In his letter to the editor (July 1), George Mathews stated, “There is no doubt that wages and benefits to workers are greater when union bosses are out of the picture.” He sounds like my parents and grandparents.
The problem is that many commonly held beliefs about unions are wrong. The 22 states with right-to-work laws have lower incomes and reduced wages, on average, compared to free-bargaining states. “Right-to-work” is an idea businesses love because it increases their profits by giving them more power to keep wages low.
All of the positive aspects of working today came from unions. Before unions existed, workers had very low wages, long hours, dreadful working conditions and no benefits. Unions were a driving force behind the 8-hour day, time-and-a-half for overtime, the five-day workweek, child labor laws, minimum wage, health insurance, fringe benefits and worker safety laws. Unions benefit nonunion workers, too, because company owners need to raise wages and benefits to compete.
Think about it. The only purpose of a business is to make the largest possible profit for its owners. The purpose of a union is to help working people by protecting their rights and safety and negotiating as a group for good pay and benefits.
Hating unions makes some sense for wealthy owners of large corporations. Hating unions makes no sense for working people.
Ellen Field, New Gloucester
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Here are the facts
I am not a democrat. I was a union worker for thirty plus years.
Unions back democrats. Why because back when they were created it was the democrats faced with gaining more support went to work to get things passed through state and federal legistures that gave you:
A forty hour work week.
Overtime after forty hours.
OSHA you know the people that force employers to maintain a safe work place, and all the other things that Helen mentioned.
When I was a teenager in the sixties all those big brick buildings you see around L/A were either mills or shops. All were unionized. Then the owners decided to move those jobs to the south because they either had no unions or were RIGHT TO WORK STATES. Yes lower wages, instead of made in Maine they were made in pick a southern state.
Low and behold what happened, First Mexicans would work for less money. Guess where the jobs went. Then went to lower wages, poor working conditions, no safety on the job, etc etc.
Don't blame the unions for the job situation, blame the greedy business community.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Maine should become a right
Maine should become a right to work state. Let people choose whether to be part of the union or not. When people have a choice, the majority do not want to become union members.
Better living through right to work policies.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.choice?
"Let people choose whether to be part of the union or not." People already have that choice. Nobody is forced to apply for a job at a union shop.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.When you live in a heavily
When you live in a heavily unionized state like Maine, there are fewer choices.
Having choices is having freedom. Why not support more freedom. That is, more choices for Maine residents. Are you opposed to allowing Maine residents the freedom of choice? Why would that be a bad thing?
Lastly and in direct response to your comment, we should extend your concept to the employer as well. If the employer does not want a unionized workforce, then you can just go work somewhere else.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.choice
"Are you opposed to allowing Maine residents the freedom of choice?" Not at all. They have that freedom of choice - work in a union shop or don't. Easy as that. How about the Mainers that voted to unionize in the first place? Their freedom of choice doesn't count?
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.“Their freedom of choice
“Their freedom of choice doesn't count”
Readers, need I say more about how this person views freedoms?
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So, it's safe to say you are proudly pro-choice?
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.If you are speaking of
If you are speaking of abortion, I believe in an individual’s right to choose, one of many free choices I support. However, we need not make others pay for it or many other choices people make.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Not true Mike
I work for a company that now only lets us have 3 days off per year. We are expected to work on Memorial day, 4 th of July, amd even labor day. T. Me again how these things won't change. Think again giveen no controls any company would increase the hours worked in a day. Don't just tell me to go get another job, they are very rare at the moment.
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362 days a year?
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Unemployment rate among
Unemployment rate among individuals with a college degree is 4.6%, which is pretty good.
Perhaps seeking additional training and education is the first step to looking for that new job! Even the willingness to relocate is a good start.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.I'm self-employed, Roger, ...
... so I get ZERO days off per year. No one listens to my grievances. It is not the unions that set, or even protect, the rules such as 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week - those things are in labor laws, state and federal. No doubt they tell you they are the last and only defense against sweatshops and child-labor, but that's just BS to keep you forking over those dues.
Perhaps the biggest reason jobs are so rare now is unions have been so successful destroying them or, at best, forcing them off-shore.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.You made a choice.
Live with it.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.What hatred?
Common sense is not hatred. Yes, unions accomplished a lot of good changes way back when, and have been dining out well on that faded glory ever since. Those changes are now cast in the concrete of law and won't disappear even if tomorrow every union in the country vanished to wherever Jimmy Hoffa is.
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