Union membership raises the workers' pay and narrows the income gap that holds a disadvantage on minorities and women. Union workers earn 30 percent more than nonunion workers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. The weekly earnings for full-time and salary work was $863 in 2007, matched up to the $663 for their nonunion counterparts.
Union wages is even a greater benefit for minorities and women. Union women earn 33 percent more than their nonunion women counterparts.
American workers are the most productive in the world. Work longer hours than in any other developed country. Live in a country with more than $13 trillion a year in income. Right now in this country the assault on unions by an anti union president, anti-union corporations and greedy CEO's who are responsible for the out sourcing of American jobs by the millions, American workers are experiencing stagnant wages and drastically lower family incomes. Increasing income insecurity, eroding health care benefits. Disappearing pensions.
Unions believe that anyone who wants to work should have a job with a living wage. Workers should be treated fairly and deserve medical benefits and retirement just a small portion of the profits that the workers have made for the company and their CEO's. Workers are proud of their work and should have the chance to do it right. All workers and their families should be able to live in dignity with health care and retirement security. Every worker should enjoy the freedom to form a union and to collectively bargaining. Workers want to join in the advancement of society and be part of a world-class economy
Social Security provides a guaranteed income each year for more than 48 million retirees; nearly two-thirds of all retirees count on Social Security for most of their retirement incomes. Only 21 percent of workers in the private sector have defined-benefit pensions. Since 1978, the number of defined-benefit plans plummeted from 128,041 plans covering some 41 percent of private-sector workers to only 26,000 today. The standard of living is seeing a drastic reduction due to the fact that people do not have retirement plans that are guaranteed by unions.
Since 2000, corporations have shipped more than 525,000 white-collar overseas. Some calculate approximately that up to 14 million middle-class jobs could be exported out of America in the next 10 years.
Accountants, software engineers--even X-ray technicians--are losing their jobs as corporations look for low-wage workers in countries such as India and China.
At the same time, 3 million manufacturing jobs have been lost since the Bush took office, many jobs lost because corporations have shipped the jobs to countries such as China, which is creating a booming manufacturing industry on the backs of its poorly-paid workers. Corporations are also profiting more due to the lax or nonexistent environmental regulations in these countries.
Most jobs that are being created in the United States are low-wage jobs that don't offer health coverage or guarantee retirement security. Nearly one-quarter of the country's workers are employed in jobs that in general pay less than $8.85 per hour, even though the U.S. government claims it takes $8.85 per hour to keep a family of four out of poverty. I certainly do not agree with the federal government on this amount. These people who seem easily content to decide the poverty line should in turn give up their $150,000.00 plus a year income and reduce their wages to the $8.85 and see if they can maintain their family on the same set of standards that they so choose to inflict on other workers of the country. The federal government forgets that a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk is the same price to all.
The gap between the middle class and the wealthy has significantly widened in the past 8 years. This country was founded and keeps going because of the hard work of the middle class. With the reduction of the middle class we can see an economy that is failing, we can see record numbers of home foreclosures, and many more people doing with out health care and basic needs not being met. Those of you who are enjoying a good wage and a nice lifestyle needs to remember that with out the sacrifice of many before you, and through many labor strikes, your way of life would be much lower.
This goes to those of you who dislike unions, if a company treats their employees good, offers a sound retirement, and health benefits, a union is not needed, but unfortunately those kinds of business's are far and few between.
Some people feel that unions do not weed out the incompetent individuals that every trade or business has in some workers, or management, that unions protect those members that are not, lets say the cream of the crop, this could not be farther from the truth, as unions bring in members they all have apprentice-ship programs, this happens to weed out those individuals that can not met the high standards that is required to go through the 4 year program. I will agree that there may be one now and then that makes it through the program and becomes a journeyman. They may turn out to be a "Lum" a worthless worker. These individuals will never stay in the trades with a reputation of being a slow or mediocre worker, other tradesmen will not put up working with a Lum, contractors will tell the union hall not to send so- in so out on the call, after a short period these Lum's will get out of the trades and go elsewhere. Most union tradesmen are proud to be in a union, proud of their work and relish their reputation on the job. I must confess that in other unions they may carry dead weight but I can only speak about the building trades.
One of the advantages of using union workers is they have the most highly trained workforce from apprentices to the journeymen with constant upgrading at the expense of the unions and not from the pocket books of the taxpayers. The unions pay for the training from start to finish.
The facts are: skilled journeymen tradesmen save money on each construction job by working safely, getting the work done a head of schedule and done right the first time. Take Cascade Grain at Port Westward a several hundred million dollar job for example; UNION workers came in ahead of schedule and a head of budget.
Where as the non-union TIC started an identical project in OHIO at the same time and they are working two shifts of 7/12's with 465 of their own non-union employees plus 175 sub contractors and they are 7 months behind schedule!