Can't beat a good union job...

Ah yes! Slog the union time McG. I'd like to know a little more cause this seems too silly. While at the same time I remember reading about the good things unions have done for our workin people.

Pan, gutting the unions became an obsession in the Ray-gun years and thereafter. Far too many foolish Americans have jumped on the bandwagon. For all the abuse which may be laid at the collective feet of labor unions, Americans got no labor standards concessions from capital--unions slugged it out, oten unarmed against the heavily armed goons hired by capitalists, to get us the few rights we have left.

Someday, the labor unions may rise again, at such point as the majority of Americans realize just how hard they're getting screwed.

Setana:

We'd better hope, or else in 30-40 years America may be dealing with a different sort of "uprising"

Neo, that's exactly what has occurred to me from time to time. Things are likely to get a lot worse before ever they get better.

Unions may come back in private setor employment at some point, but the fact is that the share of organized workers in the non-government part of our economy has been declining for years. This despite the supporting legislation in Fewderal and State laws.

The reason for this is evident. The regressive work rules promoted by unions, such as those described in the opening of this thread, tend to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. They promote rigid inflexibility in areas in which employers and investors need flexibility to adapt to the changing requirements of the free markets they serve.

As the unionized business sector starts to contract and the force of economic fact begins to limit revenue and the ability of employers to pay their demands, the typical union answer is try to protect the present membership at the expense of new workers who would like to get in (not to mention the owners of the invested capital who will soom move it to another, more lucrative, investment.)

A telling fact. Delta announced to the pilots union that it had to cut pay 50%.. union swallowed and choked out an OK.

Perhaps not so telling. Delta was faced with bankrupcy if the cuts didn't materialize - all employees would lose their jobs and the union contract would be void. The Airline Pilots Union already has two tiered compensation agreements with the airlines, protecting their long-term members. New pilots don't get nearly thew compensation that older ones do. I also doubt that the pay cuts were as great as your statement suggests. Some will see a 50% cut, the average will do much better than that.