AL Political Reporter: “There has always been one aspect of unionization efforts that confused me: Why do workers – particularly those who vote against unionizing – think the company is fighting so hard against the union? …
Nationally, according to figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, union employees make nearly 20 percent more than non-union workers. They have better benefits and advance faster within the company. They also often receive specialized training provided by the union that allows them to advance in their company, or to carry that training to another company.
Essentially, unionization forces companies to invest in its workers. And it pushes workers to invest in their jobs.
Neither of those is a bad thing.
Just prior to the union vote, a nationwide survey placed Alabama at the top of states with employees earning less than $15 per hour. This is not a secret to our state leaders, who routinely pitch Alabama’s “cheap labor force” as an attractive attribute when attempting to lure companies to the state.
Those same state leaders have fought hard against unions. And many, while keeping their boots on the necks of workers, have personally benefited from their actions that aided the company’s bottom line (they call such actions “pro-business”).
But here we are, in a state where a large percentage of workers are living paycheck to paycheck – many of them working two or three jobs to get by – and watching the pay gap between executives and workers grow daily.
There is no incentive, outside of unionization, that will push companies to fix the structure that incentivizes profits over all else and looks favorably upon a business that uses excess profits to reward investors instead of employees.”