Economy

Rant

Unionization

Posted 24 months ago|12 comments|468 views
Written by
scotmanster
The more I read about, the more I think unionization would be a good thing for America. Only if we put in laws forcing companies to stop outsourcing jobs and put strict conditions on our imports.

When I was growing up my father always said take up a trade or go to college. My mind could not see spending the amount of money a house costs nowadays to teach me something. So I took up a trade.

What a mistake that was, not because I wasn't the best at what I did but, I could have worked at Burger King or McDonald's for the same amount. Plus, I would have been farther ahead with all the fringe benefits these fast food restaurants offer.

Although I held three jobs when I was a kid ranging across many industries. I choose to get myself involved in the food industry. I took up the trade as a butcher. Twenty years later I was making ten dollars an hour. Ten dollars an hour is just getting by in today's standards especially if you have a family to support. I can guarantee my foremen was only getting paid twelve dollars an hour because he showed me his check.

I seen men that were butchers for forty years of their lives and their hands and back are crippled up beyond repair. The slaughter house is one of the most dangerous jobs in America.

If we were unionized that ten dollars an hour would have been sixteen dollars an hour easily. I hear and see many people bashing unions but unions are not why the economy is collapsing. Unions are saving us from a total collapse. These big companies are forced to keep their doors open. That is how powerful a union is and what it offers us blue collared workers.

With tough import regulations and strict laws limiting the outsourcing of jobs, we could have America back. It will be the blue collared workers who fix our economy. The longer the political talking heads on the Hill keep extending benefits the longer they choose not to deal with the problem head on.
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COMMENTS
24 months ago: No, the slaughterhouse would be out of business, and noone would have a job.

Tough import regulations and strict laws EQUALS socialism.
scotmanster
scotmanster
24 months ago: "No, the slaughterhouse would be out of business, and noone would have a job.

Tough import regulations and strict laws EQUALS socialism."

You pretend I have no clue what I am talking about. The fact is if we unionized our boss would not be able to afford that third condo he owns. You rather people wallow in their pity that work hard all their lives instead of standing up for themselves and make a better future from themselves. I had to contend with the same simpleton mentality with these old timers I worked with that were all crippled up. What did they have to show for it but owning a trailer because they can't afford the taxes that come with owning a house..The ultimate cop out is settling for less.
scotmanster
scotmanster
24 months ago: The socialism argument does not fit every topic and it certainly does not fit this one.
Out Of The Box
Out Of The Box
 Moderator
24 months ago: What does the union boss get out of the deal? I would be willing to consider it, if the union leaders would settle for the same wages and benefits that they get the union members.
scotmanster
scotmanster
24 months ago: They should go out and get a real job. Last time I sat in a union meeting which by law I don't think I can disclose particulars of the meeting but I can say something we all know about unions is we all were required to pay our union dues. This money should be setup in funds for future lawyer fees. The money should not be there for the heads of the unions to pay them extravagant salaries, clearly beyond reason.
Altruist
Altruist
Eugene, OR
24 months ago: There are instances where union dues have been abused but that is due to corruption it is not the union's fault. People like Red look at these few anecdotal examples of the evils of unions and they declare all unions evil.
Unions however are the reasons for almost all of the good things you can think of on your job. Safety in the workplace, the end of starvation wages and 16 hr. days, the end of child labor, bathrooms and the ability to go to them, pensions, and insurance. Without unions we would still be going to hellholes with no time off and end up dying early because of industrial accidents, so our corporate overlords could get ever richer.
The unions help nonunion shops also because just the threat of organizing is enough to force them to match the going standards.
It is interesting that people like Red oppose unions because they help those in most need of help. This is the clearest example of giving power to the people, which is the goal of our nation's founders. Freedom from the corporate yoke of the Tea companies. The original tea party was simply a union dispute. Americans were asking for better wages and working conditions.
24 months ago: Al.

You have no clue what motivates a conservative. You've made that clear. Freedom motivates me to oppose what unions have become. The original motivation to protect workers is fantastic, and I would support that. The problem is the unions, all the unions, have been corrupted.

You also do not understand tea parties. It was taxation without representation.
THE RONBOT HUNTER
THE RONBOT HUNTER
24 months ago: "Unions however are the reasons for almost all of the good things you can think of on your job."

