February 26, 201115 yr WARNING: This post is going to be filled with a lot of back-and-forth: First, let me preface that I am not anti-union in the most literal sense. I do feel that a lot of what we enjoy today, in terms of wages, safety, etc, are due solely to the efforts of the unions. That said, I feel certain laws have rendered some aspects of the unions redundant. But, the other side of that is that no law can be counted on to be permanent, so the continued efforts of the unions are actually still needed, I'd say. My father was a member of the Bakery & Confectioner's Union for 35 years. Working conditions were deplorable where he worked, despite the presence of the unions. My father sustained several serious injuries, and wages were crappy. If not for the unions, I can only imagine how much worse it may have been. Fast forward to my son's first job as a bagger at Kroger at age 15. He was required to pay dues and be in the union. At 15, as a bagger making minimum wage, I'm not sure what value the union was to him. I do think that the roles of the unions as we've historically known them have to evolve to adapt to the current economic and employment environment. Case in point, I think that a good example is the UAW/Ford concessions in particular. I'm sure the workers aren't 100% happy. But the union did a really good job of keeping as many employed as possible. I used to think that unions were a thing of the past, not necessary at all these days. But I do believe in compromise. And I do think that the unions, as representatives of a collectively large, diverse group of members, are in a position to negotiate for those members in a more effective way than without unions. What I don't feel is productive to the unions is to continue to try to run things in the same way as in decades past. And I think the membership has to be willing to give up some things for the greater good. All that being said, I don't think that the CBA in Wisconsin needs to be done away with. But I do believe that the members of the union should accept the reality that many of them will lose their jobs if something isn't done, and they need to work toward compromise, the same way non-union workers must accept the changes in their employment, wages and benefits. Perception also plays a big role. Just as public workers are trying to paint the Governor as a Hitler, etc, it's really hard to sell the taxpaying private sector that the public worker's jobs, wages and benefits should be more stringently protected than their counterparts in the private sector.
March 3, 201115 yr Ohio passed a similar bill today... Look for more cash strapped states to step up the next couple of weeks and put a halt to union demands of raises and benefits that are breaking the budgets and soaking the tax payers..
March 10, 201115 yr The measure passed.. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_wisconsin_budget_unions Good. The grown-ups finally got the job done.
March 10, 201115 yr Lot's of mistakes in this but I'll just question one. They would pay them by the hour AND a piece rate? I'm an accountant, i'd love to be paid by every calculation or entry I make AND by the hour. I always wanted to make a million or more a year. Let's face it, there's not a position in existance that this same scenario can't be applied to and make it look like they're grossly underpaid.[/quote] Maybe so, but most people feel their children are there most important asset. Of course being an accountant is very difficult compared to teaching 30 kids 6 hours a day.
March 10, 201115 yr Lot's of mistakes in this but I'll just question one. They would pay them by the hour AND a piece rate? I'm an accountant, i'd love to be paid by every calculation or entry I make AND by the hour. I always wanted to make a million or more a year. Let's face it, there's not a position in existance that this same scenario can't be applied to and make it look like they're grossly underpaid.[/quote] Maybe so, but most people feel their children are there most important asset. Of course being an accountant is very difficult compared to teaching 30 kids 6 hours a day. Which of course has nothing to do with my post. Thanks for playing.
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