Politics and religion.

[Puckstop31]

I stand by my assertion that PUBLIC employee unions negotiate against the taxpayer. Simply because when the union wins a concession, the taxpayer has to pay for it.

Then there is the fact that unions are HUGE contributors to political campaigns. The statistics say that a vast majority of those union donations go to guys with a "D" after their name. I am SURE that those "negotiations" are on the up and up. As if a governor/legislature/what have you is going to fight hard against what a union wants when the unions money helped to get them elected. What we are seeing now, all around the country, is the long term result of the utter joke that public employee union "negotiations" result in.


Something has to give. I feel for the honest union member. But what are they to do?

Public employee unions need to have different rules. There has to be some kind of a limit to what they can get out of a 'negotiation'. Otherwise, next time the political climate is full of people they helped get elected.....

[sasvermont]

CF = cluster f**k

I don't usually add much to this topic, but I do know what CF means. It was my favorite term while working with lawyers for 30 some years.

[wombat2u2004]

CF = cluster f**k

I don't usually add much to this topic, but I do know what CF means. It was my favorite term while working with lawyers for 30 some years.

HAH !!!! That's still my favourite term when dealing with government. But yeah, I have to agree that lawyers are very CFish....hee hee.

[Puckstop31]

HAH !!!! That's still my favourite term when dealing with government. But yeah, I have to agree that lawyers are very CFish....hee hee.

Think back to your days in the service Wom....


What generally happens when a new Lieutenant tells a Sergeant HOW to do something?



Oh the stories I could share.... But this is a family show. LOL

[wombat2u2004]

What generally happens when a new Lieutenant tells a Sergeant HOW to do something?

Yeah, that's a bit gruesome to discuss here. But it's sort of along the lines of the Sgt ripping off the Lt's arm and beating him to death with it.

[Lady's Human]

THis is very much against my better judgement, however, I feel forced by the tone of some of the comments to say something.........

Public sector unions.......yep, we're all about greed. I admit it.

The Unions in the postal service have nothing to do with the thousands of workers who used to sit in hold rooms waiting to sort mail.......off the clock. They were required to be there, not getting paid, waiting to be called on to work, at which point they'd clock in and go to work.

Nah, the 8 in 10 rule we have in our contract is just about greed.

They have nothing to do with protecting workers' bids. Management would never do something like hire someone based on an offered job then change the hours making it impossible for the new hire to follow their original plans......

Management would never refuse to post a needed job because they didn't like the person who was going to get it.....

No school board would ever fire a teacher just for personal pique....

No town would ever fire a highway worker because the worker ran for a political position and lost.....

Nope, government agencies are pure as the wind driven snow, and would never violate labor laws or ethical standards of conduct, and would never, EVER use their relatively unlimited funds to fight a worker in court over an improper firing or unsafe working conditions.

Patronage doesn't exist in government, and there's no need for standards of conduct to be contractually enforced. No government agency would EVER hire someone because of politics.....

Unions exist in the public sector for the same reason they exist in the private sector...........to avoid the abuse of power by management. Toss political power into the mix, and it can, and has, gotten ugly in short order. The APWU is in contract negotiations right now, and the wage scale is the least of my concerns.

What's going on in Wisconsin has nothing to do with excessive spending, the Union(s) have offered concessions in those areas. This is about breaking the collective bargaining rights for public employees nationwide.



This statement has been brought to you by a corrupt, greedy local union official, a fat cat living off of the money from dues paying workers. The $248.56 I get every quarter from the Union is the only reason I deal with the phone calls at home, people waiting for me at the time clock, negotiating with management only to see the deals broken minutes later, high blood pressure and headaches.

[cassiesmom]

Unions exist in the public sector for the same reason they exist in the private sector...........to avoid the abuse of power by management. Toss political power into the mix, and it can, and has, gotten ugly in short order. The APWU is in contract negotiations right now, and the wage scale is the least of my concerns.

What's going on in Wisconsin has nothing to do with excessive spending, the Union(s) have offered concessions in those areas. This is about breaking the collective bargaining rights for public employees nationwide.

But Lady's Human-- can it be said that a labor union is also a power-holding entity? Isn't that the goal of negotiations, so that neither side ends up with nothing because the other side had all the power? We've moved away from child labor and horrendously unsafe working conditions that came about because of imbalances of power.

[Puckstop31]

THis is very much against my better judgement, however, I feel forced by the tone of some of the comments to say something.........

Public sector unions.......yep, we're all about greed. I admit it.

The Unions in the postal service have nothing to do with the thousands of workers who used to sit in hold rooms waiting to sort mail.......off the clock. They were required to be there, not getting paid, waiting to be called on to work, at which point they'd clock in and go to work.

