Raise The Minuimum Wage So People Can Eat!

A union is mob rule with nice jackets and inflated wages. When they were set up they were for good reasons, but now days, it has gotten out of control and i love seeing those idiots on tv. Id do like ronald and fire em all if i owned a business if they went on strike, hire some people who want to work.

Teachers unions are imo the #1 problem with public education, well, aside from the govt.

I also like how a union forces people to strike even if they dont want to. Ive seen and read of "scabs" being beaten up and threatened for going back to work.

No thanks, i can make my own decisions. If i dont like my job, i find another one.

 

And corporate interests aren't out of control? Why shouldn't workers have a voice, because corporations don't want them to have one. God you dumb shits have bought the spiel.

Unions don't force anyone to strike anymore that corporations force manufacturing overseas.

 

An organized voice counts for more than one worker changing jobs. Let the corporations talk you into discounting unions or organization and you will have no power against their interests. One middle wage worker can't compete with the power of a corporation.

 

Bullshit...unions gave the working man a voice and power. Corporations took that away from him. Walmart doesn't want their workers unionizing...why, because they might ask for transparency and oversight.

 

And corporations haven't gotten their share out of ? Who fired the assholes that sent World Com and Enron out of business? Time to stop talking out of your asshole and talk sense. Unions and corporations have both been full of graft, what makes one better than the other, because you own stock that is benefitting? The working man deserves a voice as well as the cardboard bosses that run these firms from the Cayman Islands.

 

Why is organized labor more a mob rule that monied lobbyist buying their influence. Because the fancy man wears a tie and wears a suit? Most of them don't even know what their product is they just know how to manipulate the market.

Consider me part of the mob because I've rolled up my sleeves and made your product the best it can be....ask your executives to do that. How many could?

 

MIIDAJ-Have you ever been in a union job?-Have you ever worked your way up from the bottom to a master level at any job?-Do you think you were ever overpaid?-Why would you want less money and wages unless your a greedy company owner trying to line your pockets with the hard work and sweat of others-It's attitudes like yours that have companies moving to Mexico-Will you be happy losing your well paying job to a foreign country-?-Of course not and your statement is way out of line-I would never work for a person with your outlook-and total lack of regaurd for the working men and women of this country-I want to see you working at 7-11 and feed a family-or even just yourself-Would you sleep at night paying a worker 3 bucks an hour?-If so move your business to Mexico-In America we work our way up to a higher level for more money and benifits-Whats not fair about that-Don't use the union as an excuse for greed!-pathetic post!

 

Ive worked my up and through college just as my old man did. i am realistic for the reasons many have problems. In my experence, people have bad luck but more people, the majority are at the least bit party responsible for their position in life. You focus on expections, i focus on the majority. Why is someone taking care of a family with a 1 income from 7-11?

I believe unions do not reward achievements by offering raises not based on job performance. Lets me honest here, I dont work for union but i have friends at unionized places, they atest to the "they cant fire me" rule.

Yes i opted out of a union when i was younger in college.

You can say i buy into anything, and i can say you buy into unions. Form my experence and what i know and believe in life, about achievement and a work ethic, unions are really no good.

 

It's off topic, but crude oil prices are set by speculators in commodities futures markets in place like London, New York, Chicago, Tokyo, & Hong Kong. Not by the countries from which the oil is pumped nor the Exxons. BP/Mobils, "the large multinational companies",etc.
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During the mid-1960s, along the Gulf coast, a lot of us who were glad to have jobs making 5 or 6 dollars per hour would hear about unionized auto workers going on strike because they wanted to make $22 per hour instead of "just" $18 per hour. We would shake our heads and say, "They are pricing themselves out of a job." Turns out we were right. Companies don't relocate "because they don't give a shit about America", it's overwhelming because of lower labor costs. Period. You can talk about, "what amounts to slave labor in those countries", and of course there are abuses... but there are abuses in this country - right now, today, too. But they are the minority of cases.

Have you been to the "other" countries & talked to the people who have jobs now that once were jobs in the U.S.?

I ask because I have, as they say, been there and done that. Here's what I was told: In a nutshell, they are really glad to have a job (making the equivilant of a couple dollars per hour), because before they had NO job. And they talk about the greedy American workers. They hope there is a raise in the U.S. minimum wage, because it'll mean more jobs there.

And make no mistake about it, the increase being talked about (to $7.25), a 40.77% increase, will mean more jobs go "overseas" and will mean higher prices for all. In other (non-hippie) forums, the talk is about the higher prices and the increase in inflation. That, then, would lead to higher interest rates (due to the Federal Reserve fighting against inflation), and then the effect of higher interest rates on the already sagging home building industry(non-overseas jobs). All of which could - could - lead to a serious recession.

Tha major consumer nation is, clearly & by a large margine, the U.S. But most of the U.S. exports are (last numbers I have) commercial airplanes and entertainment (movies, TV, etc.) and military "stuff" (planes, guns, bombs, tanks, etc.).

