Posted on 08/19/2007 2:05:16 PM PDT by pinochet
Democratic presidential candidates argued Saturday night that organized labor is an essential part of the nation's economy whose troubles mirror the deterioration of the middle class way of life.
"The only way to reinvigorate the middle class is to reinvigorate the labor movement," Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware told several hundred union members at a labor forum in eastern Iowa.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Stalin is pleased.
Everybody go on strike! Whoo Hooo!!
The numbers speak for themselves.
Come on Joe, go plagiarize somewhere else.
Under "assault"?
Ah yes, here it is, right in the Clinton play book. Preach VICTIMHOOD and Balkanizing internecine hatred, that only loss of freedom can fix.
It is instructive that Mrs. Clinton is so pathologically Marxist in her victimization of the American Middle Class. The phenomenal happiness and prosperity earned and enjoyed by the American Middle Class must be somehow "invisible" to the senator.
As with all Marxists, Hillary has no idea of just how good we all (even she) have it in this great country; and just how miserable we all (especially she) would have it if she is able to take us down that Shining Path toward a global Utopian collectivist "village".
Yep. The reason Government Services cost about 3 or more times what the private sector equivalent services cost are from two major factors:
1) Union government employees are MUCH less productive than non-Union private sector employees
2) Political cronies of lobbyists steer over-priced contracts to contributors
Unionization drove companies to overseas labor pools, or to import labor from illegal immigrants. Non-productive and lackluster employees seek unions to protect their asses in the workforce.
Then you have the bureaucracy and all the nepotism and general corruption and featherbedding and intimidation and violence – on and on. Most regular people don’t want a part of it.
An infestation of termites prompts a visit by the exterminator and in the same way that ever-more-expensive regulated/subsidized union-friendly environment eventually prompts a visit by the deregulators and subsidy-slashers.
It has been demonstrated (in the transportation industry, for example) that even as 95 (or more) of 100 once-top-union-employers in the trucking industry crash and burn, their non-union competitors THRIVE.
Probably in the 1970’s there were 870,000 (I heard closer to a million, but 870,000 was the only figure I could find in black and white) Teamsters covered under the National Master Freight Agreement. Today how many? Less than 80,000? 70,000?
All that during a period in which Teamster employers went out of business while THOUSANDS of non-organized companies started up and hired MILLIONS of drivers.
People need to face facts and come to the realization that unions don’t speak for labor. Labor has voted with its feet and is overwhelmingly non-union. They simply don’t want to join the weak-link club, IMO.
Only reason most join is because membership is a condition of employment in a lot of places.
I think I can make that statement with some confidence based on member participation when it comes to union meetings and voting on contracts and such.
When you have 20% of union members that’ll take the time to fill out a ballot mailed to their home and place it in the provided self-addressed stamped envelope for return, it tells me you’ve got about 80% of members that don’t really want to be a part of the club. They’re there because their membership was compulsory.
I think another shortcoming by republicans has been not attacking compulsory union membership – as a human rights violation if nothing else.
I’d also like to believe that a coherent organization could file suit and have most of the Wagner Act ruled unconstitutional, but I’m not holding my breath.
Don't get me started.
I thought the Dems had that middle class thing figured out. They want to take money from poor people by cig taxes and cutting benefits to nursing homes to give health care to some rich kids. They have given up on Robin Hood schemes to soak the rich. Now they’re just robbin the hood.
Unions expose the craven nature of most Republican politicians. Here in NH the legislature - Repub run at the time - caved in the face of right to work legislation.
Until politicians realize that unions are paper tigers populated mostly by members who don’t like forced unionization but view it as a necessary evil, we’re going to have these outdated organizations around for a long time.
By the way - in many cases it IS NOT TRUE that union membership is compulsory. You can pay an agency fee and not be a member. I’ve done this. Although you are paying about the same, it really upsets the union “leadership” - especially if you are a solid worker, well-researched regarding your rights (www.nrtw.org), know what you’re talking about, and not intimidated by tired bumper sticker talking points.
I was the first hole in the dam and, over the years, many of my co-workers - conservative AND liberal - have joined me.
I must admit that this has been somewhat easy for me because in literally EVERY place I’ve worked in that was unionized, the “leadership” consisted of the least intelligent and educated people in the entire workforce.
The Union steward who grabbed me by my lapels and threw me up against the wall, implying that the goon behind him was going to work me over didn’t tell me about this agency fee.
“It was unions that organized workers...”
Yeah...... uh......wasn’t it the other way around??????
A little bit on how Civil Service Labor Unions help us all:
Political Party Hand Puppets:
http://freenj.blogspot.com/2007/08/political-party-hand-puppets.html
You might also want to check out:
Civil Servants Gone Wild:
http://freenj.blogspot.com/2007/07/civil-servants-gone-wild.html
Well, for eons the Democrat Party has been preaching the virtue of “welfare queens” who tend to be “crack ‘hos” so why not let them preach the virtues of labor thugs?
These people are incredible. The middle class is being squeezed all right . . squeezed by excessive taxation, supporting every worthless SOB under the sun, “universal service fees,” tolls, security systems, health insurance, higher costs for goods and services due to crime and security issues, Section 8 housing in our neighborhoods and schools, libs running the public schools (waste and inefficiencies inherent therein) . . .you’re not the solution, you’re the freaking problem.
BTW, I was raised in a union household. My parents stopped reading the newsletter as it got more politically ridiculous with each issue. They also began to vote Republican for the rest of their lives.
Most workers if given the choice will not choose to join a union. The unions with Democrat help want to end the right to work laws that allow workers that choice.
You should have sued.
People need to stand up to these thugs. They don’t have anywhere near the power they want you to believe they have.
It’s all right out of Saul Alinsky’s playbook.
http://www.laborers.org/Commission_HERE.html
Sure... good philosophy. I’ve lived a good many years since then.
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