The parasite killed the host.
That's all you need to know.
But after the death, a reincarnation. Watch GM become a debt-free, union-free, nimble, green-car economic powerhouse.
The unions killed GM. The unions were evil. Their leaders should be imprisoned. And now the unions are dead.
Ding dong, the unions are dead.
And the recovery can now begin.
Posts
113 comments:
Bullshit. If Corporate America had the foresight to compensate its employees equitably, there would be no need for the unions.
Even god is not worth $50 million a year when buba on the assembly line is making $50k.
More pathetic democrat-socialist programs at work:
WP -- More FHA-Backed Mortgages Go Bad Without a Single Payment
Many borrowers are defaulting as quickly as they take out the loans. In the past year alone, the number of borrowers who failed to make more than a single payment before defaulting on FHA-backed mortgages has nearly tripled, far outpacing the agency's overall growth in new loans, according to a Washington Post analysis of federal data.
Many industry experts attribute the jump in these instant defaults to factors that include the weak economy, lax scrutiny of prospective borrowers and most notably, foul play among unscrupulous lenders looking to make a quick buck.
If a loan "is going into default immediately, it clearly suggests impropriety and fraudulent activity," said Kenneth Donohue, the inspector general of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which includes the FHA.
More than 9,200 of the loans insured by the FHA in the past two years have gone into default after no or only one payment
Obamy gonna git me a Mc Mansion at taxpayer expense! Folks, I say it again, why should we work at all? Let's just join the welfare and fraud party.
When and who pronounced them dead?????????????????????
"Even god is not worth $50 million a year when buba on the assembly line is making $50k."
Sure $50 million is excessive, but increasingly $50k is excessive too since someone in china will do it for $5k.
Sorry Keith,
I enjoyed reading your website for quite some time but the anti-union twist has gotten old. I'll peruse other sites since you want to believe the Chamber of Commerce's "Unions are evil" mantra.
Ask all the retired NON-UNION people from the big three how much they earn in pensions. Be surprised to find out they earn much more than the average Union employee ever made.
When they go under, you will reap the benefits of the government backed pension plan that can be added to the losses the taxpayers have been absorbing.
How about this, take the money from AIG and give it ALL to the big three. If you did we could have viable electric/hybrid cars. Instead we get to enrichen some millionaires and billionaires with taxpayer funds paying off CDS losses.
Get off your soapbox about the Unions, I am a Union member of the IAM who is no longer a visitor to your website.
The unions arte to blame? Bullshit. GM executives are mostly to blame. Plus the fact that we have no universal healthcare in this country while EVERY OTHER MAJOR INDUSTRIAL COUNTRY DOES!! How can we possible compete?
Sweet! Got rid of another one!
Can't stand people who only consume sources of information that they agree with 100% of the time
Ignorance is not bliss
i am a california state union employee. if i was working in the private sector i would be paid maybe $12.00 an hour without benefits for what i do for the state. but because i am union i make $2770.00 a month plus benefits. but the guys making $4000.00 a month are hurting because they would be making $6000.00 plus in the private sector. the only comfort they have is the less likelihood of layoffs and the government pension they are looking forward to. the union is great for the unskilled people at the bottom but maybe not so good for the skilled white collar in the middle just below management.
It is everybody's fault!!!
"The unions arte to blame? Bullshit. GM executives are mostly to blame"
I have an idea!
How 'bout we throw some Common Sense into the equation for one itty bitty teeny tiny little second?
BOTH the unions AND the executives are to blame.
They BOTH f'ed up big time!
Blaming the unions? Seriously? When the past eight years the CEOs and Wall Streeters have literally been robbing this country blind? Fox News loves people like you...who begrudge people doing ordinary jobs a living wage and a decent pension and benefits.
Wow. Count me out, too. I thought you were wiser than that. (I was headed for the door, anyway, as a result of all the anti-immigrant stuff that increasingly gets baked into the mix, here. I did enjoy the realtwhore slams, though! Thanks for that!)
Whats the problem?
Detroit is Booming..
-->http://tinyurl.com/cjgc6h
I truly believe Europeans have smaller brains then the rest.
