| Author | Message | ||
     Blake |
Despicable moocher looter scum. That's all I have to say about that. | ||
| Crusty |
No it isn't. | ||
| Reducati |
Of course... the Unions need to generate a protective shield...pull out the race card...works every time. | ||
| Cyclonemick |
It sucks that this junk just happens to be on my birthday!! 04/04/1977  the nerve of some people! | ||
| Jb2 |
MLK fought for equality not Cadillac pension and health plans. Pension and health plans for most state's employees far exceed those of the working class who actually provide those benefits. If Trumka wants to play the MLK/race card he should be on the side of private sector tax-payers and reign in these spoiled brats. | ||
| Dalton_gang |
"April 4 [is] the day on which Martin Luther King Jr. gave his life for the cause of public collective bargaining, Trumka said in another speech" Since when was it ever stated or proven that MLK was killed over his affiliation with any labor union? I always thought he was killed based on hatred of race and his fight for equality. | ||
| Dalton_gang |
Some very good discussion in the comment section of Blakes link! | ||
| Sifo |
I never knew that "Martin Luther King Jr. gave his life for the cause of public collective bargaining". You learn something new every day... Whether it's true or not.  | ||
| Stirz007 |
Yeah, but in my case, I killed off all my extra brain cells some years ago, so my brain is now full. So when I learn something new, that means I have to forget something else to make room for the new stuff. I just hope that I don't forget something important when I learn something new like this.... | ||
| Cityxslicker |
cult of personality. It is the first step to socialism. You reinvent the history to represent your motivations, get a big glossy ad campaign about it, tie the persona image to your rhetoric, plea to the sheeple about 'rights, justice, heroism, sacrifice' and it is off to the races. The state sponsored Obama iconography was just the beginning. Soon they will need their own martyr though. Nailing the pickets of Lenin's What is to be Done, like mile markers. maybe they are rushing to their own agenda of an American revolution in 2017 to coincide with the century mark for the failed Soviet model. | ||
| Bikertrash05 |
Wow, just when you think you've seen the lowest unions can go, they raise (or is that lower?) the bar some more. I am SO glad not to be in a union anymore. | ||
| Strokizator |
they're encouraging locals across the country to stage shows of force in support of Wisconsin unions and the Democratic lawmakers who fled the state in a failed effort to stop Republican Gov. Scott Walker's budget plan. Other than people wearing their purple SEIU t-shirts, the reaction among the common folk will not be sympathetic. These protesters just look like a bunch of spoiled brats crying that someone took their playstation away. Here's a news flash for them - NOBODY GIVES A F**K! | ||
| Rocketsprink |
I love being union. I bust my @ss at work and deserve every benefit and pay raise I get. Don't like it? Tough shit for you. The distain most of you feel is jealousy in my opinion. Time to grow up boys and girls. I love how you all have no issue with big business shoving it right up your @ss, and some seem more than willing to bend over and take it. But you're so fast to put down your fellow American worker because they have someting you don't. watching a non-union road crew as I type this here in Arizona. Laziest bunch of idiots I've seen I a long time. But how can they be? They're @ss busting non union workers? You guys crack me up. And Blake always seems to be leading the pack. And the pack is always the same group of badweb users. Pathetic. | ||
| Crusty |
Aw, come on, Rocco; when they're back to working 12 hour days and 7 day work weeks for subsistence level wages, they'll be singing! Probably "De Camptown Ladies". | ||
| Sifo |
How do you know if a road crew is union or non-union? I've never seen them identified either way on any road crew. Rocco, I won't make any claim that you haven't earned everything you get. I have a problem with unions however because the guy right next to you gets all the same stuff whether he earned it or not. If you are all you claim then you are in a small minority. You would probably be able to better for yourself outside of the union if that is the case. I did bust my ass in private enterprise. It paid off for me quite well. It's the way it should be. Trust me when I say that there's no way I would have put that effort in if my salary wasn't tied to my ability to produce. I don't think that I've ever had big business shove anything up my ass... EVER. As for the union people that I have known personally, I can't think of a single one that puts in the effort that I've seen otherwise. Most I know will admit that the union makes it possible. I look forward to your next post on this subject, probably sometime by June. | ||
| 2008xb12scg |
Unions are good and bad just like everything else in the real world. I'm union i bust my butt, but then again, I'm paid commision. Sometimes the union protects people that don't deserve it. Sometimes they protect people that do deserve some help. With my first child my company tried to short my hours so they wouldn't have to pay my medical. Thank God the union steped in. As far as our pension, nobody here can retire on it. But medical is very good, though you lose that when you retire. I've taken pay cuts the last few years just like everybody else. | ||
