I got something to say about unions...

I work for a company that used to do all the major PC tradeshows, PC Expo, Internet World, CES, COMDEX etc...

I can remember working at the Javitz center, in NYC, and I was in a small closet-sized enclosure that housed a bunch of PCs, that I was connecting to monitors on the outside. As I started to connect everything up this PIECE OF CRAP UNION LABORER came in and started yelling at me that I was 'taking food out of his kids mouth blahblahblah' and that he was supposed to make all the connections. This guy was a piece of work, and an _______. After he was halfway through he realized that he didn't know what half the stuff was that he was connecting and I had to REDO the job that this incompetant person started. He didn't know how to connect a 5.1 speaker system let alone the rest of the stuff.

At another tradeshow, at the same place, I was lifting some monitor boxes up on a pallet to be loaded on a truck. Two union guys were standing nearby and one of them said something to the effect that I was gonna get myself hurt doing that. I took this as a vieled threat since Union labor requires that 2 people do the job that I was doing.

I will not deny that unions have done some good, but my current experiences with them are completely horrible.

 

I hate Unions, they can all die. I agree that they served their purpose when they first came out, but in todays modern society, they are hindering our development. Tell me why dock workers in california,(you know the guys who are operating the fork lifts) with only a high school education getting paid $50+ per hour? I think that's f'in ridiculous.

 

Why can't a working man make a good living? Are only executives and other white collar types allowed to make good money? We can't be a society of paper pushers and managers, someone has to do the work. If you reduced the wages of those "overpaid" dock workers, do you think you would all of a sudden see a decrease in the prices you are paying for goods shipped from that port? Hell no!!!! The corporation will take that money and overpay the executives with bonuses for doing a good job of reducing costs. WE need unions in today's modern society, are the executives and corporations all of a sudden altruistic and caring for thier workers?
BS!!!In today's workplace with outsourcing, wage reductions, and defaults on pension plans, we need unions more than ever. I admit that some of these companies made bad choices with some of thier negotiations (united pension), but no one forces these companies to sign the contracts, obviously the company saw some benefit to signing the contract (usually low wages). (this is akin to sports owners signing players to huge contracts and then crying about how they have no profits and the players are fat cats). As for your 401k, just look at enron, all those workers had their 401k's loaded with enron shares. Look what happened to them. If the securities industry is regulated like every other industry, you will see a massive downturn in the value of your 401k in your lifetime, because of some giant scandal. If working man does not band together during the coming years, his rights will be trampled and he will be living like those girls in the Marianas (US possession). A place that where Tom Delay is supporting the owners of textile sweatshops, who use indentured servitude and other evil means of worker abuse.
This country has been built upon the backs of the working man, not executives. If everyone decided to stop working, what would happen to those companies? They would cease to exist, the working man is the company, not the executive.

The only group looking out for the working man is the UNION.

 

I think we are heading to the right direction. We have less pollution from cars nowadays compared in the 70s and 80s. Plus there are more cars nowadays! Dont blame it on the unions, blame it on politicians and lawyers!! Also, why is this a tc discussion? lol

 

Tell me what makes dock workers sooo special that they get $50 an hour for what they do? There are hundreds of thousands of people who would be willing to do the same job for half that hourly wage . It makes no sense to pay that much for someone who is doing work that a guy with an IQ of 2 can accomplish.

While the country was built on the backs of the working man, who do you think created a lot of the jobs for them? The executives are the ones who at one time had to put up their own money to start their businesses, not their workers. They created the jobs that the working man benefits from, and deserve to be the ones that are making he most money.

 

I guess you have never heard of people being injured and killed working on the docks? I have a friend who owns a construction company and just last week one of his workers was crushed to death by a load of drywall. I have not heard of any executives being injured or dying on the job recently, unless you count suicides brought on by massive guilt. Ken Lay of Enron, yea he risked everything. Carly Fiorina, yes she risked everything while bring HP to its knees. Oh yea they risked thier won money, please!!!! They did not risk anything, except embarrasment when thier kooky ideas caused their companies to swoon. JRV you wrote "Tell me what makes dock workers sooo special that they get $50 an hour for what they do? There are hundreds of thousands of people who would be willing to do the same job for half that hourly wage . It makes no sense to pay that much for someone who is doing work that a guy with an IQ of 2 can accomplish ". I bet you can't do that job without killing yourself or others. I hate it when people make general statements such as the one above with no knowledge of the working world. JRV, have you ever worked a working mans' job? I doubt it, if you had you would not be making such ignorant statements if you did. I am sure there are lots of hardcore working man's jobs, IN MALIBU. Just because a man works with his hands does not make him "a guy with an IQ of 2".


You have been watching too much of the Apprentice and not enough PBS.

 

You have no idea what the hell your talking about. My dad owns a construction company, which he helped his father start when he came to this country with no more than $20 in his pocket. I worked summers doing construction because my dad believes in building a good work ethic. Even though I dont work for his company any more, (Because I got a job bartending which pays more for less work) I still help my dad with his personal "Projects". My dads idea of fun is to buy houses, remodel them himself, and resell them. Between the two of us, we rip apart these houses, re frame rooms, run electrical, install lighting, run plimbing, drywall, mud the walls, paint, re-carpet, landscape, etc.

So dont judge someone based on where they live, you have no idea how hard my dad has worked be able to afford the life he has provided for us.

