WASH: Taft-Hartley Act. (ORDERED)

TBO ^ | 10/8/02

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Bush decided to order the Justice Department to seek the injunction after board of inquiry hand-picked by the White House reported that the two-week-old labor standoff has no chance of ending soon, said two administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The board's brief report does not go into detail about the economic and national security impact of the shutdown, but it does hold out little hope for a resolution of the conflict, said one of the sources.

[Billy_bob_bob]

So the union should do what, in your opinion?

[bybybill]

This is the same union that went on strike during EVERY war in the 20th century

[Green]

I wasn't suggesting that the problem is solved. I was merely pointing out that my opinion is that the dems can't use this politically against Bush since they are divided on whether or not he should have taken this step.

[Mo1]

I saw the same average quoted in a newspaper article.

I have seen it also .. my quess it may be the average in this area and no it is not uncommon for Union Workers to make that much .. I have a friend who is pulling in about 150,000 a year. I am thinking it all depends on your field and area of work ..

[steveegg]

And one more thing. This, taken directly from your post (#18 for the record) sure sounds like glorifying union-sanctioned murder to me:

The historical fact is that these dockworkers FOUGHT for their union, they had actual battles with strikebreakers and thugs where real people died. After the dust settled they worked out something that gave them some real wealth in return for their labor. In other words, they staked out a claim, fought for it, and have reaped the rewards.

[Poohbah]

A few executions for high treason would have done wonders for their behavior...

[Green]

I suppose cost of living would have a lot to do with average pay. Is the cost of living 3 times as much in California as it is in Texas?

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

That's not the real point of the entire issue. The union in the end is doing the work the Leftists can't, creating an economic issue before November. It seems that the strike has become the prevailing them regardless of the economic impact. And with the high salaries, constant concessions, unemployed Americans, as well as the recent baseball strike, this too may be more crap in the DNC faces.

[steveegg]

They should have been honest in their tactics and struck taking any and all consequences (including replacement) if they thought that it wasn't worth doing 100% of the work for 100% of the pay.

[Willie Green]

You want Exhibit A as to why companies go offshore, look at the unions themselves.

We can do that, if you'd like.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics -- Union Members Summary

In 2001, workers in the public sector continued to have unionization rates that were about four times higher than their counterparts in private industry. The unionization rate of government workers was 37.4 percent, compared with 9.0 percent among private sector employees. Union membership rates of government employees have held steady since 1983, while those of private nonagricultural employees have declined. Local government, which includes many workers in the heavily unionized occupations of teachers, firefighters, and police officers, had the highest unionization rate, at 43.1 percent. Among the private nonagricultural industries, the union membership rate was the highest in transportation and public utilities (23.5 percent). The construction and manufacturing industries also had higher-than-average unionization rates, at 18.4 percent and 14.6 percent, respectively. The nonagricultural industry with the lowest unionization rate in 2001 was finance, insurance, and real estate--2.1 percent.

Among the occupational groups, protective service workers continued to have the highest union membership rate in 2001, at 38.0 percent. Precision production, craft, and repair workers and operators, fabricators, and laborers also had above-average unionization rates, at 21.5 and 19.9 percent, respectively. These workers typically are employed in the highly-unionized industries of construction and manufacturing. Professional specialty workers, a group that includes teachers, also had a higher-than-average union member- ship rate, at 19.1 percent. The rate was lowest among sales occupations (3.5 percent).

So the union boogeymen are predominant (not surprisingly) in GOVERNMENT jobs, including teachers' unions and "protective" services. (To this burden, one should probably add the professional guilds that are not usually formally recognized as "unions": licensing organizations such as the American Bar Association and the American Medical Association.
In contrast, the manufacturing sector is largely 80% NON-UNION.

Yes, we can look at the unions.
But to be on target, one has to be objective about which unions we're talking about.
The primary offender are those in the government bureacracy.

Those superficial RINOs who argue for "free" trade, merely to avoid the economic restrictions placed on domestic production by our own government are guilty of cowardice in the face of the enemy. They have abandoned the 80% of our industrial work force who are non-union, simply to enlarge their own wallets. These portfolio-patriots are hypocrits and undermine our domestic economic stability and national security.

[steveegg]

Oh, by the way, thanks for ignoring the question. Here it is again, re-written so that it will take either 2 or 3 letters to answer.

Are you justifying the union thugs slowing things down by 60%, knowing that (a) they'll be paid 100% of their salary and (b) the dock owners can't do ANYTHING about it?

[Mo1]

To be honest I'm not sure of that answer

[etabeta]

interesting bio on Harry Bridges, founder of the union can be found through Google. regards

[Billy_bob_bob]

You are drawing conclusions that are not warranted. Two groups of opposing forces battle each other, one group (management, by the way) initiates the use of force, the other group responds. Both sides suffer casualties. This is hardly what one would call "union-sanctioned murder", and I think you are being quite deceptive when you make that argument.

[Mo1]

The union in the end is doing the work the Leftists can't, creating an economic issue before November. It seems that the strike has become the prevailing them regardless of the economic impact.

BINGO and isn't it the Unions that Dashole wants to protect in the Homeland Security Bill??

[bert]

....Does the national government have the right to force people to work.....

The answer is yes...... when the government has provided the workers with monopy powers. Remove the monoply and the power is gone.

[Billy_bob_bob]

"They should have been honest in their tactics and struck taking any and all consequences (including replacement) if they thought that it wasn't worth doing 100% of the work for 100% of the pay."

That I will agree with. I'm not fond of people using deceptive tactics. They should have simply struck, IMHO.

[Poohbah]

The AFL-CIO chased "the bosses" out of the country in the 1970s...and then wondered why their members became unemployed.

Manufacturing is largely non-union now BECAUSE of the excesses of industrial unions. And the remaining private-sector unions seem to be hell-bent on pricing their members out of the market.

[rintense]

Yep. I can just hear the other union members saying, 'why not us?' But that number, with the $80 B a day of lost revenue really got me pissed. No wonder the economy seems weak. That strike has had an effect on it. And if the Dems cry, they look like they are obstructing other businesses from making money and keeping people employed. So, they are the ones that have much to lose if they cry about Bush getting involved.

[steveegg]

So now it's "Because the management murdered, the union is free to murder?"

Time to take a step back. Neither one of us has cited historical fact yet in this regard.