I remember when I worked at Wegmans in college. First day they sat down all the new hires, and basically said, "you can unionize if you want, but if you do, you'll be paying dues with no guaranteed outcome, and we don't want you wasting your hard earned money for nothing." Granted, I gave no shits because I only worked like 3 x 4 hour shifts per week, and was much more focussed on my studies, but in hind sight, that's a pretty dick thing to say. They pretend to give off this big cozy family vibe, but then are like, "we are going to pay you minimum wage, overwork the shit out of you, and we WILL fight you if try make your situation better." One of the most toxic families I've ever seen. I left within a month of working there. It was my first and only deli job, and they were mad at me for not being as fast as my coworkers within a calendar month of my start date, when I worked less than half the hours my coworkers did, and had no previous experience in a deli.
@@penultimateh766 They were kinda apathetic about the whole thing. I mean, I wasn't performing to their standards, so they were probably going to fire me anyway. They had a new sucker to replace me in a couple months anyway. Funny thing though, my grandma passed away in the middle of my two weeks notice, so I only really worked 1 of my scheduled shifts.
@@penultimateh766 I mean, you are kinda talking about every grocery chain in existence. The practices between each one I am sure aren't that different. It's just a convenient business model for most consumers. People don't have time or the money for gas to shop at more ethical stores that are further away. For instance there's a local small-scale dairy farm about 30 minutes from me. Milk is cheaper there than it is at my farmer's market, but because of the distance, going shopping there for just milk, heavy cream and half and half becomes more expensive due to the gas cost of driving there and back (I did the math to double check, since I'm trying to save as much money as I can right now to get an emergency fund put together). Other things, I just can't get in more ethical stores near me. For instance, I tried two farmers markets near me, and a cheese shop. None carry Monterey Jack, so I either forego it, or I bite the bullet and buy at a grocery chain. At least, compared to most grocery chains, wegmans tries to source it's fresh products locally where it can. They may be assholes to their employees but they still kinda support local businesses. It's a gray area. I don't blame the consumers for the actions of the corproations. It's the government that should be enforcing the working standards the companies have to follow. I do my best to shop as ethically as I can. I boycott Amazon and Walmart. I was boycotting Home Depot for bankrolling homophobic politicians, until I moved, and had no choice. As the saying goes, "There is no such thing as ethical consumption under capitalism."
As someone from Australia where unions are big, a lot of what you've said is nuts. While unions cannot force you to pay dues, they can negotiate on behalf of large groups of employees and participation in many industries is quite high. We had one priminister in the 2000s that passed some laws that diminished union power and that entire party was immediately voted out in a record landslide and it took over a decade for the party to recover. It's wild to me that the US people have not similarly stood up for their rights.
A major reason was discussed somewhat in the video: white workers were given the dubious privileges that come from being 'white' if we gave up the more valuable privileges that come from fighting as a united working class. This reality was worst in the South and to this day, this region is the lowest paid on average. Theres literally companies from Canada and more union friendly states closing union shops and moving to Southern states similar to how companies move to places like Mexico and Central America.
@@cloakedoblivion22I think for that to work in the US, we'd need a third party to somehow become viable. Or either of the current parties would need to significantly change their stances to become truly pro-union.
@@theaconite1400 Democrats have been pro-union for literally a century, even through/after the "Big Flip". Republicans have been consistently anti-union, even in otherwise pro-union regions.
As a former professional labor union organizer and a current small business owner I’m so happy you covered this. More workers with benefits and income due to local economic democracy via union organizing helps everyone; not just the worker, but the entire community.
However the Unions that should be at the forefront always are blue collar, light blue collar or any union that is high skilled and has to put their health and sanity on the line as they are the ones with the most weight.
@@Aloysius10 You'd be surprised that there are weak points in any company. I worked in the backroom unloading trucks at Walmart. The entire store I worked at (bigger than most) has about 3-5 days worth of food in the store. The backroom is completely filled every day with ~10,000 items. There are 10 employees for every manager. Unless there are a ton of nothing jobs there is just no way without outside help. Just have a region wide strike so they couldn't fill in with other employees. Unemployment is at 3% they can't get new hires. But that might be why I got $17.50 an hour off the street in a town with $500 rent with no relivent experience or education.
I think unions are going to come back strong. We've had DECADES to show how abusive companies can be without unions! if unions weren't a benefit to workers, companies wouldn't fight so hard against them
You're wrong. Certain unions in Europe have started to be sabotaged from within. So even if they manage to come back, the sabotage playbook is already written, they'll be completely pointless and additional money drain on the workers participating in them.
This is just your friendly reminder that union workers make 18% more on average than their non union counterparts (that’s a 17% increase overall if you factor in union dues) . They also work fewer hours, have more time off, and have significantly better benefits. Unions are better for workers in every single way.
except that they make it harder for new workers to join the workforce, as companies are less interested in taking the risk of hiring new people with less/no experience when they know they'll be stuck with them due to the union rules even if they don't work hard unions also provide protection to crappy/abusive coworkers, limiting the employer's ability to reprimand/remove them
A problem is unions exist in jobs that have lower numbers of people willing to work them anyway. Most people would rather work cushy so nothing tech jobs than a union job.
Except for when they force their employer to close their workplace thus liquidating their jobs entirely. Long-term thinking. Not that hard, just try it.
I’m in a union currently and I agree. If I was with another company, and not in a union I would make significantly less. Many of my peers have worked for this company since they were young and retire here. It’s definitely made me consider staying here longer. People are happy at my job.
@@thewheeldeal8439 Unions provide protection for all the good workers too. They don’t suddenly deserves less pay and shittier treatment just because some people are incompetent.
The turnover piece is a big one. In my industry, it's rare for someone to stay at a company for more than 5 years. Not only is unionizing a long process, but so are the contracts. I might join and leave a company all within a 4 year contract.
2- Better pay, PTO, healthcare, etc benefits you whether you're there 2yrs or 20. And hopping is an early-career strategy. There's a case for improving labor now, so that there'll be better opportunities when you want a more stable job situation.
@@thedopplereffect00 Inflation has been coming down for months, and was never anywhere near 20%, not in the US anyway. Also, most union contracts include cost-of-living/inflation adjustments as a matter of course - you're negotiating for increases *above* that.
Unions are the life line from the 1950s that have our grandparents a better life than us it’s nice to see unions are coming back because we need them severely for the workers in our country and not for the CEOs
We honestly do. And I’m saying this as someone who is right leaning. We’ve been lied to. People keep spouting propaganda they’ve been told to say their whole lives. Just because you are pro worker doesn’t mean you’re anti capitalist, or put in a different way, giving workers basic dignity and rights doesn’t mean you’re a communist. Businesses shouldn’t have the right to exploit people and strip them of their dignity as people just because they pay them a salary. People need to work to live, so providing them with a safe environment in which to be productive ought to be the bare minimum. But lots of companies are willing to forgo that for the sake of money. What’s the point of being capitalist if we’ve forgotten who capitalism is actually for?
My only complaint about unions is that we shouldn't have to have them in the first place. Our government should actually be enforcing appropriate laws and we shouldn't have to pay dues for human rights
Right! Like in Europe, employers have to give you notice if they plan to terminate you or else they get fined. Also, you can’t fire people during parental leave
@@DiamondFlame45 And in Germany we still have Unions since not inflation adjusted pay and abuse still persists. Not gonna be able to sue a multi-million company when you've just gotten your way to welfare by being fired from said company. Union lawyers can though :,)
@@sanguineel Wrong. Capitalists and communist demagogues who try to gain power by brainwashing you into thinking you're a victim will always be at odds.
3:00 The use of "scabs" has a rather interesting connection with racial tensions. With large numbers of Black workers migrating out of the South starting in WWI, industrialists had access to a large pool of laborers who were used to working long hours at physically demanding jobs for low wages, and Whites were often opposed to allowing Blacks into labor unions; this resulted in Southern Blacks often being used as "scabs" during strikes, heightening tensions with unionized White workers.
Make friends with your coworkers! If you're cold or cutthroat, you'll never be able to rely on others. For pay equity, for labor protections, it's just you versus management. Reach out to others long before you need them to reach out to you. Expect that they've been isolated and have been primed to be distrustful, and don't take rejection personally. Just win over whoever you can, and look for opportunities to be kind across departments and social strata. Some of the biggest wins in union organizing was when management tried to bully a popular employee.