As in all things there was a time and a place where they were needed and used effectively against the abuse and the greed of the mega rich. That power was abused later and corrupted just like every damn thing American's touch it seems. Now, we are vilifying them against the other villains - the enemy of my enemy is my friend mantra I suppose. I think both are equally wrong, both have had problems...what does it matter it use to be about the price of houses now it will be what chiefdom will supply the best security. This is game over, the finger pointing is done we know who the criminals are and they are free and still running the show....so give up and embrace the anarchy coming and be ready.
Unions were actually useful during the 1900-1950 time period, but beyond that, they did become leaches. . .I was born and raised in a steel town in Ohio (Canton), and my father worked in the steel industry - by the 1960's the unions had run out of anything useful to ask for, so they started getting an extra 6 week vacations once every few years - like sabatical leave for professors. . .only the steel workers didn't have to even do research - my father just kicked back in the house for 6 weeks and drove my mother crazy.
I agree - let GM go into Chapter 11 - I do own GM junk bonds for 13 cents on the dollar, but bond holders will likely got equity for debt in the NEW GM. If they set up shot next to BMW in Alabama in a non-union shop, they could probably make a decent car and make money.
Keith said:
"Sweet! Got rid of another one!
Can't stand people who only consume sources of information that they agree with 100% of the time"
Keith, I agree with you 100%.
I'm not a youngster, and I've never met a career-union person who did anything but defend their union to the death.
Hey, wait... it's working!
The unions did not decide to focus on Hummers and huge SUVs while the overseas car companies were perfecting the economical yet quality cars. Management did that.
That being said, the unions went way above and beyond their intended purpose of insuring workers basic rights to a safe work place with no abusive managers.
Upper managemenet and union bosses walk over this cliff hand and hand.
Toyota and Honda are in non-union states - and before the dim sales due to the overall bad economy - those workers seemed pretty content. Seems like some unions like teachers and cops do actually help their constituents - though they hurt taxpayers terribly. There's got to be a balance between protecting workers rights and keeping costs lower. If you can hire some guy to mop the floor for $7.15/hour - why should you have to pay the union guy $25/hour??? There have got to be some market benchmarks for equivalent non-union jobs in terms of salaries and benefits.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
More pathetic democrat-socialist programs at work:
WP -- More FHA-Backed Mortgages Go Bad Without a Single Payment
Many borrowers are defaulting as quickly as they take out the loans. In the past year alone, the number of borrowers who failed to make more than a single payment before defaulting on FHA-backed mortgages has nearly tripled, far outpacing the agency's overall growth in new loans, according to a Washington Post analysis of federal data.
Many industry experts attribute the jump in these instant defaults to factors that include the weak economy, lax scrutiny of prospective borrowers and most notably, foul play among unscrupulous lenders looking to make a quick buck.
If a loan "is going into default immediately, it clearly suggests impropriety and fraudulent activity," said Kenneth Donohue, the inspector general of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which includes the FHA.
More than 9,200 of the loans insured by the FHA in the past two years have gone into default after no or only one payment
Obamy gonna git me a Mc Mansion at taxpayer expense! Folks, I say it again, why should we work at all? Let's just join the welfare and fraud party.
March 8, 2009 9:35 PM
No, please don't join the so called welfare and fraud party. I need you to pay your bills so I don't have to!
Kill the unions? Hire those slops back at half?? GREAT idea! Just more foreclosures...
Unions were keeping wages so they at least match efficiency gains of those workers being paid. Now, forget about it. It seems all productivity gains are going to the top 10% income earners.
Keith I thought you were a democrat.
Keith, I am with you that unions have been bad for this country because, for one thing, they have run labor costs through the roof, negotiating pay far above the actual value of a job. In their day, unions served a useful purpose but as they grew and took on a life of their own, they have caused so many companies to become bloated and inefficient. Of course, someone who is a union MEMBER would disagree, naturally. I remember talking with a grocery store cashier in 1977 that told me she was being paid $37 an hour on a holiday (double time) - to ring up groceries! This would probably translate to over $100 an hour today with inflation factored in. These were union workers. Now someone tell me again how unions create efficiency!!?!?
Something to remember if you are going to buy a house, are you sure your salary will not be cut.
http://www.bellinghamherald.com
/322/story/822634.html
Recession finds even those with jobs losing pay
For millions of workers, the biggest problem is a shortage of hours available. Last month, the average work week fell to 33.3 hours. In January it was an estimated 32.9 hours - the lowest level since the Labor Department began tracking the figure in 1964.
