For those that care about American workers in 2008, it is time to start busting unions.
It is time to take people that claim they care about the little guy and make sure that they are exposed for being the cheating, lying, stealing thugs that they are.
There was a time in American history when unions were essential. Like Old Yeller, most unions need to be taken out back.
Unions survive by convincing enough people that hating a union is the same as hating the American worker.
I love the American worker. I am one. I hate unions. Unions hate the American worker.
My industry does not have a union. I could be fired at any moment. I have no security. If that is good enough for me, it should be good enough for other workers.
Am I happy that I have no security? Of course not. However, I have freedom to negotiate my own pay. I have negotiated poorly when lacking confidence, and I have negotiated well when holding a stronger set of cards.
Unions used to represent about 33% of American workers. Now they represent less than 10%. So why is this the case?
Because non-union workers understand that they can get a better deal without a union. 90% of workers have rejected unions. Just because 10% of American prefer the horse and buggy does not mean that the remaining 90% of Americans should be subjected to favorable treatment for horse and buggy owners desperate to protect their dying brand.
Horse and buggies were replaced by automobiles, which brings us back to unions.
If unions were allowed to have more power, Cyrus McCormick would never seen the reaper make it to the marketplace, as Eli Whitney and his cotton gin would still be king of the archaic devices.
The second worst union in America is the United Autoworkers Union. The UAW has helped drive the Detroit automakers into the ground.
Make no mistake about it. The CEOs of Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors should be given the financial equivalent of hanging in the town square. Perhaps men driving horse and buggies can have the CEOs of these firms drawn and quartered.
Yet right now the firms are trying to stave off bankruptcy. The UAW is blocking the deal.
The UAW says that workers have given enough, and that management needs to give more. Earth to Unions: Without managers, nobody exists to run the company and pay the workers.
Labor costs and health care benefits are killing these companies. Yet Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia, where unions have less power, are part of the new breed of auto industry in America that has a chance at success.
Debate is raging on Capitol Hill over whether or not to bail out the automakers. As I have repeatedly stated, these companies should be allowed to burn to the ground.
Some say that without a bailout, the companies will go bankrupt and the workers will be displaced.
Let me explain this so those with good hearts and feeble minds can grasp this. Offering a bailout without forcing radical changes to a failing business structure rewards that business structure. It encourages status quo. This will only delay a ticking time bomb. The workers will be displaced anyway, and it will be worse. It is better to take strong medicine now and have a chance at survival than have to take more painful medicine later on. Congress is offering a bandaid for a patient that needs a tourniquet.
The CEOs are trying to stave off bankruptcy. Forget it. Go bankrupt. The airlines went bankrupt, and they survived. Bankruptcy is Chapter 11 restructuring. Chapter 7 liquidation is not being discussed.
Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers were allowed to crash and burn. The automakers deserve nothing less.
It costs $25 an hour more for an American company to make an automobile as opposed to a Japanese car. Americans have been led to believe that better pay for workers at the expense of companies is a good thing. All it does is rob Peter to pay Paul and Mary. The higher costs are passed on to American consumer, so that the coal miner, mill worker, and cooper smelter pay more. AFter all, as long as union bosses get paid, who cares of ordinary people get sticker shock?
People who worship at the altar of Samuel Gompers need to realize that the union model is failing. It is crippling the very workers it claims to help.
Liberals will retort that conservatives just want to go back to the days of forcing workers to work 80 hour weeks with no overtime and hazardous safety conditions. This is nonsense. Liberals cannot accept the fact that what may have been necessary in 1932 is not necessarily needed in 2008. This is why I use a calculator as opposed to an abacus.
Times have changed, and unions remain inflexible. One example of this was the California 40 hour work week. The rule for a long time was that anything over 8 hours in one day was overtime. Governor Pete Wilson changed the law to make overtime kick in at 40 hours per week.
The change was fabulous for working people. They could work four 10 hour days and have three day weekends every week. They could work three 12 hour days. This was not punishment. Some people want to work more than eight hours because they have things they want to get done.
Gray Davis then came to California and returned the eight hour workday. As a manager, I had to kick secretaries out of the office because the firm did not approve overtime, and labor laws require we make them leave.
