From: "Michael S. Lorrey" <retroman@turbont.net>
>Unions once were an effective means of collective bargaining, and
&
>that is based on knowledge and intelligence has no rational need,
>IMNSHO, for a union unless there evolves some sort of monopoly
>buyer of professional labor. Unions were needed when there were
>only three steel companies, one oil company, three car companies,
>etc, and anyone who worked in those industries was dependent on
>those companies for their living. If these conditions are not met,
>then it is the union that is trying to manipulate and extort the
>market. The ABA, the AMA, the NEA and others are IMHO
>manipulative, extortionary unions that should have anti-trust
>actions taken against THEM.
Unions are still an effective means of collective bargaining, and will continue to play a part.
Unions are the result of bad management, effective management can always stay Union free if it is willing to pay the price. I'll give you an example.
Donnelly publishing has a non-union print shop, this is very unusual since most of Donnelly's business is with Union companies, like Ameritech. Here's how they've avoided it. Donnelly pay's it people at, or slightly above Union scale and benefits, as a result the union never gets voted in, and since the employee's have had a choice their is nothing Union labor can do. Donnelly's willing to pay the price, so they get to call the shots, as long as they don't abuse this too seriously.
This is clearly a parasitical relationship, the employees at Donnelly as well as all other workers in the same general area are enjoying the benefits of Union labor's efforts, without paying the price. however if the union was to disappear entirely the living standard of the rest would decline.
Match the top ten average salarie's by city with the percentage of Unionization, they match exactly.
>It is no accident that in the US only 14% of private sector
>employees are unionized while 37% of government sector employees
>are unionized. It shows that the extortionists are clumping
>together at the center of power. In the private sector, no company
>can maintain pricing control over the market to pass off
>extortionate union demands to the consumer for long, as there will
>always be a non-unionized alternative in the free market that can
>compete better than the unionized firm.
>Stockholders will thus maintain pressure on management to prevent
>excessive union concessions. In the government, since union
>lobbying money is not limited, the government employee unions are
>the most powerful voice, which is why taxes and budgets always go
>up, or never go down for very long. The politicians do not
>effectively represent the taxpayer as shareholders in the
>political corporation.
Unions are the result of bad management, the government being the worst of management, therefore has the most Union employees.
I agree with you on the need for competitive forces, being on the inside I see how easily the slovenly would resort to devolution to human amoebas if we let them, clearly demonstrating the flaws of socialism. I fight a continual battle against the forces of such darkness. ;) Our apprentice school also offers continuing education for those already at Journeyman, 100% computer literacy is the goal. Many of us stress constantly the need to stay relevant.
I on the other hand, am on the other side of the coin, the company would have to pay ALOT more for someone who has the skills I do, the fact they can put Union people in IT jobs helps hold down the costs....
Companies have a monopoly on who they can hire/fire, an individual has no power in such a circumstance if the company acts collectively to maintain this monopoly. It was such action that led to the first Unions.
Doctors, in the face of collective actions by HMO's are forced to organize to do the same.
A fun part of the game is that companies still have a turn of the century attitude towards Unions, you should have seen the faces at the last contract negotiation when we sat down, pulled out laptops, fired up Excel, and said "We thought we'd start with a look at management compensation over the last three years, the recent 6% increase in stock dividends and the 2 billion dollar stock buy back." We settled for a modest 4.3% over three years.....
Union pension funds by the way are some of the biggest stock holders.
Brian
Member, Extropy Institute, www.extropy.org
Life Extension Foundation, www.lef.org
National Rifle Association, www.nra.org, 1.800.672.3888
Mars Society, www.marssociety.org
Ameritech Data Center Chicago, IL, Local 134 I.B.E.W