InUrFace

This is in reply to a post on Feministe by La Labu. 

A lot of the union perceptions out in the workplace are formed in a bubble it seems, removed from economics, and economics keep America floating. If I am correct a lot of the ideas are formed with the belief that creating the perfect job for the average worker is the ultimate responsibility of a company and unions are there to keep the companies priorities straight.

Unfortunately this is where different ideals collide. Business operate off of capitalistic rules. If a business makes less than it spends it goes insolvent. Then everyone loses. The whole idea of a business is capitalistic. If you want a more socialistic or even communistic system go to Canada or China. Better yet, have the industries run by the government. Please don’t do that to America, there is a reason we are the most prosperous.

Whoever starts a business starts it because they see an opportunity to make money, not to provide you with a job. You, as an employee, are an ends to a mean. Don’t like that? Either make yourself into a valuable employee (more skilled then the next guy) or go somewhere else. Unions try to subvert this process by making the employee the priority. Now I grant there are some excellent reasons for unions to exist but none of those reasons are to protect rights. Being paid a certain wage and having healthcare are not rights. Anyone who thinks that has an undue sense of entitlement. Unions are for forcing companies to give wages or benefits that the employee cannot actually earn (in other words, deserve) but can leverage using collective bargaining. Basically threatening the existence of the company to get what they cannot earn by themselves. It creates weak companies that, in the end, cannot compete with companies around them which ends up in outsourcing, bankruptcy, etc. It is counter productive (especially for the employee) to demand more then the company can support.

It’s a business principal that you must provide more value than you receive. This applies to employees just as much as business. In a way you are a business. You sell you time and skills in exchange for money. If you demand an wage or benefit that you cannot obtain simply through supply and demand then that creates an unjust strain on the company which bites into the very reason it was founded, money. Hence the rift between business owners and the blue collar.

If you have been responsible with your life you have taken advantage of the tremendous opportunities around. You have educated yourself and made your skills a prized commodity. Prized skills and education are enough to get excellent health care, wages, etc. It’s when your skills and education are deficient, in other words you are not a very valuable contributer as an individual (you yourself don’t bring the company very much value), that you need a union to increase healthcare, wages, etc.

The statement that unions are more prevalent in the white collar world is not true. Competitively educated people are a very highly prized commodity and companies will compete ferociously for them. Benefits, wages, healthcare, etc are all implicit because the person creates huge value for the company. I work in the white collar recruiting field and can tell you from experience that a person who has invested in themselves can expect all that the lower class clamors for because they are worth it to the company. It’s about money in the end whether you like it or not.

In the end it comes down to what you have done with your life. If you don’t take responsibility for earning a decent wage and expect that is just something someone else should take care of for you, in this case the business owners (shareholders), then you will have to resort to using unions.

So when you consider the benefits a union provides consider also the cost to the company and ask if it is a win win situation. Are you providing more value to the company (in production, not time) than you require? That is the only way wealth will continue to increase in America and employees can expect consistently higher wages. Everyone wins.

I am an employee also. I work hard. I distinguish myself and consequently enjoy benefits that most people in my position can only clamor for. I don’t need to pay union dues, I don’t need to dislike my boss, and I have unlimited potential corresponding to my value. My life is simpler and has less conflict because I am committed to providing an excellent service for the company which my boss is happy to pay me well for. Do that and you will prosper.

In the end it’s about responsibility. If you think there is no way you can rise above your middle class peers because you are held down by “The Man” so you must fight “The Man” then you will have unproductive class struggle. Unions create a certain ceiling of achievement and distinction by limiting the amount of value you can provide to the company. A great example of that is work hour caps. Limited at eight hour days and forty hour weeks? What does that accomplish? All it does is limit your options, limit your pay, and limit you from distinguishing yourself from anyone else. Aren’t unions supposed to do the opposite? I thought they were meant to empower the employee?

If you take responsibility for your career and expect your wage to be proportional to your value to the economy and take steps to increase your value the you WILL have the privileges you want.