There is little doubt that labor unions in the United States originated in response to poor wages and unfair labor practices of large corporations. However, some people today feel unions have outlived their usefulness as they are more interested in maintaining their own organizational structure and less interested in ensuring their constituents receive fair wages for their efforts and job security. Opponent of this perspective contend unions are still viable and point to the fact that unionized positions are on the average paid 21.8% more than non-unionized positions (SEIU). Union supporters argue that without the protections offered by union membership, management would revert to abusive practices.
A unionized workforce that has been readily observed over an extended period of time is the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). The dominant union for state workers in Pennsylvania representing 45,000 employees (AP), AFSCME represents eligible administrative, fiscal, technical services, maintenance, engineering and scientific personnel.
Negotiating with AFSCME has some distinct advantages for the government. Bargaining with the union representatives ensures the mediators from both sides are well versed on the issues and understand the contracting process. Without the union, the government could be reduced to negotiating with individual employees, creating an inordinately cumbersome process that would not produce satisfactory results for either side. Another benefit the union provides is that it acts from a third party perspective when employee behavioral issues arise. AFSCME helps to ensure conflicts are appropriately processed according to the collective bargaining agreement and certify worker rights have been protected. If a worker is asked to perform work outside of their job description or receives disciplinary