thank you for unions

dave3974: Looking forward to the weekend? You can thank labor unions for that, along with your safe work place, benefits (if you’re lucky enough to have them), a minimum wage, and having our kids in schools not factories. We now take these union-led reforms, like 8-hour work days, minimum wage, safe work environments, paid vacations, collective bargaining, and even childhood for granted. Workers and unions fought, sacrificed, and sometimes died in an ongoing struggle that lasted over a century to wrest these victories from the clenched jaws of the greedy and inhumane 1%. Thanks to the decline of labor unions and 40 years of harmful Republican policies that have undermined unions, we’re slowly but surely losing these rights.
The New Deal‘s enemies – big business, Republicans, conservatives – had developed a coordinated strategy by the late 1940s. They would break up the coalition of organized labor, socialist and communist parties: the mass base that had forced through the 1930s New Deal. Then each coalition member could be individually destroyed. [...] Nor did labor unions or the left find or implement any successful strategy to counter the 50-year program aimed to destroy them.

dave3974: Fortunately, unions are now re-energized and forging alliances with faith, community, and political groups to help workers organize, demand better work conditions, and demand a living wage. August’s ongoing fast food worker strikes for a $15 minimum wage are great examples of labor on the rebound. Labor Unions and their allies have also gotten more media-savvy, as they spread the word that companies can afford to pay more and that the ones who do — like Trader Joe‘s, Costco, and Publix — can still rake in big profits. They’re also getting the hang of the web and social media: The union-backed OUR Walmart uses Facebook and twitter for events and outreach, while using their website and YouTube channel to tell compelling stories about Walmart’s workers that strike home with the public. Meanwhile, the United Farm Workers have created a foundation to address the immigration issues faced by many of the workers they represent

A Gallup poll taken shortly before the 2013 Labor Day weekend shows that 54% of Americans hold favorable opinions about unions — not as good as the 75% high mark in 1956, but two percent better than last year’s poll. This is a hopeful sign for those of us who want to preserve labor unions’ key victories from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

chronology: Good Thread Dave. Jimmy Hoffa's National Trucking basic wage was an epic step forward for American Truckers. It gave them decent living standards.

DEEP_acheleg: and the gas taxes and obama laws are resulting in an un-decent wage, again

davidk14: .
From the US Department of Labor:

In 2012, the union membership rate--the percent of wage and salary workers who were
members of a union--was 11.3 percent, down from 11.8 percent in 2011, the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics reported today. The number of wage and salary workers belonging
to unions, at 14.4 million, also declined over the year. In 1983, the first year for
which comparable union data are available, the union membership rate was 20.1 percent,
and there were 17.7 million union workers.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm

You would think....that if the unions were so great....they would be growing under Obama not declining.

You would think....that if the unions were so great....they would represent more Americans and not just a measly 11% of the working class. And do you know where the most union members are....IN GOVERNMENT !!!! HELLO!!!! Get your heads out of your butts and read.

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dave3974: Sadly there is a virulent campaign against unions in the Us , but the damage does appaer to be being put right .Apparently there’s a lot of hate and animosity out there for folk that bargain with their bosses to achieve better working conditions, benefits and pay. Is that wrong? Many rightwing Americans think so. Unfortunately, they’ve been brainwashed by the right’s noise machine. Plus, the Democratic leadership has a major messaging problem. They’re blinded by ivory palace comfort and isolation from the core grassroots.

Labor unions have a long and challenging history in the United States. To some people, they conjure up thoughts of organized crime and gangsters like Jimmy Hoffa. To workers who actually know first-hand, labor unions represent solidarity among the working classes, bringing people together across many levels to lobby for better rights, wages and benefits. Unions are also an important and fundamental part of the history of United States commerce and the country’s growth into an economic powerhouse.

Without unions, there’d be no Middle Class, no 40-hour week, no weekends, no over-time, no child-labor laws, no pensions, no healthcare, no workers’ comp, and no job safety regulations.

Without unions, everyone beneath the 1% would be making less than minimum wage. Without unions, workers would be fired for no reason with no one to represent them in case they wanted their jobs back.

So what do unions do and why are they still important? Labor unions help ALL workers today – including those in a non-union shop. Without unions, employees at places like Wal-Mart or Target would have no rights or benefits whatsoever. The union movement gave birth to it all (including Social Security and Medicare), and without its influence, places of employment would return to patterns dating back of pre-labor history.

chronology: People also forget that Unions often help save Businesses. Some years ago during George W Bush's Government, Steel Unions worked hard with Management to have a Tariff placed on imported Steel and thus protect American Steel Plants and workers and manager's jobs. American Steel folks were accused of protecting inefficient Plants, but Management and Workers both demonstrated they needed Tariff protection from unfair competition from overseas. Well done workers, and well done management.

davidk14: .

With all that the two of you have said, the facts are the facts. Unions have been on the decline for decades and government owns most of them and you should be scared....very, very scared of that fact.

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Cherry Mischief: Regardless of a decline in unions, the work force would not be where it is today without them. You have to wonder, would the work force continue to be what it is if the unions completely dissolved. I'm not so sure about that.

davidk14: .

At the time of the UNIONS....the laws in the workplace were non-existent.

However, now...there are laws in place to protect employees from being discriminated against because of age, sex, color, etc. There are laws to protect minors. There are laws to protect employees from injury as well as workman's compensation, unemployment insurance and a host of other agencies that look out for the employee at the workplace. There are minimum wage laws. There are laws to cover overtime pay. Just look at all the Human Resource posters in your workplace right now. They cover numerous walls in employee areas. And, most companies have a Human Resource department that takes employee complaints very seriously. Unions are no longer needed especially since they only represent a small fraction of the workforce and mostly, government jobs anyway.

