Myth of Union "Power"

Labor poised for a comeback?

The simple answer is no, thanks to corporate power; which is why the following will never pass.

"The Employee Free Choice Act 'will provide strong, enforceable protections for workers and impose tough penalties for employers,' Stern said. 'The legislation is needed to ensure that workers who choose to unite on the job are able to do so without fear of retribution or harassment from their employers.'"

As long as 50% of the population is Republican, unions will never regain power. Reagan was a failure at most things, but he did succeed in destroying unions -- and that is a large, contributing factor to the steady decline of the middle class and their real wages ever since.

A co-worker of mine told me her fears after our CEO announced our company would never hire another U.S. worker if he could possibly help it. Not only our jobs, but the culture of the company is in danger with this policy. She mentioned health care, slow-down in wages, and loss of benefits our company has experienced in recent years.

Frankly, I was shocked as these are things the typical brain-washed Arizona Republi-tard has no concept of. Could she actually be a Democrat?

"You know who I blame for all this? The unions. All this has happened because unions have too much power."

Jesus H. Fucking Christ.

Can you believe the idiocy in this statement? Can you imagine the kind of constant lies this woman has integrated into her world-view to say such a thing. The power of unions. Power? The "power" of unions was lost in the 70s for every industry but the government and sports.

Unions brought us 40-hour work weeks, vacations, pensions, cheap health insurance, and good wages. All of you who have such things at your workplace, please raise your hand. Hmm... not too many hands out there.

In my industry, there are no unions and never have been that I'm aware of. The majority of the companies in the industry never had pensions; but for those that did have them, they no longer apply for new employees. Nobody has a 40-hour work week, not even hourly employees. At least the hourly folks get overtime, but that has been threatened more than once -- including the last threat by the Cheney administration.

Health insurance costs are sky-rocketing, and as most of us know, "fully insured" means a health-care crisis will bleed you more slowly into bankruptcy than it would the uninsured. Vacations across my industry continue to degrade: how much, when you can take them, and "use it or lose it" policies.

All of this, every one, has happened long after the death of union-power. And a simple investigation into how it happened shows the lack of unions encourages such behavior. For someone to blame unions for the state of things shows either willful ignorance or a weak mind influenced by RightWingNuttia.