Union protesters greet opening of latest Aldi’s store

Guess what….Aldi pays considerably more per hour than both the mentioned union shops and has better benefits. If the employees voted in a union they would reset their wages and benefits to the minimum and have to negotiate from there. This is why Aldi employees never have and never will want a union.

Unions are dinosaurs that once had a purpose but now just sap the productivity and competitiveness of America’s workers and businesses.

I won’t shop ALDI because it’s German owned and the stuff they sell doesn’t belong in a $ store. But it’s the WORKERS right to vote in a bargaining unit. So why is Seaquist, who apparently doesn’t have a real job, going after ALDI management? Probably because he can’t find any ALDI employees who want their wages garnished by the code name of union dues and having the union control their pension.

Matt:

If unions “sap productivity”, why have workers in France, Germany, Norway, and the BeNeLux surpassed U.S. workers in hourly productivity? It is because where more workers there have a union contract at the very same time U.S. unions have lost strength. Rewarding work means employers and employees both have an incentive to invest in productivity.

Rick DFL:

Would you please cite your sources regarding the productivity in Europe?

The studies that I have seen on the National Association of Manufacturers web site (nam.org)
have said the opposite.

I really am interested in seeing your sources, quite often you can see how a study might be biased due to the group that is publishing it. I imagine that you would be skeptical of a drug study that was done by the manufacturer rather than the FDA.

I’d be interested in that too. Europeans work less hours, have more vacation time, and pay scales and pensions are radically higher than here. There is no comparison between American and European workers. Americans are way more productive.

I work for Aldis, and I am more than happy that we aren’t union. As the post above have already stated, we do get paid considerably more than the other grocery chains mention above, and the benefits are excellent. No complaints here.

All we want is a meeting with the company to discuss a labor peace agreement that potentially could outline behavior between the company and the union creating a situation where workers could decide without any coercion from either party to join a union or not.
As for the “better” wages- if they are so good and we will take the worker on her word- why not get it in writing?
Aldi’s has a checkered past in Ireland, UK, and few other countries where their labor relations have gotten them into trouble.

Andrew Sharpe, Appendix Table 2, “Output per Hour Levels in the OECD Countries Relative to the United States” for 2003; Centre for the Study of Living Standards, International Productivity Monitor, No. 9 (Fall 2004), at http://www.csls.ca/ipm/9/sharpe-tables.pdf.

The NAM productivity figures you cite measure total output. American workers produce more total output simply because they are forced to work far more hours in a year to earn a living. But per hour worked, the European worker will produce more. That is why they can work less, get paid more, and still have have plenty of good and services. If they chose to work more hours they would easily surpass the U.S. in total output.

Bernie, one sees through your charade quite easily. The only reason you want something in writing is your union now has a foot in the door to begin a union/representation drive to increase membership in your union, plain and simple. The other issue is pay. Union contracts tend to lump the “good, bad and ugly” into one group, thus demoralizing those who like to work by paying them the same as the joker who wants to sit on his ass all day. This was one of the biggest issues I had when I was in the Teamsters.

RickDFL, I don’t buy it. How are we “forced” to work more over here? You also cite the Europeans have plenty of goods and services. When I travelled Europe a few years back, the common thread was that people enjoy paying taxes in excess of 50%. Sort of struck me as odd, but whatever. Working more to earn a living can be very arbitrary also, depending upon the standard of living one wants to enjoy, so this is a very loose argument at best.

Rick, “How are we “forced” to work more over here?” Because average wages are lower, we need more hours to earn an equal amount. But, if you want to say ‘choose’, you can. The simple point remains the more unionized EU workers produce more per hour than their less unionized U.S. counterparts. That give them the luxury choosing between of working fewer hours for the same amount of goods or working more and producing more. That leaves the entire economy far better off.

How bout the Aldi’s just tells you, Bernie, and your union buddies to go F&%K yourselves and look for trouble elsewhere. Unions were relevant about 100 years ago but if you wake up and realize that they stiffle profitability (re: higher wages) and long term viability (re: not Chrysler or GM), you will understand why union membership is the actual workers being exploited, not free workers.

Robo:

Unions don’t stifle profitability, that just make sure more of those profits go to workers. Because union workers are more productive their are more profits to divide. Chrysler and GM went south because of the high dollar, overpriced U.S. health care, and excessive management salaries. Lower cost – highly productive union labor was actually one of their advantages.
See http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/bp229 if you are interested in facts rather than hot air.

