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padroo	What haave Unions done for you?
Dave Mills	Well, they ran my Father out of business in 1961. Cost me a job in 1971 and 1973. Other than that, I can't think of a thing.
ALLEY CAT	Why is this question in the Political Discussion forum?
padroo	Do you know or are you asking? It seems Unions are taking a lot of heat in politics these days. Dave what kind of business was your father in and what jobs did you loose?
Dave Mills	My Dad was in the trucking business and he refused to unionize (you could still do that in the (60's). They damaged our equipment and scared our drivers off. In 1971, I refused to join the municipal union at the water company and got fired. In '73 some jacka$$ tried to unionize Engineers at an RCA plant and we wouldn't cooperate and the union ran us out.
Blown632Monte	They have caused me to pay more for goods and services than I would have paid otherwise.
Jim C	That's why practically every thing is made over seas. Not sure how we are going to bring jobs back, it's obviously cheaper to manufacture overseas and Look the Chinese are trying to kill us with there toxic products? This message has been edited by Jim C on 07-02-2011 at 10:13 PM
padroo	What Have Union Done For US. http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/03/05/148930/top-five-things-unions/ 1. Unions Gave Us The Weekend 8 hr work day, and paid overtime 2. 2. Unions Gave Us Fair Wages And Relative Income Equality The impact of unions on total nonunion wages is almost as large as the impact on total union wages. Historically, unions have raised the wages to a greater degree for "low-skilled" than for "high-skilled" workers. 3. Unions Helped End Child Labor 4. Unions Won Widespread Employer-Based Health Coverage got employer paid/sponsored benefits: like, health care/retirement plan? (even if you pay a share) 5. Unions Spearheaded The Fight For The Family And Medical Leave Act 6. Workman’s Comp 7. A safe workplace 8. Got an employer who needs a REASON to fire you? thank the Union 9. Unemployment benefits
heynow14	quote: Originally posted by padroo: What have Unions done for you? Just ask the employees of these successful companies: UPS Kroger Southwest Airlines AT&T Costco CSX Caterpillar Anheuser Busch Safeway Exxon Alaska Air US Steel NFL,MLB,NBA,NHL Boeing Disney GE Kraft Foods General Mills General Dynamics Harley-Davidson Dow Chemical Lockheed Martin Merck News Corp Kimberly Clark Consol Energy MeadWestvaco Kellogg's Hershey's Pepsico Peabody Energy ------------------
Jim C	Thought we already had this topic? http://www.prowleronline.com/ubb/Forum18/HTML/009173.html This message has been edited by Jim C on 07-02-2011 at 11:28 PM
ALLEY CAT	" #5 > 5. Unions Spearheaded The Fight For The Family And Medical Leave Act" There's one item, in most cases, that is totally abused by employees. I said 'most cases',,,not all..
attyedhall	the unions have had a great impact on the way employers view labor. however, those days are largely gone now that there are federal laws regulating most of those aspects of the employer/labor relationships. the problem now is that unions do not view labor as a commodoty...which it is. as with all commodoties, the relative value of it goes up and down with the supply and demand for it. there lies the problem...unions simply do not recognize that fact..so there will invaribly be a migration by employers to where there is a more plentiful and less regulated supply of labor. so, like many unintended consequences..the "labor movement" (you have to recognize the irony in that statement)....has been largely responsible for the shift in manufacturing jobs overseas. and that trend will continue.
Jim C	quote: Originally posted by attyedhall: the unions have had a great impact on the way employers view labor. however, those days are largely gone now that there are federal laws regulating most of those aspects of the employer/labor relationships. the problem now is that unions do not view labor as a commodoty...which it is. as with all commodoties, the relative value of it goes up and down with the supply and demand for it. there lies the problem...unions simply do not recognize that fact..so there will invaribly be a migration by employers to where there is a more plentiful and less regulated supply of labor. so, like many unintended consequences..the "labor movement" (you have to recognize the irony in that statement)....has been largely responsible for the shift in manufacturing jobs overseas. and that trend will continue. Thank you Attyedhal, And it doesn't take a large cranium to understand how productive a company becomes when there employees are out on strike,or as #8 on padroo's list.
Dave Mills	I am the first to admit that unions had their usefulness. Now, they are a threat to this nation. This message has been edited by Dave Mills on 07-04-2011 at 02:41 PM
nitrosteve	This is the most ridiculous and inane comment I have ever heard in my life! I am furious you would insinuate I am a terrorist. How can you make such an idiotic comment, comparing unions and their members to terrorists. I am and have been a union member for 44 years and I am not a terrorist. I resent you saying that and you need to make an immediate apology. Spoken by a true non union member who knows nothing about the benefits a union has had on the quality of life of a member. You better hope all union members aren't terrorists or you are in big trouble. You should be thrown off this site for making that statement! quote: Originally posted by Dave Mills: I am the first to admit that unions had their usefulness. Now, they are as big a threat to this nation as terrorists and I see little difference between the two.
nitrosteve	Editing your statement is not an apology, only an admission that you made a horribly insensitive, incorrect statement. People can still read the remarks you made about union members being terrorists in the quote in my post, I hope they read it and feel as strongly about this as I do. If they don't they should. You still owe every union member an apology as well as everyone on this site. You should be ashamed of yourself, and that moronic PM you sent me concerning slashed tires was not welcome. As I stated if you have something to say do it in the forum and not through PMs. I think we are all still waiting for an apology. Man up!
