This union worker is pissed at the latest RW talking point...unions are

[greenbriar]

why the car companies are losing jobs.


they are saying that the non union factories are doing swimmingly

they forget what conditions were like pre-unions


:puke:

[Another Bill C.]

1. They didn't forget.

The RW remembers well what conditions were like pre-unions. They're salivating over the prospect of returning to those 60 hour work weeks and peanuts for wages. For them, those were the good old days. It was a time when "decent" people could afford all the servants they needed (and those servants were darned happy to have a job).

[RubyDuby in GA]

2. No car companies are losing money because they pay worthless CEOs millions

of dollars while turning out crap products. I owned two Fords before buying a Honda and I can assure you that I will never again make the mistake of buying a piece of shit Ford.

I find it amusing that American car companies have to move their factories to Mexico, but foreign car companies can open plants here and do quite well (I also preface this by saying I don't know if the foreign companies here are union or not).

[greenbriar]

3. they are not

and that is what they are using to make their point

[Lefty48197]

10. I've owned about 5 or 6 Ford trucks in a row now. Loved the quality of all

Ford trucks have never let me down. The quality is impeccable.

[RubyDuby in GA]

11. Trucks seem to be their strong point

I had cars and they sucked.

[KSLeftyMom]

13. I won't drive anything BUT a Ford

My huband always buys foreign cars and they break down constantly and cost a fortune to repair...while my little Ford keeps chugging along!

[Selatius]

14. That's probably because they're in "RIGHT TO WORK" states, RUBY

They don't have to worry about unions because right to work laws create a free-rider problem when somebody tries to unionize the shop. Why pay union fees or join a union when you automatically get the same benefits as those in the union who did all the hard work? That is the free-rider problem right to work laws create. That is why unions are weak in your state of Georgia and in many other areas with right to work laws.

I oughta know. I live in Mississippi, a RIGHT TO WORK state like your own. They opened a Nissan manufacturing plant here recently. Nissan doesn't have to worry about unions.

[RubyDuby in GA]

15. Good info. Thanks Selatius

As I said, I wasn't sure about how things were in states that foreign car makers were opening plants in.

I knew the man who was the head of the UAW here in GA. He died recently of a major heart attack (he had a heart condition) and we now believe it's because he knew beforehand that the huge Ford plant that had been here for decades was going to close. The unions in this state are taking a beating and most are blaming them for the plant shutting down. But try getting that info (GA being a right to work state and unions not being the cause) out into the media.........

[B Calm]

18. RIGHT TO WORK for LESS is a republican idea!

[King Coal]

4. Unions are not always necessary. When unions are not necessary, they have

won. Sometimes, unions are nothing more than a business themselves.

[greenbriar]

6. as a teacher, I will NEVER be without my union

doesn't mean I tow the union line in everything, but their protection is powerful!

[King Coal]

7. I can understand that. In fact, I am salaried, and I wish we were

unionized. We just took it in the shorts over retirement benefits.

[NYC]

5. I had an argument with a Republican last Friday.

New York City transit workers were offered a 3% raise and a 1 1/2% reduction in pay (an amount they would now have to pay toward health insurance) leaving them a 1 1/2% raise. Because they did not automatically accept a net 1 1/2% raise (what is the cost of living increase?), the Republican called them "greedy pigs" who would bankrupt the city. They don't think of anyone but themselves. They get more than most people; they should be grateful they have jobs.

I tried really hard, including asking him to use a paper and pencil to do the math. His response:

"Oh, I don't do things like that."

He hasn't received a wage increase in at least 3 years. The cost of living has risen; therefore, he has suffered a reduction in pay. He is 65 years old, and cannot retire because his rent is higher than his social security income would be.

I think his rage was based on jealousy. There was just no talking to him, as hard as I tried. People have been taught to be anti-union. They don't understand that they work 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with an hour off for lunch because of unions. The benefits of union demands flowed to non-union workers.

[greenbriar]

8. sometimes I feel like we should let them take us back to the dark ages

and those with no clue will then find out...but we who have a clue would suffer too

[NYC]

9. They are doing it now.

They are taking us back to the dark ages. Will those with no clue ever find out?

I couldn't convince that Republican that if others get a raise, he will have more hope/chance of getting a raise. Instead, it seems that he wants no one to do better than he does. (Instead of wishing he could do as well as others.) He was deeply bitter, and extremely hostile.

[Bill McBlueState]

12. fyi

Cost of living increase in the urban northeast was something like 4% last year. So a 1.5% raise is well below a cost-of-living adjustment.

[NYC]

16. That was my point to him,

but he refused to understand it. Thanks for giving me the actual figure. :hi:

[B Calm]

17. They been saying this same crap since 1982!

Forget all the wage and benifit concessions unions take to keep the doors open, only to see their plant shut down and moved to Mexico a few years later.