I am an exempt employee. If I want to leave a couple of hours early or take a long lunch, I can just stay later on another day, take an abbreviated lunch, or come in on a Saturday. My boss just wants the work to get done. Unfortunately, entry level employees do not have this flexibility. If they want to schedule an appointment to see their doctor or pick their child up from school early, they lose that pay.
Nice job, unions. Way to help workers.
As I said, the second worst Union in America is the UAW. The very worst union, the scourge of the Earth, are the teachers unions.
My parents were good teachers. Thanks to their union, they were locked into a dreadful system.
For those truly wanting to destroy public schools and ruin the lives of schoolchildren, support your local teachers union.
If unions were so honest, why do they need to lie, cheat and steal to win? My parents had money taken out of their paychecks involuntarily as “dues.” These “dues” were used on political activities, such as voting for liberal democrats, who would then return kickbacks to the unions. The cycle of corruption was compulsory.
My parents do not liberals in power. Why should they have their money taken to support political activity they disagree with? That is stealing.
If joining a union was optional, that would be one thing. Putting a gun to somebody’s head and telling them it is for their own good is more than a tad unseemly.
A proposition on the ballot in California several years ago would have banned union dues from being used for political activities without the written consent of the employee. The unions defeated the proposition by spending millions of dollars, money that they took from workers against their will. People like my parents paid for a campaign they emotionally fought against for the very reason they were fighting!
Liberals try to claim that corporations giving to republicans is the same thing, but this is a lie. Corporations have shareholders, and people can sell their shares. Try leaving a union.
Now unions want card check legislation to eliminate the secret ballot. This truly will make unions even more corrupt. After all, when a sweaty 300 pound man named Tiny is holding a lead pipe and telling you that your decision is optional, the word “optional” takes on new meaning.
If Unions get card check legislation, they will harass and intimidate workers. This will empower union bosses, which as we all know, destroys companies.
The answer is not to break American workers. The answer is to break their jailers. It is time to take the worst unions, and bust them into little pieces.
Congress needs to fire everybody involved with the Detroit automakers. The CEOs must go, and the unions must be blown to kingdom come. The Unions will not voluntarily offer anything, so it must be pried form their avaricious hands.
It is time for these companies to be forced into bankruptcy. Otherwise, these companies should keep doing what they are doing, and eventually destroy themselves until there is nothing left.
I am fine with this, provided that not $1 of my taxes contributes to it.
I have never had a union backing me, and I somehow existed. Others should do the same.
eric
“Unions used to represent about 33% of American workers. Now they represent less than 10%. So why is this the case?”
Because slowly people are beggining to see through example and experience that communism and social collectives work.
Its easy to see how unions can destroy the market they claim to want to cater to as they have lost sight of the golden rule that the customer, not the employee comes first.
Major screw up.
“Because slowly people are beggining to see through example and experience that communism and social collectives work.”
Should say.
social collectives “DONT” work
Wow. I don’t even know where to begin here. It’s all so wrong, so irrational, so conflicted, so ignorant of American history… Really, I just don’t know where to begin.
Let me just make a few quick little points…
There are a few reasons why we don’t have as much union representation today in American as we did in the past and the wants of workers has nothing whatsoever to do with it and if you think otherwise then you need to go back to school.
First – Free Trade and Deindustrialization.
Second – The rise or the non-union service sector.
Third – Union busting by the Corporatocracy and their puppets in government and media.
Fourth – Mass undocumented “illegal” immigration.
Fifth – Infiltration of organized crime in the labor movement.
These are the reasons we have so few unionized workers in Ameirca today. Free Trade, and the deindustrializtion that went with it, took the old union manufacturing jobs overseas and they were too late and not farsighted enough to organize in the service sector that rose so rapidily during the Baby Boomer generation because of this change. And they made a pact with the devil when they got in bed with the mob to counter the muscle of the corporations and government. Their inability to stop free trade, lack or foresight to unionize the service sector and using the mob for muscle were dire mistakes on the unions’ part.
I have to run. I’ll get back to this later.
JMJ
Well Jersey, from your description it sounds like good riddance and they got what they deserved.
