Quote Originally Posted by AREA 51 View Post
Next, on the subject of union bashing, maybe we should abandon what unions gave lives for and go back to child labor, 16 or more hour work days, and work 6 or more days a week mandatory with zero benefits, no worker safety laws and live in the company town, in company housing that you will be charged for, and buy from the company store ending up with little or no savings. That is if they will hire you based on your ethnicity. Businesses routinely hired Pinkertons and other private security to beat and kill union organizers while police stood idly by. Now they have the police and national guard doing that job on occasion.
I hope nobody believes that businesses gave anything to unions out of the goodness of their heart. Everything is negotiated. A general way of putting it is that both parties give things up to reach a settlement. Now the Administration wants the UAW workers to give up wages that they negotiated while keeping businesses' side of the negotiations intact. NOT FAIR! And is it fair that UAW workers should reduce their standard of living to match that of a semi-literate former dung farmer, south of the mason-dixon line who THINKS he won the lottery because a foreign owned company is paying half of what he should be making?
How is it that until the decline in unionism, early 70's, That one man could support a family without the wife or kids having to work? A lot of so-called "skilled workers" conveniently forget that they got their college education through union employed parents paying the bill. THE UNIONS OFFER A MAN OR WOMAN A DECENT STANDARD OF LIVING and EQUAL REPRESENTATION and PAY!!!. That is what it is about.
Very well spoken! Some things have not changed that much...

I work (a union job) in a city that forces it's employees to live within its borders. Home prices (in decent areas of the city) are much higher than better homes in the suburbs. We have the highest sales tax in the nation, income tax is going up 50%, and benefits are going down. Employees are forced to take unpaid days off (while politicians get raises) because the government can't figure out that you should not spend more than you take in. Not only are jobs being given away to private firms that staff people (quite a few that can not even speak english) making a fraction of the money the people they are replacing did, but some positions are simply not filled or elliminated. Luckily, I work where most of these kind of things can't take place because of safety issues. I can not afford to work for free. What would it be like if the unions could not negotiate?

Politicians (Democrats or Republicans) and rich CEOs don't care about the little guys as long as they are raking in the $$$. The city, state, country, or business is in the red and failing? No worries... take it from the little guys!

I am single with no kids, but (even though I am paid well) I have very little financial cushion. My house is worth $60,000 LESS than it did 3 years ago when I bought it. I can not immagine trying to raise a family of 5 like my parents did. There is no way! Do it on one income so that a loving parent can be watching over the kids... ha! So, TV & video games will teach the little ones while mom and dad are working 2 or more jobs just to get by. That is... until the boss finds out it can be done cheaper in China/Mexico/India/wherever, and he can double HIS profit. Then they are screwed...