GM Strike
How does everyone feel about all the GM union members on strike placing nails and screws out onto the streets that their customers who keep them employed drive on? Causing damage to multiple vehicles....
Forum Discussion
"I agree to most of this. OTOH, Capitalism with no controls we mean that only a few can own any of the means of production. For the workers that produce to get a share of the production, we need either government regulation, or unity between the workers."
I agree that some government regulation is needed. Since unions started up we not have OSHA, the EPA the Fair Wage and Hour board and numerous other government agencies to protect us. I will also argue that the main weakness in the protection that they offer is with the salaried exempt employees. I have seen and experienced cases of the hourly people taking home more money then their supervisors that are working he same hours. Many of the "oppressed workers" have very poor financial skills and would rather immediate gratification than participation in the 401K program where the company matched all contributions. I had an 18 year old employee make $15/hr go out and buy a brand new loaded pickup and then spend another $6,000 having it customized. He didn't realize that he didn't actually owned the truck. The truck and the bank owned him. I was driving a 25 year old Impala and was quite happy with it and the returns on my 401K.
I have been through several union drives in the factories where I worked. The unions have so much protection that for the most part we weren't even allowed to call out the blatant lies that the union organizers told. Most of the people supporting the union were the ones needed to be fired long before the drive started. The hostility that the organizers were trying to create was obvious and I made up my mind that if the plant I worked in ever went union I would quit. The plant never did go union but the work still went overseas due to foreign competition that appeared to me to be unfair. I believe that it would have gone much sooner if the union had been voted in.
What the government and the unions are supposed to do is create a healthy workplace environment where workers can thrive and make a decent wage. To me the economy as whole has been neglected or even attacked by both until recently. Somehow many people convinced themselves that we don't need manufacturing in this country when that is actually what creates the wealth that we all seek.
There is merit to free trade. The idea is that each group of people do what they do efficiently and trade with people that do something else more efficiently. The problem is that it has become very one sided. What I would like to see is an emphasis but on reducing trade deficits. I think that the best technique is that every importer be required to report their deficit and pay a tax on it with the tax rate adjusted frequently until a near balance is achieved. An additional tariff should be created for IP theft.
I agree that some government regulation is needed. Since unions started up we not have OSHA, the EPA the Fair Wage and Hour board and numerous other government agencies to protect us. I will also argue that the main weakness in the protection that they offer is with the salaried exempt employees. I have seen and experienced cases of the hourly people taking home more money then their supervisors that are working he same hours. Many of the "oppressed workers" have very poor financial skills and would rather immediate gratification than participation in the 401K program where the company matched all contributions. I had an 18 year old employee make $15/hr go out and buy a brand new loaded pickup and then spend another $6,000 having it customized. He didn't realize that he didn't actually owned the truck. The truck and the bank owned him. I was driving a 25 year old Impala and was quite happy with it and the returns on my 401K.
I have been through several union drives in the factories where I worked. The unions have so much protection that for the most part we weren't even allowed to call out the blatant lies that the union organizers told. Most of the people supporting the union were the ones needed to be fired long before the drive started. The hostility that the organizers were trying to create was obvious and I made up my mind that if the plant I worked in ever went union I would quit. The plant never did go union but the work still went overseas due to foreign competition that appeared to me to be unfair. I believe that it would have gone much sooner if the union had been voted in.
What the government and the unions are supposed to do is create a healthy workplace environment where workers can thrive and make a decent wage. To me the economy as whole has been neglected or even attacked by both until recently. Somehow many people convinced themselves that we don't need manufacturing in this country when that is actually what creates the wealth that we all seek.
There is merit to free trade. The idea is that each group of people do what they do efficiently and trade with people that do something else more efficiently. The problem is that it has become very one sided. What I would like to see is an emphasis but on reducing trade deficits. I think that the best technique is that every importer be required to report their deficit and pay a tax on it with the tax rate adjusted frequently until a near balance is achieved. An additional tariff should be created for IP theft.
