are worth it, your boss should pay you an increased amount. There should not be automatic raises. Also, this does not mean that there will automatically be compensation increases each year, only if you are actually part of the union, and if you pay the union a portion of those additional monies that you will be receiving, again raising the costs of doing business for the company, and raising prices, the same as minimum wage, at a higher price.
Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) – gives those who are disabled more rights than those who are not. If you have two possible employees who are otherwise equal, the “disabled” employee will be hired due to this, essentially causing discrimination against those who are NOT disabled.
Holiday pay – see Overtime, Employer health care insurance
Employer dental, life, and vision insurance – See holiday pay
Privacy rights – Don’t see how or where this came from a union. Examples?
Pregnancy and parental leave – See FMLA… oh, wait, this is a different benefit… not really.
The right to strike – aka the right to stop working because of the fact that you’re not getting exactly what you want, and the union is taking more than its fair share of your paycheck.
Public education for children – Higher taxes for all and the impossibility of getting rid of teachers that don’t do their job and take your money out of your pocket.
Equal Pay Acts of 1963 & 2011 - requires employers pay men and women equally for the same amount of work – falls under the same category as minimum wage. Why is it we can’t pay people what they’re actually worth? Because someone said that if someone can’t do the same amount of work, they would still get the same amount of pay. If you do less, you should get less. It doesn’t matter what sex you are. Also, if unions did so well getting this for all people throughout the United States back in 1963, what was the need for an additional law in 2011? And what gives government the right to step into this? Where is it in their job description?
Laws ending sweatshops in the United States – this is just a combination of so many of the above listed categories.
I’ll leave the only 2 that I didn’t give any answer to (Sexual harassment laws and Military leave) for someone else to give an answer. I think you can start with what I have and explain what good it is unions have done…
Maybe we'll add the Privacy Rights to these 2, also.
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