Earlier this week, news began circulating about the attempted plans to form a union at the Mercedes plant in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama.

The efforts, which are being led by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, are aimed at organizing the work force at Mercedes' Vance plant.  In a quote published by the Washington Times, Bobby Ray Thomas, a 49-year-old inspector who has worked at the Mercedes-Benz plant since production began in 1997, had this to say about the situation: "We want a union, and one of us has got to go first to give the rest of these boys an opportunity. Somebody's got to get these dominoes falling."

Today however a different picture is being painted, with the Birmingham News reporting that a group has been formed to resist the union campaign.  Calling themselves the Mercedes Team Information Committee, the group has hired noted union buster Jay Cole to help aid their opposition.  Cole, who aided workers when the United Auto Workers targeted the factory six years ago, believes the attempts will fail.  According to Cole:  "What we learned last time with the UAW, these folks with Mercedes are making the best money and benefits they could possibly get anywhere.  They beat any union contract that's out there. All the union can do is pose problems and possibly cause that to change."

Despite the opposition, the union attempts are continuing.  Union organizers are currently staying at a hotel across from the Mercedes plant, handing out informational flyers and meeting with employees in their homes to talk about joining the union.  Don Barker, lead organizer for the union, also continues to remain optimistic. "People are receptive to the idea of protecting their wages and benefits, especially since the auto industry seems to be in a downturn," Barker said recently.  "People are concerned here about what's going to take place in the future. The primary issue is job protection, seniority protection."

Right.  What a crock of shit.

I'm not in a debating mood, so I'm going to keep this short.

As an entrepreneur, I have a basic fundamental work ethic. I believe that in a job, any job, an employee's duty is to perform the tasks required by the position to the highest possible standards.  In the world of business, this is a rare commodity.

But for these select few, I believe the rewards should be greater. Better pay, greater chance of promotion, higher job security.

Enter the union.

Unions operate under a different set of principles.  In a union, you're all one big happy family.  Everyone's equal; everyone's special.

Does it matter that you work twice as hard as the guy standing next to you?  Nope.  You're all equal.  Unless of course the guy standing next to you has been working there longer, in which case he benefits from seniority and actually ranks higher than you.

This is absurd.

As evidenced by Ford, GM and Delphi, enforcing this ideal will lead to one thing and one thing alone - the company will lose money.  Productivity will decrease, under-deserving employees will be unfairly rewarded, and job reductions will be needed. 

If the workers of Tuscaloosa (or anywhere for that matter) want job protection, my recommendation is simple - be better than everyone else.  Downturns are inevitable in any industry, but by outperforming your peers in a non-unionized position, your chances of facing unemployment are far less than if you had a union to "protect" you.

For more info, you can check out the full story over at the Birmingham News.