Legal and Ethical importance/impact of unions in today's society
...al origin, sex, age, preferential or non-preferential civil service status, political affiliation, marital status, or handicapping condition (as result of NLRB proceedings). 5. Refuse to consult or negotiate in good faith with an agency as required by this chapter. Labor union membership in 1999 showed the greatest increase in 20 years, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, going from 16.2 million to 16.5 million members across all sectors of the economy. Unions perform a vital function in the lives of working families. As the unionized share of the work force decline, income inequity increases dramatic. At a time when U.S. corporations are making profits and the economy continues to grow at a slow but stable rate. It seems unreasonable that working people have to struggle to make ends meet. In our free market economy and free enterprise system, freedom for workers means the right to choose a representative and have a voice in their wages and their working conditions. Unions provide and organize an effective means for workers to join together to solve problems and participate in discussions regarding their wages, better benefits, safer working conditions, and better opportunities. In fact, union negotiating does not just help members that belong to that labor union. It helps society in large and has promoted fair wages, fair taxes, and justice throughout society. Unions attack all wage gaps, the discrepancy between executive pay and that of workers, income differences for women and for people of color, for the disabled, they fight discrimination and actively promote equal treatment and opportunity for all the workers. I spoke to a friend who is a member of a union for truck drivers. He said that he joined the union because “better pay and conditions encourages the work force to be more productive. Also, union workers earn an average 30 percent more than nonunion workers and are much more likely to have health and pension benefits.” He went on to say, if he was not part of a union the company refus...