The 5 Biggest Corporate Lies About Unions | Robert Reich
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- čas přidán 1. 09. 2019
- Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich debunks the biggest myths about unions spread by corporations.
Watch More: Why Unions Matter to You ►► • Why Unions Matter to Y...
No billionaire should ever be president.
Remember the Simpsons episode where Trump became President? It really was a stupid joke, so... why didn’t anybody understand that!
@Dominique Roydor Exactly, we need to unionize ourselves and get rid of that lying Trump.
Agreed!
I agree, but Trump is not a billionaire. The majority of his wealth is borrowed, and the biggest holders he owes happen to be Russian oligarchs who laundered money through Deutsche Bank. Perhaps we should make sure presidents are not owned by others countries or corporations either.
None of you should be president
Basically anything the rich tells you, just believe the opposite. They're incentivized to lie to you
An unfortunate fact is that there are very few decent,honest and trustworthy rich people,by their very nature,the majority of them have got where they are by lying,stealing,cheating,swindling and trampling on people,nice rich people are a very rare breed indeed.
This is one of the top minds in America. "They" don't tell him anything. He is the "they," if you will. He should be listened to, because if more people did listen to him, Republicans would crash the economy less often.
vs communists, who are, like, totally known for truthfulness. /sarc
I agree with what your saying but be careful with that. When they were leading up to a centralized bank(the Fed) all of the smaller banks said it was crazy. So the big wigs played that card. Everybody assumed The Fed would be great if bankers didn't like it. Well . . . they find a way to twist it anyway to fool the public.
That's the easy way to reach the same conclusions as actually doing the intellectual work in unraveling their lies.
I prefer in depth understandings, but this works well enough for most things. There are always exceptions to the rules though.
I'm a union railroad employee. Non-union workers in my field make almost half what I do and not nearly as good of benefits.
I’m in the HVAC industry. I opted out of the union and best decision i ever made. I make more money then the union workers, pay less into my benefits, I don’t have to go through the union for bids or time off and I can control where my retirement money goes.
I prefer union.
The way I see it. there are 3 pillars of a healthy, functioning, Capitalist system.
1: Strong Unions
2: Regulations with real teeth
3: The pressure of competition
@IGB PROductionz I disagree! And it would seem so does Mr Reich!
@IGB PROductionz I have a few problems with this. 1: the main goal and the main measurement of success for businesses is based on appealing to shareholders, creating a system that demands infinite growth, which requires infinite money. with no regulations or oversight, this blind drive to make more money this quarter than the last one becomes self destructive, encourages unethical behavior, and consolidates power to fewer and fewer huge businesses. what you are talking about is an idealized vision of small businesses, not the reality of big companies. 2: big companies pay 0$ in federal income taxes, not billions. in fact, many big companies get millions in tax rebates. and said companies use infused capital and the tax cuts to buy their own companies stock, not make more jobs 3: Workers are seen and treated as a resource to be used, abused, and replaced once they burn out and stop performing. Unions are not something that will mess up a good thing, it's required to give employees a seat at the table and a voice to be heard
Yes, Yes, and, Yes.
The third has objectively made neither of the other two even remotely necessary (it's economically impossible to underpay workers as has been demonstrated empirically).
@@FletchforFreedom I have read you comment a few times and I am having trouble understanding what you mean. are you arguing that, because you have seen and experienced workers financially desperate enough to take slave wages, it is therefore ok to offer slave wages?
Narrowing it down to just 5? I salute you Mr. Reich. I know that couldn't have been easy.
One of the dirtiest tricks that the Neoliberals and Republicans ever successfully pulled in this country was to convince working people that OTHER working people were their enemies.
Blaming Teachers Unions for busted state budgets,
Demonizing all Labor Unions for the corrupt practices of a few bad players,
Walking back Union Organizing Protections,
Convincing Consumers that High Prices are the fault of Unions, and many more ,
but the final insult to labor is actually Demonizing Immigrant Workers as the architects of all that is wrong in America.
@Frederic Bastiat
Interesting idea, but not 100% sound. Ford builds Fusions in Mexico and in Europe, they build Focuses in the U,S. and Europe. Car companies will either de-content a car or just not produce a product if the vehicle cannot be priced competitively. Under your idea, a U.S. Focus would cost as much as that Mexican-made Fusion.
