New York Times Reporters fight for Protection
I felt the energy from class today made this Blog A MUST. We know from World History that Guilds originated in Medieval Times and evolved to our modern day notion of Union.
Guilds were a primarily phenomenon of of medieval times. They existed partly as a pathway to skilled crafts and professions through apprenticeships and controlled access to who actually did work projects. They often existed under the auspices of nobles and/or royalty. The merchant class of those times was comparatively small, not necessitating a large number of products requiring unskilled labor.
As time passed trade unions grew up beginning in the 19th century to represent the increasing number of workers needed for the expansion of industry and the needs of the industrial revolution. As the unions grew they attained political clout and strength through collective bargaining; eventually taking on some of the earlier trappings of the guilds such as meeting halls, access to training, and thresholds through which projects were obtained.
Let's use this space to talk about the purpose of Unions and react to the AFL-CIO video from class. Do we need unions? If so, why the "attack" depicted in the video? If not, why not?
54 comments:
In my eyes, a union is a group of people who discuss with one another ways to protect members to whom their group concerns. In my opinion, I believe we need a union. Without unions, there would not be as much organization as there is today (no matter how little that may be.) Unions are meant for protection. Even so, I understand the "attack" in the video against unions. The people who are involved in the union are pointing fingers at the wrong workers. For instance, child care workers and librarians should not have anything to do with this crisis. I absolutely agree with the fact that union members are pouring their issues on others. This is because they are naïve and do not want to open their eyes and admit they are in a crisis. They should stop pointing fingers, take a step back and take control of the situation, no matter the depth of it. Overall, unions are necessary but the people of today who are in the unions are not representing them well.
I believe that unions are beneficial to society because they add organization to all kinds of jobs, and they help groups of people with similar interests collaborate and spread more ideas. After watching that video in class, I was confused as to why the people who had already earned enough money to sustain themselves for life would blame anyone for people losing their jobs, let alone union workers. I feel like they were blamed because there was no one else to blame.
I agree with Robert when he says a union protects only the group it concerns. I also a agree that we need a union. America used to be all about freedom. We used to have the right to protest. But the protesters on wall street dealt with nothing but hardships. Hardships that shouldn't have been an issue like police brutality. A union would put a bit of foundation behind the things some workers are or were protesting. I feel that a union is a good thing overall for a civilization. It may eliminates the violence from protesting and problem solving. And i think that is especially important in a time where we can't walk outside without the fear of getting punched by are own neighbors. Perhaps a union can organize the thoughts of both sides of the arguement and perhaps there is a compensation that can be reached, perhaps not to decide who's right or wrong, but what can be done to make everyone happy and how we can improve every person's chances for survival.
I also agree with Robert. Unions are important. They protect the people who are in the same situations as themselves. The union is a type of organization that we need. I believe they are wrong though. They are picking on the wrong people. The people the union is picking on do not have any part in this crisis. Therefore, they should not be treated the way they are. As Bobby said, the union is very naive and have to open their eyes. They should admit that they are in a crisis and should work on fixing it, not hurting the feelings of others or blaming them.
As a son of a 1199c union delegate, I watch my mom represent, rally, and protest for the equal rights of herself and hospital workers.I believe the union is needed to the degree for fare share and equal rights for the employees.My mom shares with me that if workers would take full responsibility of their work ethics, understand and respect the rules of the employer;then workers wouldn't need the union to represent them so that they won't loose their jobs. However, I do believe if the they didn't have a union, employers will take advantage and prey on the workers ignorance. The union is needed so that they can educate the workers of their rights against employers who are just about making themselves rich.
I think we do need unions. They are a voice for groups of workers. They help protect their employees. They make sure their workers have a fair and safe workplace. They make sure they have fair wages, sick leave, and other things all workers deserve. I agree with Zymir, without a union to represent people, their bosses could try and take advantage of their workers. I think the Wall Street workers were looking for a scapegoat when they didn't want to admit that they were wrong. They shouldn't be blaming librarians, police officers, and firefighters who don't make a lot of money and deserve more for working to serve the public.
I agree with Sofia. I think that the world needs unions because they help organize jobs. Unions also form ideas and bring people together that share the same interests. I do not fully understand the "attack" in the video. I think that the union workers are blaming the wrong people. The librarians, child care workers, and the teachers are getting blamed for this problem, even though they are not causing this problem.
