On Fri, 14 Dec 2007 10:51:46 -0800, "SteveB"
wrote:


"Don Foreman" wrote in message
news
On Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:23:42 -0800 (PST), 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

What's not to like is a greedy and adversarial attitude from either
management or labor.

Predatory practice and greed by unions is as destructive as predatory
practice and greed by management. When predatory and greedy
application of the power of collective bargaining by labor makes it
impossible for an enterprise to compete, management must close the
doors and move to use other labor because they are ultimately
accountable to the stockholders for the profitability of the
enterprise. Free enterprise is not a welfare system. In simpler
terms, sucking the tit till it bleeds gets ya kicked outta the nest
and tough **** if ya starve.

Signing a union card is not a good plan for family providors if it
will lead to unemployment of more than a few members.

Things change. We have much stiffer global competition than we ever
have had in the past. We can compete if we choose to, but easy times
will only continue for those who adapt. Life and bidness are
competitive. Dinosaurs are extinct for a reason.

Some union men brag about how high their wages are. The average man works
2,000 hours a year. 50x40 with two weeks off. So, what's the sense of
making fifty bucks an hour if you only work intermittently. You have to
take the yearly and divide by 2,000 to see how much you REALLY make.

Steve

The average engineer and manager works a lot more than 2000 hours per
year.