Labor is a cost, but in many cases it is NOT the largest cost in producing a product.
In Europe the Focus and Fusion (Mondeo) are more expensive than their U.S. counterparts but some of that is due to V.A.T. but workers are paid better, so it isn't THE deterrence to purchase.
If you are attempting to debunk Mr Reich's arguments, you have a long way to go to get there.
@Frederic Bastiat This guy again 🙄 "The higher the wage, the lower the demand". Yeah except in this thing called reality, the opposite has been happening. The demand was massive in the 50's and 60's when the middle class was at it's strongest. Demand did not decrease. Some more of your right wing garbage debunked.
@Frederic Bastiat ok apparently someone has to explain this to you. Unions do not keep the number of jobs low, companies do. They try to keep their costs as low as possible and only hire more workers if they absolutely have to no matter how little they pay them.
Further, supply and demand with labor is a little more complex than you suggest since as more people have money they will spend it, driving more demand for goods and services that must be met with additional labor. This will eventually lead to an increased need for laborers despite the higher price for labor.
The left is nuts!
We have the richest middle class in history, and the best JOBS economy in 50 years, all while unions have almost disappeared.
In a free market employers compete for labor, workers compete for jobs, and nothing could be more productive, more fair, or create more widespread prosperity.
For a Dutchman, who has a great interest in American politics and history, your videos are really helpful. Thank you Robert!
That's why Wal-Mart will fire anyone who talks about a Union that's employed by them. Then Wal-Mart would have to pay a living wage and stop it's disgusting practice of using government programs to feed and insure their employees. Wal-Mart is the prime example of why workers need unions!!
And we must point out that while their employees depend on government assistance to live Wal-Mart lobbies to kill those program so they can have bigger debt driver handouts for all the lazy billionaire takers
Capitalist socialism at its finest
If Walmart unionized they would go out of business because you couldn't afford to shop there and if you could you would use your head and shop elsewhere it's not good for every industry
Have you worked at Walmart? They pay livable wages. Unions suck because they hold back employees. And employee would do much better on their own, outside a union. A group of employees on the other hand need a union to not fall under. Unions should be optional. Not something you have to join if you want a specific job. Besides, they don’t help. Since when did we have to pay people to voice our concerns? We are capable of demanding better, but for some reason the American people let themselves get taken advantage of again, by paying into unions. It’s literally a scam
@@Austin-rm9ipit’s not, but congrats on being a talking head for greedy corporations you fucking tool
I retired in 2002 from AT&T. If it weren't for the UNION we would have been screwed MANY TIMES !
I'm a retired teamster and I back all unions for all working FAMILY'S. build our economy from the bottom up .it has worked for over 60 years.
Love unions
Do you have any stories
awesome thanks for the truth people are so brainwashed that they are afraid of unions
To change the narrative about labor unions, we the people need to spread the word about it
We're trying, but it's quite difficult when the radical right has spent so much on propaganda to convince people that unions are bad. Propaganda works.That's why they use it.
Wendy Scott
So true!
@@wendyscott8425 hmmmm...
Frederic Bastiat the other part is...no journalist ever talks about the cost of union dues compared to their wage.
Frederic Bastiat Colorado has right to work, and it doesn’t stop unions. There are unions such as Safeway, teachers, etc. companies will always try and increase profit while maintaining or improving quality. Be it robots, software automation, or outsourcing.
Totally correct. The best jobs I had in my working life were union jobs. Back in the late 60s, I got an office job at a trucking company. My first husband was working for IBM and made very good wages. Between his income and mine, we didn't know what to spend it all on. I was what they called an extra clerk, which meant I worked various positions when those holding them were out sick or on vacation. I had such good wages, I could pick and choose when I worked. The last job I had before I retired was as a medical transcriptionist for a huge medical center, and it was also unionized. I made $30 an hour. My second husband was a teacher, also a unionized job. We're now living rather comfortably on his retirement income. You can't tell me that unions aren't great for workers and great for the economy.
One of the dirtiest tricks that the Neoliberals and Republicans ever successfully pulled in this country was to convince working people that OTHER working people were their enemies.
Blaming Teachers Unions for busted state budgets,
Demonizing all Labor Unions for the corrupt practices of a few bad players,
Walking back Union Organizing Protections,
Convincing Consumers that High Prices are the fault of Unions, and many more ,
but the final insult to labor is actually Demonizing Immigrant Workers as the architects of all that is wrong in America.
