Our View: Unions do a lot for local workers

The work of labor unions are as important now as it has been during the last 130 years.

Nationwide, there are political and corporate interests invested in eroding unions and centralizing power amid the employers.

Take Gov. Scott Walker’s battles against unions in Wisconsin and the state’s move to a right-to-work state. Workers’ unions have been crippled by pressure from Walker and his supporters. The winners of course are the companies who can cut back benefits in favor of profits and tell workers to either take it or leave. The workers who are forced to take lowered wages and reduced benefits provide less to the economy. They provide less in sales taxes because they can’t purchase as much, which results in decreased tax revenue and decreased services funded through those sales taxes.

Beyond that, look at the recent expose about Amazon.com’s employment climate. Amazon’s workers aren’t protected by a union and according to published accounts, suffer from a very oppressive work environment. The New York Times reported that employees are often required to work long hours under very difficult circumstances. Employee turnover is high, with employees reporting to the newspaper that it isn’t uncommon to see people crying at their desks due to the demanding culture inside the online retail behemoth. Amazon may be the biggest name in online retail, but it comes at the cost of its employees, who work in conditions that can best be described as dehumanizing.

In Sweetwater County, it can be said the unionized mines have benefitted all miners. Collectively bargained agreements have had the benefits of pushing wages across all of the major trona mines, regardless of if they’re unionized or not.

After all, workers are going to flock to a job that offers better compensation and to remain competitive, other employers have to offer similar wages or start losing employees to other companies.

As a result, they stay in Sweetwater County. They have the economic foundation to enjoy a lifestyle of their choosing and a balance between their work and family lives.

Unions, both local and national, should continue their fight to improve workplace conditions and wages.

Workers should realize the benefits that come from unionized labor and join them to support their causes. Without a unionized workforce, the employer call all the shots and when that happens, which side of the fence are they going to side on?