SwiftVets.com

[USAFE5]

That is actually one of the Union jobs here - porters and janitorial workers belong to the culinary union
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"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I’m here to help." Ronald Reagan

[Barbie2004]

I have sooooooooooooooooo much to say about this subject.

Stay tuned!

[Nutso]

The week before the election the UAW was running a radio spot here in Minnesota. They asked a bogus question about healthcare supposedly to President Bush and then spliced in a bit with him laughing as the answer. It was so fake, yet it played here a lot.
As we are planning on purchasing a new vehicle in the near future, I will not support the UAW and am now planning on buying something not built by the UAW. Sorry Ford, GM and Chrysler, but your union has lost you a customer. Maybe a boycott of American vehicles with this message is in order.

[Navymomx2]

OMG Unions are one of my little pet peeves.

First of all let me put in this disclaimer, LOL, at one time Unions were good and were really needed in a lot of places of employment, there are a few places out there still that need unions but for the most part I really think they have outgrown their usefulness and are more of a problem than a solution.

We have been Union and non-Union, I will stick with non-Union. When hubby was Union he had to join, I don't believe in that it should be optional no matter what. The business started struggling financially, they got to the point where they had to file bankruptcy. All along the Union Reps were making promises to all the employees that they would have plenty of notice if the doors were going to shut, not to worry. They promised if the doors did shut they would fight for all compensation each employee was to recieve. Never happened, hubby went to work one night as usual like everyone else and showed up to locked doors, the Union Officials refused to return phone calls and each employee was on their own to seek out compensation during the bankruptcy for vacation pay, regular pay and any other bennies, this was over 20 yrs ago, we had about $3,500 in claims, the average for each employee, we recieved $200 at the end of the bankruptcy. So as you can see I have no love for Unions.

As some of you know, my hubby is a trucker now, I go out on rides with him and I have been to a variety of businesses, I'll tell you from what I have witnessed first hand, most not all Union employees are slow, lazy and over compensated for what they do. At non-union businesses, most of the people I have ran into will get right on loading or unloading a trailer, even if on break some will stop taking their break, take care of the trailer, then go and finish their break, don't even think of that happening at a Union location yet they schedule deliveries during break time, makes sense doesn't it!! LOL!

Ok off my soap for a while I could go on and on but I do have to tell ya, some friends of ours, he works for the State, she is a School employee, of course both are Union, but they refused to vote for Kerry, they were supporting Bush, we gave them a bad time how they were baaaaad Union people, LOL!!
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Proud 2 Star Blue Star Navy Mom

Honor, Courage and Committment
something John F. Kerry doesn't have

[Barbie2004]

When I criticize unions, I am actually criticizing the "laws" surrounding unions. Unions do what the "laws" allow them to get away with, which is as close to communism as you will get in this country.

A rarely known "law" is that there is a very big distinction (and recognition) between a "union" and its "members" and each have certain areas of the "law" that each "must" follow.

Contrary to popular belief, a "union" is not a compilation of its "members. An analogy would be a "law firm" is not a compilation of its "clients."

Navymomx2 wrote:

[mathman]

There are two teachers' unions.
The NEA (National Education Association) is the larger union and represents more communities in the US. The NEA is solidly Democratic and spends an enormous amount of undocumented money in its "Political Education" programs. This really means getting out the Democratic vote.
The AFT (American Federation of Teachers) is the smaller union and is equally solidly Democratic. We have the AFT to thank for Mayor Marion Barry of Washington, DC.
Many of the delegates to the quadrennial Democratic conventions are members of either the NEA or AFT.
Neither union will willingly relinquish a penny of a member's dues which was spent on political action.
I was a member of the AFT for 11 years, and saw my union dues go to support a local union leader who embezzled $5 million for her own use.

By the way, the NEA and AFT must share the blame for the terrible condition of our public schools. The two unions are against any requirement for improvement in teacher testing or teacher performance. They also oppose charter schools with a vengeance.