@Snaggle Toothed Seeing how the UK had a recession from 1971-1975 and the term, 'sick man of Europe' was used extensively when describing the UK in the '60s and '70s. It would make more sense to say that poor economic conditions lead to the election of Thatcher. The UK's economic problems started way before the Iron Lady but the positive GDP growth after Thacher compared to before seems to tell a different story. However, as you stated your families were coal miners and the British economy was going through a transformation at the time, becoming more service-oriented. If you didn't have the skills to adapt you could be on the wrong side of economic improvement.
The horribly manages state-owned coal mines you mentioned, was actually the reason my family left the UK in the 60s.
Your claim of Keynesian economics not being neoliberal and the mention of the trickle-down strawman also suggests you don't have the greatest understanding of economic theory.
Wendy you actually made no case for the usefulness of unions, your story is anecdotal. And seeing how total compensation from the 1960s to today is up by about 60% it is also not dependent on the existence of unions. fred.stlouisfed.org/series/COMPRNFB
@@woodchuck003 Anecdotal is the correct word to use. An antidote is a medication given to counter or neutralize a toxin.
@@northerniltree Thank you for the grammar correction. I relly on spellcheck to correct my words and sometimes it grabs the wrong word.
One of the largest and most effective opponents of retail unions? Wal*Mart. They used to (not sure about current training modules) require employees to watch a video module on unions and why they are harmful to the company and it's workers. It was pretty logical to the uneducated or inexperienced employees who had not encountered unions or knew nothing of the benefits that unions provided as part of worker contracts.
Are there unions that are poorly managed? Yes. Do some local union chapters need better oversight? Probably. Accountability and transparency is good for any entity that is responsible for the conditions of members/employees.
What I love about people complaining about bad management is their total blindness and acceptance for corporate bad management. "Oh that union is corrupt, now excuse me while my CEO just bribed officials in Australia and pocketed the money that was supposed to go to our retirement fund."
It's so dumb it's almost endearing.
@@Rasgonras To me, that kind of ignorance isn't "endearing," it's nauseating!
Macy’s shows the same anti-union video. It basically says if you see a union member approaching you run the other way.
I walked out and quit the job during that training (they still show those videos, this was only a year ago) .. they said that if you hear people talking about 'living wages' or 'organizing' to report them to management immediately...
The same rhetoric is in the Target training videos.
"If you see a union representative, remember that they don't have your best interests in mind and report them to an executive team leader."
Yes, a Rising Tide lifts ALL boats. Politicians should also realize that as our wages increase, so do tax revenues.
One of the dirtiest tricks that the Neoliberals and Republicans ever successfully pulled in this country was to convince working people that OTHER working people were their enemies.
Blaming Teachers Unions for busted state budgets,
Demonizing all Labor Unions for the corrupt practices of a few bad players,
Walking back Union Organizing Protections,
Convincing Consumers that High Prices are the fault of Unions, and many more ,
but the final insult to labor is actually Demonizing Immigrant Workers as the architects of all that is wrong in America.
A rising tide drowns those who cannot afford a boat.
True, but politicians aren't paid relative to tax revenues from their constituents. The bulk of their income comes in exchange for limiting fiscal liabilities (including taxes) for their corporate donors.
@@ongoinglife : Very accurate, I remember the North Sea oil workers wages were compared to that of the commoners when they tried to ratify a new contract. Billionaires pitting workers against each other over a few dollars.
After the 2017 tax cut 2018 federal revenue raised by .5%. Fewer taxes can also lead to more tax revenue.
🎵Solidarity Forever! For the Union makes us strong!🎵
RIP, Pete Seeger (May 3, 1919 - January 27, 2014)!
One of the bravest Americans of this and the last century. Stood up to authority and power on behalf of those on the outside looking in. Stood up to one of the biggest bullies of the last century ( Sen. McCarthy), filmed for the entire country to see. Unafraid in the certainty of his rights as a citizen.
Another management lie: "My door is always open."
thay all lye in the same bed .
current and present.
Five thumbs down . They must enjoy being trickled down on from the rich.
Progressive Blue State, those thumbs probably are rich.
