On Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:36:08 GMT, "Harold and Susan Vordos"
wrote:


"Steve Ackman" wrote in message
. org...
In , on Sun, 14 Dec 2008 22:41:57
-0800, Hawke, wrote:

The truth is without unions workers have no
chance at bargaining with corporations for anything.

It may be your "truth" but it's not THE TRUTH.

When I'd been working for a coffee roasting
corporation for a few months, I decided I was doing
more than my pay grade, so I asked for a raise. The
corporation agreed that I was worth more to them than
they were paying me, so I got the raise. Lather,
rinse, repeat. I worked there for 2 years and a few
months (in retrospect, it seems like a LOT longer).
When I quit, I was making 50% more than when I started...
without a union in sight... and when I told them I was
leaving, they tried to give me another raise.

The very existence of a union at a shop pretty much
precludes that kind of "merit raise," doesn't it? How
would it work if a union member went to management and
asked for a raise based on his superlative performance
and quality improving innovations?

I have long maintained that unions kill incentive. Why should anyone bust
their butt to improve anything when they can idle and get the same pay as
the guy that busts his hump? The lesson learned is that you can slow down
to a near stop and still "earn" your pay, so many do. I worked in a shop
where that occurred. Their reward was the shop going out of business. It
was common practice for union employees to tell non-union workers to "slow
down", something I know from personal experience.

My experiences in life parallel yours. If I excelled, I was acknowledged.
I learned to earn my way in life, something about which I am damned proud.

Harold


Wasn't there a case, in New England somewhere, maybe at a
Pratt&Whitney engine factory, where the union stopped a guy from
producing more then the "norm" while he was working piece-work? I
don't remember the details but I do remember reading about it and
thinking I'd never join a union.The stated reason was that he'd "make
the other guys look bad".
Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)