Are you for or against work unions?

So long as they aren't given preferential treatment by gov't or business at the exclusion of other qualified people who wish to take the same jobs, and they don't force employers to make concessions through coercion or threaten and harrass non union employees or job seekers then they are fine. However, I doubt they would long remain a voluntary and moral organization that refrained from the above activities.

Freedom of speech and assembly come to mind. Rich people can afford to hire lawyers. This is another way of advocating for oneself. Instead of everyone hiring their own attorney, a group of people with similar interests collectively hire representatives and and attorneys to represent those interests. I don't approve of everything unions do, including sometimes destroying their hosts, do but am fine with the concept.

A trade union (or labor union) is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas and working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members (rank and file members) and negotiates labor contracts (Collective bargaining) with employers. This may include the negotiation of wages, work rules, complaint procedures, rules governing hiring, firing and promotion of workers, benefits, workplace safety and policies. It’s depend on a certain individual if they wanted to join in a labor union. Since most of workers today are really affected of this economic status, some of them still look for a payroll loans just to bridge their needs.

choices of individual, no problem. Only when they are allowed to bully people into joining/supporting their agendas do they become a problem. Big businesses too have been bullies, but if they aren't allowed given favored legislation by government, people can do business with more enlightened employers.
I realize that all sounds simplistic and the realities are complex for any given worker or business. But the root of the really big problems is usually government favoritism giving an unfair advantage by keeping out either non-union people from a job category, or excluding business competition due to licensing or other means.

But I agree with other posters and the initial post.

The governments hand in this stinks and it is another avenue of corruption in the US.

A businessman/private corporation should be allowed to hire whoever he/she sees fit to do the job, unionized or not.

.....No thanks, I don't think anyone would defend those Unions.

No sir-ee and not to any degree. General Motors union jack

Modernizing the nation's labor law is critical to expanding union membership—which in turn, will ensure conservatives become a permanent minority, as newly-empowered workers actively engage in political action and demand a new way of doing the nation's business, like creating an economy that rewards Main Street and not just Wall Street. The freedom to form unions and bargain is critical to the progressive movement—when workers have the tools they need to build a better life, they have the power to improve their communities and the solidarity to make progressive political change throughout the nation.

Learn about the critical efforts to protect workers and expand union membership, like the Employee Free Choice Act, and the union movement's efforts to reform labor law. Find out how the progressive movement has fought for labor law reform and what the next steps are, as well as how you can work together with unions online and in your community to get pro-worker bills passed and support pro-worker candidates.
http://www.netrootsnation.org/agenda

Wanna see why legislation passes against the people?

Heavy Hitters
Here you'll find total contributions for the 100 biggest givers in American politics since 1989--information that exists nowhere else.

Top 10 donors:
AT&T Inc
$43,206,447
American Fedn of State, County & Municipal Employees
$40,949,173
National Assn of Realtors
$35,053,513
Goldman Sachs
$31,022,759
Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
$30,722,281
American Assn for Justice
$30,646,429
National Education Assn
$29,889,575
Laborers Union
$28,167,600
Service Employees International Union
$27,498,307
Carpenters & Joiners Union
$27,328,258

This are Top Lobbyist in Washington. You have to see that the politicians vote is bought and sold..
Here's the source:
http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/index.php

Also Check out who they gave to in 2006 (Bush Era) compared to 2009 (Obama Era):

Health Lobbyists:

2006
Total Contribution: $100,327,267
**37% to Dems
62% to Repub**

(So far) 2010
Total Contribution: $11,652,777
**63% to Dems
37% to Repub**

**NOTICE THE FLIP?**

Defense:

2006
Total Contribution: $17,469,573
**38% to Dems
60% to Repub**

(So far) 2010
Total Contribution: $3,213,925
**59% to Dems
41% to Repub**

*NOTICE THE FLIP AGAIN?*

Natural Resources: (this one is CRAZY!- GO GLOBAL WARMING!)

2006
Total Contribution: $339,995
**44% to Dems
53% to Repub**

(So far) 2010
Total Contribution: $32,550
**98% to Dems
2% to Repub**

source: http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=E1500&go...

MY grandfather thought nothing of working 14-16 /HRS. a day..
I don't think much of it either.
YES, good people do good things.. The rest are liars.

U SAY: I'm against forcing any future or current employees to join the union to work for a private business.
I SAY: I'm against forcing any future or current private business to recognize the demands of a group of people, no matter how large the majority (who has NO CAPITAL at risk, BTW).

I am not for coercion.

THE MORE I LEARN ABOUT GOVERNMENT
THE MORE I LOVE MY GUNS
FourWindsTradingPost

I see no reason why workers can't unionize if they wish, but I would prefer my state become a "right to work" state so no one is forced to join a union as a condition of their job, either.

How can any Union be worth it? After you subtract the Union dues, how much higher is the pay? I have never worked for a Union shop in my life. I have worked for several great companies and they always paid performance bonuses, Christmas bonuses and profit sharing. When yiou add that to the pay, is there any difference? I hate hate contributing to mafia bosses and outright thieves who support Communism. Anyone who pays Union dues is contributing to the destruction of Captialism.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

"The price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance"- Thomas Jefferson

biased against unions. Almost everything we purchase in my area are manufactured by companies that have labor unions. This drives up the price of these goods. I'm not a member of any union, and we just don't have many unions here. A union in my opinion would be fine if everyone made union wages. Everyone could afford a new car, a new flat screen tv, or a nice new home. But since we don't have labor unions in my area, most people just can't afford a new automobile or new home. I live in the south and the good times never did reach us.
So, I don't think unions are good at all, because it drives up the prices of everything. For the people that try to live on below the poverty level wages, the unions always undermine poor peoples ability to get their heads above water money-wise. It has been this way, for the most part, ever since the Civil War. But I'm an old fart,, what the h*ll do I know.

The Culinary of NV is famous for working for everyone http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culinary_Workers_Union

Should be banned. The others serve a purpose.

And in fact many early coal miner unions were serious freedom fighters - from the mother Jones, Molly Maguirre era. Unions are great for fighting corporatism.

Problems came when the unions were bought off by government. People can organize, it can be a good thing, but now most unions have become just another part of the management bureaucracy.

they are no better than the Mafia. They are useless in today's overregulated society, and do nothing but extort from the producers. I could see their value around the industrial era, when workers were being abused, but they are not needed now. They help milk the taxpayer with their Gubbinment contracts and prevailing wage ripoffs. I was a Manager in a facility where the workers were union, and the Management was not. The workers milked the system for all it was worth. It basicly kept people working that should have lost their jobs many times over. I couldn't get out of there fast enough.