Living in Denmark, it is utterly bizarre to me, how Americans don't understand the benefits of unions. You'd think it common sense; when people stand united, they possess more leverage than when its every man for himself.
That's an American peculiarity.
This reminds me of a recent documentary "American Factory", it's about a Chinese glass manufacturing company Fuyao opening a plant in Ohio, and with it, it brings the classic Chinese low wage, long working hours, the utterly lack of working safety and environmental protection. When American workers couldn't take it any more and decided to be unionized to fight back, the CEO of Fuyao vowed that he'd rather not opening this plant at all than letting it be unionized. After having spent $millions on a fierce anti-union misinformation campaign, he had finally crushed this little unionization movement. This documentary film now is quite popular in China, many of us find it's rather sad and ironic that a billionaire from a so called communist country is teaching American workers a lesson about what true capitalism and exploitation look like.
damn , well there it is ,,,,, BERNIE 2.0
And automation happens.
@@Embargoman It happens anyway
AI & robotics can't unionize, yet their involvement in the labor & service industries are growing exponentially & internationally. If capitalism is going to remain, unionization AND real human involvement need to be reinstated as dominant.
You won't stop tech. You have to have transferable skills to survive these days in manufacturing and service industries.
In a tech heavy and globalized world like today, Unionization wont save anyone. We need a radical new solution and UBI is probably in the right direction.
@@milfordcivic6755 We can't stop tech but we can stop the 0.1% from owning it.
And we should.
But the people who design, build, install and maintain robots and AI can unionize.
The industrial revolution replaced jobs with different jobs the AI revolution will do the same as long as you can control the super corporations and stop them killing innovation at the bottom and make sure employees get thier due rewards. There should be more prosperity all round hence more money for healthcare leisure and a whole host of needful things
That's why they made the law right to work to get rid of Union. That was the worst idea that they ever came up with. Thank God I'm still in the Union.
As a biotechnology worker I have wanted to join a union. I saw Execs get tremendous incentives for just joining companies and start-ups. Compared to newly minted MS and PhD workers with no experience get raked over the coals, taken advantage of...
Nice video, Robert. Thanks for sharing your thoughts so well and freely for the greater good. 😊
Makes sense now. When I used to work at Frito-Lay, anytime they were about to change our pay( or lower it)... they will make us watch a video on why we shouldn't unionize
I agree send support from Germany.
Germany has one of the best union systems
@@randominternetguy1499 I agree
Unions are vital to the workers and the economy. When people do well, so does the economy.
When Bernie becomes POTUS #46, it would be great if you work with Bernie and his cabinet regarding the labor and union relationship. You're wealth of knowledge would be an extremely great asset to a Bernie administration.
Bernie couldn't run anything more than a hotdog stand, and only that where he gave them away for free... until he ran out of hotdogs. Keep dreaming.
@@mediamattersismycockholste562 Have another sip of the Kool-aid.... please.
Don't insult hot dog vendors.
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, Robert Reich for posting this video on Labor Day. Your next video should be about the process of getting you workplace Unionized.
Brace yourself for all the AnCaps that are bound to appear in the comments section...
Right. They’re all about freedom but not the freedom to organize labor. A bunch of hypocrites that are full of shit.
Anarchocapitalist is an oxymoron. Even the OG ego-anarchist Max Stirner was a socialist
ILikeMe 123 Yeah. Listing all of their hypocrisies would take hours.
Thomas Urech Yet some people accept this “philosophy”.
Thomas Urech anarcho capitalists are people who don’t understand what anarchism is.. or capitalism.
Maybe letting people know what unions have done for all workers might help people understand how much better their lives are overall. Things like regular work week, better wages, stat holidays, benefits, working conditions, etc. A before and after might open a few eyes! Keep up the great work Mr. Reich!
US is on path to become what France was before the revolution. A few extremely rich families, the rest poor.
American Labor Unions have constantly been shrunk since Neoliberal Reagan Union-Busting Era.
Strong Unions are mandatory for the Working People, and Progressive Politics.
Germany is Europe's Economic Engine because of their Strong Union Culture !
Thank you for your pro-labor content on Labor Day!
Good to hear the truth. Greetings from Denmark
Now if only the American people could accept the progress your country has made and try and mimic it.
