This is not a new topic, there are just too many pay backs to follow to let the meter go for more than a day or two without an update. So, apologies to the Grad student who is trying to get some studying done towards that PhD, for jumping back in here.
Guess who is in the $825 billion (and counting) "stimulus" package? That's right...ACORN! I thought they were largely volunteers....how does a contribution to a non profit, volunteer organization create jobs and stimulate the economy? The "stimulus" package has $4.19 Billion earmarked for "neighborhood stabilization activities". Does everyone know that the acronym ACORN stands for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now"? Does anyone doubt who will be at the head of the line to get a big chunk of that $4 Billion for "neighborhood stabilization activities"? This is, at the least, irresponsible to include billions of dollars for political programs, if not an out and out payoff for political support. ACORN even got Disney characters, some Dallas Cowboys, and a cat registered to vote for Obama. They are under federal investigation for voter fraud, and ...in line for a big payout under the new administration. (Hurry up, America, support the "stimulus" bill, don't ask what's really in it. After all, it's a crisis of epic proportions and we just have to do it...you know it couldn't be earmarks or pork....'cause Obama say so.
Of course, it goes without saying, that with respect to this here “Union” issue I’m going to align with the “Old Man” than his young whelp, ...ooops, ... , I mean, his handsome, book-smart, articulate, passionate and engaging son, FreyGuy.
ReplyDeleteI offer three points:
1. Point the First:
I think Frey-the-younger makes some well documented points, although I’d caution him that correctly cited references do not render the statements accurate. E.g., I’m sure I can find a plethora of references (probably from members of Congress) that definitively state that two plus two equals five. Yet, clearly, quoting them correctly does not make it so.
I’d also observe that the volume of one’s response does not add to its veracity. To wit:
• The Ten Commandments are but 125 words.
• Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is 268 words.
• Einstein’s most famous equation, E=MC2, is but five characters.
On the other hand the federal government’s regulations on the importation of lettuce runs some 20,000 pages.
I rest my case!
2. Point the Second:
Unions are not evil per se. Indeed mistreatment by yesteryear’s “robber barons” rendered them necessary. But then, like most movements, including the most recent malfeasance of Wall Street, they went way too far, until either the market, government, or both, reined in their excesses. It is no less absurd that some stock trader get a 20 million bonus when his company is going under and seeking federal bailout money, than some union autoworker gets paid 100% of his salary for staying home during a layoff.
I can also tell you that should I be skilled in a trade where management wants to hire me, and the business is a union shop, I believe it my unalienable right to refuse to join the union, and should they send some representatives to convince me otherwise, then there will be a lot of those representatives who will find themselves either on sick leave or permanent disability.
Following this vein, I would simply refuse to contribute to a union’s political campaign for its chosen candidate which will universally be a liberal democrat. Should they deduct it from my paycheck without my permission, I would go to my union representative and tell him to haul out his wallet and give me my money back. However, being a staunch believer in democracy, I would first offer him a choice: You can either:
• Give me my money while you’re still in a vertical position, or,
• I’ll take it after I’ve put you in a horizontal position.
And as a further exercise in the choices democracy confers, I’d ask him if he preferred to be rendered unconscious by a left hook or a right cross. And, in keeping with this blog, I’d promise that all the discourse surrounding such an encounter would be wholly civil.
3. Point the Third
As regards actual experience with unions, I’d submit that the Old Man, perhaps, has a little more real world experience with unions than FreyGuy. He can ably recount his own machinations through over 30 years in the manufacturing industry, but I will relate two which the Old Man will surely remember and can fill in the details, if asked.
Experience 1: While visiting the Old Man some years back while he was President of Cincinnati Time Recorder (they made parking garage ticket machines), he toured me around his old rust belt shop. While passing a machinist’s work station, an older guy yelled out at the Old Man, saying,
”Hey Tom, when are you gonna give us that raise we need?”
The Old Man responded, “Can’t Abe. We’re not making any money.”
Abe said, “Oh, c’mon. The company’s making a ton of it.”
The Old man replied, “Read the financial statements, Abe. You’ll see.”
As we left, the area, the Old Man whispered, “Abe’s my union rep, but he can’t read the financial statements; Abe can’t read or write.”
Experience 2: When the Old man was about FreyGuy’s age, we both worked one summer during college for Philips Electronic Instruments, in Mount Vernon, NY. The plant shut down for two weeks in August, an event of which we were unaware when we signed up. We mentioned to our (non-union) manager, that this was costing us about 20% of our summer pay, so he made a list of jobs for us to do during the shut-down.
One of the jobs required moving some boxes from a warehouse across the parking lot to the main building. We decided to use a hand pushed fork lift to make the effort easier. BAD IDEA! While we were maneuvering the fork lift back to the main plant, a guy yelled out the second floor window,
“Hey, you can’t move those boxes!”
“Our boss told us to move ‘em”, I yelled back
“Wait”, he said, “I’ll be right down.”
So, out he came, annoyed that we’d now disturbed his prolonged siesta and confronted us.
“You two can’t move those boxes, cause you’re not “qualified” to move ‘em”, he asserted.
“Well, we must be “qualified”, I responded, “since we’ve already done it twice.”
“You don’t have the proper union certification to move those boxes”, he replied in frustration.
“Look, pal”, the Old Man chimed in, “We’re not telling our boss we couldn’t move the boxes because we aren’t ‘qualified’.”
“Jesus Christ!” the union guy blurted out (he was obviously a highly religious man), rolling his eyes in the process.
So each time we moved the boxes across the parking lot, he placed his index finger on the handle of the fork lift, thus allowing a ‘qualified’ employee to do the job.
The fact of the matter is that the unions played a substantial part in bringing down the U.S. auto industry, long the backbone of our economy. Yes, short-sighted management was too often a willing participant. But the outrageous labor costs, including legacy benefits, and entrenched assembly line rules led to competitive disadvantages in both cost and quality.
And that’s an unsustainable business model!
"I’d also observe that the volume of one’s response does not add to its veracity. "
ReplyDelete-This is an interesting point to be made in a response that is quite verbose.
(this is mostly in jest as I do think you make some good points)
Colin, my comment is LONG; it's not VERBOSE!
ReplyDeleteLong would probably be the better descriptor. That is what I get for trying to be cute and use a less common word. Mea culpa.
ReplyDelete-Colin
John,
ReplyDeleteHaha! Great response. Although I am flattered you find me "handsome, book-smart, articulate, passionate and engaging," I should warn you that I do have a girlfriend and she is the jealous type.
Of course you're right that the Old Man has more experience than I do when it comes to--well, everything. This is especially true when it comes to business/economics and I said as much when I wrote "Business as Usual".
Addressing your points in turn:
1) Agreed. (Though I'm not sure the Ten Commandments are literature's best example of brevity balanced with "veracity". I'll be sure to tell Michelangelo graven images are on par with murder next time I see him.)
2) Again, agreed.
3) Fair enough.
I don't think anything you said in your LONG comment is incompatible with the argument in my VERBOSE post.
-Freyguy