| 2008xb12scg |
To Blakes post, that guys an idiot. You don't ever compair yourself to MLK. what a rod | ||
| Xl1200r |
Don't like it? Tough shit for you. The distain most of you feel is jealousy in my opinion. When we're talking about an over-paid, over-bennefitted, unionized PUBLIC workforce, it's not jealousy, it's the public being outraged at the crap WE have to pay for. I live in Albany - a third of the people here work for the State gov't, many of my friends do. Some work hard, some don't, but they all agree that their departments would get by just fine with HALF the number of people working there. Why the flying f*** should I pay for that? When they hire you, you get the option to join the union or not. If you join, they take your dues out of your paycheck. If you don't join, they still take the money out of your paycheck. how on earth is that legal? While the auto unions refused to let go of ANYTHING, joe public got to watch the entire domestic industry collapse, thousands lose jobs and TAXPAYER money go towards bailouts. The story for the coal industry isn't much different. There are some unions out there that produce a hard working and skilled workforce, but the big ones have gotten out of line with their power, ESPECIALLY in the public sector. | ||
| Crusty |
You're 100% right. Those coal miners should just HTFU and die happily in cave ins or, if they're lucky, of Black Lung. They deserve it if they're stupid enough not to get Office jobs; right? For 20 years I worked as a miner on mostly Union Jobs. Nobody worked me harder, and the same holds true for damn near every crew I worked on. When some jackass tries to tell me how soft I've got it because I worked Union, and how much better it would be for the country if we were all non-Union then I will gladly invite him to be my chuck tender for one shift. Even old, fat, out of shape and with a bad ankle, I'll work him into the ground. | ||
| Doerman |
When great ideas become bureaucratic institutions it is time to re-evaluate the relevance. I've often wondered why people are willing to give their power over to someone else on their behalf. | ||
| Hootowl |
I'm sure unions have had a lot to do with improved safety at mines. MSA and OSHA probably helped too. Mine worker's unions probably make sense. Unionizing school teachers and pencil pushers down at the DMV makes NO sense. | ||
| Paint_shaker |
"When we're talking about an over-paid, over-bennefitted, unionized PUBLIC workforce, it's not jealousy, it's the public being outraged at the crap WE have to pay for." I AM FAR from overpaid and overbenefitted!!!!!!!! A LOT of the public sector USED to have defined pensions. Now they don't, but look at those govt workers. The attitude seems to be they have it and I don't. Let's take it from them as well. Are there some occupations in the govt that are kinda ridiculous? Probably so. I don't know enough about the civilian side to comment. My experience is in public safety, specifically law enforcement. How can you tell me an officer is overpaid when a 25 year veteran is killed by a 16 year old car thief?? Or 2 officers were shot and 1 of them killed trying to apprehend a suspect who was hiding in an attic. After the POS killed the first officer he took his police radio. After repositiong the dead officer as bait, the POS then called his family saying he wasn't going back to jail. The POS then shot and killed another officer trying to rescue the first who was thought to still be alive at that time. Too many officers?? In some instances there is only 1 officer responding to in progress calls such as a fight, a burglary, an alarm??? Overpaid and over benefitted?? I think NOT! I pay taxes too. Think about it the next time you want your little problem solved or someone is breaking into your house or threatening your family.... Are you prepared to live with "We'll send an officer when we can..." Maybe you can take care of yourself, are prepared for those that cant' to hear that?? Are yo going to protect them? (Message edited by Paint shaker on March 18, 2011) | ||
| Reindog |
Public unions have no place in our society as there is a systemic conflict of interest from the taxpayer's viewpoint. The government and the union have the same interest and are in bed together. The government "negotiates" with the union and gives benefits. The union then extracts increased union dues from the worker who uses it to garner political favor and keep the government in power. It is all good because the money is extorted from the taxpayer. Most taxpayers don't have the lavish wages, benefits, and pensions that the public sector enjoys from this collusion. The taxpayer gets screwed and ultimately the worker loses his job when the system becomes unsustainable (ie: the taxpayer runs out of money and the government fails). In the private sector, things are different. Management and Labor are opposing forces and are (generally) not bound together at the waist. It is the responsibility of Management to control costs and act responsibly. Government has no such constraint. You "I work damned hard for my money" guys: show me one person in the history of the universe who doesn't make the same claim. Heck, I often work 6-7 days a week for only 40 hours of pay but I am not looking for a medal that you seem to be wanting. | ||