@@kevchard5214 Well if you want to do that then you have to organize and be ready to fight toth and nail for it. My grandparents did so. They went stricking. To the point where starvation was a real threat. The only reason they could keep it up for so long was because they had paid into a union who then used those money to support its members while stricking.
There demand was an 8-8-8 day.
8 hours of work
8 hours of rest
8 hours of spare time
That along with a decent pay. The only reason it worked was because so many was in. The strike hit extreamly hard on the employers along with the clear determination of being willing to uphold the strike as long as needed.
@Snaggle Toothed If that is a joke good one all though a strange place to put it.
@@MsMissX The US is in that situation now. The problem is unions are few and far between here and many of the ones that remain are corrupt. Slavery is the goal of the American rich and corporations.
@Snaggle Toothed It never was.
You forgot a couple of things: Unions have been fading out because instead of having the best interest of their employees at heart, is your pocket that comes first. Also forcing every single employee to be a member and deduct your fees automatically when they don't want to participate makes you worse than the company you claim is out to rip us off.
Exactly the problem I've experience as well. Some unions do still fight for the employees, but a growing number have become their own cooperate entities that are focused only on lining their own pockets.
Standards for unions need to be established, lest they become the exact same thing they were supposed to fight against.
If you don't want to pay dues go to a non union facility. Only 10% of the jobs or less are union should not be hard to find. I have never been union. Come be poor with with us folks in much of the mid west that don't even have opportunity to be union workers. While at the same time paying to much for piss poor benefits and no retirement other than the joke they cal 401k.
It blows my mind how more businesses aren't unionized. When I was a cashier at Foodtown (unionized), I was making $24.75 per hour. I got a raise every 3 months. Why would anyone want to work at Walmart or Amazon when they can make more money at a grocery store?!
as a truck driver for over 20 years. Being all over the country i can honestly say that going to union places is the most miserable experience they are the slowest and most miserable people. I also went to truck driving school that was union. After I got my cdl I was on the property and some new students were talking to me and I was banned off of the property because an instructor thought I was giving them advice. Side note the school is no longer union.js
When everyone does good everyone does good.
Thank you for having this channel. I hope you have an ever increasing viewership. We need these messages to reach our citizens.
I've always believed that workers have little power when alone but as a group of like minded members had power and influence. Thanks Richard!
All these policies need to be compared to other countries like Finland that is extraordinarily friendly to unions and has a strong middle class as well as rated the happiest country. Too often policies are only compared inwards like other ideas outside your own country don't exist and not worth comparing. If more people knew how other countries operated they may be surprised by the possibilities. One example is vehicle efficiency. America has not needed it like Europe demands it yet the auto companies claim to North Americans that certain efficiencies are not possible while those same brands sell highly efficient vehicles in other countries. With the internet there is no excuse to not know about other ideas and possibilities outside our own borders. I see the difference in other countries as the people fighting more aggressively for rights and standards.
I appreciate your videos and perspective.
What happened to unions was that the unions themselves got powerful enough to become as corrupt as the corporations, so they lost groundroot support. Ever since then, the corporations have been able to use that era to vilify unions.
As a 22 year old , I love unions , best paying jobs and benefits ... that 3% membership is hella worth it , pays for itself easily.
Thanks, Happy Labor Day ;)
Happy may the first.
Don't fall for the "Right to work" diatribe. It means the right to work for less and no benefits. You should have a union for those.
Please do a video explaining what a union is. I believe the basics of collective bargaining are not understood by rank and file employees.
The National Association of Letter Carriers was founded in 1889. The 1880s were a very progressive time. Labor was United then. It's pretty much every worker for themselves. Easy for management to divide and conquer. I've been in the mailman's union for 36 years and it has been outstanding!
I've tried to explain to friends that unions are the only real power workers have but they have drunk the kool aid. What we need is more education on what unions can do for us. Since most folks get their news from the tv, maybe ads focused on middle class young people would help.
THE most powerful union that benefits its members the most, that enabled them to actually become the rulers of the country, is the American Bar Association (ABA).
Thank you for putting this out. Unions came into existence and still exist, because they had to/ have to. The things we all consider normal today: the 40hr. work week( no it wasn't Ford), the 8hr work day, worker's comp. as we now know it, the very concept of overtime pay, child labor laws, and job safety. All were fought for by UNIONS. Check the history and you will find people bled and even died for these normalities.