“First – Free Trade and Deindustrialization.”
Yes, people like freedom
Second – The rise or the non-union service sector.
Free Trade and Deindustrialization would be the reason for that.
(Being able to bargain based on your qualifications, attributes and viability helps too)
“Third – Union busting by the Corporatocracy and their puppets in government and media.”
Of course you dont mean the dem puppets that kiss union ass for votes and money do you ?
“Fourth – Mass undocumented “illegal” immigration.”
You mean the ones the dems want to have free reign of our country ?
“Fifth – Infiltration of organized crime in the labor movement.”
Like I said, most criminals are dems.
Infiltration ? Hell, Unions are organized crime
Free trade has nothing to do with “freedom,” Micky. If anything, it encourages the repression of poorer foreign peoples and reduces our capacity to earn enough to ensure our own freedom. Words like “freedom” and “liberity” have been bandied about by the powers that be since the founding of this nation. But the “freedom” and liberty” to which they refer is not yours and mine. It is their ability to profit even at the detriment of the nation. Conservatives once knew this, and stood against liberal trade. In recent times, conservatives have coopted a liberal trade philsophy that is not in the interest of most who espouse it.
And remember, union-busting has been a pretty bipartisan endeavor over the years. In recent times, the democrats have been a little more friendly than usual to labor than the GOP, but the real reforms that would help labor – reindustrialization, fair trade, national healthcare, orderly immigration – have not been forthcoming from the democrats either. The democrats put on a nice show for labor – much as the GOP puts on a nice show for the anti-illegal immigration constituents – but the real, tangible efforts labor needs today are nowhere to be found.
The difference between the dems and the gop when it comes to immigration is simple, yet mostly misunderstood – the dems want orderly mass legal immigration, the gop wants disorderly mass illegal immigration. Anyone who thinks otherwsie is a sucker.
As for most criminals being of one party or another – I would imagine that most white collar criminals are republicans and most blue collar criminals are democrats. That would make their numbers about even for both parties. The only difference would be that white collar criminals get away with their crimes or get off relatively lightly, whereas most blue collar criminals get caught and suffer greater punishment. To a sycophant of the wealthy, like you, this probably seems fair, but to most people it’s an obviously disbalanced class war in favor of the wealthy.
JMJ
“Free trade . . . encourages the repression of poorer foreign peoples and reduces our capacity to earn enough to ensure our own freedom.”
Wild and sweeping generalities not supported by facts. Typical Leftist paranoid fantasies.
Get some facts…
http://www.strimoo.com/video/13187323/Is-America-Number-One-1of3-Dailymotion.html
Socialism is a dead end.
” I would imagine that most white collar criminals are republicans and most blue collar criminals are democrats.”
And that’s all it is, your imagination. The reality, about which you haven’t a clue and couldn’t be bothered, does not conform to your nightmares.
Try giving references when you make your assertions. It will force you to deal with realities, and who knows, maybe some facts will penetrate your obtuseness. It could happen.
Hey, Eric. Really nice piece!
This is a good one, too…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmoS4cZ1p7Y
“Free trade has nothing to do with “freedom,”
WHAT ? No way !
You actually said that and meant it ?
“If anything, it encourages the repression of poorer foreign peoples and reduces our capacity to earn enough to ensure our own freedom. ”
Not really. It ecourages competition and encourages countries otherwise lacking to get off their butt and do something better.
What a crock of spit Jersey.
Our original settlers, most of em died from starvation because trade was not free but dictated by the government.
Since then you still people making exuses to try and instill a system of oppression. Systems that are based on socialism and communal or collective ownership.
You dont even know what you’re talking about.
“but the real, tangible efforts labor needs today are nowhere to be found.”
Its there. But as long as the left keeps trying to convince labor that they dont have to do spit to get paid you might not find it.
“the dems want orderly mass legal immigration”
Thats another line of crap.
Anyone who thinks what you think is lying to themselves.
Not wanting a border at all is about as disorganized and inviting anarchy as it gets.
You guys want illegals to vote, have drivers licenses, free medical without paying taxes, free school without paying taxes,.
The jeft doesnt give a rats a$$ how they get here, as long as they can vote.
