Glenn
Robert ReichWhy do you appreciate unions?
I’ll start:
Weekends off
Paid vacations
Work breaks
Sick leave
Paid holidays
No child labor
Safer working conditions
Health care and retirement benefits
Dis@rbreich SAY IT LOUDER.
Dave Heidt@rbreich job responsibilities clearly defined and abided by
Dad Who Dives@rbreich don’t forget that Unions are also responsible for organizing most Company picnics! I mean, you said all the important stuff, so that’s all I could think of.
Meeche@rbreich My father would often say that the stupidest person you’d ever meet is the union member who votes Republican.
rodgarciacor
The Evil Writer@rbreich Balance of power. Because an individual employee is easy to silence and terminate, but a union has leverage. Not as much leverage as the bosses, but closer to parity.
Capitalism is evil and exploitative. A good, strong union helps protect people. Even a corrupt, weak union has the potential to become a good, strong union later.
Unions are the vanguard in the push for workplace democracy. They are vital for that purpose.
PARAsocial_work🏳️⚧️@rbreich
- has your back and advice when you’re isolated or discriminated against by a shitty workplace
- asks so little in return via dues
- has some catchy ass folk songs
But for balance:
- has a bit of work to do in adequately supporting migrant, indigenous and queer voices but overwhelmingly up for working on this front
- doesn’t have the resources to tackle every single issue they wish they could
- sometimes ends up making labour strides fractured by industry or profession
SMF@rbreich discretionary raises when the state doesn’t give them!
Alexis@rbreich Childhood friend of mine, his dad was a union man.
Dad got cancer. Died from it. Family was okay. Because the union made sure his contract was fair enough to keep his family secure even after his death.
Haven't spoken to that childhood friend since, well, childhood. But I passed by their house not long ago, on my way somewhere else, and not only was it in good repair, the same vehicles were parked outside that had always been there. So I think he's okay.
David Scott Moyer
Julia in Fin(n)land 🟨⬜🟪⬛@rbreich I grew up in (what was then) West Germany, and I still remember the union campaign for the 5-day work week. Posters with a photo of a child hugging their dad and the caption "Samstags gehört Papa mir!" ("On Saturdays Dad belongs to me!"). I was maybe 7yo at the time.
Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud@rbreich Fact. Likewise, I don't think collective bargaining was ever mentioned in school.
DaveA living wage
Adam Katz@rbreich
The 40-hour work week:
8 hours for work,
8 hours for play,
8 hours for sleep.
This is the product of unions.
Journeyman ☠️
Amanda Clark@rbreich maternity leave
praccu@rbreich unions can speak up for longer term priorities like safety and operational excellence; they're not as beholden to quarterly earnings reports and can help resist counterproductive pressure from investors.
VG@rbreich Available OT paid double, retiring fund financed 50-50 employee/employer starting immediately at any entry level jobs, transferable whenever the employee leaves the company. Any $ put aside should be deducted from the annual income facilating savings for the future.
Torsten Grieger 
Bargaining power (for)
Fair wages and salaries
Strike ability (by)
Solidarity
@rbreich Middle Class
John G Fitzgerald@rbreich Opportunities to piss off GOP.
Aviva Gary@rbreich But other than that what else have they done...
(This was a sarcastic quip but feel free to answer it you want 😉 )
costrike@rbreich For holding power to account.
Marie Walsh
Pedro Madureira@rbreich
That’s the cool part of unions, there’s others not so clean and cool. But yes, i do prefer their control.
That’s the cool part of unions, there’s others not so clean and cool. But yes, i do prefer their control.
BeXX IntheCity@rbreich Unions have done much, but perhaps r part of prob. They are compromised by investments in Wall St. IMHO, Marx had it wrong: its the CONSUMERS who must unite. Not everyone is a member of a bargaining unit, but everyone is a consumer & everything is a consumption item. A “Market” for & by Consumers is needed An idea I’ve had since my graduate work in Eco Finally tech is available to pursue such an idea. Requires resources not at my disposal but have ideas on how to accomplish. Pz
Jeremy Wight@rbreich Nominal 8 hour day
Magicdoll@rbreich When I was with a union, they denied me paid maternity leave and refused to pay for my daughter's birth because I had doctors' orders that I stay in bed (anemia). I'm not really crazy about unions because of that.
