Communication Workers of America was the organizing body for the reporters, photographers, and production staff at the station in Madison. The union may have extended further than that, but can't say for sure.
While working there, the union dues were deducted from each paycheck. It was around $17, if I recall correctly.
My first thought when it happened was to question the deduction and see if I could opt out - but it was part of the position I was working as a reporter-photographer.
Just a few dollars (enough for a meal out with my spouse in those days) supported the structure of the union that had negotiated on my behalf and others at the station. The CWA primarily represented telephone company employees at that time, but since our shop was involved in communications, it seemed like a fit.
I wasn't sure what "I was getting" from my union membership. However, when my job came to an involuntary conclusion - the union contract provided a cushion in terms of a severence package at a time when my family needed it.
Looking back, it seems a little odd that the time I most appreciated my union membership was when I was leaving employment. My job didn't involve assembly work or digging in a mine; but those positions are typically lower-paying and turned over quickly as reporters try to move up the ladder. Other stations in the area that I looked at for potential employment weren't promising and their pay scales were lower than where I worked. More than likely another union benefit for those employed.
Yeah, you might think, but those reporters on TV are making all kinds of cash, why would they need a union? At some levels (think network and top twenty markets) the on air talent are compensated very well now and were then. But that's not the case for most folks working in print or broadcast journalism.
Students of history know the impact unions had on the country economically that viewed from a high level was overwhelmingly positive and created the middle class.
Maybe we don't need to worry about it.
Part of the Right to Work idea that doesn't make sense is the free ride that is part of it. Workers are free to choose not to pay dues, but if a union bargains the contract they don't receive the dues that pay for people to negotiate and in many lines of work provide training through classrooms and apprentice programs. Funding by the folks that benefit seems like an idea worth consideration.
Eventually, if unions don't have operating funds they lose their ability to operate with and for employees which in the very long run could hurt employees and employers.
Why should employers pay higher wages if they can find folks willing to work for less? Don't we look for another store or an online outlet if the product we want costs too much?
I think its a fair to include in the conversation about the jobs created because it's a "right to work" environment to wonder if those jobs will pay wages sufficient to keep America's economic engine moving.
Comments
Post a Comment