And when it comes to the consumer, the following test has been done many, many, many times ... always with the same result. Two piles of shirts (or pants, coffee makers, ... whatever) are placed side by side. The items in each pile (or stack or whatever) are EXACTLY the same... materials, parts, quality, everything. Except one was made in the U.S. and the other "overseas". Each pile is clearly and correctly marked as to it's country of manufacture and each has the correct suggested retail price. The items from "overseas" (with lower labor but higher transportation costs) are for sale at a lower price. One pile sells 70 to 85% better, want to guess which one? Don't bother guessing, it is the foreign made items. In other words, U.S. consumers (workers) would rather pay less for goods made foreign workers.

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

They can fire anyone or give put you at the bottom if you mess up-just like any non union job does-I agree that people can change their situations alot of the time by learning more about the business their in-Thats the beauty of the union.-People do get promoted not based on whether your dad owns the company or your brother in law is shop stewerd; but when you have earned it-Whats not fair about that?-It is harder for a boss to fire an employee which is good at times-Sometimes people are fired just to replace there job with a machine or a relative-I saw the good and the bad side of both sides having been a teamster for ten years-There are crooks on both sides of the table in any business-I have no problem with companies staying non-union-just as long as they do like the Saturn car company;and keep the wages and the benifits up to par-They are GM and non union and show profits every year while the rest of GM flounders due to bad managemnt-they canned the -ceo and moved most production to Mexico-Nice-Put alot of long time employees on the streets-losing pensions and paychecks!-Michagan is hurting bigtime-When the countrys biggest company can't keep it together were in trouble-Well-You won't see Haliburton filing chapter 13 anytime soon-With the money they stole from taxpayers and Bush making millions off the war we may never see an end to this thing-It's good for the economy-- what bullshit as people die for nothing-and the investors love the profits of war!

 

Unions are merely a monopoly on a labour market. It is no more moral than the oil companies cartel on that market.

 

Old Dad I wish they would do that test today. Not sure it would work out the same way. Remember the old made in the USA ads during the industrialization of Japan. I know my folks paid a little more and bought American whenever possible. I hear a lot of people say they would buy American if they could find anything still made here.

 

I think some are beginning to look at the quality as well as the cost of the items they buy. I had my computer built in 1999 by a local firm all of my friends and relatives that bought their cheap big box versions are on their third and fourth computers now. Who got the better deal?

Are those same imports of exactly the same quality as local products. Ever buy one of those cheap quilts made in China only to see the stitching disintergrate within a few months. When new the consumer goods may appear comparable, but in a lot of case such as quilts and computers, thread is inferior and capacitors are made with a faulty formula that was ripped from a domestic company.

 

Yeah: Gardner, Dad, Rob:

No disputing plenty of jobs have left The US. There is job creation though.

Labor cost is hardly the only factor. high energy costs play a part.

Big capitalists want to exploit reserves of natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico
off of Alabama and Louisiana. Seems a deal has been cut to bribe these States with a cut of the profits so production has a go ahead.
Predictions are that the flood of new supply will drop prices to the extent that
additional investment will create jobs in industrial sectors that use natural gas in manufacturing.

Plenty of jobs are lost in paper and pulp mills and in chemical plants as these jobs are driven off shore by The Enviros.

My Spouse's company had lots of old plants just shut down in Pennsylvania and California. People lost jobs.

What is needed is a discussion about a regulatory balance that wil keep these plants open.

Everybody seems envious about all of the new factories being built in China, but has anybody seen what happens when a capitalist wants to build a new factory in America?

 

Jobs may be created, but what are they...motel maids, custodians, why can't we track this? Why can't the creation of new jobs be broken down by category. Business and government and marketing can break us down every other way.

What happens when factories want to build, we ask that they comply with environmental laws, why should that be a deterrent? Why should we as consumers be willing to buy goods not manufactured under laws that protect our environment? Because if they go off shore we can't regulate what the shit they do. And no one wants us to be aware that you can buy cheaper at Walmart but they are exploiting their labor market and not complying with environmental laws that rule we the consumers.

 

I'm looking for some curiosity.


Curiosity that our enrironmental regulations might be over the top.

and that a more moderate regulatory regime might help retain
and create better jobs Stateside.

Everybody who works knows that the last 5% of the job takes about 25%
of the effort.
Same with polution abatement.
If we can accept 92% removal of polutants instead of 98% removal of polutants, that diference might mean
keeping manufacturing jobs here in The US.
That same product will be made in Indonesia or China at 65% removal of polutants. We will all breathe it in eventually.

The hard core greens tell us that we must accept a more austere lifestyle here on planet earth as the trade-off for acceptable levels of polutants.
So be it. Honesty is wonderfull.
If you are aligned with this world view, dont cry the Cumberland Blues.
because maids and burger filppers will be where its at.

 

The stats tell a different story. Unemployment in Canada is the lowest it has been since the the Great Inflation of the 70s. Real GDP per capita is growing at a stable but fairly fast rate.

 

Keeping the rivers clean and the forsests in place should never be a bargaining tool-I worked for Boise Cascade as a trucker for years-They make paper-I love trees but love wipin my ass-so I'm torn-The answer is good management of the trees and oceans and streams-The jobs created or lost in doing so is of little importance-The saving of the planet comes first-We should be building all homes from other materiels and replacing paper with something else-as well as gas-it's all doable and needed now-

 

But the economists will tell you that by putting in place ecological protections you are smothering economic growth. I'd rather see China destroy their ecology than allow my country to sacrifice their's for the profit of a few.