Much love to all brothers and sisters out there who continue the fight of the labor movement. THE FIGHT STILL EXISTS!!! Hope all had a great Labor Day weekend.....
Ok, I used to work in a salon. I am from the Detroit area. My friend was in management for the museum part of the auto plant. She tightened her office doorknob. Later, she had the union rep and the person who "should" have tightened her doorknob. She had to pay them extra for missing the opportunity to do the work. I understand their need, but some of it goes beyond reason.
Your friend is lucky it was not worse. Don't try, don't even think of doing my job. You may think I'm joking but these companies will make a bathroom cleaner work on a jet engine if you let them.
Union strong. ✊ pay your dues. I would pay more in dues, for all we get, and for less fortunate brothers and sisters. We have more power than we know.
I’m a software engineer and I wish I was represented by a union so that I can just concentrate on work rather than hustle with HR.
About 30 years ago I worked for a company called Seattle First National Bank (now Bank of America). Just before the bank workers were to vote on whether to unionize or not, we got a memo from the frightened management telling us we would not get the benefits promised by the union, it was all lies. That we had terrific benefits "right now" and (get this - I'm summarizing here) have the blessing of working in an environment that is heated and well lit. I nearly laughed myself sick! Anyway, the union finally won and I got an immediate $1.25 an hour pay raise for a mere $15 in dues each month. That was MASSIVE to me and I have been a union person ever since.
The offshoring of manufacturing work in the 80's was a major salvo against unions since almost all manufacturing labor was unionized.
I live in Texas and I wish we had labor unions.
There also needs to be video game industry unions. If you've ever seen a video from Jim Sterling, you'll see why.
I had a conversation with two Teamsters who owe all they have to their membership. One asked me, “What is this Right to Work all about.”. I said, It means you can’t be forced to join the union and pay dues to keep your job but the union is still required to support you as if you were a member. I could see the wheels turning in their heads. “sounds great, now I can buy more beer and guns.”. It hopeless folks.
It's going on right here in my backyard. Boeing decided to expand their operations in South Carolina instead of Everett, WA because they wanted to put an end to labor stoppages. They pay their workers in SC far less than their workers in Everett and have been working the SC workers like dogs. When some of the workers wanted to unionize, the company went on a ruthless media campaign to "educate" the public and the workers about why they did not want BSC to unionize. So, in effort not to have to pay increased labor costs that they said they could not afford, they spent untold millions on a radio, television, and print media campaign to tell the workers, and I quote, "Not to gamble with what we have worked together to create." The most recent plant-wide election was defeated with something about 70-75% voting against the measure. I think one additional reason Boeing has such an easy time convincing workers in this state not to form a union is because they just have to mention that union executives and officers tend to support Democrats, and this is a heavily Republican state. Boom.
If Bernie wins I hope he hires this guy as an Advisor.
@John Dwyer Absolutely.
David S. Yes indeed! 👍
@John Dwyer, several times I've used this comments section to implore him to run. A damned shame my heartfelt plyings didn't convince him.
It doesn't matter who wins, Robert should play a major role in any administration!!!
I assumed you knew I meant Democratic administration.
Thank you for being a clear voice that supports justice.
Unions are a group of workers that join together to protect themselves. The people they need to protect themselves from are the ones that are trying to get rid of those protections. Everybody should be in a union, there are no downsides to membership.
I used to believe all these lies. I have been a union member for 7yrs now and the difference is amazing. Better benefits, better wage increases and representation if an accident happens. Couldn’t be happier or prouder to be in the BLET.
Best channel on youtube. Thank you Mr. Reich for what you do.
Unions are the right wings biggest fear...
This was excellent. Unions used to be the mainstay for the middle class, now there are far too few of them.
Right on Robert! We not only need to unionize workers, but merge together all these little organizations together, and rid ourselves of the current
"Fascist Corporate Government"!
This is an excellent video! I’ve shared it on Facebook and sent it to an email list I use. My suggestion? Just get the truth out there more and more!
Iv told the younger folk...READ THE STATE LABOR LAWS....INCLUDING OSHA..
@martin man go read them...and when you see things happening or NOT...record them...TAKe pictures, make movies... AND THATS STATE...I didnt say Fed..which are pretty basic, and not all POSTED on walls.