Well, I had a video pop up on my feed not too long ago from some HR lady saying your coworkers aren’t your friends. And she was basically advocating for this mindset. How stupid.
@@ntmn8444 She was advancing her interests, and we should advance ours. Those in power innately understand class solidarity and we should learn from their example.
4:47 to be fair this happens roughly 1% of the time according to some estimates. moving a plant and shipping are expensive, and even with lower wages it's not always the case that the extra cost burden eventually works out in the employers favor. in short, if they were going to ship the factory over seas, they'd already have seen the benefit and done it.
I apprenticeshiped through a union and did construction as a union member for 12 years before transitioning into a government job in the utility sector, best 12 years of my working life! I absolutely loved being a member
Don't fall for all the anti-union, anti-communist propaganda. Unionize your workplace. The silent generation and baby boomers had better wages and living conditions/ standards because of unions. Workers of the world, UNITE!!
@@thedopplereffect00 idk have you been to France? Germany? Denmark? Netherlands. They work 35hours, get a month of vacation every year and have much safer work conditions. Please tell me how evil it is to not give 99% of company revenue to CEOs and stock buybacks.
@@thedopplereffect00 YAWN! The expected response from a mind fed McCarthyism for decades. You must be a parasitic CEO stealing the wages of your workers and not paying them what they deserve. Capitalism is working great in the United Shitholes of America from what I see...more people living on the streets, more people dying from diseases of despair, everything is crumbling...fascism and censorship are getting worse, all your liberties, your privacy, everything is being taken away...but you say, "communism bad!" what a tool!
A bit unrelated, but my buddy and I were discussing Putnam's book a little bit and about how the pendulum might be swinging back the other direction for community engagement. For example, there's a huge rise in running and walking clubs across the US. With growing concerns of fake news and AI, its going to become harder and harder for us to differentiate real from fake. People might start to bail on their outrage-centered news feeds to turn to more local issues, especially those who wish to have an impact.
Great video as always. It is a terrible thing that we do not learn from our past. All the points you brought up about what is done to keep people from using our collective power are correct. What is unfortunate is that without the foresight to take care of people, they will eventually get pushed to extreme measures. The labor relations movements of the past have been very violent affairs. Without those in power and influence making better decisions it will probably come back to that again. Let's all pray that solutions that are good for everyone can be found.
I am actually not that certain. Mainly because neo-liberal ideology like trickle down and "rugged individual" have been largely discarded and there isn't a whole lot else for workers to do. While I don't know if they will get violent I don't see them stopping mainly because people have been pushed into a corner.
As a nurse I have a love hate with my union. I wish they were less currupt and focused on there own pet projects. We haven’t had a raise in 10 years. O I live in Canada. The private nurses are paid and treated better.
Best of luck to all Americans trying to make unions stronger! There are great things to be had if you keep fighting. In Denmark, we don't even have an official minimum wage - our unions are so strong that they affect salaries for everyone, including non-skilled, non-union workers. There is no official state-mandated minimum wage, yet we are paid very decent wages and no job is reliant on tips (like you see in some US jobs). Keep fighting! People are usually very envious of Scandinavian rights like paid maternity leave, paid paternity leave, sick leave with no upper limits, 6 weeks of paid vacation a year, etc. I want to stress these all came from unions working together and pushing for better worker rights! No one handed us these things; they were fought for by our grand parents generation. Keep pushing.
The corporations and government have unionized against the people. So they’ve done a GREAT job at convincing the people unionizing is bad, and when you have the “pro worker” party refuse to pass the pro act, raise the minimum wage, and break a rail worker strike, it is difficult to see remedy. Worker co-ops need to be the end goal. Unions are not good enough and too prone to corruption. Every worker should own part of the company they work for
@@SeagaltalkMost writers aren't salaried, they are gig workers. Even if you worked on a hit show, you still only get paid for a few weeks work. No new gigs, no pay. So they are definitely working class.
Unions are crap in Europe too. Often they only act for their own interests, and those of a small group of workers. In Switzerland I must be member of certain unions, while getting little to no benefit, and surely not as much as I must pay for them.
@@switzerland Yeah, that's an issue. I can see why they thought it was a good idea (if it's illegal to hire outside a union, the union has much more leverage, so they can negotiate better terms) but in practice, it doesn't work well.
Then why dont you become a rep and fix the problems instead of complaining. Maybe the issues are more complex than you give it credit for! Unions tend to set the rate of pay for the private sector too. So even if you're outside the union, you benefit from its existence in the private sector.
I have to say, watching the UAW bend Ford, GM, and Stellantis over the table was very funny. Doubly so when it triggered pay increases at Toyota, Honda, and Tesla.
Why do feel they are so underrated though their content presentation is so good? Anyways bro good content presentation and very informative......... Thank you.......... 👌👌👌👌👍
I think unions are inherently good, but mine is terrible. I hate seeing the money taken out of my check each time. Why do I stay in? They’ll raise my health insurance premiums by a higher rate than what the union dues are! Crooks!
In America, anything that has to do with helping the working class is considered communist / anti-American, and sadly the working class buys into that BS. The greatest political trick is convincing people to vote against their own interest. It also helps when the general public is mostly uninformed and ignorant.
Unions do nothing now, except for unions. They take your money. They take their wage. They take the perks and benefits. And they do nothing for the worker. In the past they did. Not now. They are a political wing. No more. I have been a union member most of my working career. I have watched my fellow employees need help, ask for it and never get any!
Always love your videos! I will point out though th at even with some industries relocating, overall manufacturing and jobs in the USA is higher than ever.
It’s not higher than ever. Let’s get real with that. But it is making a comeback, bc companies are starting to see how much more they’re losing by importing their products from elsewhere.
union membership percentage is a little misleading because the type of jobs that would need unions like factories and such are clearly not what people are aiming for.
But we're living much better back then with Unions around.. and that's a fact. That's why I support unions. It takes money to make money.. Union fees are part of that.
There a lot of grey area here but the discussions are very polarized. Having dealt with unions, I’ve seen how they have the most insane little rules that make no sense and can see the corporate side. From who can install a poster off an office to not being able fire someone unless it goes through a extremely long process even though the employee suxks. On the other hand, there should be an union for every business that deals only with pay, health and benefits. Imo, we should have “an app for that”. A simple app employees download that has info and secret “union vote”. If everyone subscribes some big time lawyers come and negotiate pay and benefits for $120 a year. Any extra is $100 more a year. No wierd rules or corrupt union bosses. Straight to better pay. Osha information about work regulation and reporting and done.
"move the factory to a country were unions are not a problem"... proceeds to show the Argentinan flag. The argentinan business owners that had to close their factories because of unions and policies that "protect the workers", will think otherwise.
Same, it more likely to get you factory burn down than anything. I think that companies are moving their factories to South Asia and South East Asia. China's government right now is to hostile to foreign investment, America is too expensive, Latin America has more favorable laws to employees and it isn't that cheap anymore, Europe is too expensive and the laws are pro union, Africa too politically unstable
So here's a question... you have a Patreon account which relies on, as you put it... Social Capital. If Americans are not joining unions because they are "more isolated", then why would anyone rely on monetary support from something that relies on trust and solidarity? Not saying I agree or disagree, just interested in your thoughts. Another thought... it seems people are more interested in immediate feedback, and traditionally, unions need time to make change. People want an immediate response if they are giving their money to something, which unions just can't do. I would put it to you that unions fail because people want immediate gratification, and don't see that in union efforts, so put their money somewhere else.
Unions are there to benefit the worker as they should, but I rarely see the SAG, WGA or other unions focus on their value they add to the companies they work for vs saying "they made this in profit". Besides, more and more jobs in America are not really in need of unions (computer science for example) since the worker is in demand from multiple parties, driving both wages and benifits up, excluding the need for a union.
Not focusing on the value they add to the companies? For the members: Unions are groups of workers. The whole strike shows the value the workers give the company. The company relies on their work to function. For unionization itself: Workers form unions to protect themselves, not the companies. The company already has plenty of power to protect itself, hire good lawyers, freeze pay, etc. A company makes more money if they can make employees do more work for less pay. They get more work to bring in revenue, and they spend less money on staff. For workers to get more pay without more hours, the company needs to have less profit. They can't stand for workers rights while also focusing on increasing company profits. The fact that high-demand jobs exist doesn't mean most people are in high-demand jobs. The thing that makes those jobs so valuable is the small number of people in the industry. By definition, they cannot be the majority of jobs. The vast majority of people work in jobs that would benefit from unions.