But you screw yourselves because they take the jobs that you say you want for the union workers.
Anyone who cant see that is an outright idiot.
“the gop wants disorderly mass illegal immigration. Anyone who thinks otherwsie is a sucker.”
No, we just want them to use the front door.
As far as suckers goes.
You’re the proud owner of that bridge you keep offering to sell me.
“blue collar criminals get caught and suffer greater punishment”
Because they’re dumber and went with liberal priciples in the first place.
How convenient that you compare blue collar criminals to the white collar criminals you say are out there because they never get caught.
Really convenient to have an invisible culprit boogeyman that no one has seen.
Yonason.
I have shown Jersey massive documentation before that proves all his assertions wrong or false, some were even lies.
No matter what the facts he’ll be back tommorrow saying the same thing
Micky2.
Yeah, I’ve seen him before. He’s just like all the others. They keep ranting about what’s wrong, and never hit the real problems, only being critical of what turns out to be right. They aren’t able to make the connection between what’s wrong, and what caused it. It’s pretty pathetic. You do a great job of debunking him.
I just wanted to use answering him as a seqway to getting the Stossel video on. Actually it’s only a partial, but this…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZpDjxIPpFc
…is the whole thing that clearly makes the connection between government micromanagement and failed societies.
I don’t have 40 minutes to watch that right now but I’m an avid fan of John.
Eric did an interview with him a little while back.
https://tygrrrrexpress.com/2008/12/my-interview-with-john-stossell/#comments.
Insanity is described as doing the same thing over and over yet expecting different results each time.
That’s what liberals and dems do.
They refuse to see the examples of the past as every generation always thinks if they can put a new spin on the same thing it’ll finally work.
Communal ownership of labor is what unions do. By not letting have any employee hold any more stock in his labor than the next guy, to level out the field for everyone is terrible damper for any incentive other than to do your time and go home.
Merit and failure so not exist.
Much like communist societies, they fail.
That is why we see so few of them today. Its catching on that it just doesn’t work as well as individualism in the work place.
I’ve worked union and non union houses.
Climbing the ladder in a union operation was always tedious thankless task that cheated anyone who had more to offer than the next guy.
In a union house I would get paid an hourly rate of about 20.00 to do an ice carving that was priced to the customer at over 300.00.
Cost of the ice was about 35.00, labor was 20.00. overhead maybe another 20.00.
In a private house I could charge what I wanted, what my services were worth.
The guys who sucked got fired or were given crappy scheduling.
The guys who were good at what they did excelled past those who had been there much longer and had ample opportunity to kick up their product and work ethic but choose not to out of simple complacency.
There is competition in a private house, incentive is given to try and be better than you were previously or the guy next to you as management has the liberty to reward achievement and discourage failure.
What you end up with is a staff that not does settle for the status quo and always strives to improve on any standard.
You end up with a company that is competing within and as result is more able to compete outside in the market.
Unions don’t get this, they forget that without a decent product the customer is not happy.
Instead of pumping money into the product in the first place they insist that building the company from the top down is the way to do it by making management pay employees wages that the current revenues cant handle.
If you’ve got a decent product and a competitive work place, everything else will follow.
The unions wont bend in this case, they will only make limited concessions that are not going to lower the cost of operations that will allow these three to succeed.
Eventually we will have spent billions of dollars just to keep these guys afloat thru the holidays so we can see them all in the unemployment line in a few months
Gov D Paterson (D) NY Gets to hand out Senate Seats in NY, the man who was appointed and not elected because of Spitzer scandal, Is going to appoint the next Senator from NY. Caroline Kennedy gets a reward for supporting Obama in the primaries? How is that serving the American People and the Citizens of New York? How do we get rid of these dynasties out of our Republic?
Gov D Paterson, If it exist we can tax it.
http://monicamemo.typepad.com/weblog/2008/12/put-down-the-mountain-dew.html
Monica Crowley
“Unions don’t get this, they forget that without a decent product the customer is not happy…”
Many of them know it, at least at some conscious or unconscious level, but they don’t care because it gives them the illusion of security. But it’s only an illusion, because, as history testifies, it has never been sustainable.
And thanks for letting me know about the Stossel interview.