Ala. Family Of Four Struggles In Economic Climate

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

If you get paid overtime, have vacation and sick pay, health insurance and a pension, you can thank a union. None of those perks would exist without the power of collective bargaining. And to insult millions of hardworking Americans who have no negotiating power outside of union really shows why the Right Wingers are out of touch with most Americans.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

no it just shows how weak and pathetic most people are if they need a union to speak for them. Union workers are filth for the most part. They act like they don't have to do a certain job because their job description doesn't say they have to. They don't act like part of a team and they don't really give a damn about the company. All they do is drag business down into the dirt (see: auto and airline industries. See local governments. see federal government).

Illegal immigrants are more worthy of the jobs they do than some pathetic union loser.

You have no absolutely no clue what you are talking about. You have no understanding of labor in this country and how unions came about, yet you spew out this kind of garbage like the know-it-all that you always pretend to be. What a sheltered life you live.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

You have no absolutely no clue what you are talking about. You have no understanding of labor in this country and how unions came about, yet you spew out this kind of garbage like the know-it-all that you always pretend to be. What a sheltered life you live.

Not really. I understand very well what they were and what they have become.

If you think the unions of today are the same as 50 years ago, you're delusional.

If you think companies continuing to pay health care and pensions to employees who no longer work for them is a good thing, then you're delusional as well. The benefits may sound 'nice' but they are far beyond reasonable.

Of course those who believe in a welfare state support such silly antics and notions. God forbid people take personal responsibility and save up for their retirement, invest their money properly, etc. No no, we can't do that. We have to rely on someone else to pay our salary down the line. Be it some pension or some piece of ####### government program like medicare and social security.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Not really. I understand very well what they were and what they have become.

If you think the unions of today are the same as 50 years ago, you're delusional.

If you think companies continuing to pay health care and pensions to employees who no longer work for them is a good thing, then you're delusional as well. The benefits may sound 'nice' but they are far beyond reasonable.

Of course those who believe in a welfare state support such silly antics and notions. God forbid people take personal responsibility and save up for their retirement, invest their money properly, etc. No no, we can't do that. We have to rely on someone else to pay our salary down the line. Be it some pension or some piece of ####### government program like medicare and social security.

Unions came into existence from the continued exploitation of working class Americans who had no voice, no power to do anything about improving their working conditions except through collective bargaining. You can't simply go work for another company if they all exploit their workers. Unions are a necessary 'evil' created from a working environment where profit trumped safe working conditions, living wages, etc. Unions will always have that same purpose unless you believe in some kind of utopian society where everyone is an entrepreneur. That isn't going to happen. Collective bargaining is the only way the working class have a voice in terms of their working conditions and pay.

Edited October 12, 2010 by El Buscador

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Not really. I understand very well what they were and what they have become.

If you think the unions of today are the same as 50 years ago, you're delusional.

If you think companies continuing to pay health care and pensions to employees who no longer work for them is a good thing, then you're delusional as well. The benefits may sound 'nice' but they are far beyond reasonable.

Of course those who believe in a welfare state support such silly antics and notions. God forbid people take personal responsibility and save up for their retirement, invest their money properly, etc. No no, we can't do that. We have to rely on someone else to pay our salary down the line. Be it some pension or some piece of ####### government program like medicare and social security.

There are different unions...some good, some bad. In my case the pipe fitters union here pays me great, and I have a decent retirement set up with them. I did five years in a union apprenticeship and I consider the work that is performed by me and my fellow journeyman union brother pipe fitters/welders to be top notch work.

I have witnessed the work done by rat/scab pipe fitters and welders, and calling it sub par is an understatement. If you look at states like...oh let's say "Texas"...a "right to work state", they are full of unskilled workers claiming to have journeyman skills in a certain trade and who will work on the cheap for such company's as "Labor Ready", and who's work is usually sub par compared to a skilled union journeyman hand in a skilled trade. Working for wages that have these "Labor Ready" employess's collecting food stamps as well as a pay check isn't exactly what I would call the "American Dream".

But hey, you get what you pay for eh.

Edited October 12, 2010 by Why_Me

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

They are an average middle class family in america today. So is the point of the story that in these economic times average america is standing still in the economic department?

I think that's the point - that mainstream America is standing still economically and has been for the past decade. It's about the American dream becoming ever harder to achieve for average Americans. That's something to be concerned about, no?

[R&V 8]

I never understood why unions have such a bad reputation here. The principle behind unions is sound, I think, who wouldn't want to wield some power as a collective? Maybe things just got taken too far. Doesn't mean there shouldn't be unions.

As far as the article goes, the family didn't whine, I think. They just said that 43K a year isn't a lot for a family of four, which I believe to be true. Hell, my husband and I live on more and we're not exactly rolling around in money.

[Wayne and Claudia 40]

no it just shows how weak and pathetic most people are if they need a union to speak for them. Union workers are filth for the most part. They act like they don't have to do a certain job because their job description doesn't say they have to. They don't act like part of a team and they don't really give a damn about the company. All they do is drag business down into the dirt (see: auto and airline industries. See local governments. see federal government).

Illegal immigrants are more worthy of the jobs they do than some pathetic union loser.

Amen. I work with many union members in my visits to plants across the US, Central America and South America and by far the laziest, most spoiled workers (read...worthless) are the union ones. Just my observation.

[lostinblue 1,989]

Amen. I work with many union members in my visits to plants across the US, Central America and South America and by far the laziest, most spoiled workers (read...worthless) are the union ones. Just my observation.

Once a week I get into the post office .It is like pulling teeth to get a pallet weighed. 11am and the person who weighs is out to lunch. Four people are just sitting around. Could you weigh this please. Not my job man. Not in the union contract. It will just take 2 minutes to read the scale. "You have to wait... NO one is happy working there. A friend is an owner operator. Hauls into the ports in ny city. First time he was on the docks he waited 10 hours to unload. Talked to a fellow trucker and was informed you have to slip the a guy $50.00 otherwise you will sit in the yards for a LONG time. Same thing happens in many plants he goes to. $25.00 gets you unloaded fast. Some of these places unload 30 trucks a day. Once he went to a union factory and was informed that he had to unhook on the road. Then a union driver ran out with his truck and backed the trailer into the dock. My friend said he was held up at least an hour by this stunt to keep more union workers.He gets paid for miles put on his rig. Not sitting at a dock.

Edited October 13, 2010 by lostinblue