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Subject:
Workers of the World Unite!
Category: Relationships and Society > Politics Asked by: mongolia-ga List Price: $15.00 |
Posted:
06 Aug 2006 18:14 PDT
Expires: 05 Sep 2006 18:14 PDT Question ID: 753244 |
Why is it that medium to well paying professions (e.g. Nurses, Policemen, Power workers , Airline Pilots) tend to have powerful unions to support/represent them, while low paying professions (retail workers , Call Centre operators) have NO unions to protect them allowing them to be kicked around at the employers' mercy? What is the fundamental reason why these latter groups fail to unionize? Mongolia |
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There is no answer at this time. |
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Subject:
Re: Workers of the World Unite!
From: keystroke-ga on 06 Aug 2006 18:41 PDT |
The main reason that I can see is that the first group of workers are professionals, i.e. they had to have specialized training for their jobs. The second group's jobs can be done by anyone with people skills and do not require any special training. In other words, they could be easily replaced whereas a nurse or pilot cannot. If call centre workers tried to unionize and receive better benefits and more money, they would simply be fired and replaced with other people right out of high school, eager to take over their jobs. This is why workers at Walmart would probably not be successful in attempts to unionise-- they would simply all be fired and replaced. |
Subject:
Re: Workers of the World Unite!
From: sonoritygenius-ga on 06 Aug 2006 19:30 PDT |
Another reason is Union Dues.. minimum wage barely covers (if) the many bills and sometimes union dues are over 30-70 bucks.. but ofcourse strong reason of easy replacement - unskilled position is dominant |
Subject:
Re: Workers of the World Unite!
From: pafalafa-ga on 06 Aug 2006 20:11 PDT |
I'm not sure I can accept the premise of the question. The SEIU (janitorial) and UNITE (garment workers) are pretty influential in their own right, and if anything, are probably on the upswing, while the more middle class unions are waning fast. It's probably more the case that certain jobs offer decent wages because they are unionized, rather than it being that only well-paying jobs are the ones that get unions. paf |
Subject:
Re: Workers of the World Unite!
From: myoarin-ga on 07 Aug 2006 03:33 PDT |
In addition, I believe it also relates to when the unions became organized and the type of employers. Decades ago, uniona were stronger and able to organize members in firms. Once established as negotiating party with the employers, the interest of new employees to join was/is strong. These days in America, unions are weaker, less respected, and the ability to organize has declined. Furthermore, trying to organize in the very fragmented industries with minimum wage employees is more difficult than in the days when low wage employees could stop production in a steel mill, railroad traffic, etc. |
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