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chronology: Dave3964. If you want to read Mr Jimmy Hoffa's real story, may I suggest you read ''Hoffa' the real story'. All you have probably read about Mr Hoffa is the smear stories in the Media. ''Hoffa' the real story' was written by Mr Hoffa himself.

davidk14: .

"...In 1964, Hoffa was convicted in separate trials of jury tampering and misusing union pension funds. In 1967, he began serving a 13-year sentence at the federal prison in Lewisburg, Pa."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation


Smear stories? Seriously?



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chronology: David you have stated many times and in great detail your dislike of Mr Hoffa and American Unions. There are two sides to every story and people are never given references to where they can read Mr Hoffa's side to the story. Mr Hoffa has been the target of smear stories ever since he became the Leader of the Teamsters, a Union he built from having 150.000 members to a vibrant Union of 1.000.000 members when he left the Union. Your two comments here about Mr Hoffa reflect your hatred of him, I could reply that he stood by his friends taking punches in the face defending Lawful Picketing, how he worked long hours organising workers to negotiate with Businesses to improve their conditions etc.

As ever David there is always two sides to an discussion. The Book ''Hoffa' the real story' is Mr Hoffa's side of the discussion.

chronology: Good news for employees in the U.S. Mr Obama is planning to expand the eligibility of overtime pay to a wide range of American workers including junior managers. The 'time and a half' pay level after working contracted hours could soon benefit millions of working Americans currently not eligible for the extra pay hours.

The Right Wing Press predictably are slavering about the end of American Industry and bombarding Americans with images of 'Detroit'. American Right Wing Economists have notorious amnesia whenever such legislation is planned to assist working families in the U.S. The period of greatest growth in the U.S. Economy coincided with the increase of Labour Protection Laws in the 1950s. But hey, don't let facts spoil a good scare story.

dave3974: fox news will not be pleased

davidk14: .

Loss of jobs will be inevitable.

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dave3974: boo hoo

chronology: If raising the wages and living standards of Americans leads to job losses why in the 1950s and 1960s when American workers were the best paid workers in the history of the world, did America 'grow grow grow' economically? David when the tide rises all boats rise, when the standard of living rises all members of society benefit through better wages and working conditions.

Mind you, when the tide goes out you then see who is in the water with no swimming costumes on. With falling living standards in the U.S. for the last 30 years you see how naked Right Wing economics are. Well done Democrats for beginning the journey back to putting America to living with dignity.

davidk14: .

You are thinking with your emotions and not with cold hard numbers.

You employ 100 people. Your labor cost is already the largest cost percentage of your business. Now the government is telling you to raise the cost of your labor force. The cost of your product goes up. You have no choice but to raise the cost of your product and pass off the cost to your customers. Since every ones labor costs goes up, the price of all products goes up. Since most folks do not get a raise, guess what....we, Mr and Mrs America decide to cut our expenses and purchase less. And the economy takes a hit....a major hit since food, energy and housing will be the first areas that folks will have to adjust their budgets.

Thanks.

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chronology: 2012 reports. Burger King 112 million dollars U.S. profits. Mcdonald's 5000 million dollars. profits. Starting wage at Mcdonalds in NYC 7.20 per hour.

Minimum wage in France. 12 Dollars an hour.

davidk14: .

Burger king has 11,100 units worldwide. With 112 million in profits divided by 11,100 units equals $10,000 per unit per year or....$833.33 per month...profit. Not much of a profit and that would not even come close to paying increased hourly labor much less the massive increase in the cost of management.

Labor cost goes up....there will be an increase in cost to the customer. Period.

Now, lets talk about the company that sells the hamburger to Burger King. Their labor cost goes up and they pass it along to Burger King as well. How about the packaging. That too goes up since the packaging manufacturers also get hit with added labor.

So, Burger King not only needs to pay its employees more....'

...they will need to pay more for EVERYTHING.

Guess what...people stop going as often to Burger King...or McDonald's, or Wendy's or the restaurant down the street since they too will be paying more not only for labor but for food and supplies.

This will have a ripple effect on the economy. Cars, houses, energy...and the economy WILL slow.

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davidk14: .

Bill Gates warns on minimum wage hike - “When people say we should raise the minimum wage. I worry about what that does to job creation ... potentially damping demand in the part of the labor spectrum that I’m most worried about.” – Microsoft Founder Bill Gate addressing the Conservative American Enterprise Institute Thursday.

Business Insider

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You are gonna argue with Bill Gates too?

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dave3974: if we listened to bug business on wages we would all be in the poor house.

let us not forget to that the state often ends up subsidising poor wages-otherwise people would have difficulty living ------why should the state subsidise big business

LiptonCambell: I don't at all agree with the idea of Unions....it's an outdated concept that was replaced by Labor Boards....but on the issue of minimum wage in the states, Time released this handy video...

YouTube

It seems that while minimum wage has gone up, the value of the dollar went down- so it was worth it's most in the 70's, while now it's worth almost the same amount as it was in the 50's(adjusted for inflation)

dave3974: if you ever have a problem with an employer you will pray for a union

LiptonCambell: Why would I? I have rights, and the government upholds those rights through the labor board.

The unions certainly played a role in instilling the ideas the labor board stands for, but lately it seems all they represent is their own self-interest, rather than the people they represent. And frankly, it looks like it's been that way for almost my entire life, maybe longer- I doubt they'll change anytime soon.