Wow, two posts in one day! The sky is falling in!!!

Steve Jobs recently made more news when he railed against teachers unions, saying that its unions keeping bad teachers employed for far longer than they should be. Others have agreed, almost, but have added the fact that they think unions are a hurtful relic of when workers were oppressed and needed collective representation. This attitude has become prevalent with many people today, mostly the middle and upper classes. However, I am a very strong supporter of unions, and feel that these opinions are wrong. There’s no doubt that many unions, as they exist now, are simply not feasible. There are many unions who fight for everything they can get, whether it’s fair or not, without any consideration for how this will effect the company they’re bargaining with. With the teachers unions specifically, they hold a very powerful bargaining chip. Parents of students will not accept almost any period beyond a short while that means their children aren’t in school, since it means that the parents become responsible for their childrens welfare for the day. These parents almost always side with the teachers, seeing them as an important part of society, not to mention great babysitters. This means that the government has almost no wiggle room to make a decent deal from their (and in turn, our) perspective. It’s clear that in this situation, if society wants better teachers, and better schools, it’s going to take many years of long lockouts to take back some of what teachers have gained. The teachers unions are not, however, a good example for the rest of the workforce. No union has as much bargaining power as they posess, and none use what power they have so judiciously. The rest of the unionized workforce has much more modest goals, but they’re presence is still held not held with much regard in the society at large. So, I will give you two examples of where unions are still very much needed.

1. The Lower Llasses
Notice who I said were mostly against unions, the middle and upper class. These people think they’re doing fairly well without a union, and think everyone else should be too. Of course, in the lower class, they’re quite wrong. People in this class have few skills, and probably even less experience. These conditions aren’t so different from the times when unions first came into being, the late 19th and early 20th centuries. When almost anyone can do your job, meaning that you have no job security, or benefits, a union is a very powerful and valuable thing to have.

2. Collective Bargaining
Collective bargaining is the single most powerful thing any worker has. It can be used to attain fair and reasonable demands, like pensions and raises. It can also be used to get things that are not fair at all, as the example of the teachers union will attest. However, either party is allowed to walk away from the table at any time, and come back when they feel their demands will be met or a fair agreement can be made. A large helping of civility and reasonability from both sides is the most important part of collective bargaining, and those relationships who exhibit these qualities will be rewarded with better relations between the workforce and the company, and end in a better work environment for everyone.

I think it’s clear that many unions have become too powerful, but that’s not enough to throw the whole thing out. Unions need to change, and adapt, but they are still an incredibly valuble construction of the modern workforce. Neither party can operate in a vacuum. Civility and understanding from both sides are important. I see no reason why if unions don’t change that they can’t survive for as long as there is organized labour.