JOHN STOSSEL: Unions Working With Politicians to Rip YOU Off

FoxNews ^ | October 20, 2010 | John Stossel

[rightwingintelligentsia]

"I thought unions were great -- until at Chrysler, the union steward started screaming at me. Working at an unhurried pace, I'd exceeded 'production' for that job."

That comment, left on my blog by a viewer who watched my show about unions, matches my experience. No one ordered me to slow down, but union rules and union culture at ABC and CBS slowed the work. Sometimes a camera crew took five minutes just to get out of the car.

Now unions conspire with politicians to rip off taxpayers.

Steve Melanga of the Manhattan Institute complains that politicians get union political support by granting government workers generous pensions and health benefits. After those politicians leave office, taxpayers are liable for trillions in unfunded promises.

"It's squeezing out all other spending," Melanga says. "Where are we going to get this $3 trillion dollars? ... When they're (government workers) allowed to retire at 58 and the rest of us are retiring at 60 and 67 -- and by the way we're living to 80 -- it's crazy. The public sector is the version of the European welfare state which, by the way, in Europe, they're actually rolling back."

[BenLurkin]

[JackOfVA]

First college summer job I had in 1965 was in the drafting department of a oil refinery. The tank farm was far enough away that you couldn’t walk there, so you drove one of the pool cars or a pickup truck.

First time I went over to the tank farm to help with a survey, I watched half a dozen vehicles go through the gate and drive off at varying rates of speed. Pretty soon I figured it out. If the vehicle traveled at the speed limit (25 MPH, not all that fast) it was driven by a salaried employee. If it was at 10 MPH, it was driven by a union employee. Never got it wrong for the rest of the summer and the next ones I worked there.

Jack

[Mannaggia l'America]

I knew a guy who worked for the city public transit as a union mechanic. When he started, he was changing brakes on busses and they told him he did it too fast.

He was only supposed to do one wheel per day, and if he got done early, to just go inside the bus and take a nap.

[Jerry Attrick]

15 years ago, I went to work for a grocery store chain in Portland OR. The store I went to work for was the only union store in the chain at that time. I told the manager when I hired on, that I would only work until the point that I was required to join the union. He agreed. After about 4 months, the heat came and I quit.

My boss called one of the other stores in the chain (non-union) and got me work there. He appreciated my honesty up front and also my stand against the union. That particular store has since been closed and there are no more union stores in the chain.

[cripplecreek]

I was 2nd shift process tech at the shop in worked it. When they did a time study, our steward locked out the speed control on our line because 2nd shift did much more with a 3rd as many people.

It was a matter of pride that we ran so much more efficiency during 2nd shift. I cranked the line up to full tilt as soon as first shift walked off the job every night. The company loved my paint department.

[Coffee... Black... No Sugar]

I once worked in a U-shop for 89 days cleaning vending machines. They would not let me drive the fork lift and would only give me the low number of machines to clean that they wanted me to have. The steam-cleaner required a 15-minute warm-up every time it was turned on. A few times a day, they would switch it off requiring an artificial work break! The mantra was, “Slow down! You are making the rest of us look bad.”