In that case, I won't knock the chit outta ya...... yet.

Thank GOD I live in TEXAS!!!!! Buffalo NY where my inlaws are from is a dead town as far as the "workingman" is concerned. You can thank the unions and the federal government for that........and thats a fact.

wait till its time to either take pay cuts or lay people off. see what your unions do to the "working man". If I mismeasure on a job, i eat it. If I dont sell enough to cover overhead and my pay, i dont get paid. I am the salesman, delivery guy, installer, shipper, reciever, lawn guy, dog sh!t scooper and on and on.........I used to have an ole guy that helped out around the place but with the business slow down I had to let him go. I have a bottom line I have to meet everyweek and if it means doing all the work myself to make it thats what i have to do. And as a business owner its the hardest thing in the world to lay someone off, but I have all the skin in the game. Everything i have worked for is in that business with the hope of gains every year. If i was in business to break even, well i wouldnt be in business. When I first started, I didnt make a "paycheck" for over a year, we lived off what my wife made waiting tables at the time. How many of you would work for a year with no pay to ensure you had a solid job? We lived of roughly 16000 dollars that year in a ratty old town apartment with the n!ggers and mexicans. And when I started making a paycheck it was like 250 dollas a week for at least another 9 months.

eljefe, you can not even begin to fathom the wisdom bouncing around in ol D's cranium..........

Jeff, I get what ya sayin, but that's part of ownin ya own business. I did the same thing before I went to work for the RR. I did cabinets, trim & remodels, both residential & commercial. While I loved not havin to deal with "the Man" I hated the living with the fear that my kids might have to do without because my work had slowed down, or because a contractor didn't pay on time, etc.

Poker, in a job that will give you the perks you speak of, it's well worth being cross trained, multi-crafted, or whatever ya wanna call it, but in my industry, the very same thing that the management is trying to get us to do for them as a "favor" is what they were trying to fire us for yesterday. We have a rule book that we have to abide by that's about like a Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. When things get backed up, they don't care what it takes, just get the train there, or just get the industry worked, or just get the cars switched. Now, after you jump through hoops & bust ya ass to make the impossible happen for them, instead of rewarding you, you get wrote up for some dumbass rule violation like not wearing your safety glasses (even though you're outside in the pouring rain & can't see with them on) and end up receiving discipline that will stay on your service record for 3 yrs & possibly cost you your job in the long run. Now, like ya said, I don't have to stay here, but it's hard to walk away from the insurance plan we have (my entire family for $200/mo & damn good coverage) and the fact that my retirement can't be touch by Uncle Sam, or Obama. Instead of social security, we pay into railroad retirement. When I retire @ 60, I'll have 32 yrs in & will draw about $5k a month. Not braggin, just sayin, it's hard to give that up.

They also trying to pass a bill to take away unemployment to construction workers because they say we are seasonal workers that's big BULLCHIT! I mean I know the union are not for everybody but it suits me. People have to realize that by UNITED WE STAND!!! Divided we fall. Keep letting the goverment pushing us around what else will they take. Unions are there to protect and help the hard working people.

I pray its there for you when you get to 60.
And its no disrespect to you.
public sector employees work for you and me. We pay them through taxes. You do not become a public sector employee to get rich. If thereis collective bargaining then the final vote should be ours. There are politicians who are elected by unions that sit at the table across from the same unions and work out deals. Sounds like a conflict of interest to me and a scam on the tax payer and voters.

Republicans want to limit their power. They cannot be more powerful than the business.