The IWW has been union organizing in Portland, OR through a fast food chain called Burgerville and it has been pretty inspiring.
How could unions be bad for workers? Being good for workers is their entire purpose!
Great job robert! Tell it like is!
Solidarity!
a mcdonald's employee in denmark make over 22 USD pr hour and gets 5 weeks paid holiday by law + 1 extra week do to trade union negotiations (6 weeks total). There is extra charge for evening and night work. Payment for seniority, holiday payment (Easter and Christmas for example, (100%), on top of all payment there is an extra 6.85%, Pension plan for employees from the age of 20 (12%).
the minimum wage in Denmark is non-existent. the high wages are obtained through agreements and negotiations between the unions and the various industries. the agreements are renewed every few years.
the biggest lies the american people are being feed is that unions are the enemy. if the unions did not make it harder for employers to exploit their workers they wouldn't push so hard against unions
Proud member of American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) District 5!
Unions have been getting pounded on. However, as you pointed out, when unions are actively involved they directly have a measure on corporate income. I think that unions have a fitting role in the US economy.
I'll say this again if Bernie manages to get elected one of his initial phone calls needs to be Reich.
The blind leading the blind.
What about the “controlled by the mob” myth?
Unions have been a distant dream for those of us in "At will" work states, as great as unions are you should cover how the "at will" laws are used to screw over the working class and how to move to have them abolished nationally.
No HR department will ever replace a Workers Union, HR is there to protect the company for the investors and will always do the absolute minimum legally necessary for the workers and will without hesitation side with the company, utilize doublespeak and all manner of sociological and psychological tricks to undermine and control the employees.
Watching saving capitalism help to understand how the economy it actually works.
Thank you, Robert!!
Great video. I am a union member in Texas. I am also a researcher. My study agrees with your conclusions. But i also believe we as union members have to do a better job of policing ourselves on every level so that we can grow, thrive and regain public confidence and trust.
as a truck driver for over 20 years. Being all over the country i can honestly say that going to union places is the most miserable experience they are the slowest and most miserable people. I also went to truck driving school that was union. After I got my cdl I was on the property and some new students were talking to me and I was banned off of the property because an instructor thought I was giving them advice. Side note the school is no longer union.js
What we need is you in office professor and keep these vidZ coming out so we can share and educate as we go through these dark day~ty 💙
Thank you for your good work!! Bernie 2020
My husband, who is anti union, sites the US steel industry as union workers demand so much they bankrupted it. Is that true?
It's much more likely automation and competing steel from China was its downfall. Your husband might like to know this: In his first annual message to Congress 1861, President Lincoln declared, _“labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.”_ Seems to me "the higher consideration" should consist of wages working people can live on comfortably without constantly having to struggle to make ends meet.
That is false. The fall of the steel industry in the US is due to corporate greed. All the steel companies that were in the US have moved to other countries because they can make higher profits there. Another factor is the trade agreements with countries like china which is where most of our steel is made today. The corporations can not make the extreme profits with American workers as they can with slave labor in other countries.This pertains to all corporations.
That's right up there with the lie that unions destroyed Detroit. Corporate greed and corporate friendly politicians destroyed Detroit by making it so convenient for the auto industry to exploit Third World slave labor.
If this was true Fluffy Bunny. Where did the jobs go to. The industry didnt stop producing steel. Follow the product and where it went. If it was all about unions demanding causing bankruptcy why did the new company who took its place with a new name just move to another state where there arent so many unions or why did they move to country where unions are not allowed??? Do some research for yourself. He is right the unions demand more but companies demand more too. So do some research why does U.K. (England) still produce steel and Germany too, they are unionized. Why are american cars built with recycled steel??? Recycled steel from a non union country like China!!!!
And why have wedges been stagnant for the past 35yrs? Now the top corporate 333x the average employee why is this not all over the news everyday!!!
who would've known that unions would make a comeback just 3 years after this video was released.
Unions should do some grass roots local level advertising and campaigning. Unions should reflect the majority of the workforce, such as a food service union. I live in the capitol of Florida and we have an AFL CIO office, but I've never heard a peep out of them.
This reminds me , when the UAW and VW tried to both get into Tennessee . Volkswagen got in . Senator Bob Corker went off the rails when he found out the UAW was trying to get in the state with VW . Volkswagen being a German company with a long history of working hand in hand with unions didn’t have a problem with the UAW . Good old boy Bob ain’t going to let some yankee union in the south.
