"the union outfits definately have better people, mostly because you are going to get what you pay for. many nonunion folks dislike unions out of sheer jealousy."
I have worked for both....been working for a non Union place for 30 years now, they take good care of their people. If you have bad people they just fire them and don't blink. Three times since I've been there there had been movements to bring a Union in, they did not have nearly enough votes to do so.
Now, we are still alive, we have scaled back, consolidated, made tough choices, and we are sitting OK, although the company is positioning themselves for the new year and tougher times, and probably more taxes. So we are going to cut back a tad more. The Good thing is, we are running on cash, all paychecks, vendors, and anything they need to run the business is payed in cash, no borrowing and waiting for money to come in at a certain times of month. They will do whatever it takes to keep running on cash, including cut backs and layoffs, and letting salary people go. It's business...but it's business that runs with a profit no matter what, and anything the government or economic times will do to them, they will do what it takes to stay this way.
I can totally agree that there was a time when we needed Unions real bad. But something else happened along the way, I do not feel they are needed in all cases anymore, or at the very least, they should lighten up on the company that pays their way. Bottom line is, a Union won't keep your company alive, or keep them in your State or country if they can't operate with certain profits. In some cases, they drive the companies away.
From what I remember before this job when I worked for a union...we went on strike (1977) walked the streets in the rain while a Cadillac with the union dude rode up and told us to hang in there...was out of work for 1.5 months....came back for a 5 cent raise....wow. BTW...this company is dead now.
Not saying there are unions out there that are not a lot better....but they are all not in the best interest of the company or the people who work there.