I agree with Robert and Sofia. We need unions. Without them we wouldn't have civilized workers such as teachers. The attack video against unions basically showed how unions were in a crisis. There was no reason to blame union workers for what happened. It makes no sense to me why they blamed them. Unions are needed in this world today and there's no reason for them to take the blame.
I agree with many of these comments above. We do need unions because they are very protective and made to kept the workers safe and equal. The unions also keep a lot of things organized, especially the community. Unions are made for all positive reasons. Now I feel as if the Wall Street workers know that they are wrong, but do not want to take the blame so they take it out on the librarians, firefighters, teachers, etc. I agree with Nina when she said this is terrible because they already have so much money and now these people with lower paying jobs are getting blamed and deserve more money for serving the public. In conclusion unions are very much needed today and the Wall Street Workers need to stop trying to make them out to be something they are not.
We do need Unions. Unions are significant to any kind of job. Unions give an understanding point of view when discussing what the workers can and can't do because the employees are running it.
I personally don't understand why the upper government is blaming your everyday hard workers. The people who have all the money are laying back waiting for the public to solve their own problems. They are more than able to help but instead decide to blame the public workers and leave them to clean up their "own" problem.
After watching that video, it hurts to see all the these workers feel like their no use when we all know that without the teachers our children would not get an education, without our fire department and police officers we would be in danger. These jobs aren't just to help their family but it's to help the citizens. Everyone matters. I don't think it's fair to be pointing fingers at people who are trying to improve our environment. I have a few people in my own family that work in the union and there are days when they are working over time not for themselves but for others to make sure the job is done. Before blaming others you should really look over what had happened. This would cause less of mess then it has already.
I agree with what Carly said about people not feeling like their work is helping out our community, because they do a lot. Without any teachers our world would crash to the ground, because no kid would get an education so there would be no next generation to invent new things or even be able to do the jobs we do today. Without the fire department if a house caught on fire instead of it being put out it would just spread house to house. If there were no police men/ women no one would listen to the rules because no one would be there to enforce them. I don’t know why the government is blaming union workers for everything while they are just waiting for the problems to fix themselves. Before just blaming others and pointing fingers people should at least try to fix some stuff themselves.
A union is a group of people that have the same kind of job. There would not be much organization of people without unions. Unions are also important because they protect the workers. In the video, the unions are being blamed for problems that are not their fault. I feel like the union was blamed because they are weak, ging through some tough times, and because there is nobody else to blame (as Sofia said).
I think we need unions to project rights of workers. Blaming the union is not okay. They work so that other workers can get be treated fairly in their work place. If there wasn't a union what rights would they have? The union have nothing to do with people losing their jobs. The wrong people are being blamed for the crisis.
A union is a group of people with the same profession. Unions protect the people who are apart of them and assure them their rights. I believe that having unions is necessary in today's society as it was back in Medieval times. I think that the people blaming those apart of the union are not in the right to do so. The people apart of unions have nothing to do with the crisis at hand and the government pointing fingers at them is just not right. I think that the government blames the hard workers of today because they consider themselves to be superior of those people, therefore not caring if their feelings get hurt or for the fact that it's not even their fault. If it weren't for the people in the unions, our society wouldn't stand a chance against anyone or anything that were to come it's way, so I believe that all of this blaming and pointing fingers needs to stop before it gets out of hand.
As a daughter of an out of work Painter who belonged to the Painter's union, I watched my dad lose his job in the Union as a Painter. Unions are important because they help you become more skilled in your profession, the public workers are helping the people and not making the amount for the hard work they are doing. For instance most of the Firemen that work are voluntary, how is that even possible when they are risking their lives for other people. I discussed this issue with my dad and my dad told me the rich will higher people who are not skilled to do a skilled union workers job for half of the wages just to save him money. This will save money however, it doesn't say that the job will be done correctly or safely. I have to say yes the Unions are extremely important because without them the rich people working the corporations are doing nothing but making a dollar while the public service union workers are doing what they love and are underpaid and without the support of the union they are losing jobs to workers with no skills because it is cheaper to hire them.
I agree with Sofia in stating that a union is essential because it provides organization to all jobs that are wiling to work together (such as a teacher's union). People need unions because there is power in numbers. If you are trying to stand alone, it won't be as effective as when other people are fighting along side you. This support goes along with the protection policy of a union.
