"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
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"Harold and Susan Vordos" wrote in message
et...

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I worked as a machinist/toolmaker for most of my productive life, and
realize, all too well, the degree of skill and experience that one must
have to be qualified for the job. These people are worth money, but
when they demand wages in keeping with what a well educated doctor used
to make, it's time to get a reality check. That, or lose their jobs, as
it turns out, is how it's shaking out. Who's fault is it?

Harold

Don't get too upset with them, Harold. It's because of them that you were
able to make a living. Unions pushed the whole scale up to new heights for
all people who work, except for white-collar workers, for nearly a
century. And probably for most white-collar workers, too, indirectly.

The trendline without them would have had you scratching for a living.
That's the way it was going before unions really caught hold and there
really is nothing in the historical record to suggest it would have
changed.

Now, their work is mostly done, but not completely. I think of them as a
useful annoyance that tend to accelerate a lot of problems that were going
to hell anyway. They've been self-destructing in recent decades but what
they leave in their wake is an expectation that a good worker should be
able to live somewhere in the middle class. That wasn't the case early in
the last century.

--
Ed Huntress


Thanks, Ed. I can always count on you to give me food for thought.

Truth is, I do realize how much good they did----it's just that the monkeys
are now running the zoo, with the real purpose being lost. Like any good
thing, once the crooks figure out there's a free ride, they're in on the
action, and those that still believe there's a free lunch are inclined to
follow.

It's a damned shame that what was once a noble thing has turned into a
dreadful anchor on humanity. As you suggested, however, it appears to be
resolving itself quite nicely.

My early years in the shop, in Utah, were a direct result of unions, or at
least their threat. Thanks to the horrible union problems of the mid
50's, at least on the east coast, Sperry sought a right to work state where
they might found a new business, for development and production of the
Sergeant Missile. They settled on Utah as their choice, and paid wages
that were no less than union scale, with great benefits. The only problems
I can recall, and I was there for 7-1/2 years, were those that you might
encounter anywhere----those with personalities. The company was more than
fair minded, and, as it turns out, was the best employer I was to have in my
limited time working for industry as an employee. It was clear to the vast
majority of workers that a union would serve no good purpose, and would
likely undermine the decent relationship we had with management.

Harold