I might be one of the few that support private industry unions but not public sector unions. My problem with public sector unions is they are not negotiating with the people that pay the them..the tax payers. At least not directly. The consumer (tax payer also) doesn’t have choice in services either. this causes lots of problems in negotiations. At least in private sector, the unions negotiate directly with the people paying them so we know there is a limit to what the owner can pay. In addition, the consumer almost always has choices. If Walmart were to unionize and prices go too high or service became worse, consumers can go to target or many other options.
I agree that public sector unions are more complicated, but they also can set an example that people can point to when unionizing in the private sector.
@@someperson5506 IMO, the only benefit as whole I see from public sector unions is what you mentioned. I’m still against them but who knows in 10yrs? 10yrs ago I was anti private sector union and today I lean in favor of private sector unions though I still have issues them (so I don’t blindly support all private sector unions nor all decisions by unions).
@@someperson5506 with private sector, I generally support them on issues like pay and benefits but I often find I I am terribly against them on the rigid rules (the worker will only do this task and any deviation will be difficult) they often create that allow little flexibility in manufacturing or a business operation. That flexibility is important in today’s business. And making it too difficult to fire workers is also bad. Can’t remember which Northern European countries but some of them make it easy (relative to European standards) to fire workers and lay off workers but they provide strong safety nets for those unemployed. This provides flexibility for the companies but also has a safety net for workers that they don’t really take a financial hit.
How about all the companies that have gone under because of unions? There clearly is a counter argument to unions whether you agree with it or not. Unions are inflationary because they decrease productivity while increasing the cost of labor. Its essentially an advertisement for moving a factory to mexico.
A counterbalance to the overwhelming leverage corporations have on the average worker is necessary, and while unions aren't perfect they are the best we have in the us. the argument of well, they can cause some businesses to go bust is compelling as saying, "wow, all you safety standards we put in place made it harder for some businesses to stay profitable and they shut down and left the country." I don't think that means we should remove safety standards. Especially in an environment when corporate profits are as high as ever, and the wages are stagnating, if not falling.
PUT AMERICA FIRST AGAIN! I feel sympathy and empathy for our country low income people are suffering to survive! I appreciate Arleth alot, you've helped my family with your advices! Imagine investing $1000 and receiving $10,450 in 3days
I worked union once or twice. All the unions ever did was protect the lazy/ entitled workers. If the above offends you, perhaps its because you fit that category. The uaw is striking right now wanting ever more for themselves. Have fun on the bread line when nobody can afford your products anymore. Hope it was worth it.
I mean, strikebreakers shooting at union members didn't help either. Nor did the US police teaming up with strike breakers to shoot at large groups of striking workers, like in the battle of blair mountain. Organized crime was absolutely involved with the companies that the workers striked against. The Pinkerton Agency used to be a company that made money by threatening and beating up striking workers, because companies hired them to end strikes.
My experience with being a part of the union was terrible I was forced to pay them and my employer kept saying that they’re not allowed to raise our pay because were unionized and it’s up to them. So I was working a job that required a bachelors degree and only getting paid 13.50
'my employer kept saying that they’re not allowed to raise our pay because were unionized' The employer was lying to you. The union absolutely did not block pay raises. Unions are group of workers who've banded together to bargain for their own well-being. There is no way they rallied to block their own pay. The employer didn't want to raise your pay and used the union as a scapegoat. The only kernel of truth in the 'it's up to the union' is that if the union coordinated a strike they would likely be able to raise the pay. Strikes come with their own costs and require solidarity among workers within the union, which it sounds like this workplace didn't have if the employer was successfully turning people against the union. And even then, the employer could raise your pay if they wanted to, they just decided not to unless they are physically forced to.
Companies have the power to set pay, decide on raises, decide hours, etc. Unions allow workers to join together so they can negotiate as a group, instead of individual people needing to 'negotiate' (beg) with an employer who can fire them in an instant.
Fun, but not entirely accurate. The show failed to mention the biggest factor which is the members are now voting more republican than democrat. A lot to this, but a really big factor.
@@jaypence332 If your employer decided to pay you a certain amount and you asked for more, it's much easier for them to refuse 1 person and replace you that it is to refuse a large group of employees who can cost them.
You all didn’t talk to any labor people for this, did you? Probably at least 50% of what is said in here is in inaccurate. Like, REALLY inaccurate. Source: undergrad and grad degree in labor studies + 20 years in the labor movement.
I have never seen the benefit to unions. The labor economy will sort itself out, as with anything else that involves supply/demand. All I find with unions is that, quite honestly, the vast majority of members have absolutely no clue about the impact of what their demands are. They fall right in line with people who say the minimum wage should be $20/hour and never consider what the implications of that would be. Seems like every few years, the unions just decide to get together, throw a fit about something, and then everyone is out of work for a few weeks / months while we restart the cycle and wait for the next one. Maybe a daft take, but that's been my experience. I've always worked in "white collar" jobs, so maybe there's just something I'm not getting, but I've never needed anyone other than myself to advocate for me. If I wasn't being treated fairly somewhere, I left and went somewhere else... eays as pie.
Some union are str8 up 💩💩. In Canada the government jobs that are unionized pay SH!+ cheap salary, almost 50% less than in the private sector. If you are in Tech, don't work in unionized position.
Sounds like you're comparing government jobs to private sector, not unionized to non-unionized. Government employees are paid by the tax-payer, so for traditionally high-paying jobs, they pay a bit less than private, because the wages come from taxes. For middle-of-the-road jobs, government jobs pay better than private.
Unions in Argentina are not a problem... jajjajajajajaajjajajajajajajajajajajajajaajajajajajajjajajajajajajajajaj I think you couldn't have chosen a worse example
The world is changing we used to have a job for life, hence it made sense to join a union. These day's the world is global a company can close you need a new job, or another company pays more, or another country actively asks for digital nomads so you move etc.... possible new strategies one increase our knowledge on how to negotiate job terms, or make it mandatory to a job offer to say much is the pay beforehand etc.
Companies make the more profit is their costs are lower. Labour is a cost. The less they pay their employees, the more profit they make. Employees can try to leave, but in many industries the companies all pay the same low wages. Companies have a huge amount of power. A worker can ask for a raise, but a company can easily refuse. Unions are groups of employees that join together. Now, instead of individuals begging an organization that is much more powerful than them to consider paying them fairly, employees can bargain as a group. Companies require employees to run. Strikes demonstrate that the benefit the company gets from the labour is worth paying them the demanded amount.
How come this video completely glosses over the prominent history in past decades of labor unions being tied to or directly controlled by the Mafia, and the lasting bias against unions of a lot of people who still falsely believe that to be the case, even though the power and influence of the Mafia is a tiny fraction of what it used to be back in their heyday? I would think that's a rather important facet of discussing the ever-changing public sentiment and prevalence of unions in this country.
They could talk about union violence, but then they'd also talk about anti-union violence, including companies hiring people to beat up union workers, or events like the Battle of Blair Mountain where US police teamed up with strikebreakers to open fire on striking workers.
One thing I have learned from experience in my lifetime is, nowadays, if youre working for a company that has treated their employees so unfairly that the workers formed a union, run. Go find a company that doesn't need unionized employees. You should feel comfortable and protected where you work without a union. When I worked for companies that had unionized workers, the only thing those unions did for me were deduct money from my paychecks. When I was provided contact information for those unions, I never got a response. Now, I work for a great state local company that treats all of us very well.
Just means you had a crappy union, or maybe just a small local. Most of your interaction is going to be with your local, and they're only as good & well-resourced as the members make them.
As for a workplace being good without a union - like any contract, it keeps both sides honest. All that needs to change for a great company to go to sh*t is for management to change, or the Fed to flex its claws, as we just saw. Without a union, you're just hoping/trusting that things will work out. I prefer not to gamble with my livelihood.
If you're working for a company that treats you well, that can change with a change in management. When the status quo is good, unions can insure it continues.
Unions form because people are treated unfairly, but also the unions did nothing but deduct from your paycheck? Sounds like the unions formed, prevented unfair treatment, and have been around long enough that people join and leave jobs without seeing the higher-conflict times when the union rose the pay or required better severance pacakges or lowered the hours, etc.
