maddogdrivethru.net

Cheesy but slightly clever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLGoKqPAhSk

Here is a good example of what labor unions in the US have degenerated into:

Nearly a third of [Chicago] Streets and Sanitation workers miss work every day. Newly appointed Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Tom Byrne has made the decision to wipe their records clean.

The commissioner wiped their slate clean in exchange for the union agreeing to a reduction in wages since the City of Chicago has a LARGE budget deficit and was going to have to layoff 323 employees.



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As the article mentions, the City of Chicago is trying to move its garbage truck crews from 2 people on a truck to one. When I was a kid growing up in Chicago in the 1970's & 80's, the City of Chicago garbage trucks used to have 2 guys sitting in the cab and 3-4 guys working behind the truck emptying the cans into the back of the truck. Privately-owned, non-union garbage truck companies that provided service to properties not covered by the city (apartment buildings and residential properties with greating than 4 apartments) would have ONE worker per truck--the driver. He would pull up to the garbage cans, get out of the truck, empty the cans, and the get back in the truck and drive to the next stop. The city had 5-6 guys on a truck doing the same job that one employee could do on a private garbage truck.


Whenever the Streets and Sanitation dept was out doing roadwork or filling potholes, you had 1-2 guys sitting in the truck, 1-2 guys with a shovel filling a pothole and 3-4 guys standing around doing nothing. These are all union employees.

Yeah.
City or council work can be a bit mental. I fully agree with the decent pay that they get it's just that some of them take the piss.

I would think at least 3 to a truck would be best. 1 driving, the other two following behind filling it up.
One guy on his own is taking the piss (unless it's a really small run he's on).

As to the sickness thing. I agree that can be a real problem. One guy gets the doctor to write a line for 6 months, the others find out about it, and then they want a piece of that. It can cause real moral problems at work as well.

This works just as well though in a private firm if a worker has a permanent contract an no union is present though.

I was sort of hung between "don't know" and between "mostly good" but I finally decided for "mostly good". Thinking of chijohnaok's garbage truck example and 1 guy being stuck with doing all the work in a private company reminds me of how much big companies will take advantage of you if you don't have any power. I think if it weren't for unions all of us would be making slave wages like workers did in the early, pre-union days of the industrial revolution. The big shots won't do you any favors if they don't have to.

Ask all the guys who used to make cars in Detroit about whether it's better to have a job at $16.50 per hour or not have a job, but claim to be worth $35.00 per hour.

To answer Gary....Corporations aren't slave owners....if you dislike the job, you can always go find another one (been there, done that...more than once). As far as Corporations taking advantage of their workers....well shit....I guess I take advantage of all those poor working small business owners every time I hire a company, ask them what their going rate is, and pick the guys who give the lowest quote . God forbid people shop around for the best price or anything.

Sure make fun of unemployed workers in Detroit who either take a massive pay cut or else sit in the unemployment line. Oh I forgot, you probably don't believe in unemployment benefits. But what do you care, you are probably one of the fortunate who have skills in demand where you can get a nice cushy high paying job. Heaven forbid that unskilled laborers shouldn't clean your pool well enough for you or something.

I have no problem at all with Unemployment Benefits. It's good to have such a policy in place (as long as the duration of the benefits is limited, and everyone involved knows those limits and can plan accordingly).

Make fun of workers in Detroit? Not at all...I actually feel sorry for them....they didn't have a choice on whether to unionize or not....they had no say on the matter....they just got used and when the businesses left, they got abandoned.

I pretty much agree with Jolly.

Not sure about the exact number, but I think only about 16% of US employees are union today. I think the majority of them are in the Rustbelt Midwest, the Northeast, and possibly the West Coast. Its my understanding that the Plains states, the South and Southeast are the least unionized.

Guess what regions tend to have higher unemployment rates, and which tend to have lower unemployment rates.

Unions had their place and time but I think now they do more harm then good.

I have no problem with unions at all, I do have a problem when people are forced to be in one though. What sort of shit is that? Reminds me of the Soviet Union where you need a Communist Party membership badge to have a real job.

Oi Fronswa, this is your thread. Back in the glory days of organised labour in the 1970s, if you wanted to be a coal miner you had to be in the union. In the 1970s the Labour Party was merely the political wing of the unions. So I'm curious - if you think this sort of totalitarianism is a good thing, how would you react to, say, a proposal that all members of the civil service be members of the Conservative Party?

Because its two cheeks of the same arse.