 

Tell me, do you think that bartending is worth more to our society than construction work? I bet you are getting almost nothing per hour from the bar and you are making all your $$$$ from tips. (here in virginia bartenderes and waiters get $2.13 per hour) If all of a sudden all the bartenders disappeared and all the construction workers disappeared, who do you think society would miss more? This is the kind of stuff I am talking about, the working man get lousy wages, and benefits. You had to go work at another job to make more money than working with your hands. If the son of a construction company owner can't make money at his dad's company, then who can?


That is why we need unions.

 

My dad pays his workers close to minimum wage or $7 dollars an hour, which is exactly how much he payed me. I make $15 an hour bartending plus whatever tips I get. Bartenders in virginia do not make 2.13 an hour since there is something called minimum wage which is 5.15 an hour for virginia.

If you think about it, you can relate jobs and their respective wages to supply and demand. A job that tons of people can perform/ has a high supply of workers, such as bartending and construction lead to low pay. If one worker wants more money, you can always replace him with a worker that is currently jobless and would be happy with the wage offered.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, say a doctor, they get payed premium wages because the supply of doctors is relatively low, while the damand for them is high(our country is never in short supply of sick people).

 

Why is it that people always think that if they go to college, they deserve more, and our more valuable to society? What good is science/math/engineering/medicine/etc if you don't have people to build houses, construct roads, work in factories, and make 99% of what you own?

Education = better for you because you will get paid more, and you will be a more knowledgeable member of society. However, it doesn't mean that you have the right to look down on everyone who didn't go and get a degree. I am sure you need construction workers more than they need you, or whatever other blue collar job you look down upon.

We all need each other, no need to act condescending towards others/

 

People who go to college are usually the ones who are advancingour society, not merely maintaing it. Without science, math, engineering, medicine, etc. we would still be living in the dark ages. We would have no modern technology, live in mud huts with thatched roofs, and have a life span of 25 years. So without these "professionals", there wouldn't even be factories for workers to work in, and no need for construction workers to make houses or roads. Education is what leads to a brighter future and an overall increase in the standards of living, not just merely an increase in pay.

 

By making this statement "Bartenders in virginia do not make 2.13 an hour since there is something called minimum wage which is 5.15 an hour for virginia", you show your ignorance, tipped employees are subject to a whole other minumum wage scale. Wow 7 dollars an hour, that's $13,440 a year before taxes are taken out. Basically those people who are working for your dad are living in poverty. That's why we need a union. You are so uninformed and ignorant on this issue. Do you still live your your mommy and daddy? I bet you do. Because the declarations of wisdom you make show you do not live on your own.

 

Your the ignorant one, look it up. Even if they are tipped my federal law they are to be paid a minimum of $5.15 an hour. You dont believe me? Here it is...

http://www.dol.gov/esa/programs/whd/state/tipped.htm

Obviously, you have no idea how a business is run. See the owner of the business is out to make as much money as he can. He does this by charging as much as he can for his services, while minimizing his costs, which include paying his employees as little as he can. They dont want to get payed what my dad has to offer, they are free to leave at any time, there are others who are more than willing to take his place.

Im not going to argue anymore, you have your viewpoint, and I have mine. Nothing either of us will say will change either of our minds.

 

You can't even read a chart, look at the virginia row and look down the column that says "minumum cash wage" there is nothing in virginia's space. The column that say "Basic Combined Cash & Tip Minimum Wage Rate" is $5.15, that means tips and minumum wage must equal $5.15. It does not say a tipped person gets $5.15 per hour. I know how much a tipped employee gets paid in virginia first hand. I used to wait tables and bartend in virginia, I recieved $2.13 and so did every other person who worked as a tipped employee. What do you have to say to that??????


You can't win this arguement with me BECAUSE I AM RIGHT!!!!


So give up

 

And did I say white collar jobs are not important? All I am saying is that our society needs both, accountants and construction workers, doctors and factory personnel, programmers and fork lift ops. There is no need to act condescending towards others.

The world cannot exist without either side. What good is a brilliantly engineered engine, if you don't have people to work in factories to produce them? What good is scientific research, if you don't have people working in mines to get the metals needed for experiments?

Just respect everyone, unless they give you a reason not to.

 

Your f'in stupid. It means at the end of the day your making 5.15 an hour. Employers who allow workers to keep tips must pay a cash minimum wage of at least $2.13 per hour IF they claim a "tip credit" against their federal minimum wage obligation of $5.15 per hour. In other words, if your tips plus cash wages do not equal at least $5.15 per hour, your employer must make up the difference. So your gaurenteed atleast $5.15 an hour.

 

 

Honda is not UAW. As far as I know no euro or jap cars built in the US are UAW. Have you ever been to a union plant? Gotta love those 8 hour work days. Come in play cards for an hour, work an hour, go on your 15 minute break for an hour, then the hard part a 30 minute lunch that lasts about 2 then come back for more cards and work a little and leave. Like 3 hours of actual work in there. But dont forget some high school drop out makes $35 an hour for that and the people that design it dont.

 

No one and I mean no one ever got paid more than $2.13 an hour at the place where I worked , even if you never got sat a table during your shift. You are just some punk who lives with his mommy and has never really been in the real world so just shut up. You show your ignorance everytime you make another one of your pronouncements. Why don't you move out of your mommy's house and go work for $7.00 an hour, like what your dad pays. Your tC will get repossessed because you won't be able to pay off your loan, hell you wouldn't even qualify for a loan for the tC with that wage.

You live in a dream world

I am the dose of reality

Now go cry on your mommy's shoulder

 

Finially someone who understands.