Analysis of Pros and Cons of Labor Unions

Unions are societies that are joined together by individuals with similar interests. The type of people in Unions ranges from teachers, police officers, factory workers, construction workers, etc. Unions in the United States were formed in 1881. Unions were created to protect the percent of the population of workers from harsh sweatshops and unsafe working conditions. It is known that Unions work like a democracy, so elections are held to elect officers to make decisions for the people. Unions also pledge better pay, working hours, benefits, and collective bargaining. Therefore, many people like working for Unions only because of the benefits but others think Unions are terrible because of the strict rules about workers’ rights. In addition, Unions were said to cripple industries and consorting with organized crime for decades. “Let’s say a painter could charge a hundred dollars a day just to paint one clapboard a day.” 

Furthermore, it’s a monopoly service so nobody wants to prosecute the painters under the monopoly rules. Unions were formed so that the people could have some say about their wages, hours, working conditions, and other problems like the relationship between workers and employers. Unions are needed because it provides set grades for education, skill levels, wages, working conditions, and lastly the quality of life for workers. However, Union contracts provides extra defense compared to state and federal laws. Like say, in many states there is no legal rights for workers to take a break. States follow up on a legal doctrine called “employment at will” (International Union of Operating Engineers).” Workers whom are not a-part of a union could be fire from their jobs for no reason at all. Unions create a stable workforce which means well trained employees. So forth, Unions have their own programs to train employees for their specific trades, which diminishes cost of training inexperienced workers. For instance, having well trained workers helps create a superior and safer work conditions. 

On the other hand, the disadvantages of unions include raises and promotions to employees due to the fact of seniority rather than rewarding employees based off good performance. Furthermore, this withholds employee’s creativity and individuality rights from the working environment. Since the employer is underprivileged for improvements in productivity, this gives employees no rewards to do an improved job. If workplace conditions are not reported by employees to management, then managers would have no awareness of workplace issues. 

A second disadvantage is contracts with labor unions can upshot in markedly higher wages and benefits. But this only could be cancelled out if employees were more productive. Employers would have no choice but to charge elevated prices for their products, thereby making them less aggressive. As a result, employers would suffer a loss in profits, giving them no choice but to lay off employees or even worse file for bankruptcy. 

A third disadvantage would be that if unions and employees could not agree on contracts then workers could kickoff strikes. Employees have the option to not show up to work causing the company to lose profits for not operating their business. Employees will not be fired for striking if they are lawful, and once the strike are settled, employees will still have their jobs. 

My opinion on unions is somewhat neutral because unions provide workers with better wages, working hours, benefits, and collective bargaining. Unions also give workers a voice on what needs to be improved in the workplace. On the other hand, unions could destroy entire businesses with their contracts, which will result in companies charging more for their products. Companies would need to lay off employees or even go bankrupt due to union contracts.   

Works Cited

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2. Hurd, R. W. (1989). Work and Labor in Early America. University of North Carolina Press.
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10. Kochan, T. A., Katz, H. C., & McKersie, R. B. (2012). The Transformation of American Industrial Relations (4th ed.). Cornell University Press.