This is really simple. When unions CONTROLLED labor in the USA, citizens got respect. I know there are all kinds of blaming that goes on with 'the idea' of unions. I am not saying they are perfect, but, they are necessary.
Unions are power. They influence elections, don't they? That is power. One cannot be scared of it, but, embrace it as the only means of protecting citizens from a failed economy.
Being an American company meant something and contributing to the wealth of the nation was important. American companies were granted status and dignity.
Unions are power. They influence elections, don't they? That is power. One cannot be scared of it, but, embrace it as the only means of protecting citizens from a failed economy.
Union leaders have not been excluded from prosecution when there was corruption. No one has to accept that as a means of maintaining representation in employment.
Unions demand value for their members. That means they are paid more than minimum wage, receive benefits to insure their well being and that of their family and their happiness. In return, employers receive well prepared employees without having to worry about anything else. See, unions earn their dues. They don't just make themselves known at the time of contract negotiations. They honor their members and the employees with preparedness.
There was one time in the USA when people were valued as people and not human resources. The country was important to people and the businesses that called it home. Forty-five years ago the disregard to human life as it exists today would have been ridiculed. An employer like that would be run out of town. There would never be any understanding that government was bad. Never. Employers had to respect the people that worked for them. Reputation meant something. Today, reputation is nothing. Walmart is a prime example of that. They don't care about their reputation, they can spend money on 'image building,' so why worry about reputation?
Modernization and automation were tolerated by unions when it meant safer working conditions, but, the error of mechanizing jobs while eliminating employees was recognized as a shrinking market share and immoral to the status of a company holding no responsibility to the USA economy they coveted.
Modernization and automation were tolerated by unions when it meant safer working conditions, but, the error of mechanizing jobs while eliminating employees was recognized as a shrinking market share and immoral to the status of a company holding no responsibility to the USA economy they coveted.
Being an American company meant something and contributing to the wealth of the nation was important. American companies were granted status and dignity.
I can't believe the arrogance of what occurred this Thanksgiving Holiday. Every store that was open on Thanksgiving and some were open at 6AM with price tags stated as reflecting Black Friday prices, disrespected the American family. Thanksgiving isn't about pilgrims or massacred Indians that finally gave in to a peaceful existence, it is about family.
Between the graph and the noted degradation of American values it is easy to state; Wall Street and Republicans have had an interesting relationship. We complain about outsourcing as an easy method of CEOs to win their bonuses and that is true. We can point to the moronity of it all, as it removes wages from the American worker that diminishes the market share of global interests. But, what is rarely discussed is the degradation of the American workplace, it's assault on family values and American values and their profit taking at the expense of all we value. See, CEOs are profiting off the removal of unions from the American landscape, but, they are also profiting when they consolidate 'time off' into 21 compensatory days.
Sometime in the 1990s all of a sudden employers were lumping holiday time, sick time and vacation time into one bundle of time off with pay. They took away vacation days and made them into sick days basically. Those compensatory days or whatever they are called were able to be carried over from year to year if they weren't used, so there was incentive in that. Employers didn't have to worry about time off for their employees, except, if requested or call-ins as sick days. Employers also didn't have to pay time and a half or double time when employees were required to work on holidays.
CEOs have earned their bonuses on the backs of Americans. They did it without conscience and frequently latent anger of unions. They have earned their bonuses by outsourcing American jobs, degrading the pay scale most people work for and by disintegrating American traditions into compensatory time rather than national holidays.
They have also destroyed the 40 hour work week and use part time employees and/or temporary workers to carry out their business activities. It is not unusual anymore for a person to work for five years here and then five years there without any understanding or incentive to stay with one employer to build a pension and benefits.
Currently, the reason companies are using to justify their lack of moral content in their employment, is the fact "Obamacare" is causing it. Nonsense. It was simply a convenient excuse, just like the excuse for outsourcing jobs or eliminating holiday pay or consolidating all time off into a compensatory time bank. It all comes down to how much respect does the American work force receive.
There is no fear here. The unionization movement now within the USA is some of the most healthy activity by citizens I have witnessed in a long time. Citizens have a choice and it is important they make that choice; either become a third world nation with a degraded work force without hope for their future or the future of their children or stand up for yourselves. Unionization is a way of standing up for yourself.
Kindly remember a fact that is always ignored because of Wall Street Propaganda. GM lost market share because it outsourced jobs. It had nothing to do with unions, except, it's CEO despised them. Companies are making record profits while poverty increases in the USA and Americans are asked to work without a comprehensive strategy for retirement or savings or purchasing a home. For many Americans, Social Security is the only method of planning for old age.
When people worked decades for a company the future was easy to picture, but, today with the lack of respect of the American worker, the future is far too abstract to actually plan for a strategy that will be sustainable. Jobs are inconsistent over a lifetime and pay is not necessarily increased from one job to another.
We, as a national workforce, have to reclaim our dignity and identity. Simply 'having a job' is not good enough. Outsourcing American jobs is a cop out for real vision for a company and how a market is going to be generated in other countries in order to build market share and not simply transfer it to another impoverished work force. If Wall Street continues this they won't have any market share in any country, everyone will be living subsistence lives.
Americans have to put their faith back in unions and demand import taxes on goods that are the backbone of our economy.If we don't do this now, our children will never realize a birthright of education and homeownership. The draconian practices of Wall Street has to end and replaced with decent pay and benefits with the help of unionization.
It is a fact, as union memberships diminished so did the Middle Class and now Wall Street wants our dignity and identity as well. I certainly hope Americans still have enough self-respect to stand up for themselves.
If you think my benefits were pie in the sky, draconian and unrealistic, then check this out:
Holidays, time off, sick leave, maternity and paternity leave (click here) Is that in the USA? No. That is an ally, the United Kingdom.
If you think my benefits were pie in the sky, draconian and unrealistic, then check this out:
Holidays, time off, sick leave, maternity and paternity leave (click here) Is that in the USA? No. That is an ally, the United Kingdom.
Happy Thanksgiving for those lucky enough to have shared it with their entire family. I wasn't one of you.