The corporation companies have no right to be blaming the public workers unions for the salary cuts. These big corporations just don't want to lose all of their money, so they are being cowards to keep it. These public workers work so much harder than any of these corporation workers and don't deserve all of these cuts in their salary and their job. They work so hard to keep their families alive and I believe that it is 100% not their fault.
I might be a little biased on this because my mother is a teacher and is apart of a "union" ad I have seen benefits being taken and salaries being cut and it is totally unfair.
I think it is required to have unions, especially in the generation we are in today. I think this because a union is what keeps people together in an organized and professional way. I believe that as American we need unions to keep our eyes on what we are actually doing, and have other people get us back on track if we fall behind. But that doesn't mean you have to blame other people for your mistakes, to make your union better. I think unions are good for this country, but people have to be more professional about it. Therefore union members have to focus on what they do and not what others do, because at the end of the, it's all about putting food on the table.
I think that unions are still important today. Unions protect the rights of workers, to help insure that workers have access to fair decent wage and good benefits. Both of my parents are Non- Union workers. Even today if you join the union their is a cost to join and the benefits would provide insurance but Union's aren't free.
A union is a group of people belong to a similar type of job. This joins others together to preform a bigger task. It brings others together and usually when others collaborate the job gets done more successfully. I agree with Jeremy that it's essential to have unions. We live in a very electronic based society and if we don't all work together as a union, things won't run as smooth otherwise.You have to talk about things and discuss where you should go from here and like Robert said, take control.
Unions are made to be a voice. A voice to those who are looked at by "the big companies", as though they don't have the right to even make the same income as them. The attack on unions to me is a way to turn the attention away from the guilty party and put it on hard working innocent people. I agree with Sofia they have no one else to blame. People with more than enough money made bad decisions causing the economy to fall and they blamed it on people in unions.
We need unions because like it was said near the end of the video they helped fellow citizens. They actually interact with us and do what they can to benefit us. They dedicated their lives to help. Like a lot of people are saying, they protect us. They keep us together. To attack the on things that they did not cause isn't right. The government is like trying to make others think that they're not the bad ones by blaming the public workers. Maybe blaming someone else will make them try to avoid the situation. Similar to a bully I guess you can say. Maybe the government is trying to maintain superiority by attacking.
Union is a group of people wanting to be treated fairly by the head of them. They sign contracts, to keep the fairness level. Without union workers would be considered labors. A union organize such activities on behalf of what workers want. A union doesn't only associate with works but also different activities within societies. A group of people fighting for what they believe is a Union. I think it is a good thing due to different level of positions, it makes things more likely to be equal....most of the time
We need unions because they do the jobs and they serve us everyday. They help us with our lives and protect us. They should get paid more because they do the most work and they love what they do. The shouldn't cut there pay or fire them, it isn't right to the family of these people. There blaming the union because they have on one else to blame. They attacked the union because the union couldn't defend themselves anyway.
First, my answer is yes, I do believe that unions are necessary. When they were first started, they were really important, especially to push for worker safety and fairness. I think that is still true today, and I am for collective bargaining. But I don't totally agree with everything in the video. I believe that many governments are broke, and that they need to fix their finances and work in a budget in the same way that regular companies do. Many, many people in regular companies have lost jobs and benefits. It is only right that employees in the private sector should be subject to the same forces. So I agree with some of the statements in that video, but not all of them. I think there are extremely important roles for the unions to play, but I also believe there are things that need to be corrected with the way unions have operated.
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Daniel Kaufman
First, my answer is yes, I do believe that unions are necessary. When they were first started, they were really important, especially to push for worker safety and fairness. I think that is still true today, and I am for collective bargaining. But I don't totally agree with everything in the video. I believe that many governments are broke, and that they need to fix their finances and work in a budget in the same way that regular companies do. Many, many people in regular companies have lost jobs and benefits. It is only right that employees in the private sector should be subject to the same forces. So I agree with some of the statements in that video, but not all of them. I think there are extremely important roles for the unions to play, but I also believe there are things that need to be corrected with the way unions have operated.
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I agree that we need unions. They do help keep things in most order. They should get more pay for they're work. But instead, they get cuts, or lose their jobs. This isn't fair for them. It seems the unions can't fight against the attacks.
