It could take years for the federal regulator Osha to set new heat rules as excessive temperatures are killing Americans at work
It could take years for the federal regulator Osha to set new heat rules as excessive temperatures are killing Americans at work
Yup, and because I didn’t bash my head in when I collapsed, there were no consequences for abusing me!
Gotta love Right-to-Work states.
So therein lies the solution. Next time you need a fan, just fall, when they panic and lift you up, be like “I’ve collapsed from the heat, if only there was a fan around… Who knows, next time I fall, I might bash my head…”
I’m sorry for your treatment, that has nothing to do with right-to-work though.
Right-to-work weakens unions.
A strong union wouldn’t let me be treated this way.
Therefore:
You’re right of course, but right to work does not preclude forming or joining a union which is the implication. I’m pro-union and a union member, even moreso I believe the right to collective bargaining by employees ought to be inviolable, but closed shops are bullshit. If the union doesn’t serve it’s members to their satisfaction, their continued collection of dues amounts to coercion. An employee invoking their “right to work” is making a statement about how their union is representing them, (often via political speech which is the basis of Beck). Furthermore, I don’t know about all states, but I believe most still make you pay the part of your dues attributable to bargaining. That was/is the same when exercising your “Beck rights.” There seems to be a default position on the left that unions are only forces of good (and polar opposite on the right). There are countless examples contrary and IMO employees should be able to vote with their dollars when their vote for representation fails or is corrupted. Anyway, nothing is stopping OP from organizing in a right-to-work state, the bar is the same, convince enough of your fellow employees that a union is in their best interest. Many, possibly most people do not understand what the terms right-to-work or at will employment mean. That was my main aim when commenting on it. My bad for the hit and run instead of explaining why right-to-work wasn’t at fault, just a shitty employer.
Closed shops are necessary for union power. In the real world, in real right-to-work states, unions are powerless. We have the real-world data to examine and compare right-to-work states and we can see it weakens unions across the board. This is a fact.
Deal with it.
If workers don’t like their union, they should form a rank-and-file committee and collectively bargain with the union 😤
Look, I know where I’m at here and know this is falling on deaf ears (see my previous comment about unions being unequivocally good from the left’s perspective). And I do have to deal with it, since I’m in a coerced membership state. My union is one of the largest in the country and has been the subject of much impropriety including collusion with one of the companies it represents employees of (not allegations of, convictions of). It’s not going anywhere because a few members are motivated enough to tell them to kick rocks and not worry about the repercussions. Your edit let’s me know you do not belong to a union or have any idea how a local works in the real world. I’ll not change your mind and you’ll not change mine. Union Yes!, closed shop no.
I was a member of the AFL-CIO for 4 years. They’re weak as fuck in my state because of the right-to-work laws.
Rank-and-File committees, made up of members of the union to push the union towards militancy, are the only way we can force do-nothing unions into action. All right-to-work does in the real world is weaken unions, that’s all we have seen in every state it has been implemented.
I take back my accusation you’d not been a member, it was unproductive snark anyway.
Is it because of right to work though, or are you somewhere that is traditionally hostile to unions (I.e. the southern U.S.)? The resurgence and effectiveness of unions in this country is going to depend on winning hearts and minds. Forced membership may work to shore up numbers, but motivated, engaged members is where a union’s strength lies. There will always be propaganda against anything that counters the monied interests. When that money controls nearly every aspect of society the only way to secure a lasting win for the working class is to convince workers to fight for their overwhelming share. You’re not going to do it with conscripts, the inertia of the status quo is just too great. Part of that status quo is unionism as it is currently practiced. The administration of the unions themselves are just as interested in maintaining it. Sure they’d like to increase their influence, but you’ll see no militancy from them regardless of the membership’s exhortations. You may rightly accuse me of defeatism, but so long as I have to suffer the world as it is, I want at least the say my dollar affords me.
Midwest. People aren’t hostile to unions, they just don’t see the point because nothing ever gets better and the union contracts are weak.
And I also speak from experience when I say weak sellout unions are better than no unions. Right-to-work has been shown to lower union membership, lower wages, reduce the number of union victories, and ultimately reduce the number of workplaces represented by unions entirely. We can see before-and-after, we can compare across state lines, we can even look at cities on two sides of a right-to-work border and directly compare. The results are clear: right-to-work is bad for workers.
You can have the last word.