Posted on 09/11/2015 12:47:42 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
and FTR, I loathe ALL government unions, because they should not even exist in the first place, and they are behind almost every government fiscal crisis.
Unions should benefit the members, not the union bosses. If someone wants to join a union to get something like health insurance exempt from Obamacare, then they should be free to do so. Union membership should be a choice, not a mandatory requirement.
On the flip side, collective bargaining doesn’t benefit the individual union member in many circumstances. Union bosses sometimes favor seniority over capability. They don’t care if younger or smarter workers get laid off from budget cuts.
The common Wisconsin meme is “Walker fought the unions.” It’s a leftist scare tactic. Wisconsin fought to keep public workers employed and lower the taxpayer burden. Everyone won.
Taxpayers have Congress who should be advocating for them with wage controls in those federal jobs. At the state level, it should be the legislatures. Government agencies are supposed to have oversight from both of those bodies but they have failed in that duty like everything else.
BTW, your condescension is not impressing anyone. It just makes you look like an arrogant jackass.
It’s not a choice for the majority of union members.
Freedom is the opposite of compulsory.
Compulsory is un-American.
Private sector unions are not the problem. It’s public sector unions, any union member paid for by tax payer money, that’s being a real drag on state and local budgets and burdening state income taxes and property taxes. Elected officials mostly have given the store away during contract negotiations, some are waking up now to pension plans that can’t possibly be funded etc.
Oh that's right, some of you guys call them 'associations'...
Not any more than Me being responsible for the up and coming bankruptcy of Social Security...
I’m a state government employee, in a state where positions are funded by oil revenue, not a state income tax.
Wages are lower than private sector, but there is a good but not excessive, retirement plan. I don’t pay into social secuirty, the equivalent amount by the state and my contributions are put in a personal account that I can control investment in. I have something similar to a 401K and health insurance, but no great pie in the sky superplan. I don’t buy into the idea that public employees are paid outrageous wages or don’t do a lot of work. I’ve been in IT for the past 18 years and certainly stay busy. I am not getting rich, but I’m putting in time at work and don’t have debt and don’t take crazy vacations but I do all right.
It’s easy to make a group a scapegoat, but not every group deserves it.
I don’t support the idea of compulsory unions. I also don’t support the government deciding which deductions I can elect to have from my paycheck.
None of the four unions in the agency I worked for were compulsory, I haven’t been able to find any federal employee unions that are, but I’ll keep looking.
What I have found over the years is that the older workers are far more efficient than the younger ones...Employers have standards that have to be met...If an employee can no longer meet those standards, there are always provisions in the contracts to address that...
When I have seen older employees replaced by younger employees it is not for smarter or faster...It is for cheaper wages and benefits...Seniority is good...It protects the workers as long as they are still able to do the job required of them...The teacher's unions are a different creature...
Another way seniority is good is after you have worked your job for a while, seniority prevents a buddy of the boss from moving up instead of you while you are just as qualified to do the job...Certainly doesn't hurt the company and makes for happy workers...
I await your Opus with open arms. if the Mods don’t put you on another time out first. :-)
Union members are not the bosses, except in construction...And that's a whole 'nother creature as well...
One thing you fail to realize apparently is that the larger, better non union companies mimic the unions with seniority in layoffs, promotions...They provide benefits that the unions have fought for...
There is a degree of organization which is inherent in unions that benefits companies...
I have worked for union as well as non union companies...Worked the salary side as well as the labor side...Been a union official as well as a company supervisor...
I retired a couple of years ago after working seven and a half years for a non union company...Wages and benefits were good...And they were good only because of the union companies providing the same types of parts...
They shouldn't be funded now...They should have been funded from the get-go and there wouldn't be any pension problems now...Why condemn the unions for the failures of the state appointed managers???
Mitt Walker, keeping Wisconsin safe from college professors. LOL!
Yes. you can still pay your dues, but the government won't do it for you. you'll have to actually write a check.
I don’t pay union dues, but if I did, under that scenario I would have an auto deduct from my bank account. I just don’t see how this solves any of the country’s problems.
The SEIU split from the AFL-CIO over illegal aliens. Illegals will work for lower wages than the long time union members. More illegal alien union members mean more money to the union bosses who will throw those long time members under the bus when faced with government or private sector budget cuts (or in the case of Hostess, private sector bankruptcy).
Nevada is a right to work state. The union bosses don't care if US CITIZEN union members lose their jobs.
Again, everyone won in Wisconsin because they ended collective bargaining which put choice back into the hands of the union members and not the union bosses -- without placing an additional burden on the taxpayers.
Seniority and tenure should never be placed above capability, and illegals shouldn't be hired over US CITIZENS.
Granted illegals should not be allowed to stay here to take anyone’s job. I think there is a difference between compulsory membership in a union and voluntary membership. No one should ever be forced to belong to a union. By the same token, I don’t think the government should interfere with employees rights to bargain collectively.
I also agree with you on the issue of tenure vs. capability. Union members should tell their reps that they will end their membership if such policies continue or are adopted.
If your argument is that in the free marketplace of ideas, private companies and people working for them sometimes make dumb decisions, I’ll definitely agree with that.
Enjoy your retirement. “Retirement” is something I probably won’t experience. Then again, I’m probably significantly younger than you.
go away union troll.....
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