Talk-Polywell.org

In his statements before a Decatur audience, Gov. Bruce Rauner highlighted the opportunity for local governments in Illinois to become “employee-empowerment zones” by adopting local regulations that promote job creation. Workers in these areas would be allowed to choose whether or not to join a union, an option they don’t currently enjoy.

Given there is no statewide legislation preventing localities from enacting Right-to-Work ordinances, county or municipal governments can pass an ordinance that protects workers from being forced to join a union or pay union dues as a condition of getting a job. Illinois’ local governments have especially strong muscles to flex on this issue, given the extraordinary “home rule” powers they are granted under the state constitution.

The local Right-to-Work movement kicked off in Kentucky, where five counties have already passed countywide Right-to-Work ordinances, with more counties on the way. Harry Berry, judge-executive of Hardin County said, “We think it will help economic growth and promote commerce in our community.” The Kentucky model provides a framework for Illinois localities to make the same reforms.

Such reform is one solution for Illinois communities that have been economically devastated by the out-migration of businesses and workers, and who have seen their tax base eroded as a result. Illinois’ dependency crisis also highlights the need for local solutions in communities that want to attract businesses. In a number of work-starved counties, more than a quarter of all households are dependent on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps.

https://www.illinoispolicy.org/act-loca ... -comeback/

We should get rid of the police unions that support incompetent cops.

The whole state of Virginia is right-to-work, with a couple of exceptions where cross-border organizations are involved. I think the DC Metro system is a case in point.

Unions are certainly allowed, but membership can't be a precondition for getting a job.

Unions should not be permitted a monopoly to supply labor.

I know their original purpose was to support the worker and provide them a means of communicating, as a group, with the employers to deal with problems with wage and/or working conditions, with a 'membership fee' that paid for trips to engage in said communication as well as some other things to maintain the union itself. What I hear now is that all they do is take money from workers that may not want to be a member, for little or no gain to the members themselves.

Never having been in or even near a union/union member, is there anything useful about unions today? It doesn't sound like there are.

. Do you know what percentage of the work force is union? 11.1 percent. Union membership is at its lowest in decades. Maybe there is some other force at work here.
My personnel story
A long time ago in a place far far away I worked as the simulator technician. We worked for a fair company to give us a fair wage and were quite happy. As with everyone who works in contracting for the government, every four or five years your contract comes up for renewal. The winner of our contractors Lockheed Martin and we were excited about working for a large corporation as their promises of better benefits and the keeping of the wages we had were used to secure our support. Our support the government gladly gave them the contract because they knew they had a good team in place. The day after Lockheed Martin was awarded the contract they sent us an addendum to the offer letter. This letter said that they would not honor our wages or benefits package would not be that of a standard Lockheed Martin employee. Our entire group refused to sign the letter. First because it's illegal unless you accept it. Second because a representative of the company lied to us. Their intent was to pay us DOL. If you don't know what DOL is, it is the wage at the government decides is the minimum allowable wage to pay someone to do it said job. Quite frankly most of us were in a confused state of what to do. Luckily a government representative said to us " if you were a union this could not happen " smiled and walked away. The very next day we went down to the union hall, organized, and became a union. This is the only thing that saved our wages. So this is why I joined the union. Because the big business at Lockheed Martin decided they needed to make at least 15% profit on the contract. And the easiest way to do that was to step on the employee's wages.So even though I have to pay a percentage of my paycheck to the union. It's much smaller than the pay cut I would've taken by becoming a nonunion member at Lockheed Martin. I work for another company now at the same site. still union

krenshala wrote:I know their original purpose was to support the worker and provide them a means of communicating, as a group, with the employers to deal with problems with wage and/or working conditions, with a 'membership fee' that paid for trips to engage in said communication as well as some other things to maintain the union itself. What I hear now is that all they do is take money from workers that may not want to be a member, for little or no gain to the members themselves.

Never having been in or even near a union/union member, is there anything useful about unions today? It doesn't sound like there are.

note this is union propaganda,
Did you know that labor unions made the following 36 things possible?

Weekends without work
All breaks at work, including your lunch breaks
Paid vacation
Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Sick leave
Social Security
Minimum wage
Civil Rights Act/Title VII - prohibits employer discrimination
8-hour work day
Overtime pay
Child labor laws
Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA)
40-hour work week
Workers' compensation (workers' comp)
Unemployment insurance
Pensions
Workplace safety standards and regulations
Employer health care insurance
Collective bargaining rights for employees
Wrongful termination laws
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA)
Whistleblower protection laws
Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) - prohibits employers from using a lie detector test on an employee
Veteran's Employment and Training Services (VETS)
Compensation increases and evaluations (i.e. raises)
Sexual harassment laws
Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
Holiday pay
Employer dental, life, and vision insurance
Privacy rights
Pregnancy and parental leave
Military leave
The right to strike
Public education for children
Equal Pay Acts of 1963 & 2011 - requires employers pay men and women equally for the same amount of work
Laws ending sweatshops in the United States