fibertop	Chill out man. He never called union members terrorists. He's just saying that UNIONS are as much a threat to the nation as terrorists are. That's his opinion and he's entitled to it. I get the analogy. No apology necessary.
padroo	Ed, a company in todays market will always be looking for cheaper labor. I read where companies were leaving Tijuana Mexico and going to Vietnam to reduce labor costs. Union or nonunion, times have changed and our labor cannot compete on a hourly wage with third world countries.
nitrosteve	quote: Originally posted by Dave Mills: I am the first to admit that unions had their usefulness. Now, they are as big a threat to this nation as terrorists and I see little difference between the two. Fibertop read the above that is exactly what he said, there is little difference between a terrorist and a union member. I am a union member so therefore there is little difference between me and a terrorist. Don't tell me to chill out, I am infuriated that he insinuated I am anything like a terrorist. I am not and neither are any of the UPS union members I know. This is self explanatory and you should be able to read it and understand it, but as usual you can't even understand the written word. Read! Read! Read! Read! He made it very clear what his feelings toward union members is, and that is we are just like terrorists. We are not, but since you are defending him it is obvious you agree with him. That is the most ludicrous analogy I have ever heard in my life, and an apology is warranted. You will notice he edited his statement so he must have had second thoughts about that statement. Making a blanket statement about union members indicating we are just like terrorist is ludicrous, and I consider that a slanderous remark. That is as stupid as saying someone who drives a red car is a terrorist. How do you equate because a man or woman is a union member they are a terrorist. That is exactly what he said, again read before you speak and please understand what you are reading before you make ridiculous comments. Read the quote and then read what you wrote, it can't even make sense to you. I agree he is entitled to his opinion but to make slanderous, and that was a slanderous remark about union members is uncalled for and unacceptable. This message has been edited by nitrosteve on 07-04-2011 at 11:21 PM
padroo	Union members are your friend, your relatives and neighbors. The fact that they belong to a Union does not make them that much different than you. Some Union members are highly skilled and trained in their jobs. I had a neighbor tell me one time that he was a plastering contractor and he told me he turned Union, (I thought, here we go with the major complaints) to my surprise he said, "because they have been trained they know their job and I don't have to teach them". He also said because they are well trained I get an extra day off myself because they are more efficient. Just like the UPS guy!
ALLEY CAT	"Union members are your friend,,,," Well,,,,,atleast friends with the Democratic Party! Just in case anyone wonders why Obama and his friends are so hot to support labor unions particularly government employee unions, check out Union contributions. Leading Union Political Campaign Contributors 1990-2010 first $ figure >Democrats second $ figure >Republicans American Fed. of State, County, & Municipal Employees $40,281,900 $547,700 Intel Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 29,705,600 679,000 National Education Association 27,679,300 2,005,200 Service Employees International Union 26,368,470 98,700 Communication Workers of America 26,305,500 125,300 Service Employees International Union 26,252,000 1,086,200 Laborers Union 25,734,000 138,000 American Federation of Teachers 25,682,800 200,000 United Auto Workers 25,082,200 182,700 Teamsters Union 24,926,400 1,822,000 Carpenters and Joiners Union 24,094,100 658,000 Machinists & Aerospace Workers Union 23,875,600 226,300 United Food/Commercial Workers Union 23,182,000 334,200 AFL-CIO 17,124,300 713,500 Sheet Metal Workers Union 16,347,200 342,800 Plumbers & Pipefitters Union 14,790,000 818,500 Operating Engineers Union 13,840,000 2,309,500 Airline Pilots Association 12,806,600 2,398,300 International Association of Firefighters 12,421,700 2,685,400 United Transportation Workers 11,807,000 1,459,300 Ironworkers Union 11,638,900 936,000 American Postal Workers Union 11,633,100 544,300 Nat'l Active & Retired Fed. Employees Association 8,135,400 2,294,600 Seafarers International Union 6,726,800 1,281,300 Source: Center for Responsive Politics, Washington, D.C. This message has been edited by ALLEY CAT on 07-08-2011 at 09:49 PM
padroo	What Unions donate to the Republican Party A/C. Come on, lets be fair and how much and why?
ed monahan	About 3 months ago they published a list. It was an extremely short list.
BeWare	The list Larry provided above includes donations to both Democrats and Republicans. These are the Leading Union Political Campaign Contributors from 1990 to 2010. For example # 1 on the list American Fed. of State, County, & Municipal Employees donated $40,281,900 to Democrats and $547,700 to Republicans over the 20 year period. To put that even more in perspective they gave an average of $2,014,050.00 a year to Democrats and $27,385.00 a year to Republicans.
ALLEY CAT	quote: Originally posted by padroo: What Unions donate to the Republican Party A/C. Come on, lets be fair and how much and why? Pa-drooling,,,,I made the letters BIGGER, so you can read them. Republican donations,,,like Beware stated, are also listed above. Those would be the SMALLER dollar figures. Doesn't your union health insurance plan cover yearly eye exams?