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Have you noticed the hundreds of thousands who are unemployed due to layoffs as executive compensation has increased exponentially? Selective outrage?
I've noticed all of the unemployed around the country, it greatly affects us all. That doesn't come close to making up for the damage that labor unions have caused this country, that's the topic of this thread BTW. Labor unions destroyed the automobile manufacturing industry in this country, not CEO pay rates.
Anyone who studied history in the US understands the importance of unions. But those things are all laws now. The unions have nothing to do with that now. The unions got greedy. They weren't willing to rise and fall with the fate of their employers. They value seniority instead of job performance. Many have corrupt leadership. And they take money from their members for (?). The Teamsters wouldn't let me plug in an extension cord at a conference in NYC.
I don't hate unions. I do not think they are anywhere near as valuable or needed as they were 50 years ago.
No it's not. Unions have long been part of our nation's history, fighting for better pay, safer working conditions, health care and retirement benefits, education and civic participation. Unions have brought diverse voices together, and their struggles have elevated the working conditions, the standard of living and the recognition of not just their members, but of all who labor. What have unions done for us? - CNN.com
And in the last 30 - 40 years they have brought more unemployment and business failure to this country than they could ever make up for.
When labor unions began to force people to join they become the enemy of the working man.
Yes, but no one in the mafia brought about what unions did...like...
Weekends
All Breaks at Work, including your Lunch Breaks
Paid Vacation
FMLA
Sick Leave
Social Security
Minimum Wage
Civil Rights Act/Title VII (Prohibits Employer Discrimination)
8-Hour Work Day
Overtime Pay
Child Labor Laws
Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA)
40 Hour Work Week
Worker's Compensation (Worker's Comp)
Unemployment Insurance
Pensions
Workplace Safety Standards and Regulations
Employer Health Care Insurance
Collective Bargaining Rights for Employees
Wrongful Termination Laws
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
Whistleblower Protection Laws
Employee Polygraph Protect Act (Prohibits Employer from using a lie detector test on an employee)
Veteran's Employment and Training Services (VETS)
Compensation increases and Evaluations (Raises)
Sexual Harassment Laws
Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
Holiday Pay
Employer Dental, Life, and Vision Insurance
Privacy Rights
Pregnancy and Parental Leave
Military Leave
The Right to Strike
Public Education for Children
Equal Pay Acts of 1963 & 2011 (Requires employers pay men and women equally for the same amount of work)
Laws Ending Sweatshops in the United States
Yeah, people hate unions for bringing all that about...
Almost all of this list were brought about by PRIVATE unions. GOVERNMENT unions are killing communities with high taxes required to pay benefits that were negotiated by politicians. The politicians don't care what the costs are because they are not paying, the taxpayer is. As long as the politician gets support from the government union at election time they will keep negotiating better contracts. That's how you get in Chicago's position. Private union contracts are negotiated with the employers that are paying so the benefits are not impossible to pay. If the government stays out of the process it will work itself out. Bailouts screw up the balance.
I don't know. Most cops I know are members of the PBA which negotiates their contracts and represents them in disputes, just like any other union but without the right to call a strike. Is PBA government supported? Hardly. You are wrong.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roadking2003
I bet nobody outside the union has the support of government to abuse their power.
I be nobody in the Mafia works full time and falls below the poverty line.
The teacher tenure is bad IMO. Some teachers are more effective than others - yet the union frowns on giving the best teachers extra pay for excellence. They even frown on paying lousy teachers less. They snarl at the idea of ever firing a teacher. Public school teachers typically get tenure once they've taught for about 3 years. After that, the union and civil service protection make it just about impossible to fire them. They basically have a job for life.
Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs laid into teachers unions : Jobs took on the unions by first comparing schools to small businesses, and school principals to CEOs. He then asked rhetorically: "What kind of person could you get to run a small business if you told them that when they came in, they couldn't get rid of people that they thought weren't any good? Not really great ones, because if you're really smart, you go, 'I can't win.' "
He went on to say that "what is wrong with our schools in this nation is that they have become unionized in the worst possible way. This unionization and lifetime employment of K-12 teachers is off-the-charts crazy."
Anyone who studied history in the US understands the importance of unions. But those things are all laws now. The unions have nothing to do with that now.
Is this why most union contracts are few hundred pages long? No, laws don't cover much. That's why union contracts are regularly renegotiated.
If this is true, then I can only conclude that most people are stupid.
I can't argue against that, look at the White House for the last 20+ years.
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