Re: "Union guys give money to the union because they have to."
In my shop, one doesn't have to join the union. It's voluntary. About 85 percent of the workforce, however, belongs to the union, because these hard-working people believe in the power of collective bargaining and a union contract. In the past year, I have had only one union member bitch about the fact that union money supports Democratic candidates. I told this person, in the earshot of several other people, "Just take a look at what you're earning per week and what workers in non-union plants at nearby cities make." That shut him up. If the Republican candidates supported the common working man, then our money would go to Republican candidates. Simple as that.
For purposes of campaign finance reform, Congress took up a number of proposals around February of this year. As a whole, business contributions and labor contributions were grouped as one entity in numerous amendments. In other words, Congress realized that if union members could opt out of dues for political purposes, then so could shareholders of companies.
Re: "If shareholders don't like what a company stands for, they don't have to invest in them": Too simplistic. No difference between UAW contributions to political candidates and contributions from the U.S. Machine Tool Association to political candidates.
If you don't want to join the union, then find a non-union job down in Mississippi or Alabama, where wages are low and the catfish are jumpin'. |
