In Defense of Unions

Today is just another Labor Day. People are out of school, banks and post offices are closed and people are getting in their last hurrah before we're stuck indoors, bundled in sweaters and large overcoats. I come from a family that is traditionally Republican on my Mom's side and Independent on my Dad's. My husband's father was an electrician and union so they were Democrats. It has been really interesting to see how other families think and what they value. I love my husband, his parents and siblings dearly and am glad to be part of their lives. It has been a challenge to see things from their perspectives without going back to thinking my parent's views were the only ones or the correct ones. This year though has been very eye opening to me with unions and the good they do for the working man. This year I had the sad misfortune of having a miscarriage. During this miscarriage I hemorrhaged and ended up needing three units of blood and because they were worried I might be going septic (I had a fever of 102 F at home) I also had to have antibiotics through and I.V. for five days. My total bill for emergency room services and a 5 day stay... $27,000!!! That's the cost of a new car! Guess how much we paid out of pocket? ZERO, nada, zip, zilch! My husband belongs to the Teamsters Union and we have insurance through them. I am so grateful that we had such good coverage otherwise we'd be in serious financial trouble trying to pay off that bill. It was also this year that the company we work for decided that they weren't going to pay for spouses insurance coverage for those in management anymore. REALLY?! Horrible huh? What are stay-at-home-moms supposed to do now? Put their kids in daycare and find work that offers insurance so that they can be covered too? What if one of these moms went through something like I did this year? I guess they're out of luck. Ironically, this company made $4 billion in net profits, yet they claim they can't pay for insurance for spouses anymore. They can pay they just choose not to because, CORPORATIONS DON'T GIVE A D*%#! ABOUT EMPLOYEES. There are some that are amazing and others can learn from like Southwest Airlines, they were awesome to work for! The BOTTOM LINE for corporations? PROFIT. Is profit important? Heck yeah! We wouldn't be making money without it and our companies need to do well so in turn we can too. However, just as the government needs checks and balances so do corporations so that employees can receive fair wages, health insurance for them and their families, normal 40 hour work weeks (did you know in the 1800's work weeks were 6, 12 hour days? and men, women and children worked in the factories for $0.35 a day ). Over 150 years ago workers were fighting for better working conditions and fair wages (so they wouldn't have to work into old age). Now we have 5, 8 hour workdays, overtime, healthcare and paid holidays... because corporations want what is best for their employees, and if you buy into this mentality I have a little bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you. The reason our nation is free and the reason that workers are treated better is because good men and women FOUGHT for them and we must avoid becoming complacent thinking that we'll always be free and that without unions we'll be better off, because both things are wrong. WE MUST CARE and If needs be WE MUST FIGHT.