CJS,
You NEVER earn what you 'deserve'. You NEVER earn what you're 'worth'. You NEVER earn what supply and demand dictates.
Very simply, you earn what you negotiate.
From the couple people on here who continually display anti-union rhetoric, they like to gloss over the fact that the ones in management who make the really big bucks NEGOTIATED their contract when they took employment at wherever they work.
So why so against a union negotiating for a contract for its members? Yeah, it can get contentious. So what? Are you suggesting that in life we should always take the path that is easiest? The union says we should make X number of dollars at year five. The company says no way, we'll give you Y number of dollars at year five (Y being a number MUCH smaller than X). In your opinion, should the union members shrug their shoulders, heave a big sigh, and just take Y because it'd be a lot of work convincing the company they should make something closer to X?
Maybe you're against union tactics to get the contract? I can't say that I blame you. I really didn't enjoy them myself. It does make for an 'interesting' environment at work. But here's the question: What do you suggest a union should do when it's obvious that talking it out is getting nowhere? Haven't you ever had a conversation with someone where you were trying to explain something to someone and they just didn't get it no matter how much you talked? (Sorta like these threads on FI!) Or better yet, why do you think science classrooms around the country do science demonstrations instead of just talking about the concepts? Do you have kids? Have they ever been stubborn about taking out the trash no matter how many times you told them to do it? Didn't you have to resort to a demonstration of sorts, or at least the threat of a demonstration (Take the trash out or else I'll...(insert punishment here)) to get them to do it?
My point: Talking things out doesn't always yield results. In fact, most of the time, the company would love to just keep on talking. Talking in circles, making promises but never delivering, then asking for a little more time and they SWEAR they'll come through. Then scheduling more negotiating meetings, but canceling at the last minute for one reason or another. But hey, let's get together next month to talk some more! Why do they want to keep talking forever? Because as long as they're talking, they aren't paying any more in wages and benefits. The name of their game is obvious: drag things out as long as possible. Forever if they could.
So when talking fails, I ask you again, what is the union supposed to do? They do what we at NJA did. Like I said, it wasn't fun for us in any way. But when we got serious about forcing the issue, lo and behold!! the company was back at the table with serious offers for a change. And just for the record, we didn't get what we were aiming for. We fell short. But we knew when it was a good idea to take what was offered, because it was a pretty good deal. Contrary to what some folks would have you believe, we weren't greedy to the point of destruction of the company.
So management negotiates their contracts (do you really believe ANYONE is worth millions in salary plus tens of millions in bonuses, or that there aren't many MANY folks out there who are trying to become management, which means it isn't supply and demand or what you 'deserve', it's what you negotiate), and unions negotiate their contracts. What's the problem with that?
Here's a fun little thought experiment for you. Where do you think the standard of living in this country today would be without unions? If things were left strictly to supply and demand, no union involvement, where would we be?
I won't argue with you if you say some unions are too greedy. And some are corrupt. It's true. But some do very good work, and some know how to be reasonable. It's the same with management, no? I'd even go so far as to say that the best safety policies in aviation today have been created and put forth by unions. They aren't so bad and STILL serve a good purpose today.