LABOR UNIONS & RIGHT TO WORK

[HairOfTheDog]

The Michigan Senate passed the state's Right to Work (private sector) bill tonight. It was approved by the state's House earlier and now awaits GOP Governor Snyder's signature, expected next week.

Mega protests by Democrats and Union activists went down at the state's capitol tonight. One of the reasons cited for Gov. Snyder's promotion/approval of the act (he had previously opposed it) is that 900 Michigan companies employing thousands of workers had moved to Indiana (which already has a "right to work" statute in place); so essentially he is pushing towards getting people back to work and keeping jobs in the state.

Michigan is the 24^th state to pass such legislation; almost half the country. With the uemployment rate shooting rom 7.0% in Oct 2012 to 7.8% in Nov 2012, I expect to see other Republican governors and law makers changing gears and embracing Right To Work legislation. JMO...

-Will labor unions in American be extinct in a few years?
-If they continue to lose ground, is that a good or bad thing?

===========================================

References:

Right to Work Definition:
A right-to-work law is a statute in the United States of America that prohibits union security agreements, or agreements between labor unions and employers that govern the extent to which an established union can require employees' membership, payment of union dues, or fees as a condition of employment, either before or after hiring. Such laws are allowed under the 1947 federal Taft–Hartley Act.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/06...53975.html

[thekid65]

I-dee-ho is a Right to Work state. I've got a bit to say on this subject, as I despise unions, but am limited on time at the moment.

As The Terminator says "I'll be back".

[username]

Unions should be extinct. There are enough state and federal labor laws in place to protect workers. Unions encourage employer blackmail.

[HairOfTheDog]

I-dee-ho is a Right to Work state. I've got a bit to say on this subject, as I despise unions, but am limited on time at the moment.

As The Terminator says "I'll be back".

See you then. It'll be interesting to get some first-hand perspective.

I've been reading up on how RTW legislation has affected the states which have adopted it. Some interesting statistics from the Economic Policy Institute for Right to Work (RTW) states vs. Collective Bargaining (CB) states.

In RTW states:
-Pay rates average 3.2% less
-Health care cost averages 2.6% less
-Pensions average 4.6% less
-Unemployment as of mid 2012 was 6.9% in RTW states and 7.5% in CB states.

So, you've got lower costs for businesses, lower pay and health + retirement benefits for employees, and more people working on average in RTW states vs. CB states, as would be expected.

The rate of growth in private sector employees for RTW states was double that of CB states and the patent rate was triple that of CB states from 1995-2005 (source: American Legislative Exchange Council) . I expected the numbers to be higher in RTW states, but not that much higher.

Given all of these factors plus the new health care mandates and the current economic crisis, it's only gonna get harder for CB states to maintain existing businesses and attract new ones, imo. I'm curious as to whether Indiana and Michigan's lead will result in a series of RTW acts being proposed and pushed through other Midwestern states and eventually start to gain consideration/support of Governors across the rest of the country.


Current RTW states:
Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana,
Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada,
North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wyoming

[HairOfTheDog]

Unions should be extinct. There are enough state and federal labor laws in place to protect workers. Unions encourage employer blackmail.

I think economic crisis is causing a lot of people to reconsider the viability of Unions in the long term.

But, imagine the challenge of getting RTW legislation passed in a state with a Democratic legislature and/or governor, even if that state is losing jobs to RTW states and/or companies are going out of business. Re-election concerns vs. economic survival - the political influence of unions is significant.

[Maggot]

I can see how unions and democrates would let a state lose a ton of money so that polititians and union thugs could keep their bankrolls filled.

[username]

Imagine getting RTW passed in a state with a democratic super majority.



I wanna move.

[FAHQTOO]

I've worked for two different unions...they suck!!

They had a place in history, and used to be good for the workers, now they need to go away. Nothing but corruption going on now. They serve no purpose like they used to.

I remember in the 2000 election, the U president came up and asked me who I was voting for...I asked why? He says "because we need to know who's on our side and who isn't. I said..."what is that supposed to mean?" He says..."If we find out people are voting for Gore, we're going to make their lives a living hell in here until they're gone". I said..."Don't worry, I'll be voting for the "right" person, winked at him, smiled, and walked away...then I went and voted for Bush.

They will make you miserable in your job if you don't bow down to them. I always knew the right thing to say, but it pissed me off to no end. I don't take shit like that lightly, but I had kids to feed, and when I was able to leave there, you bet I told them exactly how I felt.

I have all kinds of Union tales to tell, but they all come out the same way. They're fucking corrupt, and that's the bottom line.

We also have a GM plant in the Fort. I can tell you all kinds of shit about them too, with the same results.

