We own politicians (Democrats)
You may not know of the SEIU (Service Employees International Union), but they are actively out there trying to ruin your life.
Carpe Diem covers the case of a proposed WalMart in south Chicago. 500 new good jobs for the area + a grocery store and shopping in an otherwise blighted area.
The SEIU doesn’t like it:
It seems that many members of that august body are terrified of labor unions like the Service Employees International Union, which charges that Wal-Mart underpays and disrespects workers. Vote for a Wal-Mart, the unions warn, and we’ll run you out of office. Our jobs or no jobs, they proclaim
I dislike unions. I think if a monopoly is bad for employers then it is also bad for workers. Everybody needs to compete. If workers had options of what union to join, or to not join a union then I’d be more open to them. But these days I view big unions like the SEIU and especially the public sector unions as threats to our Democracy and our nation.
Unions are unfair to young people, drive away jobs and add to political corruption. We need to reform them, not health care.
July 27th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
I agree with you on this one Ken. Unions had a time when they where needed to protect workers from “evil” employers but that has not really been a issue since the invention of the telephone. If an employer is mistreating employees then at some point- after the “mistreated quit”- they would no longer be able to staff their stores and would therefore go out of business leaving a nice building for some other business to move into. Having been in the construction trade for over 27 years, the only thing the unions do is drive up the price and slow down the progress. I once worked for them through a temp service and they would get all kinds of upset when I would do something in 2 hours that by their “numbers” should have taken all day. Anyway did not mean to blow up…..just to agree that unions should be outlawed.
July 27th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Hi Kris… I’m cool with unions if they aren’t monopolies. For instance, it makes sense for folks with similar risks (coal miners, carpenters, truck drivers) to pool together for special insurance. I did it as a photographer, and didn’t need a union to do it.
Yesterday’s solutions are today’s problems. This is certainly true WRT unions.