Unions have a quite important place in society as can be learned by tracing their history. In recent times the freedom to associate in such a manner has been whittled down and the association itself has come under much fire. Canada shows signs of this when one looks at currently decreasing levels of non-wage benefits, such as employer sponsored medical insurance or RRSP's. Our unions have lost power and our employees are losing benefits.
Many people complain that unions are outdated because of globalization: the company can just move the business to a more union-hostile nation. This highlights how union's have failed to keep with the times: multinational corporations vs. locally organized unions = no power in the hands of the unions. Unions need to associate across borders and demand more labor mobility and equal treatment of employees regardless of factory locations. A corporation seeking to market its products in North America should not be allowed to manufacture in locations where association is not permitted amongst workers. "We'll just move the company to Mexico," signifies the need for stronger unions in Mexico, not weaker unions in Canada.
There are always anecdotal stories about unions protecting a lazy worker just as there are always stories about non-unionized employees being terrorized by management. This of course simply represents a typical over reaction to free-riding. Unions too are guilty of overreacting to free riding, since a union is merely one form of association, it should never be mandatory: one should want to join for the good of the cause rather than the obligation of some contract.
Employees whose jobs are based on commission provide a good example of the vulnerability of non-unionized employees. If a traffic accident, such as a falling tree or a running moose, were to leave a commissioned worker unable to work, and if said worker was the sole provider of their[sic] family, that would be a tragedy. Many unions seek to provide such fundamental assistance to people, who due to their lone career, are vulnerable to job loss.
In Canada, unions have achieved some of this at the provincial and national level. The universal health coverage we do have is due to the lobbying of unions starting from Saskatchewan. The minimum wage can be viewed as a union related issue also.
Again, I would like to highlight how the major drawback is the contractual obligation of union membership. This is of course a protection clause, meant to stop the employer from implementing policy to punish unionization, but there are better mechanisms.
Apologies for the rant level of that post.
