Comments on: Labor Pains

By: GP38-2

GP38-2 — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 05:38:15 +0000

My take on the modern union is that they are a middleman. No longer is the manufacturer or educator (in those cases) the employer. The union is. The union hires and can fire, but rarely does. The union takes something from the employer and from the employee as the middleman, but really creates what of value?

About the only thing it can create of value is to increase benefits and/or wages, or reduce working hours at the same take-home pay. In a global economy, that is all pretty much suicide, as we've seen. I'm recalling AT&T's recent labor battle with IBEW. The union tried to do well by its' members in holding the line on benefits and other proposed givebacks. The members got beat up in the court of public opinion on newspaper and other media websites by people saying, "I've been unemployed for 10 months. I'll take your job at lower pay, you ingrate." The union had to cave.

I find something inherently wrong with a system of employment and compensation that values longevity more than actual productivity.

By: GP38-2

GP38-2 — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 05:29:44 +0000

Interesting that you can call someone out for degrading a whole party, when you can in the same six lines degrade even wider than that, the entire right.

Physician? Heal thyself!

By: indyernie

indyernie — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 20:08:07 +0000

Monroe Gray didn't exactly set the bar very high did he? And as I recall Joanne was in a leadership position and sitting to his left during CC meetings.
After observing that democrat dog and pony show, I’d say that the current President and the immediate past did and are doing stellar work.

By: Goaway

Goaway — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 14:52:33 +0000

The one thing the union folks, especially those in the lower paying, less education required fields, never think of…is voting themselves out of a job. Tell you what, Walmart clerks make around $9/hour, if not more. If unions were to force Walmart to pay union wages, to where someone running a bar code over a laser is making $15/hour, plus health care, plus two weeks a year vacation, plus holiday pay, etc.., guess what, I am quitting my law enforcement job that pays $17/hour and going to Walmart. I don't have to worry about being sued, about being fired for defending myself, about being killed, or about being injured. I likely don't have to worry about being on the night shift, or working every holiday, for the next six to ten years since I am low in seniority. This same thought holds true for cleaning rooms. I will gladly clean hotel rooms at $15/hour. Hell, the starting pay at some police departments is less than that. So what will some of these employees do when they are finally fired for running late, and folks like me end up taking their easy as cake job of running bar codes over lasers, cleaning toilets, etc? Do you think the majority of your Walmart clerks, your hotel maids, etc. could then take a job working as a police officer?

So start paying these union wages of $15+/hour, and watch how many cops and firefighters take their 20 year pension and run towards those jobs. Watch how many stay a home moms with logic and intelligence and college educations decide that $15/hour to run something over a laser is well worth it. Then watch how many baby mamas, welfare types, etc. get canned from Walmart. If Walmart and hotels start paying that kind of wage, any union member who has trouble getting to work on-time, trouble slacking off, and/or barely any logic skills is going to quickly find themselves out of a job. I do believe, 100% that any sort of mid-teens hourly rate for a hotel or Walmart job will do nothing but put many GED, no high school degree, no speak English types out of work completely. Oh well.

By: Think Again

Think Again — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 05:13:03 +0000

Nope. Not superior. But you show your true color when you degrade an entire party, insinuate unlawfulness by a majority of its members, and generally defame anyone with whom you disagree.

“Quality of leadership” from the right?” Are you freaking serious? I want whatever you're drinking.

By: indyernie

indyernie — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 21:44:34 +0000

If Joanne is elected as President of the CC she will make a much better President than any democrat in the past but she will always lack in the quality of leadership brought forth from the right of the past few years.
And as a democrat we know she is qualified… after all being a leader in the democrat party requires unlawfulness in ones past. Joanne can state honestly she is now ready for leadership in the democrat party however, I doubt if she will be President during the next five years.
TA I'm friendly with Joanne and she is likewise with me…but the last thing Joanne expects from me is my vote. Everyone involved in politics know how I will vote TA. Does it make you feel superior for bringing it up?

By: Dave

Dave — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 17:54:21 +0000

Unions need protection racquets to survive; in truly progressive, free market terms, there a thing of the passed.

Got a legitimate employment gripe? It's called a lawyer, engage one at a fraction of the cost of lifetime “dues” & failed promises of the ruling caste.

By: Think Again

Think Again — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 15:35:53 +0000

She'll be the next council president after the elections, Ernie. Now THAT'S fitting. And I'm pretty sure she's not pining away for your vote. Actually, I'm not sure anyone is.

By: Rico

Rico — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 03:07:43 +0000

Then, I assume, you would choose not to work there. What the union will do is negotiate down the productivity of its members, assuring that they do no more work than absolutely necessary. That's just what unions have become. Period.

By: Matthew Stone

Matthew Stone — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 02:57:35 +0000

In 2011, along with all the other At-Large seats and the mayor's office.