I think people are being too supportive of unions without knowing how they can become shit too. I talk from my personal experience: in Italy all political parties had their personal union. Communists, socialists, christian democrats, hell even the fascist far-right had their unions. Sure, they helped to support the workers. But ironically they had too power. Their collective bargaining power and their political affinities with parlamentarian parties just became an excuse to istituzionalize. Today they are too intrested playing politics than actually change the working conditions. After all, why they should when they as union organizers already have a job that pays them either way? It's not like a person not paying union dues is going to change much in their position. Also why should people that are going for their latter part of their career fight, when they already gained back in their day? Don't get me wrong, unions are a great tool of collective bargain, and "class conflict" is just the sign of an healthy workforce. But today in Italy, union are little an excuse to start the weekend at Friday.
There are always shitty people with power. Unions allow workers to be part of bargaining. Employees create the value that the company profits off of. If a dollar's worth of ingredients is made into a dish that is sold for $10, the $9 of value that just materialized came from the employee who cooked it. If employers make so much profit off that labour that they would rather have people work 4-day weeks than lose their labour, then the labour is worth that amount. For some reason, 'market price is whatever people are willing to pay' gets freely applied to objects, but doesn't get applied as much to labour.
This video is also really disappointing to see from a financial advice channel. Y’all should be encouraging people to join unions to increase their pay significantly
@@thedopplereffect00 Why should I have to do more work to get the money that I already deserve? My labor generates multitudes more profit than I will ever see in my paycheck and all I want is a bigger piece of the pie.
@@CameraHam "money that I already deserve" your lack of humility is astonishing. Why don't you just do exactly what your employer did and create your own business? You will them deserve the fruits of your own labor. Why be dependent on another?
@@thedopplereffect00 Because everyone can’t be an entrepreneur. In fact, the world goes round due to the hard work of billions of people who are employees. Everything you do everyday is supported by the labor of other human beings, and most of those human beings are not getting paid what they deserve.
@@thedopplereffect00 People deserve the fruits of their own labour. If an employer is willing to raise pay to get people back from the strike, then the employer must be making enough profit from the labour to be worth that higher pay. Employees create the value. Employers organize it, which is needed, but they also try to take as much of the value as they can. Those who don't are often forced to by market pressures, because if they raise their price ten cents more than their poorly-paying competitors, they lose sales. Unions, especially industry-wide unions, fix that problem.
In another Two Cents video, you said "Your income is the most power tool that you have to grow your financial stability, so you owe it to yourself to exert some control over it" And that's why I don't, and will never, work for a union.
The reason air traffic controllers were fired is because of safety concerns. To characterize it as a blow to the labor movement is wrong. Air traffic controllers are vital to the safety and security of air travel. It wasn't a turning point in the reduction of unions.
When a small number of people own and control a disproportionate amount of the world's assets, those owners become very powerful. These owners tend to use that power to benefit themselves rather than the many. In the best case you get philanthropy, where the desires of the rich shape what supportive programs are available to the poor without the input of those many people whose lives are directly effected. In the worst case, you have rampant exploitation in which the rich pay the poor meager wages to wait on them and provide luxuries that the poor could never access, even with lifetimes of wages. In terms of the downsides of poverty, people often can't meet their basic material needs. They might have too little or poor quality food and experience malnutrition. Poor people may not be able to access quality healthcare. They may not have consistent access to safe shelter from the elements. Essentially, in an economy as large as the world's currently is, income equality could achieve every person accessing the resources required to meet their needs. Hopefully even to access some wants too. But in the current state of rampant inequality, some people have access to more resources than they could ever need, and others have far too little to live safe, healthy, comfortable lives. I hope this is a helpful summary. Certainly only an introduction to a topic of endless depth
@@ZimmervisionCZ cuz wealth gap is just a political tool rather than a socioeconomic measurement I remember the time when rich (as in the top 0.001% rich is 100k USD. Well that's 1900s-1920s money The productivity vs income gap started around the digital/information age. Ynow, the time when computers are mass produced/information are sent for pennies on the dollar compared to previous eras? Let's make it easier what im trying to say (You can look this up, Jordan interviews FBI agent who arrested him) When Jordan Belfort was arrested, the FBI agent spent months/weeks creating a case file/folder. With spinster stuff on the wall type of detective just to prove that Jordan and his goons are doing money laundering. Now? All he needs is excel+financial data. So X months of work converted to a 10 mins to a few hours of excel formulas/macros. To prove reasonable doubt to start an investigation. That's detective work. Imagine all of the trillions worth of jobs/billions of computers that made things efficient. That's where the gap come in, machines so efficient, wages didn't catch up compared to the wealth the people operating it. (I assume same thing happened with other revolutions, ie industrial revolution) BUT Is it a bad thing? Should we be modern luddites then and protect workers and burn AI/censor the sending/saving of information of data (journalism/free-speech data) in the name of common good? Or let things progress and regulate something where it fails?
I remember when I worked at Wegmans in college. First day they sat down all the new hires, and basically said, "you can unionize if you want, but if you do, you'll be paying dues with no guaranteed outcome, and we don't want you wasting your hard earned money for nothing." Granted, I gave no shits because I only worked like 3 x 4 hour shifts per week, and was much more focussed on my studies, but in hind sight, that's a pretty dick thing to say. They pretend to give off this big cozy family vibe, but then are like, "we are going to pay you minimum wage, overwork the shit out of you, and we WILL fight you if try make your situation better." One of the most toxic families I've ever seen. I left within a month of working there. It was my first and only deli job, and they were mad at me for not being as fast as my coworkers within a calendar month of my start date, when I worked less than half the hours my coworkers did, and had no previous experience in a deli.
So you left. Did they try to lock you in, or shoot at you while you were leaving or something?
@@penultimateh766 They were kinda apathetic about the whole thing. I mean, I wasn't performing to their standards, so they were probably going to fire me anyway. They had a new sucker to replace me in a couple months anyway. Funny thing though, my grandma passed away in the middle of my two weeks notice, so I only really worked 1 of my scheduled shifts.
@@ThatGamerDude9000 And yet somehow this hellish company manages to stay solvent. Curse those unfeeling consumers.
@@penultimateh766 I mean, you are kinda talking about every grocery chain in existence. The practices between each one I am sure aren't that different. It's just a convenient business model for most consumers. People don't have time or the money for gas to shop at more ethical stores that are further away. For instance there's a local small-scale dairy farm about 30 minutes from me. Milk is cheaper there than it is at my farmer's market, but because of the distance, going shopping there for just milk, heavy cream and half and half becomes more expensive due to the gas cost of driving there and back (I did the math to double check, since I'm trying to save as much money as I can right now to get an emergency fund put together). Other things, I just can't get in more ethical stores near me. For instance, I tried two farmers markets near me, and a cheese shop. None carry Monterey Jack, so I either forego it, or I bite the bullet and buy at a grocery chain. At least, compared to most grocery chains, wegmans tries to source it's fresh products locally where it can. They may be assholes to their employees but they still kinda support local businesses. It's a gray area. I don't blame the consumers for the actions of the corproations. It's the government that should be enforcing the working standards the companies have to follow.
I do my best to shop as ethically as I can. I boycott Amazon and Walmart. I was boycotting Home Depot for bankrolling homophobic politicians, until I moved, and had no choice.
As the saying goes, "There is no such thing as ethical consumption under capitalism."
@@penultimateh766bootlicking in a TH-cam comment section for a random company? That's very productive of you Mr business
As someone from Australia where unions are big, a lot of what you've said is nuts.
While unions cannot force you to pay dues, they can negotiate on behalf of large groups of employees and participation in many industries is quite high.
We had one priminister in the 2000s that passed some laws that diminished union power and that entire party was immediately voted out in a record landslide and it took over a decade for the party to recover. It's wild to me that the US people have not similarly stood up for their rights.
We could learn a thing or two about union’s supporting political parties here
Unfortunately that requires organization, critical thinking, and rejecting right wing policy that people grew up with for decades.
A major reason was discussed somewhat in the video: white workers were given the dubious privileges that come from being 'white' if we gave up the more valuable privileges that come from fighting as a united working class. This reality was worst in the South and to this day, this region is the lowest paid on average. Theres literally companies from Canada and more union friendly states closing union shops and moving to Southern states similar to how companies move to places like Mexico and Central America.
@@cloakedoblivion22I think for that to work in the US, we'd need a third party to somehow become viable. Or either of the current parties would need to significantly change their stances to become truly pro-union.
