Unions pretend they care about ‘workers’. They don’t. They care about union members. That’s why union goons don’t care if there are MORE jobs in Indiana - at higher pay - now that Indiana’s a right to work state.
Union goons don’t care if every company goes bankrupt and half the citizens don’t have jobs. They care if THEY have the right to skim the cream. Eff ‘em. I won’t buy ‘union’ crap either.
Well, yeah, it is sort of like OPEC pointing out that their cartel extracts more dollars per barrel of oil than non-OPEC members. That works for awhile as long as the demand exceeds the supply.
But non-union workers don't need to make as much as union workers for a better standard of living because most right to work states are also low tax states and lower cost of living states. A huge part of the union-nanny state partnership infrastructure goes to support the looting class.
Unions care first, last, and only about union LEADERSHIP. This is why they will happily put thousands of union members on the unemployment rolls, rather than accept a pay cut which would serve as a precedent at other companies. Unions look at only one thing: dues revenue.
hey don’t. They care about union members. .... Of course not. They only want the dues coming in so they can skim it.
Related and prior to Indiana becoming RTW - I read a story not long ago about a GM Stamping Plant on the near west side of Indianapolis. GM said they were going to close the plant, but were willing to sell the plant to another party to keep the jobs in Indianapolis. The party interested in buying the plant asked for wage concessions from the UAW so they could operate profitably. The UAW voted no and the plant was closed.
The interesting part of the story was why the UAW voted no. In short, all the employees at this plant were lifelong and aging UAW workers. They voted no, which cost Indiana and Indianapolis a ton of tax revenue, because they knew they could and planned to use their union seniority to get transferred. Their vote screwed Indiana, the prospective buyer and also screwed a fellow union "brother" out of their job because they voted with only their own interests in mind.
If Indiana had been RTW at the time, I believe they would still be stamping bus frames in Indiana.
Re: the Hostess closing. Filtering out the usual anti-capitalist hyperbole on this site, some interesting items: (Full story HERE. )
Snippets:
Among the companies reportedly bidding for the Hostess’ assets are Flower Foods, private-equity firm Sun Capital Partners, liquidation firm Great American Group and C. Dean Metropoulos & Co., whose owner last month said that “shedding the complications of the unions and old plants makes it even more attractive.”
The players involved also include the trade unions, particularly in the Teamsters and the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM), which are functioning essentially as instruments of rival private equity and hedge fund interests.
In January 2012 Hostess was back in the bankruptcy courts. With the backing of the federal judge, the company debtors demanded an eight percent wage cut, a shift of another 20 percent of health care costs onto employees and the elimination of the eight-hour day. The company also demanded the closure of another 10-12 plants. It unilaterally stopped paying its pension obligations.
The Teamsters, which is largest union at Hostess, pushed through the wage and benefit cuts over the opposition of its 6,700 workers in September. In return, the Teamsters were given seats on the Board of Directors, a 25 percent share of company stock and a $100 million claim in bankruptcy.