Union workers are important and can be a benefit in our society. We still need people like them to protect us and work together with others. The government should find a way to solve these problems instead of putting the blame on the union workers. The government should be the ones who help the public service workers. It's not right because they are the kind of people that actually help people around them. Without them, we can't advance in society and community. I also think that it is not right to pay them less, they should be paid equally and fairly. They are doing what they are passionate about and also doing what they love.
I believe that unions benefit us in this era/society because they offer order and structure. After we watched the video in class, I didn't understand why the people who had already made their fair share of profit to get them by in life, we're blaming of all people union workers. Why not the person/people who sign your check? Or who hired you? I strongly despise that they couldn't even admit that union workers were innocent, and that they just couldn't keep the job. Union workers had the digger pointed at them for no solid reason. When people try to justify that and say, 'Oh the union workers are the cause of people being laid off, etc,' they have no solid reason against the unions they just are pointing the blame to wherever it can go, which is absurd.
I believe we need unions. A union is a group of people that come together and either work on something or just stick together. We need unions because people can't do things alone. They need other people to form alliances with. For example the teacher union helps kids get education. And most kids need education. Without unions we wouldn't be civilized.
Unions benefit society today more than anything. The reason is because it offers cooperation and protection. After watching the video I realized that public employee's get treated with no respect. The wealthy does not want to pay full share. Instead their cutting services that working families rely on. It's not fair to those who have families and children to support by cutting the salary's of public employee's. The government does not blame the people who your working for or the person who gives you your check. All of the blame is being put union workers. Some of are parents work in the union and if their salaries are getting cut because of something the government caused ; it's effecting our lives. They should be taking some responsibility for their actions. The union workers are doing what they love and are being laid off for it. Stop the lies.
I believe that we do need unions. A union is a group of people who contribute and work together through jobs to benefit each other. Without unions, jobs wouldn't be organized and there would just be too many different jobs out there. What's disrupting the union is the financial crisis which in my opinion is caused by that 1% who make the most money. Because of unions, they think they can just leech off of public employees, reduce their pay, and even cut off their jobs. The outrageous thing is that they blame this financial crisis on the public employees. Then, they get news reporters to report lies in order to save themselves like the cowards they are. News reporters say how public employees are the only ones who don't have pay reductions. That is a total lie. For example, the financial crisis has impact Philadelphia a lot; the school district especially. Schools have been shut down, and teachers have lost their jobs. The only ones who are making the most money and benefiting from this are the people in control. It is just such a shame how the media, politicians, and powerful people treat the public employees. Some work hard and still don't earn enough to support our families. We don't deserve all the discrimination and blame we get. They don't realize how much problems we go through because they aren't in the same situation. They are the ones sitting behind the scenes using us as their puppets. I feel like we are just their toys working our whole lives so they could just take the money we deserve. This whole economy is unbalanced.
A union is a group of people with the same beliefs, professions, etc. Without Unions, how will those in a Union make money? People need Unions because the thing they do may be apart of that union which might be something they like.
These corporation companies can't blame the public for budget and salary cut. Them corperations are acting a little off the chart with money and keeping the corperation alive. The corperations should blame themselves for what they do, not what public workers do. Both of them should help each other and work hard for their families. Some people from other countries come to America or another country to work so they can help their families from his/her homeland.
My parents are not a part of any Union.
Victoria Granton
A union is a group of people with
same profession. I believe that we do need unions. If there was no unions, jobs wouldn't be organized and
there would be way to many different jobs out there. Without unions we wouldn't be civilized. My parents are not part of the union. Without unions
we can't advance in society and also community. I don’t know why
the government is blaming union
workers for everything while they are
just waiting for the problems to fix
themselves.
I agree with both Robert and Sofia. They do protect us and they do help us with organization and helps spread ideas. Overall, yes, I do believe that unions are important. They help us in so many ways. I again agree with Sofia when she says that she feels that they are being blamed because there way no one else to blame. Union workers are being treated unfairly and should not take the blame that they are receiving.
I think that unions are good for society because they help people with similar interests work together and spread more ideas and they add organization to a variety of careers. Therefore, I think unions are beneficial and our society is better off with them rather than without them.
I agree with most of these comments above, that we do need unions. We need unions to help protect, and organize. I agree with what Bobby said about the video's "attack" they are indeed pinning things on the wrong workers.