@@theaconite1400 Democrats have been pro-union for literally a century, even through/after the "Big Flip". Republicans have been consistently anti-union, even in otherwise pro-union regions.
As a former professional labor union organizer and a current small business owner I’m so happy you covered this.
More workers with benefits and income due to local economic democracy via union organizing helps everyone; not just the worker, but the entire community.
Collective bargaining always leads to rewarding lazy people at a cost of efficient people. That's why communism fails.
Business owner?
However the Unions that should be at the forefront always are blue collar, light blue collar or any union that is high skilled and has to put their health and sanity on the line as they are the ones with the most weight.
@@Aloysius10 You'd be surprised that there are weak points in any company. I worked in the backroom unloading trucks at Walmart. The entire store I worked at (bigger than most) has about 3-5 days worth of food in the store. The backroom is completely filled every day with ~10,000 items. There are 10 employees for every manager. Unless there are a ton of nothing jobs there is just no way without outside help. Just have a region wide strike so they couldn't fill in with other employees. Unemployment is at 3% they can't get new hires.
But that might be why I got $17.50 an hour off the street in a town with $500 rent with no relivent experience or education.
@@vietle8157 yes
I think unions are going to come back strong. We've had DECADES to show how abusive companies can be without unions! if unions weren't a benefit to workers, companies wouldn't fight so hard against them
Just like capitalists fight hard against communists, and vice versa.
You're wrong. Certain unions in Europe have started to be sabotaged from within. So even if they manage to come back, the sabotage playbook is already written, they'll be completely pointless and additional money drain on the workers participating in them.
This is just your friendly reminder that union workers make 18% more on average than their non union counterparts (that’s a 17% increase overall if you factor in union dues) . They also work fewer hours, have more time off, and have significantly better benefits. Unions are better for workers in every single way.
except that they make it harder for new workers to join the workforce, as companies are less interested in taking the risk of hiring new people with less/no experience when they know they'll be stuck with them due to the union rules even if they don't work hard
unions also provide protection to crappy/abusive coworkers, limiting the employer's ability to reprimand/remove them
A problem is unions exist in jobs that have lower numbers of people willing to work them anyway. Most people would rather work cushy so nothing tech jobs than a union job.
Except for when they force their employer to close their workplace thus liquidating their jobs entirely. Long-term thinking. Not that hard, just try it.
I’m in a union currently and I agree. If I was with another company, and not in a union I would make significantly less. Many of my peers have worked for this company since they were young and retire here. It’s definitely made me consider staying here longer. People are happy at my job.
@@thewheeldeal8439 Unions provide protection for all the good workers too. They don’t suddenly deserves less pay and shittier treatment just because some people are incompetent.
The turnover piece is a big one. In my industry, it's rare for someone to stay at a company for more than 5 years. Not only is unionizing a long process, but so are the contracts. I might join and leave a company all within a 4 year contract.
1- Unions push for career development. If you had a path to promotion, then maybe job-hopping wouldn't be as necessary.
2- Better pay, PTO, healthcare, etc benefits you whether you're there 2yrs or 20. And hopping is an early-career strategy. There's a case for improving labor now, so that there'll be better opportunities when you want a more stable job situation.
Good luck with those 4 year contracts when inflation hits 20%
@@thedopplereffect00 Inflation has been coming down for months, and was never anywhere near 20%, not in the US anyway. Also, most union contracts include cost-of-living/inflation adjustments as a matter of course - you're negotiating for increases *above* that.
@@mandisaw Oh yeah. Because we can make everyone a CEO if only we made Unions stronger. You're delusional dude.
So excited to see union support growing. Here's hoping the wave keeps getting bigger, despite the hurdles you mentioned.
I’m glad to see you guys covering this issue.
Workers demanding rising up is an issue?
As a note: the state of Michigan is no longer a Right to Work state as of early 2023. The map at 5:05 of this video shows that it still is.
same goes for missouri
That's awesome! I didnt know that
Unions are the life line from the 1950s that have our grandparents a better life than us it’s nice to see unions are coming back because we need them severely for the workers in our country and not for the CEOs
Unions give money to Democrats to push big techs interests.
We honestly do. And I’m saying this as someone who is right leaning. We’ve been lied to. People keep spouting propaganda they’ve been told to say their whole lives. Just because you are pro worker doesn’t mean you’re anti capitalist, or put in a different way, giving workers basic dignity and rights doesn’t mean you’re a communist. Businesses shouldn’t have the right to exploit people and strip them of their dignity as people just because they pay them a salary. People need to work to live, so providing them with a safe environment in which to be productive ought to be the bare minimum. But lots of companies are willing to forgo that for the sake of money. What’s the point of being capitalist if we’ve forgotten who capitalism is actually for?
Yet another thing that Baby Boomers helped Ronald Reagan ruin.
My only complaint about unions is that we shouldn't have to have them in the first place. Our government should actually be enforcing appropriate laws and we shouldn't have to pay dues for human rights
Right! Like in Europe, employers have to give you notice if they plan to terminate you or else they get fined. Also, you can’t fire people during parental leave
Well those dues would become taxes, but I agree. Government is much bigger than any union and can make any company comply.
@@DiamondFlame45 And in Germany we still have Unions since not inflation adjusted pay and abuse still persists. Not gonna be able to sue a multi-million company when you've just gotten your way to welfare by being fired from said company. Union lawyers can though :,)
Capitalists and the human rights of labor will always be at odds. Regulatory capture ensures that the laws are beholden to capital.
@@sanguineel Wrong. Capitalists and communist demagogues who try to gain power by brainwashing you into thinking you're a victim will always be at odds.
3:00 The use of "scabs" has a rather interesting connection with racial tensions. With large numbers of Black workers migrating out of the South starting in WWI, industrialists had access to a large pool of laborers who were used to working long hours at physically demanding jobs for low wages, and Whites were often opposed to allowing Blacks into labor unions; this resulted in Southern Blacks often being used as "scabs" during strikes, heightening tensions with unionized White workers.
Make friends with your coworkers! If you're cold or cutthroat, you'll never be able to rely on others. For pay equity, for labor protections, it's just you versus management.
Reach out to others long before you need them to reach out to you. Expect that they've been isolated and have been primed to be distrustful, and don't take rejection personally. Just win over whoever you can, and look for opportunities to be kind across departments and social strata. Some of the biggest wins in union organizing was when management tried to bully a popular employee.
Well, I had a video pop up on my feed not too long ago from some HR lady saying your coworkers aren’t your friends. And she was basically advocating for this mindset. How stupid.
@@ntmn8444 She was advancing her interests, and we should advance ours. Those in power innately understand class solidarity and we should learn from their example.
“A bad economy and weak governments meant that the people are a little unhappy.”
Weak governments? What's your tax rate?
@@thedopplereffect00 oh please even Warren Buffett bragged about paying less taxes than his secretary. The government is on the side of the wealthy.
Ah a fellow man of culture I see, but where has he gone? it's been 8 months with no uploads.
Yup. Bidenflation
"More likely to spend our lunch breaks staring at screens rather than chatting with coworkers"... Cough, Cough. Hey! I resemble that remark!
4:47 to be fair this happens roughly 1% of the time according to some estimates. moving a plant and shipping are expensive, and even with lower wages it's not always the case that the extra cost burden eventually works out in the employers favor.
in short, if they were going to ship the factory over seas, they'd already have seen the benefit and done it.
They also forget that there's heavy heavy tariffs involved when corporations try to move overseas and then ship product back.
I apprenticeshiped through a union and did construction as a union member for 12 years before transitioning into a government job in the utility sector, best 12 years of my working life! I absolutely loved being a member
Don't fall for all the anti-union, anti-communist propaganda. Unionize your workplace. The silent generation and baby boomers had better wages and living conditions/ standards because of unions.
Workers of the world, UNITE!!
How did that work out in every country that has tried communism so far?
@@thedopplereffect00 idk have you been to France? Germany? Denmark? Netherlands. They work 35hours, get a month of vacation every year and have much safer work conditions. Please tell me how evil it is to not give 99% of company revenue to CEOs and stock buybacks.
@@thedopplereffect00 YAWN! The expected response from a mind fed McCarthyism for decades. You must be a parasitic CEO stealing the wages of your workers and not paying them what they deserve.
Capitalism is working great in the United Shitholes of America from what I see...more people living on the streets, more people dying from diseases of despair, everything is crumbling...fascism and censorship are getting worse, all your liberties, your privacy, everything is being taken away...but you say, "communism bad!" what a tool!
