Unions

I got a little convo going on a forum today about a comment I made two weeks ago when PresBO made his proclamation that we needed longer school hours and longer school year. I did not disagree with this message (I know, I know). But my immediate reaction was a snort and hearty, "good luck getting the unions on board with that one!"

Now two weeks later I stumble on this morsel: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/06/obama-adocates-longer-school-year-teachers-unions-push-shorter-weeks/

And oh the can of worms.... a few local teachers were fit to be tied. They are nice ladies but really haven't a clue what that little union card really amounts to. Oh it saves their jobs, it keeps them from getting the short end of the stick, from being harassed by management. All those extra hours they would be forced to work, those standardized tests that speak volume of their ability or lack there of, to teach.

Crapola! I was a dues paying, card carrying member of the IAFF/AFL-CIO for 6 years and there is not a whole lot they accomplished for me that I could not have done myself. But I did watch a 400+ lb co-worker of mine who couldn't even fit in his fire gear skate through his career well on his way to 20 year retirement with full benefits. He only ever did the least amount of work that was required of him got regular raises BUT could only do half the job.

Unions had a purpose when there were no labor laws to protect workers but today they really exist to find new and improved way to accomplish more money for less work, per person because they want more union card holders doing less work for more money. Then they use your money on their political agendas which you may or may not agree with but have no control over.

They relentlessly harass others who really would rather just opt out of the bloodsucking union club and work GLADLY for a little less intrusion into their lives and affairs. Honestly the days of demanding more for less are over; these are the days for being thankful you have something and making the best of it.

IMHO teachers have a great capacity to be amazing givers and that is the path of a teacher.. the job doesn't end at a punch clock and many times is thankless (it is similar for a firefighter, that I know) BUT they have some pretty darn nice gigs these days compared to years ago yet the schools are no longer performing..where is the disconnect?

So this got me to thinking and I stumbled on this great video which says it all so well: http://teachersunionexposed.com/

( doesn't that math teacher look like he is 12? sorry :) )

So I got the usual, run around about the union is a voice for the teachers, a few comments about the DC teacher RIF and how one mom had to invoke the union to negotiate her maternity leave. SERIOUSLY? We have labor laws for that. Even in Maryland (greatest freaking nanny state of all time but still and an "at will" employment state). I did all my foot work for my FMLA because ***SHOCKER*** the laws already existed to protect me, I had no need for my union. It is so bad that union members literally don't know how to survive sans union? How on Earth do millions of non dues paying, non card carrying, non-union member American workers make it every day?

Then I thought, the unions must salivate over industries over which they have no control....then it hit me....lightening struck my brain (thanks Hook)

What is 20% of our economy and largely NOT unionized.....

What is CONGRESS dying to get its grubby little hands on at the beckoning of Marxist, social justice progressive wing-nuts?


HEALTHCARE


Now.......Who is in bed with ACORN.....SEIU......

ok hospital workers are largely unionized yes but the health industry the insurance companies the pharmaceuticals companies....not so much..oh and the doctors...the poor disadvantaged doctors

if this all becomes controlled by the government would it not stand to say that SEIU would be seeing HUGE increases in membership to "fight" for the little guy against the big bad fed? (bile rising up into my throat)

Well if I was a union my mantra would be Money, Politics, and Power and my machine would be lots of card carrying members. I would work hard for those card carrying members to work less so the industry would need to hire more dues paying card carrying members. All the while solidifying my partnerships with policy shapers that can cause just enough mayhem to keep my little chickens close to home.

(Side note,in the fire service the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standard gave unions the boost they needed. The NFPA recommended a 4 man engine crew when every department was pretty standard with 3 man crew. It was a recommendation not a requirement BUT the unions started a campaign threatening legal action for departments that did not comply. Many departments can not comply due to cost. Every mistake, every shortcoming every staffing issue is blamed on lack of compliance with NFPA. So the unions have been pushing hard for these massive personnel increases nationwide. Imagine the income this would generate for the union?)


Could it be possible the unionization of the doctors will be the undoing of our health care system regardless of whether the health bill passes or fails? Either way SEIU will be at the helm. Doctors are already starting to unionize.

Unions drain the system of money and the ability to pay for performance, which stifles productivity and gives no incentive for individuals to excel while stripping management of the ability to weed out the bad seeds like any non union business would...hence what a business needs to do to succeed. Unions bog down and threaten management and as such union employees tend very often, to take their jobs for granted (DCPS). I would not say this if I had not seen it with my own eyes.

I did not want to have a lackluster 400lb firefighter in a burning building with me and I sure as hell don't want a union doctor who is gonna take a union break in the middle of surgery b/c he is protesting the bargaining agreement. I especially don't want a union doctor who is practicing without any incentive to excel. It's just dumb.


Maybe I am out in left field here but there doesn't seem to be much lately that isn't.

Oh Well.