http://www.thecotas.com/2004/12/sometimes-you-gotta-shake-your-head/ Musings from a father, husband, brother, son, friend & business owner Tue, 10 Jan 2012 13:55:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.thecotas.com/2004/12/sometimes-you-gotta-shake-your-head/comment-page-1/#comment-86 Anonymous Tue, 07 Dec 2004 03:55:00 +0000 http://thecotas.wordpress.com/2004/12/06/sometimes-you-gotta-shake-your-head#comment-86 Yes the story is ludicrous. But to suggest that it's somehow indicative of the fact that labor unions are absurd anachronisms that we would be better off without is equally absurd. Yes the story is ludicrous. But to suggest that it’s somehow indicative of the fact that labor unions are absurd anachronisms that we would be better off without is equally absurd.

]]> http://www.thecotas.com/2004/12/sometimes-you-gotta-shake-your-head/comment-page-1/#comment-85 Anonymous Mon, 06 Dec 2004 19:09:00 +0000 http://thecotas.wordpress.com/2004/12/06/sometimes-you-gotta-shake-your-head#comment-85 What is a Union, or more succinctly, what does a Union offer that is so compelling? They offer “Fair wages and reasonable benefits for the working classes”. Perhaps…Certainly (in your above story) the four union workers that would have been tasked with repositioning the storm drain would have received more than fair compensatory pay. But what happens if a new ‘cracker jack’ employee comes along that is willing, and able, to do the job more efficiently (almost as efficiently as the non-union, white collar mayor)?What of him?He may be able to do the job at a higher level, yet he will never be fairly compensated for his individual excellence – the union will see to that. In fact it fosters a pecking order that has nothing to do with the effort or skill in which you perform your daily tasks. So while merit based pay seems to make sense, it certainly doesn’t in the Union workplace.And unions are certainly viable, just not in the manner you are thinking. Just look at all the money they dump into the political process.“The biggest union in the AFL-CIO, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) which by year’s end will have 1.8 million members, at its June convention in San Francisco agreed to spend $40 million for more than 2,000 organizers to work full-time against President Bush in 17 key battleground states. It also plans to supply 50,000 “volunteers” from its members just prior to and on election day. And SEIU will spend an additional $25 million on voter registration, “education” and getting out the vote.”Union power! What is a Union, or more succinctly, what does a Union offer that is so compelling? They offer “Fair wages and reasonable benefits for the working classes”. Perhaps…Certainly (in your above story) the four union workers that would have been tasked with repositioning the storm drain would have received more than fair compensatory pay. But what happens if a new ‘cracker jack’ employee comes along that is willing, and able, to do the job more efficiently (almost as efficiently as the non-union, white collar mayor)?What of him?He may be able to do the job at a higher level, yet he will never be fairly compensated for his individual excellence – the union will see to that. In fact it fosters a pecking order that has nothing to do with the effort or skill in which you perform your daily tasks. So while merit based pay seems to make sense, it certainly doesn’t in the Union workplace.And unions are certainly viable, just not in the manner you are thinking. Just look at all the money they dump into the political process.“The biggest union in the AFL-CIO, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) which by year’s end will have 1.8 million members, at its June convention in San Francisco agreed to spend $40 million for more than 2,000 organizers to work full-time against President Bush in 17 key battleground states. It also plans to supply 50,000 “volunteers” from its members just prior to and on election day. And SEIU will spend an additional $25 million on voter registration, “education” and getting out the vote.”Union power!

]]>