Do people realize that unions are what created the middle class in this country?

the unions caused this damn auto mess

Anna P, you know full well that your opponents do not believe that, but they know that it is true. The UAW under the very first 3 presidents fought for the members. The leaders from 1975 and on up to the present are in bed with the corporations called "yellow dog contract"

The old adage goes something like this, you get paid for what you know. Other words, you get paid for using your brain, and not for using your back or physical strength. Okay, let your employer cut your pay to half while they keep getting not gold parachutes, but platinum. The union members pays dues are suppose to get the benefits they are entitled to.

Oh you can bring other people to do the work, but you still have to depend on the people here to buy the products.

Just think about this, what would happen if all three of these companies closed down? No other companies would be able to accommodate the transportation need of the people here. Also, GM is one of the biggest manufacture of heavy earth removing equipment. Besides, the Rothschild's and others will not allow this to happen, if they do it will be even more devastating the 1929 depression. The non-union members had a chance to form a union, but they decided against it. They thought they were living large, and would be there when the cows come home.

Greed has to be taken out from the corporations.

After watching the steelworkers union destroy my stepfathers company in Illinois, I really don't care what they've done. They take from the workers, drive up prices to an unobtainable level for the middle class and serve no purpose whatsoever.

And my father-in-law is fixing to lose his pension - he worked for GM for 20+ years. He is going to wind up with nothing.

While the CEO's and the stockholders really contribute to the whole mess, the unions are standing firm on NO concessions....it's nothing but base greed and corruption within the UAW and the AFL-CIO.

While they did serve a purpose historically, they should have been abolished years ago.

Here's an idea...look up how much the union leaders make for their average salary. Bet they don't want their pay cut or to lose their golden parachute or their benefits.....

Oh, the local UNION LEADER of the chapter from my stepfathers union(this is Illinois - union country) couldn't even drive an American made car - He drove a Mercedes. I think that pretty much is a very clear statement of how the unions really feel about what they claim they do - defend the rights of the American worker. I'd laugh if I didn't feel like puking....

Additional thought....several people pointed out that corporate greed is the main problem. You are absolutely right about that. It is corporate greed that is the total problem. Yes corporate greed is the problem.

And the unions have become some of the BIGGEST corporations in existence. And yet defense of the very thing destroying business here in the US continues. Want to see your average Walmart product triple or quadruple in price(and I mean across the board)?? Let the unions work their way into Walmart(or Target, or K-mart, etc, etc.) And you KNOW they want those businesses to control. The massive income generated by union dues in just Walmart alone would give the unions even more power than they have now.

You wonder why people buy foreign. Look to your local unions and thank them for the outrageous prices we pay for substandard garbage produced in this country. Not that there's much left we even produce.

There was a split between more right wing Unions and more Left Wing ones in the 1940's I have read which may be where question comes from.

This was about the time the police and buisiness launched a search for Communists.

This is still relevant as the current system does not favour those without enough resources to get their message across. This means Greens in favour of electric power have difficulty in getting message to auto workers that green power includes more electric cars thus more jobs more clean air.

The introduction replaced right into a effect of the bubonic plague. whilst a million/3 of the staff died, the relax workers have been in a greater powerful place to circulate directly to different employers if their modern-day activity did not pay properly. So, wages greater beneficial and then workers had money to spend on products different than those mandatory for organic subsistence survival. No, that isn't suitable..even inspite of the incontrovertible fact that there have been adverse and wealthy, this wasn't what led to it. for the period of historic previous as mentioned above, wages are based on the quantity of artwork relative to the kind of workers. Tradionally, interior the US we already had a center classification. the extensive waves of immigration from the Eighteen Eighties-Nineteen Nineteen Twenties tipped the size so as that there have been too many workers. as a result, it took time for the quantity of jobs created to start bringing wages up. **EDIT** And no, the hard artwork unions did not create the middle classification. It replaced into the classic Jews. That replaced into part of the brilliance of the sabbath. no you may desire to be compelled to artwork on the sabbath and for the 1st time in historic previous, each and every person had a minimum of at some point the place they did not could desire to artwork. So in many circumstances, human beings think of that the worldwide began with usa. there is an entire enormous and extremely previous worldwide and we are in basic terms a small part of it.

ba_wa_jo put it out there....warts & all.

Retired union man & have no illusions about the checkered past of some unions.

However the movement started, unions have brought about changes in the workplace that benefit everyone....even non union members.

They eventually paved the way for reforms in workplace safety, gender & racial equality.

Not just suggestions it became..... law.

Smart union management does not set out to milk a company dry as some think and as its executives do.

All they want is pay for work , not golden parachutes.

It is in the best interest of unions to keep a company healthy to provide continued employment for it's members.

Responsible unions in partnership w/ management have proven to be

a stabilizing factor.

It s the culture of corporate greed that needs to change.

An easy target for the upper echelon who make over the top salaries

& are unwilling to tightenn their belts while demanding concessions from the rank & file.

When a company claims union concessions are required to stay afloat

& the books are opened to facilitate arbitration the union will often agree to some cutbacks in order to save as many jobs as possible & will refuse to negotiate if there is bargaining in bad faith by mgmt.

Been on strike a couple of times even been furloughed & there have been issues that went to arbitration to avoid a strike.

In every case the arbitrators came down on the side of the union.

Every time.....every time.

Any union that stand fast & allows a company to go under is just as bad as the mismanagers that got the company in trouble in the first place.

Think we don't need unions ( good ones)?..... think again .

Now more than ever.

Yes, unions have done much good. However, it is the nature of unions to make demands for the benefit of the workers. And when all of the reasonable demands have been met, they begin to make unreasonable demands. The auto industry in this country is in trouble because the unions have successfully obtained compensation and benefits packages for their memberships which are more than their labor is worth. So they cannot compete in the world market. No bailout will be successful without major concessions from the union.

You should also point out the FACT that the biggest companies in this country all have unions.

You should also point out the FACT that the existence of unions is what motivates companies to offer the benefits they do.

You should also point out the FACT that all the "Big Three" automakers know exactly (to the penny) what they have to pay out. Don't blame the unions when they people that make 100 times more money don't know how to run a business.

yes unions made the middle class...and illegal immigration and out sourcing killed it.

*I agree with Mac1960 - They served a purpose but are obsolete. You could say that the Unions had alot to do with the mass illegal immigration and outsourcing of jobs.