| 12x9sl |
+1 Reindog! Rocco, Crusty, Paint-no one is saying you guys don't work hard and deserve what you have coming. Paint, I would say thank you for your service, being a cop can't be an easy job. That said, my aunt works as a nurse in a county jail here in WI. She doesn't get paid overtime for more than 40 hours worked in a week. What good is her union doing her? How about in a couple of months when they let her go and bring in an agency to do all the nursing and doctoring? We just did a job in Madison at the college (we all have union cards). We were being pushed to get the hardwood floor done. Meanwhile all the carpenters were going home at 3. The union people that bust their butts are a minority. | ||
| Xl1200r |
Paint - the public sector stuff I'm referring to are paper pushers, accountants and the like. Hardly considered 'essential personnel'. Obviously I would look at cops, firefiighters, EMTs, etc in a different light. Crusty, no offense intended. I don't mean to intend that union workers are lazy, there is as much of that in a non-union shop, I'm sure. What I mean to say is that when it comes to these heavily damaged industries, one of two things happen: 1) Wages are way too high for the nature of the job and the product becomes unaffordable. 2) Wages are in line with the work, but there are cheaper alternatives to the product. Example 1 is the 18-year-old kid making $60k/yr to install valve covers on a Chevy assembly line. Example 2 is labor costs for coal mines driving the cost up making natural gas a cheaper alternative. I like unions in principle, where they aim to provide a fairly paid, skilled workforce that ensures a safe workplace. Some still serve this purpose, but I'm afraid many are in for power and money and implode industries in the process. I agree with Reindog - no place for them in many (not all) public sectors. I work in an IT field for an insurance company. We don't have a union and there's no reason for one. Why would someone doing the same job for the state need union protection? | ||
| 2kx1 |
I'm union, I bust my ass. Don't tell me what i'm worth or what my family deserves. Why don't you worry about how much you get paid. Tell your boss you need a raise because you are worth it. Worry about yourself not what someone else makes. | ||
| Sifo |
Unions are all too often completely dishonest and not actually looking out for the best interests of their members in a reasonable fashion. They just don't know when to strike a compromise that will allow both sides to work together. Reindog is right that this is even worse when looking at public sector unions. There is an incestuous relationship there that just breeds corruption. Now we are seeing unions bad together in a way that will leave no choice but to castrate them. In WI a dispute with the teachers union has all major unions from across the country pooling resources and sending protesters where they just don't have any interest other than generic union power. That isn't even close to what the unions should be doing. They have a long history of mob like thuggery that is again on display. I have no problem with an honest arbitration, but I don't know when a union has been involved in anything resembling an honest arbitration in recent history. Intimidation and vandalism is a way of life for these union thugs. They once had a place in this country, but they are fast becoming little more than legalized gangsters grabbing power and money through threats and actual actual acts of violence. | ||
| Cowboy |
I worked the merit system all my life and I made more than most union workers. I dont beleave in some one having to pay some else to ask for a raise. If you have to work as hard as you say you do then you need a new shop stewart. (standard union orporation role one of your own under the bus.) | ||
| Dfishman |
I think the issue is with"public" unions.I can't post any thoughts about it because I've not had a "real" job since 1983.I fish & work on boats to make a living.No benefits.no retirement,no money unless I work.I would not have it any other way!I just hope everyone has great paying jobs with great benefits so they can afford to book my boat! | ||
| Reindog |
Ultimately, the market tells you what you are worth and it doesn't matter if you are union or non-union. You might not like it but it doesn't change this fundamental fact. A union with unreasonable demands (like the UAW) will be a major contributing factor towards the demise of that industry. I am not anti-union in the private sector but public sector unions need to be Reaganized. Many public sector jobs will become privatized as they should have been made a long time ago. It is insanity to have a janitor or a carpenter on the public sector payroll. The private sector can do the job more efficiently and profitably while giving the employee a fair and decent wage. This will increasing occur as local, state, and the federal government goes bankrupt. |
