Unions Are Vital

Obviously J.W. has never worked for a union. If he wants to believe that the majority of our province's problems stem from the existence of unions, then he is sadly mistaken. Maybe J.W. should ask himself where his perception that unions are full of lazy workers came from. Well, one would not have to look much further than government propaganda. Obviously, unions
stand at odds with private industry. The capitalists controlling the private companies want to pay their workers as little as possible. That way, they can make as much profit as possible. Now J.W. needs to ask himself what societal structure most often comes to the aid of big business.

Undoubtedly, its the right-wing government. The right wing governments are telling us, members of the working class, that unions are evil. J.W. needs to think more critically.

Unions were first created in order to stop the exploitation of workers. Without unions and other organized labor movements, we might all still be
working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week in horrendous working conditions.
J.W. claims he was brought up with the "old fashioned concept of working."
Well, does J.W. know that during the 1800s, when industrialization was
beginning to boom, that children, as young as 6, were being sent into mine
shafts for low pay? Is that the "old fashioned concept" that J.W. envisioned? If it wasn't for organized labor movements, workers would still be working in atrocious conditions.

I've worked for a union for the past 4 years. Contrary to what some people
assume, it's not easy. My hardest and most grueling jobs have occurred while I was working for a union. On countless occasions, I return home and
collapse on my bed from total exhaustion. Obviously there are some people
in a union who do not work as hard as others. But, that's also true in the
private sector. It's a shame that more people don't recognize the great
importance that unions play in our province. Hopefully, we'll realize how
vital they are before we are all working for extremely low wages. If you
don't believe it will happen, take a look at the new training wage. New
employees only earn $6/hour. Try living on that.

J.Z.