Union Rights-A Response

In reponse to a classmate's post on union rights, collective bargaining and the "Right to Work" law.  See this article and response.

Union rights is a heated topic for me being from Wisconsin, where there was a recent debate over collective bargaining rights. Wisconsin was the very first state to provide collect bargaining rights in 1959, yet a year ago, there was an imminent threat to strict public employees of these rights. I truly believe in the effectiveness of unions and the rights that go with them, especially since my mother worked for the public school system for over 30 years and the union fought hard to represent her through her battle for disability benefits. According to the Wall Street Journal, by 2010, 36.2% of public workers were in unions compared to 6.9% in the private sector. This significant increase in the number of union workers and collective bargaining rights directly correlated with the increase in state and local government jobs. The growth in state and local government jobs was double the rate of population growth. Although this This clearly shows the effectiveness of unions in providing and securing jobs.

I believe that Jessa has some very valid concerns with the option of the "Right to Work." This potential to choose whether or not to pay union dues as a member seems very inefficient. The unions were created to support and represent the workers, and by only having some members contribute to the dues while all workers reap the benefits is not appropriate. As Jessa states, I think that continuing to allow "Right to Work" law could ultimately weaken the union and the foothold they currently possess, as well as compromise the integrity of the union and the safety of the workers in that union.