I work a relatively safe, but still potentially dangerous, job as a zipline guide making $10/hr. All of the guides here take our jobs very seriously, and I’d even venture to say it’s a pretty specialized position, requiring us to have pretty decent knowledge of climbing equipment and monitor weather conditions (wind direction, temperature, and rain all affect the zipline in different ways.) consistently to keep all customers safe. As great of a job as it is, I still think that $10/hr is a bit low no? Of course pay isn’t the only reason I’m considering it. Our whole zipline course was built out of wood some 10 years ago, and most of it was never weatherproofed. Meaning that most of the course is made from old and near-rotted wood in some spots. It’s not uncommon for us to have to go out and replace a board or two because they’re rotted through. This is really my biggest concern. The entire course was built by an external contractor, so we don’t really get regular inspections (at least not regular enough) since technically the company had nothing to do with its construction, and all course repairs have to be done by either us or our manager. Were we to unionize, we could demand to have the course professionally inspected and repaired, and a pay raise would be nice as well, but I’ve been doing some reading on the potential dangers of unionization to the business overall. Like in the case of Buzzfeed, (yes I know journalism is a lot different from ziplining) where workers fighting for unionization actually contribute to the overall downfall of the company since workers demand things that are in their best interests despite what the business’ best interests may be. I’m not entirely sure if the two situations are comparable, but that’s why I’m asking here.