(04-09-2021, 03:23 PM)Goalpost Wrote: in a vote of 1798 to 735, an Alabama work center rejected unionization.  This was the first real attempt to unionize a large cap big tech company.  Most of the coverage preceding the vote seemed to be anti-Amazon so the vote was somewhat surprising it wasn't closer.
Biden, as we know is pro union.   Bernie Sanders was trying to connect his name into unionizing here.  Amazon hires at fifteen dollars an hour offering health benefits as well as what has been a profitable 401k plan.  Despite a big effort by union leaders to get out the vote as well as positive media coverage with it, only 55 percent of the employees actually took time to vote.  

So I've never been in a union.  Does anyone know what percent of union dues are to unionize?

(04-09-2021, 05:20 PM)michaelsean Wrote: I’m guessing it’s it’s a cost/reward calculation.

(04-10-2021, 12:20 AM)Brownshoe Wrote: It's hilarious that people on the right are anti-union. Getting leverage with your bargaining power is a big part of what capitalisms is. I'm pretty surprised that the union failed. Maybe they were just afraid of retaliation?

(04-10-2021, 12:20 AM)Brownshoe Wrote:  I'm pretty surprised that the union failed. 

(04-10-2021, 07:19 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: Just going to throw this out there and my opinion isn't political. In my small hometown, unions suck. We used to have a booming economy. We had Westinghouse, Sheller Globe (GM), Union City Body Company (built vans for UPS, Triangle pacific (cabinet factory). Nice small town with a great railroad hub that sit's on the state line of Ohio/Indiana. Actually splits the town right down the middle. Population has no more than 3-4 thousand people. We had nice homes, boats, cars etc.

Then, the unions got greedy and the next thing you know, each factory seemed to be on strike for higher wages (employees already made a lot of money). Company would meet their demands and shortly they would strike again. Greed. In the late 70's early 80's these companies couldn't keep doing it so they ALL shut down. Westinghouse moved to Mexico, Sheller Globe moved 30 miles north, changed its name and paid people $10 an hour (previously paying people here $18-$22). UCBC was the last to close but couldn't be competitive any longer and boom, gone.

Now we have a town that struggles badly to keep afloat. Welfare housing has tripled. Greed from the unions got us to where we are today. It once was a great little town.

(04-10-2021, 07:47 PM)fredtoast Wrote: It is not "greed" when the companies are making record profits.  It is just asking for a fair wage.

You say the companies "couldn't keep doing it", but they absolutely could.

Labor should not have to accept Mexican level wages when the companies are making huge profits and the executives and stockholders are getting richer and richer.

Since 1970 90% of the new wealth created in this country has gone to the top 10%.  Meanwhile the wages for the middle class have been stagnate.  We need unions now more than ever because the wealthy are crushing the middle class out of existence.

(04-10-2021, 07:19 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: Just going to throw this out there and my opinion isn't political. In my small hometown, unions suck. We used to have a booming economy. We had Westinghouse, Sheller Globe (GM), Union City Body Company (built vans for UPS, Triangle pacific (cabinet factory). Nice small town with a great railroad hub that sit's on the state line of Ohio/Indiana. Actually splits the town right down the middle. Population has no more than 3-4 thousand people. We had nice homes, boats, cars etc.

Then, the unions got greedy and the next thing you know, each factory seemed to be on strike for higher wages (employees already made a lot of money). Company would meet their demands and shortly they would strike again. Greed. In the late 70's early 80's these companies couldn't keep doing it so they ALL shut down. Westinghouse moved to Mexico, Sheller Globe moved 30 miles north, changed its name and paid people $10 an hour (previously paying people here $18-$22). UCBC was the last to close but couldn't be competitive any longer and boom, gone.

Now we have a town that struggles badly to keep afloat. Welfare housing has tripled. Greed from the unions got us to where we are today. It once was a great little town.

(04-10-2021, 08:36 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: So what happens when they move and kill a town?

(04-11-2021, 01:54 PM)fredtoast Wrote: If they move to a non-union plant someplace else in the United Sates then that plant needs to become unionized.

Moving overseas is a more complicated problem.  That is where you get into ways for the government to protect the middle class through tariffs, trade agreements, and tax plans.

I can't believe how many people in the middle class are fine with the wealthy elite using their power to crush the middle and lower classes.  They favor an autocracy of the elite over a democratic plan that gives the individuals power in numbers.  A union does exactly the same thing as our Constitution.  It gives the weak and disadvantaged some power.

I mean, seriously, learn some history about corporate behavior before you accuse workers of being "greedy".  Corporations have always valued profit over human life and the environment.  These companies were not destroyed by labor.  They continued to make huge profits so executives and stockholders could get more and more wealth while squeezing the lower and middle classes.

(04-11-2021, 03:30 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: This is why I stated I was not being political. I was simply giving the sentiment of those effected. My entire family worked at these places. All their livelihoods were stripped away in a matter of a couple years. The people weren’t as greedy as the unions which represented them. Union representation don’t mean diddly squat if you don’t have a job to go too. Oh but those unions sure do love those union dues. Higher pay, more dues being paid.

(04-11-2021, 06:50 PM)fredtoast Wrote: The companies were the ones being greedy.  They were making huge profits while suppressing the wages of the labor force.

Asking for fair market value for labor is not being greedy.

What about all the hundreds of thousands of NON UNION jobs that were lost when corporations moved their factories over seas.  Should those American workers have agreed to reduce their wages to poverty level just so corporate executives and stockholders could have massive increases in wealth?

(04-11-2021, 06:50 PM)fredtoast Wrote: The companies were the ones being greedy.  They were making huge profits while suppressing the wages of the labor force.

Quote:Asking for fair market value for labor is not being greedy.

Quote:What about all the hundreds of thousands of NON UNION jobs that were lost when corporations moved their factories over seas.  Should those American workers have agreed to reduce their wages to poverty level just so corporate executives and stockholders could have massive increases in wealth?

(04-11-2021, 08:42 PM)CKwi88 Wrote: The power of the people spinning the narrative that millionaires/billionaires that exploit tax loopholes and dirt cheap labor are in the right and unions fighting for fair wages and benefits are evil amazes me.

(04-12-2021, 09:58 AM)HarleyDog Wrote: Who said anything about being asked to reduce wages. They were not asked that at all?