Professor.

Yes,, One may become a "dues objector"
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Sadly dues objectors are often subjected to discrimination by both union and management.. I've seen some ugly examples.
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Dues objectors take a substantial/heroic risk.

I also worked in the trades for nearly 20 yrs as a union member. It sickened me to do about twice as much work as the guy standing next to me yet get paid the same wage. The unions did bring wages up for EVERYBODY but thats the only good thing to come from a union. They protect the worthless employees from losing their jobs and pad politicians pockets! There is still a fair amount of commercial work going on in the Madison area at this time but most of it is now done by non union companies. 20 years ago that wouldnt have happened so somewhere along the line they (the unions) shot themselves in the foot. A union can only be as strong as its weekest member and as the years went by many workers were losing faith in the people that were supposed to be representing them and therefore stopped attending meetings and supporting the union. Everyday now the unions (at least the ones that are trade related) lose more members so they will eventually fade away. Nobody paying dues will do that to an organization. Lets go back to the INCENTIVE PLAN where a man/woman gets paid for what they do in a day. If you have a bad work ethic, you to like the unions will eventually just fade away. Thats half of what is wrong with this country today. Too many people expect something for nothing. Lets all start taking a little more pride in what we do and together we could get this country out of the rut we are in!

All these unions want is your money, as a former union member of the construction trades for over 30 years, when I was hurt and no longer able to work, not once did I recieve a call or to see if I could use help from my so called brothers. The only thing I got was a delinquent dues and medical notice. Sure they got more wages for us along with less work since we priced ourselves out of the residential work.As far as I'm concerned, Wiosconsin should become a right to work state, the unions can stick it.

The place I work at is a union plant and I do not agree with what the union does most of the time. A union member can remove him/herself and keep their job. I know first hand because someone did that about 5 yrs. ago and he is still there. If I choose, I can do that, but I like the union dues deduction at tax time.

Professor, the 500 people in this story are being forced to. They already had their jobs, not new hires. They already held their positions, the only change was in classification, thus "requiring". Yes, these 500 people could quit their existing jobs. The bigger question is why did the union petition for the change? Why these people were not afforded the right to vote for representation instead of it being required based on the classification change driven by the union is not explained?

people who dont understand why all worker must join a union do not understand the history of union labor.

First of all, no one can be 'forced' to join a union. You can be forced to pay what's called a 'fair-share' dues, with the theory being that even those who don't join the union still benefit from the unions' efforts. Second, IF the union wants to lobby, it must set a portion of the dues collected aside for that purpose only; no one can be MADE to pay that 'political' amount, not even the fair share folks.

Minan why do you want workers pay taken and given to a group to donate money to political parties just because they work there?

So far people seem to have a beef with unions in general, but I have a greater concern with the tactics used by this particular union. They lobbied the WERC to change the classification of the workers. I am curious why an organization who does not represent the workers can even lobby to change their classification. Did the workers even know what was happening to them? Something to think about.

zdog, you're absolutely correct. I agree with this proposal to stop these workers from being "forced" to join the union. I have no idea how anyone, though, can possibly claim that unions are ruining our country. Some union jobs pay more than non-union, and some pay less, it simply depends on the field. Our country was largely built by union workers, and it is still that way today. Some unions, I would agree, have too much power and drive wages higher than that particular industry can afford, such as the UAW. But, that is no reason to eliminate unions altogether. They for the most part do good things, and ensure fair wages and benefits for workers. Without unions in some industries, you'd have 2 people doing the same job making completely different wages, even if both do the jobs equally well, sometimes simply because the boss likes one worker more than the other, or because wage scales change over time and new employees come in making just below what someone with 15 years at the company is making.
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True story: For a summer in college I worked 3rd shift at Frito Lay to pay for school. One of the women who trained me had been there close to 20 years, and after 3 weeks my pay was higher than hers. Because I came in when the starting pay was much higher than when she started, the increases I received after completing training put me at a higher per-hour wage than her. In a union company/trade, that wouldn't happen. You're rewarded for years of service and you typically have to start at the bottom of the pay scale and as you learn more and work longer, you earn step increases in your pay. Nobody with 3 weeks experience is making more than someone with 20 years experience in the same job.
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Bottom line is, you can say all the bad things you want about unions, but it's the companies and governments who agree with the unions on contract terms and wages. There is usually give and take on both sides. There would not be a contract if both sides didn't come to a compromise. There aren't unions running around holding employers and governments hostage over pay and benefits until they finally give in. Negotiations don't work that way. Most of the time, at least in the negotiations I've been involved in, both sides meet somewhere in the middle.

A person shouldn't have to join a union to keep their job.

I think elected legislators should form a union. Then when the voting public votes them out-they can strike for greater pay and benefits and shorter work year...sound reasonable?

If the 500 Staff members want to form a union-go ahead. Then when budget cuts hit-and they will- the short guy on the tenure poll is fired. If this is what they want? Go for it.

if they could have a new workforce in two days they would. But they can't, it's why there are conessions made from strikes or threats of a strike. If unions were so weak and useless and costing me as a business owner so much money, i'd just lock out my workers and hire a new non union work force. WI is an at will state, they can pretty much fire you for anything at any time

Ruin the country? Wow.

The Unions are after DUES so that they can continue to support the political party of the Union Leaaders Choice. No one should be FORCED TO JOIN an orgainization (union) if they want nothing to do with it.

Unions are not what they used to be. "Back in the day" you could stand your ground and wait for the company/business to give in. Now you go on strike--most companies would have a workforce in about 2 days (not the Union members). They may have their perks, but overall they do not really do anything, but allow the employees to keep their jobs when they really should be out of one. See what happened when the Unions drove the force for GM, Chrysler, and Ford and all of their suppliers? The Union, in my opinion, drove all of those employees out of jobs. They had really no one to blame but the Union.

"The unions at one time worked for the employee, now they work for political power." so true. Most included, from teachers' unions to the UAW. The Wisconsin teacher's union is the state's largest political lobbyist(bigger than any business), spending time and money on growing their control, and yet they say it's about the kids :)

But you really were not forced.
I assume that you could have walked away.

The concept of personal responsibility would say that no one is being forced to do anything here.
Let the free market handle it.

there are definite drawbacks to unions, but seriously is everyone that shortsighted? Get rid of all 'em. I'd bet in less than 20 years you'll be some of the first wishing they'd come back

but you're right, unions have "broke" this country. it's not the people. They haven't made this nation one of the sickets in the entire world, 3rd world included. We also have had nothing to do with buying houses we couldn't afford, filling our homes with stuff we can not buy and hoping that an extension of credit will allow us to get by another year.

Those things have nothing to do with it. It's the unions

I Joined the carpenter union in 74 lasted 6 months! I was told I had to be paid less than people working next door same project same houses I said No More Union! They have some nice health care but have broke most states.

Thank God! Lets stop them before they continue to ruin the country!

It's about time.