More than 8.6 million U.S. employees are working part time because they can't find full-time work, according to department figures, the largest number recorded - and a 76 percent increase from 12 months ago.
And state workers around the country have been put on unpaid leaves.
SEC closing in on Mozilo
http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2009/03/sec_closing_in_on_mo.php
Sweet! Got rid of another one!
Can't stand people who only consume sources of information that they agree with 100% of the time
Ignorance is not bliss
Agreed. I think you are very wrong about global warming, but I still come to learn from you and others. I don't get my feelings hurt not agreeing with you.
screw the unions.I agree they scred the auto industry.I will not pay 30000 for a truck.Wait till china exports cars over here.
Utter Bullshit!
Why don't you watch 'Who killed the electric car' a couple of times. It wasn't the unions who made the shortsighted, assinine decisions which have caused GM to go under.
On top of the electric car fiasco, GM got into 300 billion in debt because of it's financing wing. This is because only finance people are promoted rather than engineers. And do you think finance people know anything about making cars? Engineering and quality was cut to the bone to the point where GM started to look like a finance company that sold shitty cars, rather than a car company who did some finance on the side.
But of cours, the finance twits were as good as managing money as they were in building cars - and so the whole company went to heck in a handbasket as management dug themselves into a 300 Billion dollar hole.
So stop giving us this tripe that somehow unions were to blame for all of the bad management decisions the company made in the last 20 years. Blaming the unions is like blaming the banks because Greenspan dropped the lending rate to 1%
What I call self-inflicted pain.
I just heard that Michigan is about to go bankrupt as well.
Keith, your conclusion -- that a non-union GM will suddenly be spry, efficient and more eco-friendly -- is a non-seqitir. Unions have little to do with those problems (true story). GM was a very profitable company for many years notwithstanding strong unionization. Very very profitable. Ford too.
But you need a boogeyman, I understand.
Anyway, here's an article you'll like: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/opinion/08Ahamed.html
How about this, take the money from AIG and give it ALL to the big three. If you did we could have viable electric/hybrid cars. Instead we get to enrichen some millionaires and billionaires with taxpayer funds paying off CDS losses.
-----------------------------------
Exactly! Money placed back into our manufacturing is a good, sound investment. It's what made the United States what it is today, or was recently anyway. But instead of using the FDIC to pay off depositors and stabilizing or own industries, it goes to the FAT, GREEDY, SLIMY, FILTHY, UGLY WALL STREET SPECUVESTOR PIGS who have BUILT A GIGANTIC HOUSE OF CARDS ON CONSUMER DEBT. So much for our stupid government.
MrCoffee
"Anonymous said...
Sorry Keith,
I enjoyed reading your website for quite some time but the anti-union twist has gotten old. I'll peruse other sites since you want to believe the Chamber of Commerce's "Unions are evil" mantra.
Get off your soapbox about the Unions, I am a Union member of the IAM who is no longer a visitor to your website.
March 8, 2009 10:22 PM"
Good. Another one GONE.
Probably an Asshole, lazy overpaid fireman. Or
Some clown from Australia...
DIE LABOR UNIONS DIE
So Obama doesn't want to raise the gas tax. Insanity.
If jobs ever return, so will unions.
This AIG thing has me baffled.
It seems to be a giant with a voracious appetite that's hiding something behind that appetite.
If AIG does go down, what will get exposed? That's the part I'm afraid of. It's being fed for a reason, what the heck is it.
Any thoughts on what role health care costs played?
You cannot be unaware of that.
so what are you saying keith? that a working man doesn't have the right to make a decent wage while working his ass off? please. the unions have been responsible for many good things, their bad proclivities not withstanding of course. if we had responsible corporate owners who were america first in their outlook and people in our government looking out for america and its people and its jobs, we wouldn't be having this problem. then of course, we hear the cacaphony of whining about free trade and free markets. oh sure, only the internationalist complain and want free trade and free markets. that is because they have no country. they live wherever and they support only themselves. henry ford would turn over in his grave. of course he wrote about these things many times. but we forgot i guess. ross perot talked about the giant sucking sound created when jobs go south due to NAFTA. you know what keith. at the time i didn't know what to make of ross. but now i see that he was totally correct. so now our industries or what is left of them are gone and dying and we are left with nothing. americans are fools to let this happen. the rich get richer and we get poorer and the middle class gets anihilated and we sit and watch it happen and complain and discuss it. we speak words and have discussions and all of this means nothing. without capital there is no power. money is power and power is money and who is it that has most of the money? when you see who has the money, then you will understand their power and then you can study on how they acquired this power by controlling money, the money of the world and the money of all nations.....
