Unions also provide other services that you’re completely ignoring that make them worth while for companies. They provide labor quality control, they discipline their own employees, and they provide stability in terms of turnover vs non-union companies. The cost predictability that a multi-year union contract gives you is a major benefit as well.

It takes a special kind of idiot to run a company into the ground, and those types are the ones who are going to take the cash at the expense of the employees and the shareholders and run off with their golden parachute as your company goes bankrupt. Meanwhile, your ineffective board of directors made up of similar idiots from other companies fiddles while Rome burns.

Any well run company is going to have a partnership between employees and management that extends in strategic and tactical directions. Unions can be part of that and will help to promote the efficiency of the workplace and provide shareholder value. It’s not for nothing that the majority of the companies that are regarded as blue chip investments come from unionized industries. Predictability, consistent quality, and stability create value and minimize risks.

Can you do it without a union? Sure. But once your company has thousands of employees in dozens of locations, that one decent manager at the top isn’t going to be able to personally ensure that everyone is doing their job properly. You can either shift that responsibility to people that your employees are paying who come from the ranks of the employees, or you can rely on people that you pay who are looking to jump to the next higher paying job, and who often rise through the ranks because they are dominant personalities who are going to be causing you major problems with turnover.

Union busting companies are letting their political prejudices get in the way of running their company efficiently and effectively.

Good
- Gives everyone the same benefits and pay, based on seniority
- Representation
- Fights for a fare wage
- If you’re lazy and suck at your work, you still get a pay raise yearly
- No one can fire you…suckers!
- Your company is forced to pay you regardless if they do well or not

Bad
- If you’re smarter the next guy and work harder… no one cares
- You have to pay dues (yay, more taxes!)
- The guy who works half as hard makes twice as much as you due to seniority
- Very difficult to get jobs in high paying work (longshoreman) unless you KNOW someone in the union already (yes, it’s like fiefdom…father to son)
- If your company is not doing well, the union will (a) keep on destroying the company or (b) renegotiate and you get a 30% pay and benefit cut
- It causes inefficient management

(Wow, how do I always get into discussions that will get me flamed? =)
I believe unions were a good thing back in the days when the employers were taking advantage of the employees. Nowadays, with so many federal laws to keep employers in check, unions are a relic of the past. Businesses need to be flexible and agile… unions will cripple that decision making mechanism.

Unions serve low-paying non-skilled work well back in the days. For work that requires skill and for talented people who needs to float to the top, unions are a detriment. In sports, unions raise your ticket prices! Yes, take a look at the MLB union establishment and correlate the athlete balooning pay with the ticket prices… Unions in sport is only good for the athletes. The fans are the ones who foot the bill for unions.

Some of us actually have a pretty good handle on the finance stuff at the moment. Or at least, about as good as we’re ever likely to get. Not all the details are out there that we’ve got. I’m sure you could talk to Adam for more information if you’re interested.

In fact, I’m pretty confident that I could make a very solid estimate of Zuffa’s balance sheet and income statement at this moment.

I don’t think fighters should unionize at this point. MMA as a sport still in its infancy and financially unstable. A fighter’s union would only be fighting for scraps and hindering the long-term growth. What the sport needs is some sembalance of stability for fans, media and sponsors to get on board and Zuffa is the only one who can provide that.

Before anyone brings up how Zuffa is making millions in PPV and taking fighters to the cleaners, those numbers are always gross revenue that doesn’t mention what percentage Zuffa gets and what expenses Zuffa incurred to put on the show. Until we see what kind of debt and expenses Zuffa has, we don’t know if fighters are getting their fair share or not.

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The Jarry Park thing was quality. I’m going to download the guy’s other stuff.`

stroking ego > making money
fucking people over > what’s best for the company
Dana White = Vince McMahon

It’s interesting that he hasn’t fought in over a year according to fightfinder. I guess he had his surgery or whatever, but you’d think that if he was ready to fight, then he would have signed at least a one fight deal with someone in the last couple months.

IceMuncher is right on the money.

I’ve worked union and non-union jobs and there are definite drawbacks and definite perks either way.”

You’re right – I guess growing up in a “pro-union” environment, I’m obviously going to be drawn to the pro union side. I respect others opinions or beliefs to either side of the issue, but I get offended when I see people spewing venom and animus against unions and justifying it with grossly exaggerated blanket statements.

The first one was when I was employed at a hospital laundry & I had to join some union or another. I can’t even recall what it was, but that was pretty much a wash ( no pun intended ). They didn’t do anything more than take our dues each week that I could see.

But, about a decade later when I was a school bus driver for Laidlaw, the teamsters were voted in & I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’d heard a lot of negative stuff about them, but they actually got us all some good raises & a bit better benefits as soon as they were in charge.

Plus they saved my bacon when a new base manager came in that “had it in” for all the parkout drivers ( meaning we drove the “short buses” & actually took them home with us each night & parked them in our driveways ) & wanted to eliminate them, but couldn’t because the positions were “grandfathered” into our contract. So, she decided that she was going to do her best to get rid of all the parkout drivers.

And boy did she try, but every time she came up with some fabricated bullshit to write me up for so that eventually she could fire me, the teamsters union rep came to the rescue. He even managed to turn what was supposed to be a week long suspension into a week off with pay. So, I’ll never say anything bad about the teamsters, ’cause they did good by me.