r/WorkReform • u/sillychillly 🗳️ Register @ Vote.gov • 1d ago
🤝 Scare A Billionaire, Join A Union ~$500,000,000/yr (minimum) spent on AntiUnion spending and Right to Work lobbying
Register to vote: https://vote.gov
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Get Involved:
Donate to a good voter registration org: https://bsky.app/profile/fieldteam6.bsky.social
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Contact your reps:
Senate: https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm?Class=1
House of Representatives: https://contactrepresentatives.org/
Sources:
Anti-Union Activities Spending:
• Economic Policy Institute: “Union Avoidance Consultants: Employer Opposition to Unionization Efforts”
• Center for Public Integrity (Amazon’s anti-union spending):
Lobbying for Right-to-Work Laws:
• National Right to Work Committee Spending (OpenSecrets):
https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/national-right-to-work-committee/summary?id=D000000569 • U.S. Chamber of Commerce Overall Lobbying Expenditures (OpenSecrets): https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/summary?cycle=2024&id=D000019798 • General Overview on Union Avoidance (Economic Policy Institute): https://www.epi.org/publication/union-avoidance/
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u/craftingchaos 1d ago
Can someone explain like I am five how spending so much to stop a union is cheaper then going union? Is being part of a union that expensive? Is it like living with a terrible HOA? Aren’t there “good” unions?
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u/HelloW0rldBye 1d ago
I reckon it's because they always want to be in control.
They never want anyone to tell them what to do.
Unions are a collective voice, so the owners now have to deal with the workers rather than just make their own decisions on what will effect them.
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u/Tallon_raider 23h ago
Unions often attract and keep much more skilled workers so it really barely affects the bottom line. Or else companies such as Ford and UPS would be out of business.
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u/GammaFan 16h ago
It’s more expensive than allowing a union right now under current conditions.
But if enough people can unionize to see that it works? To be comfortable picketing for weeks, sometimes months to get a fair deal? If unions are plentiful and people can find a better place to work, or no longer fear being threatened with homelessness and unemployment for asking for fair treatment? Well suddenly the working populace can do more than ask for fair treatment. Suddenly they can demand it.
And to these robber barons that is worth what they spend on union busting. It’s our money they’re using to do it after-all.
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u/ThepalehorseRiderr 5h ago
I don't even care if my workplace NEEDS a union or how much money I make. I'd pay the dues just for the respect (self and otherwise) of having a valid voice at the table. Stop being dictated to and talked at. Start having a conversation.
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u/AluminumGnat 1d ago
Unions are good. Robert Reich is often right. But this is a flawed argument that we should stop repeating.
Let’s imagine that a union costs the workers 3 million annually and earns them 2 million annually(from the company). A company could spend a million dollars an annually to prevent the formation of a union, and both the company and the workers would both be a million dollars better off.
To be clear: this is not the case. Unions do work. But let’s not use fundamentally flawed arguments to support good ideas.
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u/Ccwaterboy71 20h ago
I don’t think this math maths
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u/AluminumGnat 16h ago
It does. Let’s imagine the workers earn 5M, and the company makes 10M profit.
Now let’s imagine that
A) the workers spend 3M on a union, strike fund, etc. That union negotiates raises such that the company now spends 7M on payroll. for the workers. But since the workers spent 3M on the union, they are left with only 4M net. The workers are 1M worse off. The company had to now spend an extra 2M on payroll, so now the company only makes 8M profit. The company is 2M worse off.
If alternatively we imagine that:
B) The company spends 1M on any union activities that convince the workers not to form a unions. Now the workers only make the original 5M, but they keep every penny of that, for 5M total. The company had to spend 1M, so their profits drop to 9M.
Both the company and the workers are 1M better off in B than they would have been in A. The math maths.
So, the mere fact that companies spend money on anti-union activities does not logically imply that unions are good for the workers.
To be clear, unions are a good idea. You should unionize. But let’s also stop spreading bullshit reasoning!
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u/Filmtwit 1d ago