This article should be a “no-brainer” for anyone paying attention but I cant seem to go a month without someone complaining in some way about unions.

With all the talk about our shrinking middle class, with wages stagnant and not keeping up with the cost of living and with jobs more scarce then ever it amazes me that so many people believe that unions aren’t worth having, it seems to me that things are already much worse then they would be if unions were implemented more widely.

In Europe unions are even part of government, businesses don’t get away with spreading lies to the middle class. In the U.S. businesses have convinced the public that having better conditions and good wages is something extraordinary, something they shouldnt expect, its sad and hopefully with this massive recession the people will wake up and fight for something better.

Union members in low-wage occupations on average earn a great deal more than nonunion workers in the same occupations, often lifting their earnings above the official poverty level. For example, union cashiers in 2006 earned an average of $11.87—46 percent more than nonunion workers in the same occupation. Over a year’s time, having a union card could translate into more than $7,800 in additional pay for such a low wage worker. While the nonunion cashier’s earnings, on average, leaves a worker $3,746 below the poverty line for a family of four, the union cashier’s earnings, on average, brings the worker $4,075 above the poverty line for a family of four.

http://www.aflcio.org/joinaunion/why/uniondifference/uniondiff11a.cfm

Chart with numbers after the jump