Nah, the 8 in 10 rule we have in our contract is just about greed.

They have nothing to do with protecting workers' bids. Management would never do something like hire someone based on an offered job then change the hours making it impossible for the new hire to follow their original plans......

Management would never refuse to post a needed job because they didn't like the person who was going to get it.....

No school board would ever fire a teacher just for personal pique....

No town would ever fire a highway worker because the worker ran for a political position and lost.....

Nope, government agencies are pure as the wind driven snow, and would never violate labor laws or ethical standards of conduct, and would never, EVER use their relatively unlimited funds to fight a worker in court over an improper firing or unsafe working conditions.

Patronage doesn't exist in government, and there's no need for standards of conduct to be contractually enforced. No government agency would EVER hire someone because of politics.....

Unions exist in the public sector for the same reason they exist in the private sector...........to avoid the abuse of power by management. Toss political power into the mix, and it can, and has, gotten ugly in short order. The APWU is in contract negotiations right now, and the wage scale is the least of my concerns.

What's going on in Wisconsin has nothing to do with excessive spending, the Union(s) have offered concessions in those areas. This is about breaking the collective bargaining rights for public employees nationwide.

If this kind of stuff was what it was all about.... I would be behind you 100%. I cannot think of an honest person who would not support the rights of people to be safe in their workplace.

But it's not JUST about that and you know it.

How much do you contribute to your pension? How much do we? What happens if the economy tanks? Does your pension lose value? Is there a chance, that once you retire you might not have that pension?

Don't get me wrong.... I am in NO way jealous of what you have. I've been told that, that I am 'jealous' of the lavish benefits certain unions enjoy. Please...

If you can't tell.... Its the issue of forever pensions that boils my blood. At least private companies have to answer to their shareholders... Unless you are GM and get bailed out... By US!

Finally, don't take this personally, because its not.

[RICHARD]

CF = cluster f**k

I don't usually add much to this topic, but I do know what CF means. It was my favorite term while working with lawyers for 30 some years.

LOL,

CF is beyond a CJ.

[cassiesmom]

CF = cluster f**k

I don't usually add much to this topic, but I do know what CF means. It was my favorite term while working with lawyers for 30 some years.

I just looked this up on Urban Dictionary-- some days this expression totally describes my work situation! Especially when the managers have been in lengthy meetings and aren't aware of what has occurred while they were gone. That's an apt description for those moments. Thanks, sasvermont for giving me a laugh today!

We've moved away from unsafe working conditions?

I was thinking of the kind of extreme work conditions Upton Sinclair wrote about in "The Jungle". What a working person would have encountered in 1911, not 2011. Maybe I should have chosen a different phrase. My error.

I think I should stay out of this topic now. Don't want to end up saying something amiss. Off to Thursdays for cocoa.

[RICHARD]

but I've got a 3-word answer: accidental needle sticks.

SHARPS container!

[cassiesmom]

SHARPS container!

exactly- the darn thing was too full and we were taking it out of the holder for environmental services to discard.

[Edwina's Secretary]

At my company, you get to be a peer with everyone, even the owners.

That is easier to achieve when you have 10 or 20 employees.

Not so easy when you have 30,000 or even 100.

That is what unions do. Level the playing field. Put the worker bees on more of a peer level with management.

You are prepared to deny other employees the same working conditions you enjoy?

[Puckstop31]

That is easier to achieve when you have 10 or 20 employees.

Not so easy when you have 30,000 or even 100.

That is what unions do. Level the playing field. Put the worker bees on more of a peer level with management.

You are prepared to deny other employees the same working conditions you enjoy?

Who is denying them the same opportunity? It sure is not me. Those people made a choice to join the union. When you cast your lot in with the "collective", your enjoy the benefits and sometimes the negatives of being part of a 'collective'. Because remember, when you are part of a union, the union HAS to treat EVERYone equally, even the turds. Isn't there a saying about one bad apple? Also, the working conditions I 'enjoy' are not an accident. I busted my ass for a long time to be able to enjoy the freedom I do. And our little company did it ON OUR OWN.

A former client of ours, a company that assembled truck frames. There was a year long battle with the shop unionizing. The company bent over backwards for their people. They told them the honest truth. The workers voted to unionize anyway. 3 months later the doors were shut.

But hey... I've got zero problems with private company union shops. And if a private company is treating their employees poorly, the workers need to do what they need to do. But sometimes, as was the case of the example I used above, the guy driving an air gun got it in his head somewhere that he deserves $35 an hour, fully paid medical and 3 weeks off a year. I wonder where he got that idea?

Economics is a cruel master I suppose. (I know, its not about the money.....)