[Maggot]

The California Federation of Teachers, an AFL-CIO affiliate that rakes in an estimated $22 million in coerced dues, enjoys nonprofit, tax-exempt 501©(5) status. So does CFT's larger counterpart, the California Teachers Association, which collects a whopping $300 million in annual dues. While they burn through mountains of dues lobbying for everyone else to pay higher taxes, these Democratic partisan heavies pay nothing in either federal or state income taxes. Zero, zip, nada. In theory, the unions are entitled to this special status because their "primary" purpose is to "secure better working conditions, wages and similar benefits" for their members.

Ahhhhh the sssssmell of mmmmmoney..........

[HairOfTheDog]

I said..."Don't worry, I'll be voting for the "right" person, winked at him, smiled, and walked away...then I went and voted for Bush.

They will make you miserable in your job if you don't bow down to them. I always knew the right thing to say, but it pissed me off to no end. I don't take shit like that lightly, but I had kids to feed, and when I was able to leave there, you bet I told them exactly how I felt.

I can can totally picture you doing that in regards to the voting issue.

Sounds like the blackmail that username referred to was used not only used on the employers but also the union members. Not cool...

Ahhhhh the sssssmell of mmmmmoney..........

You stepped in what?

Yep, it's a tax free revenue-generating enterprise.

As a California teacher, I want my nephew to have fair pay and good benefits. But, as user noted, California is flooded with labor laws to protect employees and promote their interests. Sure, they make more and get more individually with the union in place, but the state's ability to afford fewer teachers just means larger and larger class sizes (not good for the teachers or the students, imo).

[Maggot]

In cat shit this morning. There is a place over the rainbow bridge.........

[HairOfTheDog]

In cat shit this morning. There is a place over the rainbow bridge.........

Whenever I told my dad about something sketchy that was going on, he'd raise his eyebrows and say, "you stepped in what?" or "your what hurts?". Nutty, but still makes me smile.

P.s. I don't think I've made one post without typos, repeats or missing words in the last 2 days. This one here is gonna be it. I can feel it!

[Maggot]

You are ahead there. You gained one sentence and an entire paragragh.

[HairOfTheDog]

You are ahead there. You gained one sentence and an entire paragragh.

I'm often premature on hitting "post reply" and usually a day late and a dollar short on catching errors in time for the "edit post" option.

One of these days, I'm gonna figure this thing out...

[Maggot]

When you truly find the answer, please let me know because the printed word is so permanent that I think talking in wing-dings would be Egyptian enough to make people lose interest. Ask Cladking he will know.

[HairOfTheDog]

أنا لا أفهم حقا ما كتبته، ولكن ربما السيد Cladking سيفهم ذلك.

[HairOfTheDog]

Governor Snyder is under strong attack in Michigan from Democrats and union activists.

Maybe it already was given the union-led ballot measures and lawsuits seeking to stop many of his first-term decisions to date. But making Michigan, cradle of the United Auto Workers union credited with helping build America’s middle class, the 24^th state with a right-to-work law is a thunderbolt.

“I don’t think he understands yet how divisive this is going to be. It’s going to be a war – not a two-month ‘boy we’re upset kind of thing,’” said Steven Cook, president of the 170,000-member Michigan Education Association. “This is not going to help his agenda. … Cooperation is going to come to a halt.”

http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/...v_sny.html

I think Snyder did what he thought was right. He did not support RTW and tried other means of lowering unemployment and losing jobs to RTW states before he eventually got behind the act. Seems to me that he was facing reality and acting for the good of his state's economy - it could cost him politically. JMO...

[HairOfTheDog]

When you truly find the answer, please let me know because the printed word is so permanent that I think talking in wing-dings would be Egyptian enough to make people lose interest. Ask Cladking he will know.

I think the answer is in not doing too many things at once when interrupted, in terms of posting without needing a lot of edits. I'll work on it.

I didn't understand what you meant with the other part, so I had it translated to Arabic for Clad. I don't know if he'll know or not.

[Maggot]

When you truly find the answer, please let me know because the printed word is so permanent that I think talking in wing-dings would be Egyptian enough to make people lose interest. Ask Cladking he will know.

I think the answer is in not doing too many things at once when interrupted, in terms of posting without needing a lot of edits. I'll work on it.

I didn't understand what you meant with the other part, so I had it translated to Arabic for Clad. I don't know if he'll know or not.

Let me help...........If you typed in wing dings then it wouldn't matter what you edited because nobody would know what you were talking about in the first place.
I shortened it a bit in the original.

[HairOfTheDog]

Let me help...........If you typed in wing dings then it wouldn't matter what you edited because nobody would know what you were talking about in the first place.
I shortened it a bit in the original.

I see. I'll hold off on the wing-dinging for now and focus on gettin' my posts right in the first place.

I see a lot of strange things when I'm out and about. Today, I saw something new. A Japanese Santa Claus with two big black elves in front of the Convention Center.

I was driving by, so I don't know if they were working or just doin' their own holiday thing, but I'd bet they were part of a union if they were on the clock. I've heard about a couple of interesting private unions here.