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Originally Posted by eelcat
And speaking of getting fired. I've noticed far too often (enough to make me think that this may be true) that a boss or employer can just fire someone for no apparent reason. This sort of thing would never happen in Australia without the unions getting involved and/or an unfair dismissal case in court.
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America generally operates under "at-will" employement laws which means that you can let someone go for any non-illegal reason you want.
I can't imagine things functioning any other way. How can a company function without the ability to hire and fire as it see fit?
Some professions are heavily unionized like teachers and the car industry, while others are totally non-union. Most small business do not have unions.
Unions are a complicated and touchy subject in America due to their influence on politics and reputation for driving up costs and protecting members (or rather union executives) and making things a pain in the ass for non-members to do business.
For example, many film and animation studios have shipped jobs overseas to cut costs since minimum film union rates on pre-production and production effects work average around 1500 to 2000 per week/per person. You can hire the same person in India for 1/8th that cost. I work in computer games currently, but I know from buddies (and my wife) who are in various film-related unions that the unions go to great lengths to prevent non-union guys who are qualified from getting work.
Unfortunately you can't just join that film union when you want since the union tries to keep people out because existing members are threatened by new guys. It's a screwed up situation and so many directors and studios have just gotten fed up with unions and strikes etc. and left for cheaper waters. I worked on one film as a non-union guy but that was up in San Francisco, away from the influence of the LA unions.
I guess it generally comes down to if you are an owner, or an employee, when it comes to unions or at-will work laws. Where you stand depends on where you sit, as the expression goes.