> This should be built into the law though, not into unions.
But how do the low-paid and exploited workers get the kind of representation and voice that results in the law makers and policy makers hearing it?
If the workers are not valued enough to be paid well, do you think the employers themselves value the employees enough to listen?
That is the point of the union.
Some unions do indeed give the entire concept a bad rep, but the fundamentals of "workers coming together to acquire a collective voice to be heard" isn't a bad one.
The output of that voice is law. Such as equality in the workplace, safety regulations, working hour regulations, etc, etc.
Few of those laws would have come to pass without the worker being able to have a representative and voice.
I see parallels between democratic representation in society and representation against powerful employers. To some extent, given globalisation, multi-national corporations and the power of corporations in political lobbying I'm becoming more of the view that multi-national unions need to come into existence.
And not to hit the "strike" button every 10 seconds. Withdrawal of labour is a nuclear option and likely no-one will ever win when it occurs. But... to have that kind of representation and voice against corporations that increasingly cannot be held to account by sovereign governments and local lawmakers seems an important check.
We remain people. Work isn't the be-all and end-all, and people should be valued. If a business cannot sustain itself by valuing people fairly and with respect...then the business is at fault. We shouldn't create human misery, and people who work for us (entrepreneurs, leaders, decision makers in companies) do deserve a voice and representation to hold us to account and constrain us (to some extent).
But how do the low-paid and exploited workers get the kind of representation and voice that results in the law makers and policy makers hearing it?
If the workers are not valued enough to be paid well, do you think the employers themselves value the employees enough to listen?
That is the point of the union.
Some unions do indeed give the entire concept a bad rep, but the fundamentals of "workers coming together to acquire a collective voice to be heard" isn't a bad one.
The output of that voice is law. Such as equality in the workplace, safety regulations, working hour regulations, etc, etc.
Few of those laws would have come to pass without the worker being able to have a representative and voice.
I see parallels between democratic representation in society and representation against powerful employers. To some extent, given globalisation, multi-national corporations and the power of corporations in political lobbying I'm becoming more of the view that multi-national unions need to come into existence.
And not to hit the "strike" button every 10 seconds. Withdrawal of labour is a nuclear option and likely no-one will ever win when it occurs. But... to have that kind of representation and voice against corporations that increasingly cannot be held to account by sovereign governments and local lawmakers seems an important check.
We remain people. Work isn't the be-all and end-all, and people should be valued. If a business cannot sustain itself by valuing people fairly and with respect...then the business is at fault. We shouldn't create human misery, and people who work for us (entrepreneurs, leaders, decision makers in companies) do deserve a voice and representation to hold us to account and constrain us (to some extent).