[duriendiuuuh]

Why don’t we fix the union we already have - our government?

My biggest gripe with unions is they’re the political version of “let’s make a new standard”. Yeah it works - for a time - but ultimately just adds complexity to temporarily address a symptom of the problem.

[toomuchtodo]

Representatives are a function of the electorate. If you want better representation, not only must people run, but the electorate must turn over (old ideas and their voters dying out, new voters and their ideas aging in). 1.8M voters over the age of 55 die every year, 4 million voters turn 18. Worker rights support increases as cohort age declines (and skews progressive, naturally).

Certainly, a long term fix that will take decades. Near term, gotta organize, which can be done today. And workers need help today.

[wffurr]

>> Representatives are a function of the electorate.

Not in America. The essentials of our representative republic make it not especially representative. It's badly in need of reform to make the legislature actually representative: much larger house of representatives, 3-5 member districts, ranked choice voting, 18 year terms for supreme court justices, etc. etc.

[umanwizard]

None of what you listed will ever happen, so why bother thinking about it? Just accept that the U.S. is not democratic and never will be. That’s not even really pessimistic; plenty of people live happy, fulfilling lives under undemocratic regimes

[wffurr]

Hence the need for unions.

[TheOtherHobbes]

Because it's not your government. Between media message management, corporate lobbying, and outright gerrymandering, the US is an oligarchy, not a democracy.

Unions, imperfect as they are, can be far more directly representative.