I agree with Robert. Unions provide organization and protection to a set of workers. They should be able to step back and take control but they aren't representing themselves well by blaming others for what is happening.
I agree with most of people's comments that we do need unions.
Unions is an organization of workers formed to protect the rights and interests of its members.They protect us,help us with organization
Unions are very important. I believe we need unions. Without unions, we would have no organization and protection for the members in that particular group. I also believe without unions, society or community can not continue to advance on in life. As I was watching the video, I realized the people in the video were pointing the blame to the wrong workers. That is why I believe unions are important.
I think that unions are most definitely needed, especially to create order protection and power. Unions supply self discipline and order of people.i do think that unions are needed, especially to act as the backbone of the body and support everything
Unions are something that can really organize a work place and really be effective. But for people to attack unions is something selfish. That just shows that you're at a job just for money and only worrying about yourself and only your duties. A union should be advertized more, not degrated. And for some rich shot-callers to give false facts just shows that they are worried for their position because Unions might be their kryptonite
I believe that we need Unions. I think this because you need to separate groups of workers. I highly doubt you could apply rules for both teachers and construction workers. You need unions just for the reason that one group could be affected without effecting everyone else. These divisions are a necessity.
I think the "attack" is because the wealthy need someone to blame for there mistakes. Since they are rich and can get away with more because of money, they blame the low income people since they basically cannot do anything about it. Also, the rich blame them to take cuts from them and use it for themselves. It is selfish and unfair what the 1% is doing to the rest.
I believe that Unions are very important. With out Unions, there would be no difference of importance between every career. For example, without unions, barack Obama on a scale of importance could be the same as a regular school teacher. You could never know how big of an impact a job can have without these Unions
I think we do need unions. From my perspective, unions are so important. Unions are a form of organization; of a group or workers that have a voice. Without unions, people of the same interests or job proffessions maybe would not prosper enough. Just like Catie said, certain ideas would never come up, which can greatly have an effect over everything.
I also think unions can be a bad or terrible thing. For example, Pennsylvanias teachers. I belive there are teachers that deserve much more then they earn. Good deeds/work is not rewarded and bad deeds/work is not punished, as my mom explained to me. This is not fair at all. Sometimes, unions can get greedy and charge way to much on taxes also.
I agree with a lot of these comments, to me we need a union because without it wouldn't be as what it is today, also then the rich people won't have anything to compared too, also in a union everyone stands together and help each other, without it there really won't be as much protest etc. I think the Union is like a voice for the people who really can't speak like the lower class.
I agree with Sofia. I believe Unions are being attacked because people have no one else to blame. Without Unions things wouldn't be organized and workers wouldn't have the rights that they deserve.
I think that unions are needed to give all public workers a voice. It is like some sort of protection that is needed. The organization of today's jobs would be chaotic without them in my opinion. i believe that the union is for public workers to not fight for what is right on their own. For example, the rallies that teachers have and the protests. The unification of these workers are what helps. I think the video was just filled with people who wanted to "point fingers" and they just picked the hard workers to blame.
I agree that we need unions. They do help keep things in most order. They should get more pay for they're work. But instead, they get cuts, or lose their jobs. This isn't fair for them. It seems the unions can't fight against the attacks. The reason people attack unions is because they think that they can agree with each other a get power. Power in numbers...
Because of the number of people in unions they get blamed. These unions are important to us. Unions are for making agreements and new ideas. If there were no unions, where would we be now?
I believe that unions are created to provide protection and stability to the common worker. Without unions, workers are left unprotected and without choice to what happens to their wages, work hours, or themselves in general. The Millionares Club is taking a swing at unions, claiming that they, (people who earn less than 36,300 per year) are the source of the economies downfall. The rich and protected choose to ignore the budget cuts that are added increasingly towards union workers such as teachers. Instead of standing up and facing the reality of the situation, union workers are pointing fingers towards people whom have nothing to due with their budget or pay cuts. Unions and their opposers alike need to stop blaming others and start digging themselves out of the massive hole that our faulty economy has created.
I believe unions are helpful to society. Unions are organized groups that keep everything in order. They also protect the little people. In big organizations the higher ups make the rules and hold the power. When unions were first made, their purpose was to give the little people a purpose. Some unions are starting to let the power go to their heads. i understand the attack on union workers but at the same time I feel like if fingers are going to be pointed; people should point at themselves first.
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