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They can defend unions all they want but still wont face reality that unions in this country have been a great benefit for employees....the employees of CHINESE companies. Yep, keep looking for the union label...unfortunately you can't read Mandarin.
I'd rather pay a little extra at Target and get cashiers who make a livable wage and get decent health benefits. Maybe then they'd have individuals of a higher calibre taking those jobs and valuing them enough to treat me, the customer, with a little more courtesy and care. My big beef these days, is that corporations pay workers at many retail and food outlets so little that the workers don't care about losing those jobs; subsequently, we have to deal with no eye contact, no smile, no thank yous, no please, and an occasional attitude.
So the employees at the union supermarkets treat you better? Then shop there. Oh, it costs more? Well, you just said you don't mind paying more for the privilege.
The gangbanger stare has nothing to do with union or not. When I shop at Target, I am routinely greeted with "hello ma'am....how are you today? did you find everything you were looking for? Can I put these bags in your cart for you?" and so on.
You'd have to pay the average Target worker $25 an hour minimum to make a go of it on Long Island, and we all know that's not gonna happen for someone whose job requires them to hit the scanner in a timely manner.
Conservatives don't like unions because it goes against an ideology of competition and a belief in a system that rewards those that work harder, smarter, and longer.
That's a myth. Conservatives don't like unions because it means less profits for the elite. God forbid the poor and middle class be treated as anything besides wage slaves. And the system doesn't reward those who work harder, smarter and longer - it rewards those elites remaining in power. Not because they work harder (they do not work harder than a migrant field worker), smarter (they're not smarter than a grad student living on a $18K stipend) and longer (they're not working longer than the people with 2-3 jobs at minimum wage). It rewards people who can game the system, lobby and change the law to their benefit and screw the poor and middle class the best.
So why don't you go bury yourself with your god Reagan with your lips on his behind?
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Lets respect the decision the workers who voted made. You can't get a re-do (re vote) every time it doesn't go your way. My daughter worked for Target 1 summer the pay was comperable for our area. She would have pitched a fit if it was unionized and she had to pay dues for them to do nothing for her. People do need to realize that not every job/career choice is going to provide a living wage with full benefits.
That's a myth. Conservatives don't like unions because it means less profits for the elite. God forbid the poor and middle class be treated as anything besides wage slaves. And the system doesn't reward those who work harder, smarter and longer - it rewards those elites remaining in power. Not because they work harder (they do not work harder than a migrant field worker), smarter (they're not smarter than a grad student living on a $18K stipend) and longer (they're not working longer than the people with 2-3 jobs at minimum wage). It rewards people who can game the system, lobby and change the law to their benefit and screw the poor and middle class the best.
So why don't you go bury yourself with your god Reagan with your lips on his behind?
Damn, you're right! Thank god you came along and told me what I really cared about. I was a conservative when I was young and poor and I'm one now when I'm wealthy. Why am I a conservative? Because I hate the fact that someone could louse around on the job and make the same exact income that I make.
1. I guess a migrant worker does work harder, but don't confuse activity for productivity.
2. Why is a grad student who's teaching 3 classes for 18k/year smart? Who's the smart one when they pay 100k for a degree then I hire them for the going rate of 42k/year?
3. I haven't met every conservative in the world. And a lot of wealthy people are that way because of luck and/or inheritance. But, the world does have a sense of justice. Even those that inherit money are easily separated from their fortune. Ford wasn't the most brilliant man, and students, legislators, and commentators all thought he was, at best, dim witted. But, the man knew what he needed to know and built an empire.
Forgive me if I romanticize the American opportunity. Many Americans think it doesn't exist any longer. I argue that they're just too lazy and not willing to make the sacrifices/risks that one must take in order to be successful in this world. I've lived in my car in order to save seed money to start a company, I've ran up tens of thousands in credit card debt to fund an opportunity, and I've spent nights and weekends building my business while my friends partied, got wasted, and chased skirts.
People who think that opportunity doesn't exist are usually too lazy to really do what needs to be done to be successful, so they make excuses as to why it can't be done. They blame nepotism, or the rich, or think that the only way you can become wealthy is by winning the lottery. That's why I love people like you. You're jealous because you can't quite figure out why people like me are successful.
I don't think it's the "position of the month." Conservatives don't like unions because it goes against an ideology of competition and a belief in a system that rewards those that work harder, smarter, and longer. I've seen just as much abuse within unions as I have seen from non-unionized workforces. The son of a shop steward getting a cushy job, a brother-in-law of a union official getting his A-card over many more qualified applicants, bribes, extortion, and organized theft.
There is plenty of graft and nepotism in the private sector. The only analysis worth making is whether frequency is higher or lower in one model vs. the other.
Unions have and still do provide a higher standard of living to the average worker and provide an important counterbalance by which workers can negotiate with management. They are responsible for many of the reforms which we now take for granted, and on a national scale fight both to preserve these reforms and obtain new ones.
Here on LI we have a somewhat unique problem of public sector unions perhaps having too much power. By comparison, all that to-do in Wisconsin was about teachers making an average salary of about $57k!
Last edited by Interlude; 06-19-2011 at 10:29 AM..
People who think that opportunity doesn't exist are usually too lazy to really do what needs to be done to be successful, so they make excuses as to why it can't be done. They blame nepotism, or the rich, or think that the only way you can become wealthy is by winning the lottery. That's why I love people like you. You're jealous because you can't quite figure out why people like me are successful.
Some are too lazy. Most, though, just don't have equal access to opportunity - they lack the intelligence, the upbringing, values, health, etc. It may be comforting for you to sit there from a position of success and be smug about it, but realize that even if you started with very little in terms of money, you possessed skills and opportunity that the average person does not. You likely weren't saddled with absentee parents, the wrong skin color, or chronic health problems. You didn't come from a community where drugs are the only proven path for success and schools that babysit rather than educate. Your parents didn't beat you up or sexually abuse you, causing lifelong mental illness.
I detest conservatives so much because they often sound like you - thinking the world is jealous of them, and that the only thing preventing success is the will to work harder. America does provide a unique opportunity for people with the right basket of faculties to succeed, and simultaneously one of the worst places to fail.
Agreed. Look at Costco for a good example of unions done right. Somehow their employees earn a good wage with benefits and job security and the company is still more profitable than Sam's Club where they treat employees like dirt.
I know it's the conservative dumsh*t position of the month to hate on unions but conditions for unionized workers are better in every measurable way. As an employee there's no reason not to unionize.
Are you sure it's a union doing Costco good?
Don't they have a CEO who takes very low pay (for CEOs) and a management philosophy of treating the workers well?
Don't they have a CEO who takes very low pay (for CEOs) and a management philosophy of treating the workers well?
They're to be admired for that if so, but most companies don't share that philosophy. Capitalism requires that companies expand and become more profitable all the time, and workers are usually the first to get the raw end of that deal. With companies so heavily outsourced as it is, it's going to be interesting to see how future growth will be accomplished. We're already seeing a decline in the quality of many goods that are already made overseas as manufacturers scramble to boost profits.
What goods have declined in quality? Another comment from someone who believes american made goods equal quality. Took the japs to grind it into the faces of lazy american union sheeple what quality is all about.
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