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Date published: 4/12/2009
To preserve the middle class? We need unions
Carrie Lukas' recent letter included several inaccuracies about the Employee Free Choice Act that demand correction ["Unions are fine, but vote should be free," March 18]. Ms. Lukas claims that the act would strip workers of their right to a secret ballot. That is not true. What the bill does is give the workers--rather than the bosses--the choice of how they want to form a union. It is difficult to argue against common sense, so sometimes making stuff up Also, the notion that a union election is similar to First off, one out of four times, a union supporter is illegally fired during a union election. When was the last time someone at your place of employment was fired for supporting a candidate? The point is that opponents of the bill will do anything to avoid talking about what has happened Let's face it, the middle class is almost gone. Wages have been stagnant for 25 years during a time when the price of everything--food, gas, college, and clothing--has skyrocketed. People are living paycheck to paycheck, and too many rely on credit to keep up. We've hit a breaking point. The only way to get out of this crisis is to let workers band together to bargain for the wages and benefits they deserve. "Benefits" has become a foreign word to too many people. Recent generations have seen secure pensions traded in for risky 401(k)s, and 47 million people are living without health care. Why is it that we give Wall Street bandits free rein, large bonuses, and little or no regulation to destroy our economy, but when it's time to give average workers a shot to make it, that's too much to ask? Mark A. Morris Stafford The writer is president, Fredericksburg/Battlefield Area Local,
want to work as little as possible and get paid much more than their work is worth. Unions make that dream come true and cost society trillions in wasted hours.
Unions suck.
Under the current system, once 30% of a company's workers sign union authorization cards, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) administers a confidential vote, typically 39 days after it receives the cards. The union and employer campaign for votes.
Under a major rewrite of U.S. labor law being promoted by unions, when more than 50% of employees sign authorization cards, the NLRB would have to recognize the new union. No campaign. No secret ballot.
Yes, I know that VA teachers are not unionized. I was making a statement about the states that do allow teachers to be unionized. It is a horrible idea. I would, however, like to see a system of merit pay introduced in VA. Maybe this would reward the teachers that are doing it every day and get rid of those that are just showing up every day until they qualify for 100% of their retirement benefits.
Their higher costs as compared with their foreign competitors are mainly the result of excessive wages and union benefits, many of which are being paid to people who have been retired for years. The wage/overall compensation rate for any given occupation should be set by the market, PERIOD, and not by imposing artificial price floors. Ultimately, these excess wages are passed along to the consumer in the form of higher prices, so they ultimately act as another tax on the consumer. It's just basic Econ 101
Were a good thing 40 50 60 years ago, But Now there outdated..
They are as Outdated as a CEO making Millions in Bonuses when they didn't even Earn there Pay... Union workers are Over Paid . I was once a union welder for a while. I did my Work and then had to make half arse welders work look good and we got paid the same. Thats whats wrong with Unions. Only some of the workers Earn there Pay.. The others are like over paid CEO's.
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