Unions don’t have to be scary

This video as really a brief infomercial that shows why unions don’t have to be scary for business. An LED lighting manufacturing company was bringing its manufacturing from China back to the USA. The IBEW union met with the company and formed a deal in which the union will train workers and help the company market its products, in exchange for which the assembly plant is a union shop. It’s a win/win for the company and for workers, and will help the middle class, which has struggled so much in recent years.

I also think this is a case study in the positive things that can happen when unions and companies work together in partnership. These days, unions are focused more clearly than ever on creating opportunities for their members, and creating better conditions in the process. This is how things are supposed to be.

The worker/employer relationship becomes adversarial only when companies treat workers badly, as if they’re things to be used and then discarded. They get away with that when there are no unions to help and to protect them.

But if unions and companies work together, as in this example, everyone is better off.