Saturday, February 26, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
What are Unions? Why are they evil?
Who are union members? They are:
police officers,
firefighters,
teachers,
nurses,
social workers,
telecommunications workers,
paramedics,
municipal government workers,
state government workers,
federal government workers,
plumbers,
electricians,
bus drivers,
machinists,
longshoremen,
postal workers,
and many other occupations.
From what I can see, none of these occupations will lead a person to being "rich" or "wealthy" by any stretch financially.
What are these union members in Wisconsin and other states trying to accomplish? Do you even know what "collective bargaining" is? From Wikipedia: "Collective bargaining is a process of voluntary negotiations between employers and trade unions aimed at reaching agreements which regulate working conditions. Collective agreements usually set out wage scales, working hours, training, health and safety, overtime, grievance mechanisms and rights to participate in workplace or company affairs".
I'm still trying to find the evil in all of this, after all, news sources(specifically, Fox News) describe unions and their members as "freeloaders looking for a handout", "lazy and incompetent", and "corrupt". To me, at least, it seems that all these union members are trying to do is earn a fair wage for the jobs they do, pay a fair amount for health care, get a decent amount of vacation, and have the opportunity to save a little money for their elder years when they will be unable to work anymore.
So the conundrum I have is this: I'm very much aware that we're in a recession and everybody needs to cut back on spending, but if we as a people are really serious about getting the country back on track, why do certain political parties along with their "news channel" lobby so hard for tax cuts for the wealthy & corporations all while demanding the poor & middle class citizens of this country pay more for their health care & other essential services, take massive cuts in pay & benefits, and insist we work until we drop by raising the retirement to 70+ years. That "news channel" always brings up the scenario of a "transfer of wealth" that is occurring in this nation, and they are absolutely right - it's just not in the direction they say it's going - fact is, the wealthy have been getting wealthier and the poor/middle class have been getting poorer since about 1982 (remember who was president when this started).
police officers,
firefighters,
teachers,
nurses,
social workers,
telecommunications workers,
paramedics,
municipal government workers,
state government workers,
federal government workers,
plumbers,
electricians,
bus drivers,
machinists,
longshoremen,
postal workers,
and many other occupations.
From what I can see, none of these occupations will lead a person to being "rich" or "wealthy" by any stretch financially.
What are these union members in Wisconsin and other states trying to accomplish? Do you even know what "collective bargaining" is? From Wikipedia: "Collective bargaining is a process of voluntary negotiations between employers and trade unions aimed at reaching agreements which regulate working conditions. Collective agreements usually set out wage scales, working hours, training, health and safety, overtime, grievance mechanisms and rights to participate in workplace or company affairs".
I'm still trying to find the evil in all of this, after all, news sources(specifically, Fox News) describe unions and their members as "freeloaders looking for a handout", "lazy and incompetent", and "corrupt". To me, at least, it seems that all these union members are trying to do is earn a fair wage for the jobs they do, pay a fair amount for health care, get a decent amount of vacation, and have the opportunity to save a little money for their elder years when they will be unable to work anymore.
So the conundrum I have is this: I'm very much aware that we're in a recession and everybody needs to cut back on spending, but if we as a people are really serious about getting the country back on track, why do certain political parties along with their "news channel" lobby so hard for tax cuts for the wealthy & corporations all while demanding the poor & middle class citizens of this country pay more for their health care & other essential services, take massive cuts in pay & benefits, and insist we work until we drop by raising the retirement to 70+ years. That "news channel" always brings up the scenario of a "transfer of wealth" that is occurring in this nation, and they are absolutely right - it's just not in the direction they say it's going - fact is, the wealthy have been getting wealthier and the poor/middle class have been getting poorer since about 1982 (remember who was president when this started).
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