Wow, it is really hard to respond to all articulate,well thought out stuff from folks on the right. The bottom line is we are seeking a meeting with the company, we want a neutral setting to discuss a labor peace agreement, and ultimately the workers have the final say. But I wonder why all the hostility towards the labor movement? Has the move towards individualism or letting the market work done much for the average working person? People need to get over their anger and think about the common good. Peace out.

Bernie, pleasure seeing someone actually involved with this write in. Thank you!
Here’s the scoop and a little about me. Teamster for 3 1/2 years as a packaging line mechanic. Front line supervisor for 5 years union/non union shops. Your statement about “hostility towards the labor movement” may be warranted in some sectors, but not all. The perception of a large amount of Americans is unions have lost their place. I don’t entirely agree with that, but my encounters over the years would tend to make me lean that way. In my current job back as a line mechanic, I feel I am compensated quite well for my job as a craftsman. And I actually have a higher wage than my union counterparts. We are paid individually, which is based on merit. The company provides a generous 6% match to my 401k. Medical/dental is co-payed for my entire family. I don’t understand why ALDI is being targeted by your union except of course to increase your membership. The Federal Government’s labor law makes it illegal for companies to target/discipline workers trying to organize, so what’s the purpose of
Mr. Seaquist standing outside of ALDI? If the workers want to unionize they’ll hand out cards to authorize a vote. Seems pretty simple to me.

Rick
“The perception of a large amount of Americans is unions have lost their place”
Please do some research:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/112717/Americans-Remain-Broadly-Supportive-Labor-Unions.aspx
Americans remain broadly supportive of labor unions, as they have been over the past seven decades, including a 59% approval rating for unions in Gallup’s most recent update from August.

Rick,

You’re an arrogant turd. I’ve met a thousand like you and I know I’ll meet a thousand more like you before I go toes-up.

I’ll be willing to bet you never attended so much as a membership meeting. I’m willing to bet you were never involved with your union beyond knowing you were part of a collective bargaining agreement. Your union is a participatory democracy, but I’ll bet you never even bothered to show-up.

But, yet, you complain about unions as though you’re an absolute authority because you had 3.5 years as a Teamster. Wow! Hold-on, there, Old-timer!

You don’t know s*#! about unions, so shut your flapping grape.

Ah, Rok, you make life interesting. I always find it interesting when the mindless make baseless accusations. I went to every union meeting we had that was open to the bargaining unit membership. I also provided support to our third shift shop steward who was also on the negotiating board for our contract. I was also the guy who had to explain to a lifetime union guy why the current contract we were going to vote on was a bad contract for us (we should have been in a crafts union which I tried explaining to this guy. Instead, everyone in the company was in the Teamsters, leaving us (all twelve mechanics) at the mercy of what the production and warehouse crews wanted to do. The contract at the time involved participatory health care co-pay. Since the warehouse had a 90% turnover over three years (the life of the contract) the clause of “grandfathering” our healthcare (those ratifying the contract would not be subject to a co-pay) would be gone in three years as those in the warehouse would then outnumber us. So, sadly your baseless branding me shows how truly ignorant of the facts you truly are.

I appreciate that America owes a 40 hour work week and safe work environments to Labor Union. Today we need to take the burden of worker rights OFF the inconsistent shoulders of a mish mash of special interest Unions around the country and enact Federal laws that set a minimum wage appropriate to cost of living indicators and worker rights, safety etc. Also a single payer National Health System would eliminate the need for Unions to fight for “a privileged few”.

A few nice points Christopher with the exception of getting a national health care system.
To those of you out there unfamiliar with poor service and bureaucracy, please visit any Veterans Administration hospital or go to Canada and check out their hospitals.

I am a 789 Union member. I just took a paycut from 15.90 an hour to 13.55. I worked hard to be promoted to modified full time. I had to be demoted along with several others in my situation so my company could lay off some of the part time workers. Union rules. I have no choice as to weather I recieve health benefits in leiu of pay. I could get those through my husband.

I have seen time and time again management afraid to fire employees with issues such as verbal abuse of other employees, ignoring customers, not being able to get work done on time(taking more than 3 x longer than the other employees to do the same job). They would just be forced to take them back. However the union blames that on poor management, that has not been my experience.

I want a job at Aldi’s. I would definately vote down a union.

I work at Aldi’s as a cashier.. my benefits are incredible, and my hourly wage is 1/3 more than it would be working for a union grocer. Also, I have a 401k, pension plan, and excellent disability insurance. If Aldi goes union, I will leave

I am not sure what to think. . . as a manager, the more stores that open, the less my bonus is. It is a fact! My cart average goes down too and I am making less in 2009 then I did in 08 or 07. How is that fair? I have been with aldi for over 9 years! Would the Union help then?