A bit unrelated, but my buddy and I were discussing Putnam's book a little bit and about how the pendulum might be swinging back the other direction for community engagement. For example, there's a huge rise in running and walking clubs across the US.
With growing concerns of fake news and AI, its going to become harder and harder for us to differentiate real from fake. People might start to bail on their outrage-centered news feeds to turn to more local issues, especially those who wish to have an impact.
Great video as always. It is a terrible thing that we do not learn from our past. All the points you brought up about what is done to keep people from using our collective power are correct. What is unfortunate is that without the foresight to take care of people, they will eventually get pushed to extreme measures. The labor relations movements of the past have been very violent affairs. Without those in power and influence making better decisions it will probably come back to that again. Let's all pray that solutions that are good for everyone can be found.
I am actually not that certain. Mainly because neo-liberal ideology like trickle down and "rugged individual" have been largely discarded and there isn't a whole lot else for workers to do. While I don't know if they will get violent I don't see them stopping mainly because people have been pushed into a corner.
As a nurse I have a love hate with my union. I wish they were less currupt and focused on there own pet projects. We haven’t had a raise in 10 years. O I live in Canada. The private nurses are paid and treated better.
Best of luck to all Americans trying to make unions stronger! There are great things to be had if you keep fighting. In Denmark, we don't even have an official minimum wage - our unions are so strong that they affect salaries for everyone, including non-skilled, non-union workers. There is no official state-mandated minimum wage, yet we are paid very decent wages and no job is reliant on tips (like you see in some US jobs). Keep fighting! People are usually very envious of Scandinavian rights like paid maternity leave, paid paternity leave, sick leave with no upper limits, 6 weeks of paid vacation a year, etc. I want to stress these all came from unions working together and pushing for better worker rights! No one handed us these things; they were fought for by our grand parents generation. Keep pushing.
The corporations and government have unionized against the people. So they’ve done a GREAT job at convincing the people unionizing is bad, and when you have the “pro worker” party refuse to pass the pro act, raise the minimum wage, and break a rail worker strike, it is difficult to see remedy. Worker co-ops need to be the end goal. Unions are not good enough and too prone to corruption. Every worker should own part of the company they work for
Always blow away by the high quality of these videos
Please american workers, participate actively to defend your rights!
Congrats to the WGA for their victory! Success to workers everywhere!
Iirc it's a tentative agreement that we don't know the terms to. I hope WGA didn't get screwed or the deal doesn't fall through.
Ya sure all those real working class unions feel real solidarity with a bunch of terrible writers
@@Seagaltalk The main point of that strike was to not be replaceable.
@@SeagaltalkMost writers aren't salaried, they are gig workers. Even if you worked on a hit show, you still only get paid for a few weeks work. No new gigs, no pay. So they are definitely working class.
@@Droidman1231Leadership said it was a solid deal. They wouldn't have called for a vote otherwise, that's generally how it works.
Anti-union weirdos in advocating for less pay and rights in the comments are odd
I hate Ronald Regan so much
Unionization is the singular most important thing which can happen in a society.
Crazy how a employer will rather pay millions on lawyer fees than give the middle class a livable wage
As a pretty favored european I can tell you this: no social gains were ever acquired by asking "please" to the bourgeois class. We took them.
Unions are crap in Europe too. Often they only act for their own interests, and those of a small group of workers. In Switzerland I must be member of certain unions, while getting little to no benefit, and surely not as much as I must pay for them.
What do you mean by that? Couldn't you choose not to join the union?
Just complain to your union rep
@@me-myself-i787No, it‘s mandatory. That‘s the real issue.
@@switzerland Yeah, that's an issue.
I can see why they thought it was a good idea (if it's illegal to hire outside a union, the union has much more leverage, so they can negotiate better terms) but in practice, it doesn't work well.
Then why dont you become a rep and fix the problems instead of complaining. Maybe the issues are more complex than you give it credit for! Unions tend to set the rate of pay for the private sector too. So even if you're outside the union, you benefit from its existence in the private sector.
I have to say, watching the UAW bend Ford, GM, and Stellantis over the table was very funny. Doubly so when it triggered pay increases at Toyota, Honda, and Tesla.
Why do feel they are so underrated though their content presentation is so good?
Anyways bro good content presentation and very informative.........
Thank you..........
👌👌👌👌👍
is funny that they mention Cuba as unionize , we have only one union and is mandatory to be there
I think unions are inherently good, but mine is terrible. I hate seeing the money taken out of my check each time. Why do I stay in? They’ll raise my health insurance premiums by a higher rate than what the union dues are! Crooks!
Concomitant - a phenomenon that naturally accompanies or follows something
4:41 Argentina IS big in unions and isn't really overseas,
Corporations in America have always had a nice tight foothold on the throat of the American worker, but that's all about to change!
We should not tolerate anything less than a democracy in our government OR our workplaces. Thanks for covering this important issue
In America, anything that has to do with helping the working class is considered communist / anti-American, and sadly the working class buys into that BS. The greatest political trick is convincing people to vote against their own interest. It also helps when the general public is mostly uninformed and ignorant.
Unions do nothing now, except for unions. They take your money. They take their wage. They take the perks and benefits. And they do nothing for the worker. In the past they did. Not now. They are a political wing. No more. I have been a union member most of my working career. I have watched my fellow employees need help, ask for it and never get any!
A dear colleague of mine suffered the same way. We both taught in an inner city and he was cast to the wolves! @@billhammer9241
My only experience with unions was it being a horrible mess.
Always love your videos! I will point out though th at even with some industries relocating, overall manufacturing and jobs in the USA is higher than ever.
Not higher than ever, but yes, higher than it's been in a long while.
It’s not higher than ever. Let’s get real with that. But it is making a comeback, bc companies are starting to see how much more they’re losing by importing their products from elsewhere.
Unionization is great!
It's always Reagan...
union membership percentage is a little misleading because the type of jobs that would need unions like factories and such are clearly not what people are aiming for.
Office workers benefit from unions too.
But we're living much better back then with Unions around.. and that's a fact. That's why I support unions. It takes money to make money.. Union fees are part of that.
There a lot of grey area here but the discussions are very polarized. Having dealt with unions, I’ve seen how they have the most insane little rules that make no sense and can see the corporate side. From who can install a poster off an office to not being able fire someone unless it goes through a extremely long process even though the employee suxks.
On the other hand, there should be an union for every business that deals only with pay, health and benefits.
Imo, we should have “an app for that”. A simple app employees download that has info and secret “union vote”. If everyone subscribes some big time lawyers come and negotiate pay and benefits for $120 a year. Any extra is $100 more a year.
No wierd rules or corrupt union bosses.
Straight to better pay. Osha information about work regulation and reporting and done.
"move the factory to a country were unions are not a problem"... proceeds to show the Argentinan flag. The argentinan business owners that had to close their factories because of unions and policies that "protect the workers", will think otherwise.
Yes, if you want to escape heavy handed government in the USA, you should move your factory to Argentina!
They don't mean another country. They mean another US state where people have not yet been brainwashed by Marxist demagoguery.
Same, it more likely to get you factory burn down than anything.
I think that companies are moving their factories to South Asia and South East Asia. China's government right now is to hostile to foreign investment, America is too expensive, Latin America has more favorable laws to employees and it isn't that cheap anymore, Europe is too expensive and the laws are pro union, Africa too politically unstable
Im shocked this has so little views
“I expanded horizons with libraries and mosquеs, while you chopped off the top of all thе mom and pop shops!” Mansa Musa
What an important topic!
Thank you! Great video!
Charles Szasz is a legend
Great video!
So here's a question... you have a Patreon account which relies on, as you put it... Social Capital. If Americans are not joining unions because they are "more isolated", then why would anyone rely on monetary support from something that relies on trust and solidarity?
Not saying I agree or disagree, just interested in your thoughts.
Another thought... it seems people are more interested in immediate feedback, and traditionally, unions need time to make change. People want an immediate response if they are giving their money to something, which unions just can't do. I would put it to you that unions fail because people want immediate gratification, and don't see that in union efforts, so put their money somewhere else.
Please bring back the stache
Unions are there to benefit the worker as they should, but I rarely see the SAG, WGA or other unions focus on their value they add to the companies they work for vs saying "they made this in profit".
