Everywhere I turn there is talk about all the people getting laid off from their jobs.  There is talk about the economic downturn everywhere and the need for America to stay competitive and efficient.

The UAW gave concessions to Ford to keep the company opening.  What they’re going to give back to GM is still in question… and whether or not it will be enough to save it even with tens of thousands of layoffs.

Two local hospitals closed at the beginning of this month, members of the HealthCare Local 1199.  That’s 6,000 people without jobs or benefits, including EMTs and Paramedics who can’t even get hired in another union shop because… there’s a hiring freeze!  Surprise!!!

The San Francisco Chronicle also got concessions from their union to hopefully stay in business.

Unions are not providing their members with job security.  They have been giving concession after concession and when a shop closes they’ve been tossing their now non due paying members to the curb, which makes you wonder just where is the benefit?

Yet, Congress wants to make it easier to organize unions (which are businesses by the way) whether or not the majority of the employees want one or not.  Do people who think that belonging to a union equals job security watching a different news station (CNN, NBC) or read different papers (NYT, Daily News) than I do?

I belonged to a union at one time.  I paid them $25 a week for six months so the Union officers could go on vacation in the Bahamas while I worked in the snow, only to be let go come summer because I was a “provisional” employee.  In my experience unions don’t provide job security.  According to all the headlines about layoffs, unions don’t provide job security to other people either.

Really.

So if unions aren’t the answer (which I clearly don’t think they are although I’m sure others disagree), what is the best form of job security?