I am a little befuddled by the contradictory musings of the anti-union crowd.
It seems, according to them, that the union is only after "their money". Or "their pension". Or the union is packed full of evil thugs itching to start busting heads and perpetrating bad deeds.
Most of the pro-union guys on here are drivers like yourselves, many of us have worked both sides of the fence, and know a bit about the issues. There are a lot of intelligent, bright guys on here touting the good of going union, but it seems that with some of you all, it goes in one ear and out the other.
My question to those of you who are die-hard anti-union is this: if the union is such a bad deal, and if it's such a horrible bunch of people, why are so many guys on here saying such good things about it? Are we on some dark, hidden union payroll? Do we have ulterior motives? Or are we simply too stupid to understand how we are being deluded by the union?
I'm curious to hear from some of you as to why you think so many of us are so pro-union. Most of us have admitted the union isn't perfect; or that it is a cure-all for all problems.
Speaking for myself, I think many of us have taken up this debate because we believe in it, and care about seeing our fellow drivers get a better deal than what they have been getting. Do you not think many of us have walked in your shoes before? Because many of us have. Do you not ever stop and think that we know what you all have, and we know hwat we have under the union umbrella is for the most part a far better deal than we ever had non-union? And not just in pay and benefits, but in having a voice in our future and our job.
I wasn't born into this union, but my deep belief in the positives of unionism have grown over seventeen years-plus of being a part of this industry, of which only the last eight or so have been as a Teamster.
I am highly critical of things that have been done by this union, but I still believe we can and are improving. I personally got more involved in my union to ensure that change happened to my satisfaction.
My point to all of you who doubt the motives of the union that you listen a bit more carefully to the experiences and thoughts of those of us who have walked both sides of the path, and understand we are not the enemy. I have never made the mistake of placing the union or any of it's leaders on a pedestal and saying they were or are perfect, and no one else should either.
The union is simply a tool I use to better my way of life. You get down to where the rubber meets the road, and get past all of the union rah-rah stuff, that is what the union is about. Don't mistake our pride in our organization for blindness to it's faults, but don't think that having faults makes the union a bad tool, either.
The union is what it is: a tool for workers to use to better their lives. The statistics prove that union workers make better wages on average; have better benefits and healthcare coverage; and on the whole are better off. But what you have seen in the last three decades is a wholesale attempt by business and politicians to weaken the union presence in the workforce, and not for the betterment of society, either.
On the contrary, it was for the betterment of "shareholder value", and run-up in the markets of the Eighties and Nineties prove that to a large degree. We as Americans are being sold a bill of goods every day that our lives are better, our jobs are more secure, and that the middle class is more properous.
The facts prove the exact opposite is happening. More Americans every day are living without any health insurance at all, personal debt is climbing through the roof; median wages are not keeping up with inflation in the middle class; and on and on it goes.
I am not saying unionism cures every single one of these ills. But it can be a big part of the middle class taking back what they have lost over the years.
All I'm asking any of you on the anti-union side is to look at recent history and think about the facts a little bit, and not act on just an emotional gut level...