Unions need to unite and work together more.
Corporations have merged into fewer and fewer individual companies that their size and influence in politics is outweighing that of the people.
Imaging if all unions went on strike to demand Universal Healthcare or to raise the minimum wage.
We the people need to unite for political action.
6th being in a union guarantees that you're not just fired because some boss says so. And if you're let go, they are bound to give you a good severance package. Who in their right mind wouldn't want to be unionized?
Mandate that a Labor union representative is on every corporate board.
Robert, I've worked both as Union and nonunion. Both can work, even in the same company. Unions as they were founded at the end of the 19th century and the beginning off the 20th had much to promote them and the excesses that led to 700 dead miners, their wives and children in Penn, the Triangle Shirtwaiste factory fire that burned some 500 women to death locked into the fifth floor of the factory building when their supervisor ditched the place when he saw fire- it's both more subtle from the biz end and the Unions themselves, particularly the International in DC, that are full of "labor lawyers" who got themselves elected and corrupted them. I belonged to one such hall- and knew of several others in my region as corrupt- some that weren't were overtaken by the International uber group out of DC; the elected officers were decertified, the new officers (interim, of course) were all DC minions sent to set on these non conforming halls- the interim didn't end till the rank and file agreed to elect a board acceptable to the International. Trumka and the rest are liars and thieves themselves- all large old bureaucracies tend to become corrupt in ways that makes the bureaucracy increase in size even when the work load doesn't and it also protects incompetents within the bureaucracy- fact!
I'd like to see the Unions healthy and back- truly I would. Most of the things modern workers take for granted are originally union ideas; the 40 hour week, the end of mandantory overtime, workmen's comp....all these and more come about from a strong labor voice and a government that was much more the peoples than the corps.
While working my first job at Blink Fitness I played with the idea of starting a Union for those of us in the fitness sector; trainers, front desk associates, even maintenance.
If labor unions are so bad then why do corporations do everything they can to discredit them?
Where I work they fired alot of undocumented people and our hours increased from 9 hours to 15 and someone contacted a union rep and the next week they gave us a meeting saying that unions just want our money and can't negotiate wages ever. They gave us a raise as an incentive to not quit because of the workload we are getting and today they Stapled a paper to our checks saying they gave us the raise because of our hard work 😂 bullshit
I was talking to a check-out clerk at a local Superstore (an eastern Canadian super market) who said he'll be working about 12 hours tomorrow. No overtime because management makes certain he doesn't work more than 40 hours in a week. Only minimum wage paid. People who try to unionize the place or even talk about it are soon "filtered out" of the workforce.
Dr. Reich, please explain to everyone how "socialism" and "fascism" are two separate and distinct systems, and socialism is not what Nazism was.
When I worked for a cable company, management gave us a “why unions weren’t necessary” lecture. We never unionized, but the company did give us real good benefits.
I have been working for over 40 years and have experienced both good Unions, bad Unions and no Unions. What makes good working conditions are lots of job openings.
We all know, not every union is perfect, and not. Every company is evil, but when it comes to bargaining power, do you want to be one person against your entire organisation? Or do you want to some people in your corner. Because there are only two options. You’re on your own and hope to be treated well, or You get some people in your corner just like your workplace has people in their corner.
How would the country have grown without unions, I mean the states within the country as well.
Best job I ever had was a union job. Now that's just me talking from my personal perspective. I worked for GE for 12 years and would have stayed for at least 5 more, but they shut down our plant that had been in business since 1952. And BTW, by managements own claims, had been profitable for the Corp.for most of that time. Over the last 8yrs or so there was increasing overseas outsourcing. More plants built in poorer countries with cheaper labor, non exsistent environmental and safety laws, ie China, India, Vietnam, the list goes on. Big business hides behind the law that says managements main concern is to the stockholder ,therefore stock value. If it's a law ,and allowable by our government, then they move their manufacturing to other countries. And what do these CEOs get? Highly inflated compensation for gutting American manufacturing . Of course after being forced into retirement I am supposedly benefiting from these stock values and this law. Not saying a good CEO shouldn't get paid well but his salary should go up no more of a percentage than the hourly workers.