This is very true. But in today's world, too many Unions are corrpt.

If the members would take more control of the unions, they would have a much
better life.

But we live in a corporate world, where even the US government is a corporation.

"That the Acts of the Forty-First Congress," Section 34, Session III, chapters 61 and 62. On this date in the history of our nation, Congress passed an Act titled: "An Act To Provide A Government for the District of Columbia." This is also known as the "Act of 1871." The Congress, under no constitutional authority to do so, created a separate form of government for the District of Columbia, which is a ten mile square parcel of land, this treasonous Act formed the private corporation known as THE UNITED STATES. "

So, Unions will be eliminated by these private for profit corporations.

THE RONBOT HUNTER
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
scotmanster
scotmanster
24 months ago: I'm with Altruist on this one alot of good has stemmed from unions.

I think too many people have seen movies when they were growing up produced from hollywood that were ripe with anti-union sentiment. If you said you never seen those anti-union movies then I would have to say you have a short memory span. I can name off five of them easily I watched when I was a kid.

So which unions are corrupt now? Can you name them off? Can you name the union heads off? Or is it you just perceive most unions are corrupt? I don't think either of you can is what I am getting at..I shut the tv off a year ago and when I have kids I wont have a tv in the house. It is a very powerful tool that can shape our thoughts and ideas. The fact is the majority of anti-unions movies were hyped up over exaggerations.

If we let paranoia and wild imagination get the best of us I could imagine anything in life can be perceived as corrupt. Maybe the cash register attendant is a secret under cover FBI trying to steal your credit card information to see what you have been buying? Or maybe that sweet bartender you goggle at is an under cover cia operative trying to make small talk to infiltrate your life? What wild imaginations you all must have.

So back on topic. Yes unions are a very powerful tool and they hold the key to better wages and better fringe benefits. The problem we have is alot of companies shipped their jobs and companies overseas to make a huge profit on the under educated and non-union workers. If our government is not going to address this issue we need powerful people that are willing to educate these third world countries to unionize them and move up their standard of living. The faster they get higher wages the faster we get our jobs back. It is a very simple but powerful theory.

The only other chance we have in restoring our jobs is getting someone in office that has an ounce of common sense. Is this too much to ask?
Out Of The Box
Out Of The Box
 Moderator
24 months ago: 1. G. William Hunter
Executive Director
NBA Players Association
Salary: $2,185,446

2. Eugene Upshaw
Executive Director
NFL Players Association
Salary: $2,064,526

3. Donald M. Fehr
Executive Director
MLB Players Association
Salary: $1,000,000

4. Jimmy Warren
Financial Treasurer
Steelworkers and AFL-CIO
Salary: $825,262

5. Gregory J. Hessinger
Chief Executive Officer
Screen Actors Guild
Salary: $803,399

6. Alan Eisenberg
Executive Director
Actors and Artists, AFL- CIO Branch
Salary: $720,743

7. Jay Roth
National Executive Director
Directors Guild of America
Salary: $686,673

8. Don Hunsucker
President and CEO
United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1288
Salary: $679,949

9. John McLean
Executive Director
Writers Guild, West Headquarters
Salary: $650,402

10. Gerald McEntee
President
State, County & Municipal Workers
Salary: $629,291
Out Of The Box
Out Of The Box
 Moderator
24 months ago: "There are instances where union dues have been abused but that is due to corruption it is not the union's fault. People like Red look at these few anecdotal examples of the evils of unions and they declare all unions evil."

Now just substitute the word "capitalism" for the word "unions", and it works just as well.
Out Of The Box
Out Of The Box
 Moderator
24 months ago: "NEW YORK — Donald Fehr will receive an $11 million severance package from the Major League Baseball Players Association when he leaves as executive director."


"SEIU Local 221 President Sharon-Frances Moore has resigned. She will get over $107,000 of our union dues money to leave!

It was announced this evening, at a special meeting of the SEIU Local 221 Executive Board. Her stated reasons were “personal”. However, it comes after weeks of speculation about ethics charges reportedly filed against her with the International Union."


Just look around. Greed and corruption are everywhere.

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