All this hatred about unions is crazy.
Unions only represent 12.6 of this country work force and have been slowly fading over the last decade or so.
It wasn't the union that hurt this country,it was the corporations that took the tax breaks that were suppose to be invested in this country and invested the money in countries that use extremely low wage earners to increase their profits, but it back-fired big time.
Why, because they forgot who was buying most of the cars here, The same American public they are laying off by the thousands. See, the car industry is linked to so many other jobs and vendors, therefore when GM and others decided to use extremely low paid workers to make products that neither party can afford to used.
Think about this, during these tough times, what if your employer ended your healthcare, ended your pension programs or fired you unjustly, who would stand up for you.
Yes, in ways the Unions did go too far admittedly, but overall they have help this great country immensely by improving working conditions, just ask any coal miners.
Without somebody fighting for good and safe working conditions, fighting to keep healthcare and pensions,soon we will be just like those poor wager earner in foreign countries, which is the goal of every global corporations.
Always remember it was the unions who fought and won these important issues for the American public, it wasn't the greedy corporation who did these things on their own.
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legacy1
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Nov 9 @ 10:19AM
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Ed...great post..I was in the machinist/Steel workers union and the SEIU union...I had no complaints here...great wages...safe place to work and great benefits... 
As another person posted....$144,000 a year is a bit bloated to claim as fact isn't it?
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philly67
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Nov 9 @ 10:28AM
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Good post from a laid off TEAMSTER
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LongRanger278
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Nov 9 @ 10:40AM
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Unions only represent 8% of this country work force and have been slowly fading over the last decade or so.
It wasn't the union that hurt this country,it was the corporations that took the tax breaks that were suppose to be invested in this country and invested the money in countries that use extremely low wage earners to increase their profits, but it back-fired big time.
Yeah boy GM, Ford and Chrysler are racking it in aren't they. All those overseas plants and tax breaks there just a buried in cash flow. Funny, you know where 1/2 of the money is going in this bail out of the automaker's?. Retirement benefits.
Unions are fading because nobody can afford them.
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vinnytmd
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Nov 9 @ 10:44AM
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Ed - Your statistic is wrong - it is almost 16%
Union membership saw an increase in 2007. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the first time in years, year-to-year membership rose. The number of workers belonging to a union jumped by 311,000. 15.7 percent of the workforce is in a union. Union membership has declined since 1983 when the bureau first began measuring union membership. In that year, it was 20.1 percent of the workforce.
No one will disagree that Union workers benefit from unions however the negative impact of unions hardly balances this out.
All one has to do is look at the state of the big 3 and Union airlines to see that they make it impossible for companies that are union to compete today.
The irony is that non union companies provide lower cost products to the marketplace that many enjoy. WalMart and Southwest Air come to mind.
The large union companies will not make it through this financial crisis. The Big 3 and the union airlines are strapped with huge pension debt that they cannot cover. When these companies go bankrupt so will the unions.
In 10 years no one will know about unions.
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edthepoet
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Nov 9 @ 12:06PM
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I would like to know if any anti-union workers can live off a Wal-mart job?
Yes, look at the state of our car companies since they went to cheap labor, did it help lower prices,nope, did help pay taxes here, nope did it cause major unemployment here, yes.
Please note that most policemen,teachers and other jobs are unionized and aren't going out of business.
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Wolf36
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Nov 9 @ 12:39PM
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I can see this issue from both sides. One thing I will point out though Ed, teachers and policemen don't go out of business because they're paid with tax dollars. As we all know; governments local, state, and federal really can't go out of business. They just keep borrowing money, raising taxes, selling bonds and printing money. Two of those strategies aren't available to private enterprise.
I think it's fair to say, they serve a purpose but like you said in your blog, they have went too far.
Just my opinion,
Wolf
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edthepoet
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Nov 9 @ 12:43PM
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Why do people always find and use the most unreal facts like the avg union worker making 144,000 dollars a year, when even the avg person can see that such a lie.
according to this, The State of the Unions in 2008: A Profile of Union Membership in Los Angeles, California and the Nation" shows unionization rates nationwide rising half a percentage point over the 2007 level, to 12.6 percent of all U.S. civilian workers in 2008. The rate rose one-tenth of a percentage point between 2006 and 2007. Prior to that, the last time U.S. unionization rates registered an increase was in 1979.
Even at 13% that is a far cry from 100%.
I will adjust my blog percentage to 12.6
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ceecee1952
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Nov 9 @ 1:43PM
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I think Ed makes some great points here...
and I am a Detroiter and a union worker (smile not bias hehehe).
But truthfully, this country's corporations have been operating out of greed based on the economic $ as a measure of "success". Not just the automotive industry but other: Motorola, Nestle, Coke, Pepsi, GM, Kraft, Intel, Hitachi, Sony, City Bank, Citicorp, Whirlpool, Phillips.... have all had a presence in the Asian marketplace for years. (this is not a new phenomena). From the port of Tianjin they trade to 170 countries. It is time we looked at the foreign market not just as cheap laborers but as consumers. (For example there are as many middleclass to upperclass Chinese by US standards as the whole population of the US.)
We need to also look at other measures of success to define it beyond an simple economic measurement and include the social good as well ... perhaps even use an accounting measure for its value.
Unions have good points and bad points, but I have found the good outweighs the bad.
interesting post Ed...nice to see you back
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MrPaul
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Nov 9 @ 3:05PM
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  At one time unions were needed.  .....................But they became greedy and demanding.  Unions have played a large part in driving businesses down or out Shame shame . Its interesting all the whining about jobs going over seas..................but yet the same winners are the ones that shop at walmart to get the cheapest prices. Some people just don't get it  The market and businesses are driven by the demands of the consumers  
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