[wicked49 (Unverified) Posted Mar 15th 2009 8:29PM]

The union haters here are unbelievable! It seems they despise organized labor because they can't get hired into a company supported by a union. Try turning off right wing radio and the vicious partisan cobras, then try to look at the situation objectively. (not influenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or prejudice; based on facts; unbiased: an objective opinion.)
Unions came to favor when companies worked people 12 or 16 hours a day for little or no money. They took adolescents, sometimes as young as 14, sent them into sweatshops, coal mines, factories, logging or other extremely dangerous jobs. If those children survived to adulthood - an iffy possibility - they were often forced to rent ramshackle houses at exorbitant cost and buy all other overpriced necessities at a company store.
Many died or were injured in on the job accidents, but, if lucky, were given perfunctory medical care and sent back to work. Their pay was docked for every minute they spent off the job. Lose your leg and can't hobble into the woods or down in the mine? Too bad. No pay for you. The oldest child barely capable of the work was sent out in place of the father. These jobs were passed on for generations. Most men died in their mid-20s or early 30's, leaving families to the most menial labor just to survive.
Why not just quit and get another job?
There were no other jobs! Practically no public education, no transportation and a very bleak future.
Those caught mentioning the word union were given a bullwhiping that chewed the flesh from their body and were evicted to fend for themselves far from civilization.
When the depression hit, even these wretched jobs evaporated. Yet the industrial robber-barons became incredibly rich off the backs of these workers.
Nice life, ain't it?
From that pit of hell rose the unions.
Union labor built this country. The end of World war II began the greatest era of growth and prosperity in American history.
By-the-way, huge and extremely profitable companies were created and to this day survive while paying union wages and benefits.
In fact, business promised people who stayed, worked hard and contributed to the company's success, a steady job, a living wage and a fair retirement at the end of 30 years of loyalty. IT WAS A DEAL AND A GUARANTEE.
To most, this was a promise that they wouldn't spend the rest of life pushing a shopping cart and deciding between a meal of milk and butter or Friskies and water.
Despite the enormous wealth acquired in business, The CEOs, MBAs and "productivity" consultants set out to destroy unionized labor to wring more profit from lower paid workers. "Greed is good," became the order of business.
Here is the ultimate question:
Don't you owe something to the people who built the solid foundation of a country which allows you to prosper beyond all need?
The average CEO earns 400 times the wage of the workers building more and more wealth. The heads of major companies, banks, investment houses and major enterprises, spend $$ milions to decorate their offices and given contracts that guarantee $50 million, $100 million of much more, even if they are fired for the bad decisions which drive stock prices into the sewer. Then the next Einstein come in, fires workers and demands the remaining employees do the same amount of work for less money.
Quality declines, sales slow and end for the ineffective and overpriced crap and the company crashes.
So this forum attracts, a bunch of know-nothings who would jump at a chance to work in a unionized shop, to flaunt their ignorance and regurgitate corporate propaganda.
They bitch, vote against their own best interests, then brag how much they hate unions and the working conditions they helped create.
American is the land of opportunity, but it really helps if you are born into fifth generation wealth and power. The reality is that 98% of working people will never earn more than $5 million in their entire life.
It's a beautiful country isn't it?

It goes on and on