A swinging pendulum can be deadly.

[Bill Cady]

Unions … no longer a good idea at all

Yeah, I get it. There are valid arguments on both sides.

1 … “We’ve gotta have unions or they’ll run us over!”

2 … “Not in my business! I’ll lock the damned doors first!”

This post has been nagging at me to be written for over a week. I’ve kept two small boxes out here on the couch as reminders. So, being honest enough to admit my point of view right up front, I hate unions. I grew up in Lansing, Michigan. For most of my life that city had only two major business entities: General Motors and state government, as Lansing is the capitol. The GM stuff consisted of the two auto plants building Oldsmobiles and Fisher Body where they made the shells to include all the car parts.

When I was a kid, driving a foreign car in Lansing was a good way to get your ass kicked. A common phrase when things got tough in the economy was, “Hungry? Eat your foreign car.” I get it. Uh, maybe it’d be better to say “I got it.” Back then. A long time ago.

When unions first got started in America they were a necessity. The first statement at the top was right on the money. Employers were using and abusing people and paying slave wages with no benefits or protection. I get it. Then the pendulum swung too far. It’s not current but, a few years ago I read an article that broke down all the hidden costs in UAW wages, including the hourly wage, sick days, vacation, medical, sick leave, pension and all the rest of what’s all rolled into each employee. Bottom line? It was costing $89.00 and change PER HOUR for an uneducated person to tighten a nut on a bolt 100 times per hour as the cars rolled by on the line. The people wondered why the American public wasn’t buying American cars.

There’s been a string of brouhahas about Wal-Mart, a nonunion shop. Supposedly they’re the ogre and an omen of downfall. Really?

Thanks to a combination of me getting old, (63), my stage four adenocarcinoma which has an unusual effect on the body, chemotherapy and, for all I know, my four ex-wives, I’ve become a fan in recent years of Imodium A-D. It provides near miraculous relief in 10 minutes from the agony of diarrhea. The trademark product was normally priced around $12.00 at the store where I bought groceries. There were a dozen pills in the package.

From time to time I expanded my search for a better deal. Even the grocery had an off brand with 16 pills at a couple bucks less. The final answer(s) to my needs were eventually found at … ta-da! … Walmart! Better yet, it came in stages. I soon found a 48 pill package for $8.97 under the Equaline brand name and thought it was over. Then, on a recent trip to Wal-Mart, I found the Equate special, 144 tablets for the same $8.97, an incredible savings. That’s 12 times the medication at 75% of the cost of the name-brand “mini-sample”.

The reason(s)? No unions and buying in volume. Can you afford a car that costs $89.00 per hour to build? Diarrhea relief at 12 times the price? Still think unions are a good idea after all these years?

Look out! Duck! That swinging pendulum might knock your head off.

I’m just sayin’.

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[Bill Cady]

With four marriages under my belt, (I ended the last one June 1st, 1999), I won't take part in even a first cousin to an argument. It's just not in me any longer.

[Gene Cartwright]

Agreed. The pendulum does swing. However, the pendulum, re the graphs, show it to be more a plummeting meteor. And the income variance is unassailable. Facts are stubborn things. I welcome factual, independent disproof in any circumstance. I will grow from such.

[Bill Cady]

Ergo the pendulum reference. "Too much" is never good in either direction. You're welcome to include your comment, although I don't feel it's entirely accurate, at my main blog site: http://atmyfriendsplace.com/unions-no-longer-a-good-idea-at-all

[Gene Cartwright]

So much for "Socialistic" policies. Works pretty well for Wall Street types who want Capitalism when things go well but want "socialistic" bailouts with taxpayers money when they fail.

[Gene Cartwright]

Interesting post. I respect your point of view. Some unions, like other American institutions, have engaged in undesirable behavior. The banksters in this country, and their enablers continue put us at peril.

 

Here are some realities:

As Union Membership Has Declined, Income Inequality Has Skyrocketed...

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