this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2026
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Work Reform

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[–] glimse@lemmy.world 1 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

My first job in high school was at a grocery store with a union and they did jack shit for me when I got fired for something out of my control. Almost a year later they called and told me they could get me my job back but I wouldn't get back pay and I owed them X months of union dues. It soured my opinion on unions for years.

Nowadays, I wish everyone would unionize.

[–] Zephyr@sh.itjust.works 4 points 5 hours ago

Any governing body of any form needs attention, particularly ones that have the power to tax.

[–] warbond@lemmy.world 5 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Those were the sorts of stories I heard about unions when I was growing up. Want to clean up a mess? Sorry, union rules say you have to wait for another guy to get here to do it.

I always felt like unions just got in the way of doing things logically or quickly, but I'm pretty sure those stories and comments were intended to do that. Nowadays I know better, and I agree with you: we need unions now more than ever.

[–] glimse@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

Well after my experience with unions in Philadelphia, I'm pretty confident in saying that it varies. I worked for a company that held conventions. We wanted the flag of each attending country to line the entrance hall and it took coordination with FOUR unions. I am not exaggerating.

One union to bring the pallet to the hallway

A second union to place the flag bases

Yet another union to place the flags in the bases

And the last to remove the pallet/packaging (not the same as the first!)

I found this out when I nearly got tackled after putting a flag in its base.

On the flip side, my friend's labor union secured a (permanent) $5/hr raise during COVID.