Never seen a positive benefit hey?
So, 8 hour working days, penalty rates, health and safety rules that ensure people get home safely from work, protection from unfair dismissal etc etc etc.... Not really "benefits" hard fought by workers hey? Employers must have given these out if the goodness of their hearts.
If you are working in any sort of blue collar job, unionization has had a big hand in ensuring you get to take for granted the above working conditions.
I'm no card carrying unionist. I've personally never been a member of one (with the small exception of a few patches when was much younger), and are not about to defend any of the incompetence and corruption the plagues too many of them. My own parents used to get frustrated many times about their own, in particular their reps who seemed to act with too much self interest.. . And whether to join one or not should and is your right.... But to suggest that they have no place or that they haven't achieved anything, is not even nonsense, it's plain incorrect.
Do we still need unions (and by this I mean effective ones)? Looking at the current race to the bottom we seem to be seeing with zero hour contracts, thousands being forced to be contractors with no penalty rates, reduction of penalty rates for those who are still lucky enough, I'm saying probably yes. .