Quote Originally Posted by NeiljohnUK View Post
FMC didn't like ideas like that, when they took over a vehicle bodybuilders works near Southampton, where my father was the Union 'works convener' the first thing they did was replace all the lighting, removing old shaded and bare 'bulb' filament lamps and fitting fluorescent strip lights in rows 6 feet apart through out the whole place. Thus eliminating dark areas, good for seeing what your doing, and allowing you to be clearly seen by management, next all the tool cribs and other 'enclosures' were removed, again improving managements views and removing hidey-holes, then they added high level 'inspection' walkways, connected directly to the plant managers offices. From a Union point of view most of this was good, improved conditions, cleaning was done where it had been ignored before, improved safety and no carrying of 'slackers' by the rest!
In the beginning of the formulation of Unions they were a good thing for workers improving working conditions and installing safety protocols while quelling the greed of the manufacturing owners. However as with anything else when an opportunity for greed and corruption to arise what may start out as a good thing on the surface can quickly evolve into an ever increasingly overbearing monster.
Not all but a significant percentage of unions of today are more of a detriment to society than they are a good