Reply #14: Unions in some places did a lot of the damage to themselves. [View All]

[TheMadMonk]

There were times here in Australia where no construction site in a state moved without a bribe paid to the Union. When a union worksite was one that had zero non-union labour. Where even a boss's kid joined the union if he wanted to do vacation work onsite.

Our dockworkers (who for some reason or another associated with painters to become the Painters and Dockers union) borrowed from the painters, and decreed that 3 spots of rain on a sheet of writing paper, (as opposed to the cigarette paper used elsewhere in the world) as a reason to stop work.

And I do believe Jimmy Hoffa's Teamsters weren't exactly model citizens.

Extreme examples I know, but the ones that make it into the public eye, and the ones that gave the bosses all they needed to undermine the influence of ALL unions.


Don't get me wrong, I am all in favour of what unions represent. However, I am very much against what they can become.