On Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:23:42 -0800, Millwright Ron wrote:

As the late Senator Paul Wellstone liked to say, "We may be entitled to
our own opinions, but we're not entitled to our own facts." Even with
organized labor's many problems (shrinking membership, internal
dissension, gutless Democrats, growing irrelevancy, etc.), there's no
disputing the facts.
Fact: Across the board, union jobs pay more (10-15% more), offer better
health and medical benefits, and provide workers greater on-the- job
security and influence than non-union jobs. Fact: Union facilities are
demonstrably safer than non-union facilities; statistically, the numbers
aren't even close. Fact: If unions didn't represent a threat to
management's greed and unchecked authority, they wouldn't be so
vehemently opposed by businesses and business lobbies. All of which
raises the question: Given the post-Reagan assault on the earning power
and dignity of blue-collar jobs, why aren't more people signing union
cards? Why haven't the marginal and disenfranchised in the workforce
wised up? Union membership used to hover at close to 35%; today it's
barely 12%. Worse, if only private industry were counted, it's less than
7%. Better money, richer benefits, safer environment, more control . . .
what's not to like?

Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com

That was a skillful mixing of fact and supposition.

"Fact: If unions didn't represent a threat...". No, that's not a fact,
it's a rhetorical question, which is why you answered it yourself.

Unions are a necessary evil, and in the US they have (IMHO), strayed
closer to the "evil" than the "necessary". If you take _that_ as a fact,
it explains the rest of your questions.

--
Tim Wescott
Control systems and communications consulting
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Need to learn how to apply control theory in your embedded system?
"Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" by Tim Wescott
Elsevier/Newnes, http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html