Besides, more and more jobs in America are not really in need of unions (computer science for example) since the worker is in demand from multiple parties, driving both wages and benifits up, excluding the need for a union.
Not focusing on the value they add to the companies?
For the members: Unions are groups of workers. The whole strike shows the value the workers give the company. The company relies on their work to function.
For unionization itself: Workers form unions to protect themselves, not the companies. The company already has plenty of power to protect itself, hire good lawyers, freeze pay, etc. A company makes more money if they can make employees do more work for less pay. They get more work to bring in revenue, and they spend less money on staff. For workers to get more pay without more hours, the company needs to have less profit. They can't stand for workers rights while also focusing on increasing company profits.
The fact that high-demand jobs exist doesn't mean most people are in high-demand jobs. The thing that makes those jobs so valuable is the small number of people in the industry. By definition, they cannot be the majority of jobs. The vast majority of people work in jobs that would benefit from unions.
Lmao at 4:47, Argentina has a massive problems with unions, which regularly get in the way of any attraction businesses may have to investing there
I know history well, unions are not going to end, this is just a beginning.
Union Corruption Is not even mentioned in this video at all 🤔 Atleast account for that as a Possible reason why people lost confidence in The movement
Not at all. Unions are going strong.
I might be one of the few that support private industry unions but not public sector unions. My problem with public sector unions is they are not negotiating with the people that pay the them..the tax payers. At least not directly. The consumer (tax payer also) doesn’t have choice in services either. this causes lots of problems in negotiations.
At least in private sector, the unions negotiate directly with the people paying them so we know there is a limit to what the owner can pay. In addition, the consumer almost always has choices. If Walmart were to unionize and prices go too high or service became worse, consumers can go to target or many other options.
I agree that public sector unions are more complicated, but they also can set an example that people can point to when unionizing in the private sector.
@@someperson5506 IMO, the only benefit as whole I see from public sector unions is what you mentioned. I’m still against them but who knows in 10yrs? 10yrs ago I was anti private sector union and today I lean in favor of private sector unions though I still have issues them (so I don’t blindly support all private sector unions nor all decisions by unions).
@@someperson5506 with private sector, I generally support them on issues like pay and benefits but I often find I I am terribly against them on the rigid rules (the worker will only do this task and any deviation will be difficult) they often create that allow little flexibility in manufacturing or a business operation. That flexibility is important in today’s business. And making it too difficult to fire workers is also bad. Can’t remember which Northern European countries but some of them make it easy (relative to European standards) to fire workers and lay off workers but they provide strong safety nets for those unemployed. This provides flexibility for the companies but also has a safety net for workers that they don’t really take a financial hit.
great video
Rich get richer
Because they do things rich people do with their money, it’s simple math. Poor people do poor people things with their money.
@@FranciscoGarcia-bf5rprich people are rich thanks to wage theft and exploiting the working class, smartass
How about all the companies that have gone under because of unions? There clearly is a counter argument to unions whether you agree with it or not. Unions are inflationary because they decrease productivity while increasing the cost of labor. Its essentially an advertisement for moving a factory to mexico.
A counterbalance to the overwhelming leverage corporations have on the average worker is necessary, and while unions aren't perfect they are the best we have in the us. the argument of well, they can cause some businesses to go bust is compelling as saying, "wow, all you safety standards we put in place made it harder for some businesses to stay profitable and they shut down and left the country." I don't think that means we should remove safety standards.
Especially in an environment when corporate profits are as high as ever, and the wages are stagnating, if not falling.
PUT AMERICA FIRST AGAIN! I feel sympathy and empathy for our country low income people are suffering to survive! I appreciate Arleth alot, you've helped my family with your advices! Imagine investing $1000 and receiving $10,450 in 3days
I will forever be grateful to Arleth you've saved me from a huge financial debt with just little investment I received $12,500 in two days ago.
If you don't find a means of multiplying your income you will wake up one day to realize you didn't plan good for yourself.
Can you refer me to her ???? 🙏🏻
SHE'S MOSTLY ON TELEGRAMS WITH THE BELOW NAME
ARLETH TOLEDO
I worked union once or twice. All the unions ever did was protect the lazy/ entitled workers.
If the above offends you, perhaps its because you fit that category.
The uaw is striking right now wanting ever more for themselves. Have fun on the bread line when nobody can afford your products anymore. Hope it was worth it.
and the mob being heavily involved in some of the unions did help with public image either.
I mean, strikebreakers shooting at union members didn't help either. Nor did the US police teaming up with strike breakers to shoot at large groups of striking workers, like in the battle of blair mountain.
Organized crime was absolutely involved with the companies that the workers striked against. The Pinkerton Agency used to be a company that made money by threatening and beating up striking workers, because companies hired them to end strikes.
My experience with being a part of the union was terrible I was forced to pay them and my employer kept saying that they’re not allowed to raise our pay because were unionized and it’s up to them. So I was working a job that required a bachelors degree and only getting paid 13.50
You could work at USPS for $19+/hr, and not be forced to pay the union. I do, tho.
'my employer kept saying that they’re not allowed to raise our pay because were unionized'
The employer was lying to you. The union absolutely did not block pay raises. Unions are group of workers who've banded together to bargain for their own well-being. There is no way they rallied to block their own pay. The employer didn't want to raise your pay and used the union as a scapegoat.
The only kernel of truth in the 'it's up to the union' is that if the union coordinated a strike they would likely be able to raise the pay. Strikes come with their own costs and require solidarity among workers within the union, which it sounds like this workplace didn't have if the employer was successfully turning people against the union.
And even then, the employer could raise your pay if they wanted to, they just decided not to unless they are physically forced to.
I enjoyed the video. Tone down the cartoon sound effects, please. It feels unserious and distracting.
ONE BIG UNION
So we are just guna presuppose unions are good? Thia channel usually holds an impartial view....
Because employees not being exploited isna good thing
Companies have the power to set pay, decide on raises, decide hours, etc. Unions allow workers to join together so they can negotiate as a group, instead of individual people needing to 'negotiate' (beg) with an employer who can fire them in an instant.
Fun, but not entirely accurate. The show failed to mention the biggest factor which is the members are now voting more republican than democrat. A lot to this, but a really big factor.
I left a union for a non union shop and got way more benefits and a promotion then being a union member.
Individualism is awesome for a hard worker.
@@jaypence332 If your employer decided to pay you a certain amount and you asked for more, it's much easier for them to refuse 1 person and replace you that it is to refuse a large group of employees who can cost them.
You all didn’t talk to any labor people for this, did you?
Probably at least 50% of what is said in here is in inaccurate. Like, REALLY inaccurate.
Source: undergrad and grad degree in labor studies + 20 years in the labor movement.
Nice
I have never seen the benefit to unions. The labor economy will sort itself out, as with anything else that involves supply/demand.
All I find with unions is that, quite honestly, the vast majority of members have absolutely no clue about the impact of what their demands are. They fall right in line with people who say the minimum wage should be $20/hour and never consider what the implications of that would be. Seems like every few years, the unions just decide to get together, throw a fit about something, and then everyone is out of work for a few weeks / months while we restart the cycle and wait for the next one.
Maybe a daft take, but that's been my experience. I've always worked in "white collar" jobs, so maybe there's just something I'm not getting, but I've never needed anyone other than myself to advocate for me. If I wasn't being treated fairly somewhere, I left and went somewhere else... eays as pie.
Biden needs to force these companies to unionize and raise the minimum wage to at least 35 an hour
Some union are str8 up 💩💩. In Canada the government jobs that are unionized pay SH!+ cheap salary, almost 50% less than in the private sector. If you are in Tech, don't work in unionized position.
Sounds like you're comparing government jobs to private sector, not unionized to non-unionized. Government employees are paid by the tax-payer, so for traditionally high-paying jobs, they pay a bit less than private, because the wages come from taxes.
For middle-of-the-road jobs, government jobs pay better than private.
I just loooove when the idiots actively campaign against their own interests. The Anti Union worker is thw cheapest worker.
Unions in Argentina are not a problem... jajjajajajajaajjajajajajajajajajajajajajaajajajajajajjajajajajajajajajaj
I think you couldn't have chosen a worse example
The world is changing we used to have a job for life, hence it made sense to join a union. These day's the world is global a company can close you need a new job, or another company pays more, or another country actively asks for digital nomads so you move etc.... possible new strategies one increase our knowledge on how to negotiate job terms, or make it mandatory to a job offer to say much is the pay beforehand etc.
