What you say about the ILWU is probably true Da Hapa. I'm not a union member, and I don't have any personal experience with the ILWU. They are probably a bad example to represent american unions.

It just bothers me when someone comes out and says that ALL Unions are harmful to our nation and so forth. I'm a student of history and I know what the conditions for american workers were like before the growth of unions in the 1930s. It could well become like that again. Perhaps we in the US will not be the primary victims since our economy is becoming more service-oriented rather than manufacturing-oriented. The most vulnerable will be the workers in China, Indonesia, Mexico, and other third world locations where the transnational corporations have moved their manufacturing operations. If you want a vision of what the United states was like in 1900, just look at how the largest corporations deal with labor in those places.

I suggest that we just drop it, since this has little to do with "S2000 Talk."

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by CBeyond
[B]I'm a student of history and I know what the conditions for american workers were like before the growth of unions in the 1930s.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by CBeyond
[B]

 

This is actually a great thread and has been very informative from an insider's standpoint like some of the points you guys bring up. This all swings back to the point that businesses and buyers will be directly and indirectly affected.

 

I agree that unions had their purpose 100 years ago, but they solved the problems that were present back then and have outgrown their usefullness for the most part. Do you really think that if unions went away, the present working conditions would start to be like in Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" again? Come on, our society is much different now, not to mention the government regulation that now occurs and takes the safety and working condition aspect out of the union's hands.

 

Unions were created to keep the Corporate Greed in check, but what's keeping the the unions in check?

 

Also see:

***************************************
Artist: Frank Zappa
Album:The Man from Utopia
Track:Stick Together

This is a song about the union, friends
How they f**ked you over and the way they bends
The rules to suit a special few
And you gets pooched every time they do

You know we gotta stick together (x4)

Once upon a time the idea was good
If only they'd a done what they said they would
It ain't no better, they's makin' it worse
The labor movement's got the Mafia curse

You know we gotta stick together (x4)

Don't be no fool, don't be no dope
Common sense is your only hope
When the union tells you it's time to strike
Tell the motherf**ker to take a hike

You know we gotta stick together (x4)
**********************************

Sounds better than it reads....

 

Sorry but this is going to Off-Topic

Moved...

 

It cracks me up on my way to work to see the ILWU guys picketing in front of the terminals in their BMWs/Mercedes/plush motorhomes. They need to hire a PR firm to make them look more pathetic. Maybe park a few beatup old F150s in the background. Go for the whole Apple Pie and God Bless USA angle. With the economy in the shitter right now nobody has any sympathy for a bunch of 9th grade education having guys making $150K+ for doing as little work as they do. If their job is so freaking miserable why is there a 13 year waiting list to get in the union?