anthony05gt said:
The unions have destoyed industry in this country. They hold the management hostage for deals that are ridiculous. Why should some jackass on an assembly line with no skill other than bitching and bolting a battery in make more money than an experienced private sector technician who could fix just about anything that comes his way. I could see if the private sector guys were making substantially more money for comparable skills, but that's just not the case. You can't blame the health care costs for stupid decisions made by management who are being held hostage by the unions. I've done many a job for union outfits that don't want me there because I work circles around the lazy whiners who couldn't fix their junk without a guy from my company. I've got friends that work as forklift mechanics at GM and they can't even begin removing an engine until a union electrician comes to disconnect the battery when he's damn good and ready. Until the electrician gets there, the mechanic sits on his rump.
If you are a union member I see why you are happy and that's ok, you are benefitting from the way things are. More power to you.
Are you or have you ever been a union member? It would appear you have not. I was President of my local for two years and I know what I am talking about.
Some unions (GM,Ford...UAW) have negotiated astonishingly high wages for the type of labor they are performing:
"As part of its 1999 split from GM, Delphi is locked into the same contract covering pay, benefits and job and income security -- at an annual cost of nearly $130,000 per worker"
That is like $62.50 per hour, that is insane....There is no way they can stay competitive when Toyota, Honda and others pay their American employees from $15-$25/hr (plus about $15-$20 in benefits) and are making money. This situation clearly has gotten out of control and both the union and mgmt. are equally to blame for this. Many of this state's residents have no pity for the auto workers losing their jobs because they were simply making too much cash for the work performed. Obviously we do not want min wage employees making our cars but someone making $15 and up can likely do a fine job.
Having said that unions are responsible for making your working environment as hospitable as it is today. Child labor (stopped), work hours, paid leave, safety and a plethora of other benefits have become standard due to unions. The only thing a union does is try to protect the employee from getting screwed by their employer. Do not think the employee can hold the employer over a barrel or as a "hostage". In my state (MI, home of UAW) it is illegal to strike until after you have reached a certain point (failure through arbitration) and then the employer can have scabs on the payroll waiting to fill your shoes. You then have 90 days to work things out or you can be fired.
Healthcare is definitely the sticking point. My union has been working without a contract for three years and we are about to finally settle a contract that will go through 09, and the only issue not settled before the old contract expired was healthcare. We received (after a long fight) a 1.5% increase in pay each year and we are now paying for a portion of our healthcare, so in essence we did not really get a cost of living raise, we actually took a pay cut. I will shut up now but before you slam unions in general you ought to do your homework. I have friends that work for GM and they get drunk, coked up, and blown in the parking lot over their 1-2 hour lunch each day. They can just quit coming to work, get fired, then claim they are an alcoholic and get their job back after a short treatment program, paid for by GM of course. There are guys that come to work each day and sleep in lawn chairs then go home, not unlike the Sopranos construction jobs. There are problems with unions, but they are not the norm, they are an anomaly.