This is a very good subject i will throw in my .02 . To start with i am only 30 yrs old and have only been in my craft for 9 yrs. I hear stories about how things used to be safety wise in the refineries in the past and how the unions forced better safety. On the other hand when i study up on american history and look at all the great things that were accomplished before we had all these rules and regulations (OSHA) i dont think the same things could be done now. I have asked my both of my grand fathers about the work back then and they dont recall it being as bad as the union films say it was. I do not care much for some of the things the union at the refinery i work at does they kill the drive to do a good job. I have heard stewarts say the same thing as Camo is saying about having to fight for sorry workers and i dont understand why they have to do that. I dont pay dues because i believe that as a worker i should be payed for how i perform and i dont believe i am owed anything. This country has way to many people that believe they are owed just for being born and that will be the downfall of this once great nation.


Sorry if the above doesnt make real good sense. I know what i wanna say just have a hard time typing in with any kinda emotion.

Well it stands to reason that because of the Union, those sorry azz folks get paid those good wages even though their work is sub par. You could second guess things all you want and if you are a union man then its easy to convince yourself that the union is the only reason you got the things you get and not because of the hard work you put forth as an individual. But of course the truth is you don't really know because you have never worked the job without the union. Who is to say that without the union that you and the other hard working folks would not be getting that same good pay and that those sorry azz folks you speak of would be making the wage they are worth or be fired and replaced by other hard working folks like yourself. Your union protects those lazy azz folks from loosing their jobs so you are stuck with them, picking up their slack. So if thats ok with you then support your union.

Sounds more like a country club than one group of people competing against another for jobs. In the famous words of Judge Smails " the world needs ditch diggers too". Do you want your caddie to make as much money as you?

And you can't be a lawyer unless you're a member.

Political lobbying for an entire profession is not the same thing as lobbying an employer on behalf of their employees.

How do they collectively bargain for benefits of the self-employed?


I'm going to tell my attorney buddies that they're all union workers and see what they say. Should be pretty funny.

I have personally dealt with a couple of unions. My company supplies parts to a company that has a union and I have been at their facility when they went to lunch 30 minutes early and would stand around and not do anything many other times during the day. I also had to set for 15 minutes to wait for someone to show up to pick up a small box walk about five steps and put that box that in the trunk of my car because the person I was with was afraid of having the union file a grevience against him.

Not only are unions driving up wages, from my experience there productivity is also lacking. I believe our country is in a serious sitution and to keep and grow jobs we have to keep wages down. My fear is that with the unions driving up wages they will ultimatly cause many jobs to go away.

Again the law monopoly......you can't open a business helping people write wills, which is prettysimple unless you have lots of money and property. You have to ba a lawyer or you will go to jail. They have a total monopoly on the law. Even if you go to lawschool. And pass the bar they have to accept you or you cannot practice. Again who does the bar support politically......dems

Dues are mandatory
Every lawyer has to join
They dictate what we can and can't do
They lobby for our benefit
Until the late 70's they fixed minimum fees
Collectively bargain for other benefits: health, etc
You can't be a member unless you're a lawyer

Again, just a board. I have one of those too. I have to pay money to be a member each year, they lobby for advancements in the my medical profession. But by no means would I ever compare it to a REAL union. For a lawyer, your arguing skills are WEAK. Not everyone can be fed $hit and like the taste, sometime your opinion should stay yours and not forced on others. Thats just my opinion....

My dad has been a lawyer for over 30 years and is active with the Bar association. He does not think of the bar being anything like a union.

yep ...... THESE pretzels are making me THIRSTY!!

It really irks me the way some people lump all unions in one category.
Having said that I am about as anti-union as they come.
I started in the oilfield at 18. Hit the pay ceiling for valve repair and wasn't satisfied. So I went to college paid my way got a degree and started making more money.

If you are in the public sector and put in 20 years why should you be allowed to retire 1/2 pay or better when I have to work till I'm dead or 65 to pay for your golf course fees? Now the military is a special case and leave it out of the arguement.

Lets look at Wisc for a minute. From what I've read the govenor wants the state employees to start putting in more for their retirement. Why not.

If we want to be FAIR goverment employees should be treated the same as none goverment workers. Pay your own way.

Dguidry why is it that ALL republicans are closet democrats in your eyes?