[Barbie2004]

mathman wrote:

[tony54]

I think boards of education (teachers) and teachers unions, federal and state employees should start practicing what they preach;
Separation of Church and State! No mentioning the word God even if it's written in the Declaration of Independence.
Well if that’s their true belief then they should:
a: Stop celebrating Christmas altogether, no more 2 week holiday.
b: Stop celebrating Easter too, no more 1 week holiday.
c: Columbus day, Good Friday, even Thanksgiving started out as a Christian Holiday.
d: And even New Years day, 2004 AD, What do they think AD stand for? After Descention of whom? Jesus?

The whole planet bases their days and date on a continuation and anniversary of Jesus rising from death and ascending into Heaven.
Are they going to stop using the date and year as we have been doing for 2004 years?
That's part of all churches preachings.

[blue9t3]

When ever I worked in right to work states, the non-unions would kill to get the big bucks. But maybe thats only the case with the construction trades. I read somewhere that unions voted about 2/3 dem, unless my memory has failed that leaves the other 1/3 for repub. Dont hate the player-hate the game!
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MOPAR-BUYER

[tony54]

The union members may have voted 2/3 Democrat,
but their leadership, all unions donated big bucks to the Democrats like 95% and the membership has no say so.
Thats what really sucks!

[Bystander]

I once quit a high salaried job because I felt the company sold out to the union. They union agreed to end the strike if certain classifications of workers were placed in the union. That included me. Two months later I found a better paying, better benefits job and quit. No way am I going to PAY some organization to 'give' me a job and decide how much money I can make, no matter my abilities!

Having to pay those union dues for two months was the best thing that ever happened to me. It was on the new job where I (a female) broke through that mythical 'glass ceiling' and in my estimation, became very successful. I believe a person should be paid what they're worth, not according to the 'scale' set up by a union.
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No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
..................................Eleanor Roosevelt

[dusty]

Union membership in the private sector has declined sharply over the last several yrs.
The latest stats. I could find (Yahoo search) cited the private sector as being only 8.5 percent union while the public sector jobs (govt.) has increased steadily to 37 percent. These figures are from May of 2003 so some further decline has prolly occured since then in the private sector.
Fine with me if they all go away. Bunch of crooks running them now days.
Here is some more info that can be used to debunk union guys arguments up one side and down another. Send the union guys to this site and they may want to move to a right to work state pretty quick.

[http://www.nilrr.org/growth.htm[/url]url]

An excerpt:
* Since 1977, personal income in Right to Work states has grown almost 25% faster in the Right to Work states than in the non-Right to Work states.
* Hourly earnings of manufacturing employees increased 13.5% more in the Right to Work states from 1977-1996 than in the non-Right to Work states.
* The typical urban family in a Right to Work states has $2,852 more in after-tax purchasing power than the same family would in a non-Right to Work state. 3
[/url]

[USAFE5]

[zinfella]

[Bystander]

zinfella, yes, the Teamsters may provide you with a decent retirement. BUT--I'm acquainted with a retired Teamster of many years and we go 'round and 'round about unions. When we discuss finances (he brings it up, not me), he says it's not 'fair' that my retirement benefits are so much higher than his. He claims his work was hard (which I believe), driving those huge semis, putting up with idiots on the road, bad weather, etc., while I 'sat on my butt' in an office for 43 years. What really irks him is that I didn't contribute penny one to my pension--it was all company funded. I was employed by the 4th largest health/life/investment corporation in the U.S. They didn't need a union to tell them how much they should pay their employees.

I didn't mind one bit contributing to my life/health insurance. The split was 80/20, with the employee paying the lower part. Recently The Detroit Free Press did a series on costs involved in the production of an automobile. In the price we pay for a car, a little over $1,000 of that amount is due to production workers' health benefits.

As mentioned earlier on this board, at one time unions were very, very necessary. But I believe they have outlived their usefulness and they are a big contributor of why we're 'losing' jobs in the U.S. My father-in-law who lived to a ripe old age of 92, was involved in the 'Rouge Bridge' fiasco. He used to tell us about working conditions/demands at the River Rouge plant before the union was recognized and I certainly agreed change was needed. But, aren't they going just a bit overboard now?
_________________
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
..................................Eleanor Roosevelt