Many states in the US are right to work states and it works just fine for them.

The Unions in the US get a bad name because they have a tendency to be corrupt and bully
their own workers.

It's nothing strange here to find the leaders of a Union chilling at a million dollar
country club.

Unions also try to monopolize the working environment by forcing people to join the union
to work. After you join you are forced to pay sometimes excessive dues that the union
bosses then use however they want. The unions here have also attempted to get rid of
secret ballots. This would allow them to see how you vote within the union and apply
pressure accordingly.

In the case of Wisconsin the Unions had previously paid tons of money to democratic
politicians who in return gave them extremely unfair benefit packages.

I know how unions are supposed to work but here they have a tendency to be extremely
corrupt, bully non union workers and run companies into the ground.

Here's something for you Night. The law that was hidden in teh bill.

1. SALE AND CONTRACTUAL OPERATION OF STATE-OWNED POWER PLANTS
Governor: Allow the Department of Administration (DOA) to sell any state-owned heating,
cooling, or power plant or contract with private entities for the operation of any such
plant,with or without solicitation of bids, for any amount the Department determines to be
in the bestinterest of the state.

And the beneficiary? Koch Industries.

As a reminder, that power plant provision points directly to Koch Industries, who is
already advertising for power plant managers.

That is because people don't turn out to union votes and "cliques" get elected.

I've seen it where the Union Chief Steward for that local is the bosses son.

It's an imperfect system like anything else, but a neccessary system none the less, or you
have the situations going on and being started in the US.

The lawyer for my dads union explained it to me this way, the corporations are in place to
make money and take no responsibility for those actions or as little as possible. The rich
control and run the corporations but hide behind them to not get attacked or punished
themselves. They get richer, well trying to take away as much as possible from there
workers to give back to themselves. In the end the Unions are what make us different then
China and Vietnam, as those corporations are there simply because they can exploit and
cheat the people at this point in time.

@kings
I don't think the unions here are the same as Canada.

Most of the mine jobs here are unionized and most of the members will tell you that the
union leaders are just as bad as the corporations. It's mostly dirty politics.

Gov. Scott Walker뭩 (R-WI) demand that he be allowed to sell off Wisconsin뭩 state owned
power plants with no-bid contracts has fueled suspicion that Koch Industries might take
advantage of the deal, especially given Koch뭩 support for the Walker campaign and his
current power grab. But the more dangerous Koch Industries kickback from Walker is likely
to be from his administration뭩 approach to environmental regulations. Koch owns several
Georgia Pacific plants along the Fox River near Green Bay. These plants are notorious for
dumping thousands of pounds of toxic waste into the river, so it is discouraging that
Walker뭩 administration has indicated that it will rollback environmental safeguards. If
Walker allows Koch to pollute Wisconsin뭩 waterways, he is risking the lives and health of
Wisconsin뭩 people.

Taken from
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/03/01/koch-polluter-bailout

I just did a quick search on the Koch's and what there up too and I found it again Night.

Michigan and Ohio have passed even worse laws.

http://www.balloon-juice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/tlG0Y.jpg

This picture pretty much sums up how badly you guys are getting screwed.

I'm a conservative at heart, but after looking into certain party members I couldn't have
voted Republican in your elections.

Only one party in Canada is interested in protecting the middle class, our unions, and our
pensions. That is amazingly the NDP the biggest Socialist party and the party that will be
receiving my vote.

Vorru the problem is this company is well renowned in teh Aerospace/fibre optic
manufacturing market.

Yes I understand they can't compete "as well" but they have opened there books up to us
and are turning 7+ digit profits. I'm sure they can afford to give us all a pay raise.

I also know for a fact that to gain access to certain jobs you have to be unionized, and
that's a very large market share were missing out on as well.

The company I used to work for, before I went to school, paid me more then I currently
make, on top of that they unionized themselves (management did it) so they can gain access
to bigger and better jobs. And yes Vorru there was non unionized works in this shop to.
Everyone was given the choice, and if non of the welders wanted to join the union, the
company actually hired a welder who would, with out firing anyone. This allowed them to
maintain there current job market, but extend themselves into a new one. Only difference
was if you weren't in the Union you couldn't assist on a Unionized Bid Job, but the union
guys could help with the non unionized jobs. This company has tripled its size in the last
couple of years. You have a right to be in or out of the union, it's just a matter of
where you work and what the jobs they bid on require.

@Ninja they are not allowed to bargain for above inflation wages, which means they will
try to keep up with inflation but never get it.

Wisconsin has it bad, but Ohio and Michigan screwed the middle class even worse. We should
be discussing at the laws they passed.

There would be no need for this drastic war on the middle class if the rich and
corporations actually paid taxes.

From what I've heard about it Nightcrept is correct. The union workers were originally
having to pay dues totaling (forgive me if my numbers aren't spot on, these are estimates)
like six percent of their benefits while the rest of the workforce had to pay something
like sixteen percent. The unions have had it made for the past twenty or so years. Now
that they have to pay close to (but still less than) what everyone else pays, they're all
bent out of shape. They can still fight for their pay, just not their benefits.

@KINGS11 I see your point, I make $8.75 an hour which is the lowest minimum
wage, luckily I am not yet 18 and am under my parents roof. The war on the middle
class began in the 15th century right after it's emergence (during the renaissance)
only now with a centralized bank, the social contract, so-called free trade, and now
with socialism on the rise, the middle class will fade away. The thing that pisses me
off the most is that Washington took my tax money and 'bailed out' the bonuses of
elitest assholes who are f*cking america over in the first place. Sorry for the
language mods, but this is something that really irks me.

@ Kings11

Using the two firms you mentioned:

The firm that can pay its employees a max salary of $14 for a specific type of job can
compete far more easily than a firm that has to pay $18 for the same specific job. There
are several reasons why employers dread the idea of becoming unionized, and a big reason
is that it makes the cost of doing business go way up. If a business can't compete as
well in the market, then it won't be able to make as much money. If it doesn't make as
much money, there is less incentive to keep the doors open.

@ Everyone else

I hate the idea of people taking my money. IMO the government is the only entity who is
reasonably able to take the money I earned for some purpose/s I may or may not like. The
idea that in some places I HAVE to join an organization that will also take my money for
purposes I may or may not agree with is no good.

Giving people a choice whether or not to join a union/pay dues is merely an extension of
their personal Liberty to do as they please with the money they labored to earn. Workers
rights? How about the right to use your money as you see fit?

Unions exist to protect the rights of individual union members who likely couldn't
afford to battle a big corporation in court for wrongs committed. That's called
Collective Bargaining. Shouldn't employees be able to decide if they want that protection?

-V for Vorru