--Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, following the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, 12/7/41.
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-- Modified on 3/10/2011 8:44:10 PM
They just kicked UNION ASS!!!
Unions have been sliding down into the sewer for years. They ask nothing of their membership except servitude. They demand mediocrity and protect the horrid. The end result of unionism? INEFFICIENCY! They demand less work for more pay. Imagine if the local unions spouted the same rhetoric as the teachers unions? More pay = better students!?!?!?
A quote from "The Teacher President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson.... "We want one class of persons to have a liberal education, and we want another class of persons, a very much larger class of necessity in every society, to forgo the privilege of a liberal education and fit themselves to perform specific difficult manual tasks."
Does that sound like the voice of a person asking Americans to rise up and be better? Does that sound like the rhetoric coming from the unions?
From a student advocate, longtime President of the American Federation of Teachers, Albert Shanker:
“When school children start paying union dues, that 's when I'll start representing the interests of school children.
Would Culinary would suddenly concern themselves with QUALITY FOOD? And NOT their dues paying membership?
Where else can you demand a businessman to pay more for less work... by law? Imagine if the providers of this forum were to embrace unionism? The most ugly-ass provider would greet you at your Vegas hotel, because, she had the "most seniority".
Merit? Accckk....
how many of that 11% moved into the "upper class" income levels without the "union restrictions"?
As usual, you quote an irrelevant statistic.
And it's not just union members. It's working people of all stripes. And the GOP knows that they're going to get hit at the polls...which is why they're next project is to make it harder for Democrats to vote.
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and realizd they are being taxed to death to support bloated union benefits.
The busting of unions is a direct result of working americans waking up...
it could apply to 9/11 as well. Just threw it out there, sans commentary, to see what kind of responses it would garner. Fascinating Rorschach
test of this board.
Btw, Admiral Yamamoto may not have said the quote; some dispute that he may have written it in his diary. It was used, to excellent effect, as the final line of the 1970 movie "Tora, tora, tora" ! ( a movie I've come to like over the years. )
As I have said a number of times, I am from a traditionally, Dem leaning, depression oriented, Jewish family. (Think how much fun I have at reunions.) Also, most of my proffessional associates range from liberal to very liberal.
I don't know whether the GOP woke the sleeping giant of the unions or the Dems woke the sleeping giant of the anti-PUBLIC unions. In both my liberal camps, I see many people who haven't switched parties yet, but they are sick of what unions did to L.A. schools and other public services.
Let's see which giant gets out of bed.
(The other qreat quote from Yamamoto was before the attack, when he was asked if he could cripple the Pacific Fleet. He said that he could, but what would happen after that.)
make it extremely difficult, if not impossible to get rid of dysfunctional, unproductive, or hostile employees. I believe union rules about firing employees should be changed so that these people can be eliminated from the payroll. It is particularly important to do so, because of the change in work ethic in many of our younger workers. I've read about seminars, and talked to people who attended them, that were designed for managers, to motivate and manage these younger workers, because the managerial styles, currently in place, do not work. They don't work, because many of the younger workers bristle at having the type work place constraints (showing up on time, appropriate use of time off, appropriate attire, etc.), that are typical, and have issues of entitlement about how they believe they should do their work. If nothing is done, in this regard, just about any company or agency using union personnel will be experienced much like the California DMV. Unless you do all your business on line, like I do.
The problems with seniority and excessive protections is bad enough in private companies.
But in public schools it ends up in destroying the lives of kids. A kid may lose a year of education with a lousy teacher, get passed on to the next grade, and just coast.
One of the things that has astounded me is why poor people who are stuck in public schools continued to support the party that is tied to the group that perpetuattes the problem destroying their children's chances.
The problem is that the Dems have to important bases - public employees and inner city. In election cycles that depend on 5%, if they lose either they will never win again. Therefore, they have to do what ever they need to keep both in the camp.
don't see your issue as being the major problem, but rather the lack of funding. They see Republicans as just wanting to take away what funding there is left, for their schools, they send their kids to the mostly all white private schools in the area. I had personal knowledge of one poor black kid, who the school system was going to make take 4th grade over for the 3rd time, without testing him for learning disorders. Though they are required to make such testing available, most parents don't know their rights, and don't push for it. And, the school system, short on funding does its best to ration out the testing they can fund.
matt, along those same lines, when an individual is being terminated by the company, the union is required to attempt to get that person reinstated. I watched our union E-Board spend $200,000 on legal fees in attempting to get a Captain reinstated that we all know was going to be justifiably terminated. No one, not management, nor the rank and file, wanted this guy on the job. Another waste of members' dues, but it's required in the CBA.
As an aside, concerning the work ethics of the current generation. My friend's daughter recently graduated from a private university with a BS in Computer Science. She went to several job interviews, and turned down all the offers for employment. Her rational was that, unless she was offered a starting salary of at least $120,000/year, she wasn't interested. I had to laugh in her face....she got pissed.
But he fought on the loosing side. The real issue with American labor unions is that they fund the democratic party and in return the democrats allow questionable labor practices to be written into public sector union contracts. The republicans think that crushing the unions will kill 2 birds with one stone which may well be the case. Public sector labor unions are led by capitalist's lackeys loyal to the capitalist democratic party. Crushing these unions will end a major source of funding for the democrats and will give the ruling class unfettered power over public sector workers. But what next Phil? The workers will recognize the folly of the ways and thank the republicans for putting them on the "right"path? I dont't think so. I think that the working class will be demoralized and pay and working conditions in the public sector will deteriorate to the extent that only the least talented people will work there. Taxes might be cut but Good quality public services will be hard to come by and even then you might need to pay a bribe to get them. Then Phil the US will be truly a third world country because Phil what truly makes a civilization is public services.