Re:How Did GM Pay Back Its Bailout So Fast? Well, It Didn't...
by mmt on Wednesday May 05, 2010 @09:12PM
(#1323217)
But those of us who don't get a sweet union deal have to live with a bankrupt state of California that can't negotiate their union labor contracts, a broken school system run by the country's most powerful union that resists all reform (except "more money for schools"!), bankrupt unionized automakers, a stale unionized postal system that is going broke, and even union grocery stores with long lines because the union resists putting in automatic checkout machines that they fear would take their jobs.
All but your very last example[1] are unionized public employees. They work for you and me, the taxpayer. I can't even begin to comprehend how unions in this sector have ever been a benefit to the economy or the public.
I find it outrageous that it was ever allowed to happen, since, evidenced by your own viewpoint and conclusion, it has utterly eroded what unionization stands for.
I agree that unionized industrial labor was a good idea in 1900. I don't think unionized public employees were ever a good idea. Isn't this kind of corruption the stuff of revolutions? "Taxation without representation" is what it appears to amount to.
In the private sector, unions might still make sense as a hedge against corporate exploitation of workers, as other commentors have pointed out. They also might not. Your grocery store example I've seen here in the Bay Area, and the market is quite unforgiving to a business with such slim margins.
[1] The automakers are a pretty muddled situation, though the US government now owns enough of GM that I'd consider it little different from the postal service.
All but your very last example[1] are unionized public employees. They work for you and me, the taxpayer. I can't even begin to comprehend how unions in this sector have ever been a benefit to the economy or the public.
I find it outrageous that it was ever allowed to happen, since, evidenced by your own viewpoint and conclusion, it has utterly eroded what unionization stands for.
I agree that unionized industrial labor was a good idea in 1900. I don't think unionized public employees were ever a good idea. Isn't this kind of corruption the stuff of revolutions? "Taxation without representation" is what it appears to amount to.
In the private sector, unions might still make sense as a hedge against corporate exploitation of workers, as other commentors have pointed out. They also might not. Your grocery store example I've seen here in the Bay Area, and the market is quite unforgiving to a business with such slim margins.
[1] The automakers are a pretty muddled situation, though the US government now owns enough of GM that I'd consider it little different from the postal service.