I'm kind of ignorant on the subject but this seems a bit one sided
corporate book licker
Companies make the more profit is their costs are lower. Labour is a cost. The less they pay their employees, the more profit they make. Employees can try to leave, but in many industries the companies all pay the same low wages.
Companies have a huge amount of power. A worker can ask for a raise, but a company can easily refuse. Unions are groups of employees that join together. Now, instead of individuals begging an organization that is much more powerful than them to consider paying them fairly, employees can bargain as a group.
Companies require employees to run. Strikes demonstrate that the benefit the company gets from the labour is worth paying them the demanded amount.
@someperson5506 thanks for the exclamation I'm saying that the video is just too one sided for me
How come this video completely glosses over the prominent history in past decades of labor unions being tied to or directly controlled by the Mafia, and the lasting bias against unions of a lot of people who still falsely believe that to be the case, even though the power and influence of the Mafia is a tiny fraction of what it used to be back in their heyday? I would think that's a rather important facet of discussing the ever-changing public sentiment and prevalence of unions in this country.
They could talk about union violence, but then they'd also talk about anti-union violence, including companies hiring people to beat up union workers, or events like the Battle of Blair Mountain where US police teamed up with strikebreakers to open fire on striking workers.
putting the blame for wealth inequality on lack of unions is like putting the blame for climate change on plastic straws
Ludlow massacre. Look it up.
Damn, didn't know that one. Battle of Blair Mountain, too.
Unions are only good for unions, at the expense of the public not just the companies
One thing I have learned from experience in my lifetime is, nowadays, if youre working for a company that has treated their employees so unfairly that the workers formed a union, run. Go find a company that doesn't need unionized employees. You should feel comfortable and protected where you work without a union. When I worked for companies that had unionized workers, the only thing those unions did for me were deduct money from my paychecks. When I was provided contact information for those unions, I never got a response. Now, I work for a great state local company that treats all of us very well.
It's important to note that not all unions are like that. There's a lot of good ones out there!
Just means you had a crappy union, or maybe just a small local. Most of your interaction is going to be with your local, and they're only as good & well-resourced as the members make them.
As for a workplace being good without a union - like any contract, it keeps both sides honest. All that needs to change for a great company to go to sh*t is for management to change, or the Fed to flex its claws, as we just saw. Without a union, you're just hoping/trusting that things will work out. I prefer not to gamble with my livelihood.
If you're working for a company that treats you well, that can change with a change in management. When the status quo is good, unions can insure it continues.
Unions form because people are treated unfairly, but also the unions did nothing but deduct from your paycheck?
Sounds like the unions formed, prevented unfair treatment, and have been around long enough that people join and leave jobs without seeing the higher-conflict times when the union rose the pay or required better severance pacakges or lowered the hours, etc.
Income inequality is down and has been falling for year - hand in hand with declining union membership.
Source: I made it up
If unions are the norm, i believe companies will start hiring "contractors" so all the benefits are out the window
How about we stop globalization and support workers rights?!
Yo
I think people are being too supportive of unions without knowing how they can become shit too.
I talk from my personal experience: in Italy all political parties had their personal union.
Communists, socialists, christian democrats, hell even the fascist far-right had their unions.
Sure, they helped to support the workers. But ironically they had too power.
Their collective bargaining power and their political affinities with parlamentarian parties just became an excuse to istituzionalize.
Today they are too intrested playing politics than actually change the working conditions. After all, why they should when they as union organizers already have a job that pays them either way? It's not like a person not paying union dues is going to change much in their position. Also why should people that are going for their latter part of their career fight, when they already gained back in their day?
Don't get me wrong, unions are a great tool of collective bargain, and "class conflict" is just the sign of an healthy workforce.
But today in Italy, union are little an excuse to start the weekend at Friday.
There is a reason why MTA sucks.
There are always shitty people with power. Unions allow workers to be part of bargaining.
Employees create the value that the company profits off of. If a dollar's worth of ingredients is made into a dish that is sold for $10, the $9 of value that just materialized came from the employee who cooked it.
If employers make so much profit off that labour that they would rather have people work 4-day weeks than lose their labour, then the labour is worth that amount. For some reason, 'market price is whatever people are willing to pay' gets freely applied to objects, but doesn't get applied as much to labour.
This video is also really disappointing to see from a financial advice channel. Y’all should be encouraging people to join unions to increase their pay significantly
How about learning new skills and improving yourself? Naw just shake down your current employer for more money. Such simple mindedness
@@thedopplereffect00 Why should I have to do more work to get the money that I already deserve? My labor generates multitudes more profit than I will ever see in my paycheck and all I want is a bigger piece of the pie.
@@CameraHam "money that I already deserve" your lack of humility is astonishing.
Why don't you just do exactly what your employer did and create your own business? You will them deserve the fruits of your own labor. Why be dependent on another?
@@thedopplereffect00 Because everyone can’t be an entrepreneur. In fact, the world goes round due to the hard work of billions of people who are employees. Everything you do everyday is supported by the labor of other human beings, and most of those human beings are not getting paid what they deserve.
@@thedopplereffect00 People deserve the fruits of their own labour. If an employer is willing to raise pay to get people back from the strike, then the employer must be making enough profit from the labour to be worth that higher pay.
Employees create the value. Employers organize it, which is needed, but they also try to take as much of the value as they can. Those who don't are often forced to by market pressures, because if they raise their price ten cents more than their poorly-paying competitors, they lose sales. Unions, especially industry-wide unions, fix that problem.
In another Two Cents video, you said "Your income is the most power tool that you have to grow your financial stability, so you owe it to yourself to exert some control over it"
And that's why I don't, and will never, work for a union.
The reason air traffic controllers were fired is because of safety concerns. To characterize it as a blow to the labor movement is wrong. Air traffic controllers are vital to the safety and security of air travel. It wasn't a turning point in the reduction of unions.
Can you explain the draw backs of income inequality? Everyone always talks about it, but never explain how it is negative.
When a small number of people own and control a disproportionate amount of the world's assets, those owners become very powerful. These owners tend to use that power to benefit themselves rather than the many. In the best case you get philanthropy, where the desires of the rich shape what supportive programs are available to the poor without the input of those many people whose lives are directly effected. In the worst case, you have rampant exploitation in which the rich pay the poor meager wages to wait on them and provide luxuries that the poor could never access, even with lifetimes of wages.
In terms of the downsides of poverty, people often can't meet their basic material needs. They might have too little or poor quality food and experience malnutrition. Poor people may not be able to access quality healthcare. They may not have consistent access to safe shelter from the elements.
Essentially, in an economy as large as the world's currently is, income equality could achieve every person accessing the resources required to meet their needs. Hopefully even to access some wants too. But in the current state of rampant inequality, some people have access to more resources than they could ever need, and others have far too little to live safe, healthy, comfortable lives.
I hope this is a helpful summary. Certainly only an introduction to a topic of endless depth
It's not negative.
12% of Americans reach the top 1% for at least 1 year of their lives.
You can look further in NY times article
@@NicitoStaAnaI do not see how this justifies the claim that wealth inequality isn't negative
@@ZimmervisionCZ cuz wealth gap is just a political tool rather than a socioeconomic measurement
I remember the time when rich (as in the top 0.001% rich is 100k USD. Well that's 1900s-1920s money
The productivity vs income gap started around the digital/information age. Ynow, the time when computers are mass produced/information are sent for pennies on the dollar compared to previous eras?
Let's make it easier what im trying to say (You can look this up, Jordan interviews FBI agent who arrested him)
When Jordan Belfort was arrested, the FBI agent spent months/weeks creating a case file/folder. With spinster stuff on the wall type of detective just to prove that Jordan and his goons are doing money laundering.
Now? All he needs is excel+financial data. So X months of work converted to a 10 mins to a few hours of excel formulas/macros. To prove reasonable doubt to start an investigation.
That's detective work.
Imagine all of the trillions worth of jobs/billions of computers that made things efficient.
That's where the gap come in, machines so efficient, wages didn't catch up compared to the wealth the people operating it. (I assume same thing happened with other revolutions, ie industrial revolution)
BUT
Is it a bad thing? Should we be modern luddites then and protect workers and burn AI/censor the sending/saving of information of data (journalism/free-speech data) in the name of common good?
Or let things progress and regulate something where it fails?
@@ZimmervisionCZ Nor is it an explanation.
bring back burning down your bosses house.