jbaldyga Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ^ok, so they’ve served their purpose. now they > just abuse their power to enable their members to > suck the system dry. time to blow them up. They are protected under the first amendment. They are as constitutional as militias. If you ban them…you open up a whole can of worms.
newsuper Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > Fair enough, but you’re focusing on only one > aspect of what unions do. Besides protecting their > own asses, they also help ensure their members are > able to work in a safe environment, can get > regular training, are not required to work in > sweat-shop conditions, don’t get fired because > they look funny or talk funny etc etc. > > Put it this way, if unions really were as bad as > some people make them out to be, we would have > done away with them a long time ago. I actually agree that unions still have a place and purpose. I just think the pendulum has swung a little too far and a lot of unions are actually hurting their members at the expense of the wealth and power of union leaders. I’m sure the average UAW member thinks the union has saved his or her job, and maybe it has saved some specific jobs. How many jobs has the UAW cost US workers though? Management of the Big 3 bears a ton of blame for what has happened to the US auto industry, but so does the UAW. There are reasons why the Big 3 closed US plants and moved them to Mexico and Brazil. There are reasons why US quality has dropped. Is management to blame? Of course, but so is the UAW. Would some jobs have been lost if the UAW had allowed the Big 3 to automate their plans to the degree that the Japanese manufacturers were automating their plants 15 years ago? Sure, but how many jobs were lost when the plants were closed completely because they were no longer cost and quality competitive? Would it have hurt workers to make contract concessions over the years? Of course, but how much did it hurt when the plants were closed and moved to Mexico? Ford spent $3 billion to build a new factory in Mexico a couple of years ago that employs 4,500 workers. Why wasn’t that plant built in the US? Why werent’ the new Nissan and VW plants built in the US?
QuantJock_MBA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > 100% agree so far. I’ve also heard of the ‘thug > mentality.’ It was a fact that the mob ran the > Teamster’s Union for some time. Rumors are around > that they still influence it today. It is illegal > for companies to collude and set prices. But it > is not illegal for employees to collude and set > their wages? > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_F > actory_fire > > I was told that the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory > Tragedy was the start of unions. Back in the days > of dangerous labor, unions were an advocate of the > workers against the employer in order to ensure > safety. This was pre-government labor laws. > > With government programs like OSHA, unions don’t > seem necessary. If anything, they are a way for > workers to strong arm their employer. Organized > crime so to speak. I know a scab who was murdered > trying to cross a strike line. > > I also worked at a grocery store that took out > union dues each month. As a 15 year old kid, I > found it very annoying that I could not opt out. I worked at a grocery store too and paid union dues…totally ridiculous seeing how i was 16