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[Lord Shonus]

Yes, all legal regulations on workplaces apply only to union shops and the only reason why a company doesn't fire anyone every moment of the day is because da union is fighting for the worker's rights.

It's not that they don't apply, technically speaking, but when you are required to sign a paper that literally says "YOur employment is at-will and can be terminated at any time" for every non-union job protections against firing somebody for race, religon, sex, or national origin don't mean jack shit, and filing an OSHA or FMLA claim WILL get you fired (I can attest to this from personal experience). Non-union jobs with contracts protecting you from this do exist, and there are workplaces that don't abuse their overwhelming power, but both are extremely rare. In most states >90 of non-union employees effectively have no rights whatsoever.

[mainiac]

Anyone who hasn't seen a boss abuse their power has never worked in a low paid private sector job.  It's not a constant fact of life but it's a fact of life in the US.

[Strife26]

And that changes in union organizations? People are shitty, as a general rule.

[mainiac]

And that changes in union organizations?

Unions create possible consequences for the individual who abuses their position of authority.  So yeah...

[Lord Shonus]

And that changes in union organizations? People are shitty, as a general rule.

If you have a union, you have something called an employement contract. If you have this rare and powerful item, they have to have a valid reason to fire you, and any wrongful termination suit will be very expensive for the company to fight instead of it simply being "You were an at-will hire. Case Dismissed." This makes the power balance far less unequal by default. Not to mention, of course, that if they make it a practice to fire you for OSHA, Workman's Compensation or FMLA claims, they will almost certainly have flimsy enough justifications (that they will have to defend in arbitration or court) to eventually draw the full force of the Federal and State governments down on them, which is often fatal for a company.

[Strife26]

And in every other organization a shitty boss drags down morale and work productivities. At the absolute minimum, it's making employees more likely to quit, incurring additional costs for finding new ones.

[Lord Shonus]

And in every other organization a shitty boss drags down morale and work productivities. At the absolute minimum, it's making employees more likely to quit, incurring additional costs for finding new ones.

To replace any number of employee requires a single phone call to the local temp service. There is zero cost to the employer. If your productivity drops because of poor morale, unrealistic demands, or medical problems, they simply tell the temp service they require eleven new employees instead of ten. The local manager will probably get a bonus, since you've probably been there long enough to get a ten-cent raise or two, and the new employees will be cheaper. Providing a good workplace with well-motivated employees would probably be much more efficient, but all of today's managers were trained in the "all employees are ungrateful parasites" model and large numbers of minimally paid workers can make up for poor efficiency.

[SalmonGod]

And in every other organization a shitty boss drags down morale and work productivities. At the absolute minimum, it's making employees more likely to quit, incurring additional costs for finding new ones.

And this is why the majority of businesses are over-structured and miserable to work at.  They measure everything that can be measured, lay out minimum performance guidelines, and fire people who consistently don't meet them.  This is how they deal with low morale/productivity, and this is why we have a population that's overwhelmingly medicated just to cope with daily life.  Yeah, people can quit, but that doesn't have an impact unless it's organized.  And most people are well aware that they're just going to start over at another shitty job that will be more of the same, which isn't worth the uprooting of their daily routine and stability until the situation becomes really unbearable.

You can complain about the details of existing implementations all you want, but the fact remains that the U.S. labor market is desperately in need of more organization and collective bargaining by workers.  The last few decades of anti-union propaganda have made us pathetically exploitable.

[mainiac]

And in every other organization a shitty boss drags down morale and work productivities. At the absolute minimum, it's making employees more likely to quit, incurring additional costs for finding new ones.

Some people even feel like their job sucks and that they dont like their boss.  Strange but true.

[itisnotlogical]

Also the majority of jobs just... don't matter in the grand scheme of things. They matter to the company's profits, not to the employee or the people who buy the employees' services. Doctors, veterinarians, engineers, lawyers, people creating life critical systems, etc. can all feel like their job matters. The overwhelming majority of jobs that you can find in grocery stores or restaurants are purely as an intermediary to make money for somebody that already has more money than you, and is likely paying you a pittance.

[nenjin]

The Republican argument for delaying the confirmation of a new Supreme Court Justice until after the election is so specious. "Americans should have the right to consider and vote who becomes the next SCJ." They already considered and they already voted when they re-elected Obama. American's don't suddenly get to decide that they can change the way the Constitution works, and their so-called "constitutional scholars" are anything but if they support delaying confirming a SCJ for a solid year. Way to play to populist bullshit that in fact has zero basis in reality. While their base is angry and gullible enough to buy it, I hope undecideds have had at least basic elementary civics lessons and not buy into the "Yeah, it's our right to choose!" illusion. Because it never has been and it never will be.

[redwallzyl]

The Republican argument for delaying the confirmation of a new Supreme Court Justice until after the election is so specious. "Americans should have the right to consider and vote who becomes the next SCJ." They already considered and they already voted when they re-elected Obama. American's don't suddenly get to decide that they can change the way the Constitution works, and their so-called "constitutional scholars" are anything but if they support delaying confirming a SCJ for a solid year. Way to play to populist bullshit that in fact has zero basis in reality. While their base is angry and gullible enough to buy it, I hope undecideds have had at least basic elementary civics lessons and not buy into the "Yeah, it's our right to choose!" illusion. Because it never has been and it never will be.

did you expect anything else from them?

[DJ]

Well it looks like Obama is working on it.

[Loud Whispers]

I hope undecideds have had at least basic elementary civics lessons and not buy into the "Yeah, it's our right to choose!" illusion. Because it never has been and it never will be.

Land of the free

[nenjin]

I r8 the shipost 1/8 m8.