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I'm on digest, my apologies if this point has already been raised.
Whenever we discuss the pros and cons of the union, we focus on three
things: Pay, benefits, job security. But hang on a minute on that last one.
>From my experience, union workers get job security based on seniority.
That's generally seniority at the -company- not number of years in the
union.
There's a fair chunk of technical communicators who hop from job to job
every couple of years because they're interested in keeping up with the
latest in technology, want to face new challenges, or just interested in
learning new things. In a union situation, the job hoppers would constantly
find themselves at the bottom of the seniority list. Last hired, first
fired. So much for job security.
The unexpected consequence of unionization might be that people would tend
to stick with a set employer for longer periods of time. "I've been here six
years, there are only two people ahead of me in this job category. No way am
I moving to another company and losing my seniority now."
A union -might- mean better wages, benefits, and working conditions. But it
-also- might mean a lot more people are stuck at jobs that they find boring,
because they don't want to face the economic consequences of quitting to
work at another company.
That's my opinion, and I've been wrong before.
P.S. Be sure to cc me on flames, or I won't see them until tomorrow.
--Rick Lippincott
Lockheed Martin
Saugus, MA
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