podpolia

I know that unions do good things for their members, and it’s quite likely that I’ll have to join one when I start teaching, but I still have some major problems with them. I have no problem whatsoever with using the political power generated by the union to right wrongs and make sure businesses treat their workers allright, but unions are political entities that operate not only on their constituents, but also on others. Sometimes the pressure created by such things is good, other times it’s the utilization of power seemingly simply because those in charge can do so. This is, in my opinion, a case of the latter. Yes, I know that they don’t HAVE to let the Marines park there, and I can even understand the foreign cars restriction (as it is also applied to their own members), but refusing to let them park there based on their bumper stickers seems… well, petty.

UPDATE 3/15/05 12.55 PM: The UAW has backed down, but the backlash is already here.

I know that unions do good things for their members, and it’s quite likely that I’ll have to join one when I start teaching, but I still have some major problems with them. I have no problem whatsoever with using the political power generated by the union to right wrongs and make sure businesses treat their workers allright, but unions are political entities that operate not only on their constituents, but also on others. Sometimes the pressure created by such things is good, other times it’s the utilization of power seemingly simply because those in charge can do so. This is, in my opinion, a case of the latter. Yes, I know that they don’t HAVE to let the Marines park there, and I can even understand the foreign cars restriction (as it is also applied to their own members), but refusing to let them park there based on their bumper stickers seems… well, petty.

UPDATE 3/15/05 12.55 PM: The UAW has backed down, but the backlash is already here.