James Lemin@rbreich unions are the tide that raises all boats.
Marjorie@rbreich no workers falling into the vat of pure pork sausage never to be seen again
Sandy Bury@rbreich
My husband was in the elevator union.
He supported our family of 6 very nicely.
Now we have a good pension in our retirement.
My husband was in the elevator union.
He supported our family of 6 very nicely.
Now we have a good pension in our retirement.
Jackie Speight - Angel S.O.S@rbreich Coolective strength & power.
Gigawatt121@rbreich Because they are single best resource we as individuals have against large corporations and employers. Each of us on our own can be squashed into oblivion as they abuse the system. But all of us in the aggregate have power that can force them to take notice.
naught101@rbreich you have massive reach on Mastodon, Robert. How come you never boost others?
Chris Mingus@rbreich Even Henry Ford understood this simple rule of business: if you give your employees time off and disposable income, they can then use that time and money to buy your products.
Lord Drayven Blaze@rbreich the above and the following, because a union gives you protection from the business, HR protects the business from you.
Karl Thacker@rbreich
Camaraderie
Caring/Concern
My late step-father was a lifelong union carpenter. I remember the union helping members with donations of food and even Christmas gifts for kids while on strike during a couple economic downturns in the 80s.
Auri Jae (They/Them)@rbreich I’m really feeling for the nurses and the ambulance staff who would be first time striking. We clapped for the #NHS workers in uk and thanked them for their sacrifice in lockdown and the pandemic. Putting their life at risk and years of cuts and underfunding the health system is on its knees and from past years workers must be exhausted and left with trauma. They need better working conditions. Seeing the government willing to go to battle and be brutal to unions and union workers
@rbreich putting their safety of both workers and patience at risk. For those who have strokes, heart attacks, severe health episodes. They shouldn’t have to worry if they can get seen and get into hospital and says it all that the government say get a cab for hospitals and don’t back your nurses, carers, ambulance staff. If unfit to deal with this need an election now . #GeneralElectionNow #SaveNHS #ProtectNHS #WorkersRights #NHS #Strikes
@rbreich Unions are the natural way people organize to balance the power of scale that businesses and other groups of people naturally have.
There's a place for Unions in the lives of workers.
Rabon 🦣Arguably, without unions, we would have no minimum wage.
As Republicans (and some Democrats) have worked to destroy unions, the minimum wage has become stagnant.
The somewhat faulty argument FOR a minimum wage was to pay workers enough that they didn't need a union. Now that unions are disappearing, the minimum wage has been left to become a starvation wage.
Corporations now have their cake, are eating it and the aren't even letting the workforce have the crumbs.
Terry O’Neill@rbreich Smaller gender wage gap and racial wage gap in unionized workplaces.
Darthdzl@rbreich I appreciate union's, even though I've never been in one, because without them, none of that stuff would exist for the rest of us.
EndemicEarthling@rbreich The possibility of a different order/system of power to one built around the hoarding of power-tokens ($$$€€€£££¥¥¥).
Corgi@rbreich I don't appreciate unions for keeping -shitty people who make your work life hell- employed, however.
Daisy Doo & TuxieGirl Betty@rbreich bathroom and lunch breaks
Frank Vehafric@rbreich Dignity on the job. In my experience the single greatest motivator to union activism is the consistence disrespect and contempt shown to workers by employers. It's money like too many people think.
Bongmaster@rbreich Basic rights
Jeff@rbreich Alabama is using child labor
Festering Ferret@rbreich a voice in government. A say in the laws that govern us.
@Ms_Ellen_F@rbreich Collective bargaining
5Tring5@rbreich 8 hour day.
technolefty@rbreich Less likelihood of a tyrannical supervisor / low level manager!
@rbreich what do you think about public sector unions?
FreebirdFrolicl have been a big fan since late 2015.
You are a national treasure.
Thanks for all the captivating animated sketches!
In awe of your talent!
Nancy Hicks@rbreich
As a retiree I can state with great certainty that last one is very important. Of course all the others are important too.
As a retiree I can state with great certainty that last one is very important. Of course all the others are important too.