What does Amazon, Apple, Kellogg and Starbucks all have in common? Workers at locations within these brands have unionized or are in the process of voting whether to form a union. Across the board, in various sectors, there seems to be a continuous stream of personnel calling a strike or moving to unionize. What’s behind this big labor movement? What defines a union? We answer these questions and more this week on Viewpoints.
Guest Information:
- Mason Boykin, shift supervisor, Starbucks, Jacksonville, Florida.
- Daisy Pitkin, union organizer, Workers United, author of On the Line: A Story of Class, Solidarity and Two Women’s Epic Fight to Build a Union.
Joe
Just listened to your prounion radio message. Not at all balanced. It was obviously written by a prounion person. I’ve worked both sides union ans well as non union and my experience is not consistent with your commentary. I agree that the business owners must work hards to bring work force into entire work process or can face a unionizing effort. But unionization brings on another set of problems. Good workers are sacrificed for benefit of slackers. Unions are almost all corrupt top down Its all about the dues. They havent changed over the years but power begats power, absolute power begats absolute power. The slack workers are chosen to fill union leadersship almost always and and reap the rewards. My father worked union when I was very young and I heard the stories of union corruption. One of my first jobs required union membership which was for far paychecks and perks of union bosses and very little of workers as promised. During and after college I worked for a very large non union company in the south and it was by far a much better place to work for everyone. In todays climate businesses must adopt a southern type employee centric model or face the gross negatives that come with northern type unionization with violence and face to face confrontation being the norm. I have been there and it’s ugly and everyone loses but the union bosses looking for dues. Your presentation was a sell job and believed by the unknowing. Talk to those that have experienced the negatives. Your listeners deserve better. You have been reading the communist manifesto. Your programming will lose listeners if you don’t correct your programming as shown by CNN’s business failures thru limited viewers.