re: Volkswagen employees vote down UAW unionization bid in Chattanooga

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I'm not crazy about the UAW, but rest assured if I was an hourly worker in an auto factory I'd want to be unionized.

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Speaking as someone who married the daughter of a militant 40-year UAW worker, I can assure you there is no benefit, except for using union meetings as an excuse to get shitfaced at the union hall.

Unions reward seniority, rather than skill or merit. The leadership is corrupt, and lacks the bargaining power they promise you. They may negotiate a higher wage, but any increase is more than lost during the aggregated years you spend on strike while your family is forced to eat ketchup and white bread as meals.

And, at least in my father-in-law's case, the union was thrilled that they negotiated a pension that was 100% funded by the company without any contribution by the employer. What they didn't proudly announce was that if the employee dies, there is no benefit for the spouse or other dependents. The pension simply disappears. Care to explain to me how this is better than a 401k?

American labor unions deserve to die.