Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Unions stink

What is the purpose of unions? They are worthless, corrupt and a waste. They may have served a purpose in the past. I was surprised to read Ronald Reagan speak so highly of them. They resemble communists. Why are they still around? Why do people still pay them dues? They don't guarantee good work or results.
Posted by at

6 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:42 PM

    I have gone around and around on unions. As of now, I think a union is no different than a coproration, some can be good and some can be bad. I guess people pay them dues because they believe they are better off having the union negotiate their wages and working conditions that they would be by themself.

    Ronald reagan spoke highly of unions because he was the President (or whatever they call it) of SAG, one of the most powerful unions in Hollywood.

    My dad is a member of a union (Communication Workers of America) and has been for I think the past ten years or so. There is no question that my family's standard of living has been higher since he has been a part of a union. What is the cost of the union? Higher prices when you need to get your phone fixed I guess. Either that or Qwest takes a smaller piece of the pie.

    If the only cost of unions are higher prices at the consumer level (presuming quality remains the same), and if that cost is still reasonable, I don't think I have a problem with the union securing better wages and working conditions for the people doing the work.

    But like I said, I go around and around with it.

    Morris

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous2:43 PM

    Here is an interesting article about unions at the Pentagon. This is why I do not like government employee unions. I think they are the worst ones out there.

    http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110008056

    Morris

    ReplyDelete
  3. Michael10:44 AM

    Good article - government unions don't make sense. They are public servants just like elected officials, right? How can they strike? How can they demand higher wages from the people they serve? I don't think any government job should have pensions, either. Then people would be inspired to get a real job.

    I read Reagan's autobiography and his comments on unions surprised me. I heard he was president of SAG but I didn't realize what that meant. So if unions had value - do they still have value?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous1:44 PM

    Don't forget that when Reagan first took office, he told the air traffic controllers to go back to work or get fired when they tried to strike illegally, so it's not like Reagan was a union man, right or wrong.

    I think unions can still have value and I think in many situations they still do. I don't have the time to explain why, but a lot of it has to do with my family's experience with my dad being part of a union.

    Morris

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous1:46 PM

    Though I think Mel's dad had a different experience with the union he joined (if I remember right) so it's not like all unions are created equal.

    Morris

    ReplyDelete
  6. Michael1:57 PM

    Yes, it was a wise statement. Like corporations, they can be good or bad. Lots of variables. Your favorable experience is valid evidence. My experience has been more along these lines:

    "Given the rate at which it's abandoning the traditional role of organized labor in favor of political activism, the AFL-CIO might as well drop the pretense and merge with the Democrats to form an honest-to-goodness Labor Party. At least that would represent truth in advertising." —John Fund

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)