"...John Boehner said the nation's largest insurance company must demonstrate a viable and long-term business plan if it wants more federal money..."
Now THAT would be a headling.
The "Employee Free Choice Act"--better known as the Card Check bill--is a proposed law that would change how unions are allowed to organize workers in the United States. Big labor unions like the AFL-CIO, SEIU, and the Change to Win Coalition spent heavily during the 2009 election, and are pushing Congress to approve this law. Union membership has been declining--currently about 7.5 percent in the private sector--and they hope this law will change the rules and reverse that trend.
---------------------
Let's see how this plays out. Let's now try to destroy small business.
Your a thug and a piece of crap. Go screw yourself. You thugs cut deals that were not supportable. The companys are bankrupt. Your contract was them leech. You will not leech off the tax payer. The tax payer will not stand for even if there was enough money. YOU F*CKIN LEEEEEEECCCCCCCHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
RE: "Sure $50 million is excessive, but increasingly $50k is excessive too since someone in china will do it for $5k."
slavery was abolished a while back;
the auto industry went away since automation makes a large work force unnecessary.
don't forget public education
Unions are the scapegoats. It always boils down to management and the government who really are at fault. They are just as greedy and stupid as Wall Street.
Obamaramaba is great I now can get health insurance for $150 p/month. I am paying over $400 now.
Need to be without insurance for 6 month SO out the door my insurance goes TODAY saving me $ 2400. YES great after 6 month I simply sign up for the Florida cheap insurance program.
I playing the "International" commie song all day...Was in Russia when the commies called themselves capitalists.
Hey, I am not making $250K p/y THIS year. I taking it easy LOVING the Messiah all day!! RARA.
Remember: Gustar Destani, the french president. Us capilists went over the ALPS and head a ball...while the socialists oh la la starved.
Viva La Socialism.....Obama don't SPENT my taxes before we EARN them!!!!
I just popped another bottle of Champage...Cheers!!!
Hey Bukko, weren't you just bragging about being a union bitch. But then again you've always been a union bitch. Your always on the wrong side of shit just like the union boys here crying they can't retire at 30 on 60 thousand a year. It just blows my shit away these people sign contracts with companys that are pie in the sky. Of course they can't be kept without sucking the company bone dry. When the comany is bone dry they look for the next victoms, the tax payers. Not in ten lifetimes. Leeches.
This ones for you Bukko.
Bukko_in_Australia said...
AH HA HA HA! I've got union job security wiping arses in a nice air-conditioned hospital, where I get to work with female nurses who are younger, slimmer and better-looking (on the whole) than the nurses in the U.S. Especially the ones from New Zealand. What is it about Kiwiland that produces so many cute chicks? (Even if they do talk funny.)
Bwaaaaaaaa Bwaaaaaaaaaaa Haaaaaaaa
keith is right...
three industries that are failing:
teachers/education
auto
airlines
what do they all have in common?
che said...
bullshit. If Corporate America had the foresight to compensate its employees equitably, there would be no need for the unions.
So how did that work out for you ????
Bullshit is absolutely right. What a load of nonsense. Unions were not the problem. they weren't then and they aren't now. he little guy on the line making $50K/year--and that only now, in the 2000's--so he could just make a decent living to get by is not the problem. The leaders of the corporations are and were the problem, period.
"Sure $50 million is excessive, but increasingly $50k is excessive too since someone in china will do it for $5k."
If the wage in the US falls that low the rich will need to live in guarded compounds. There WILL be blood in the street. If the elitists bankrupt me and then deny my social security I will personally exact my revenge on the first person I see exiting a limo.
Oh and some one approved the union contracts. Things were fine until Reagan busted PATCO and opened the borders for cheap labor.
Viva Che! Union YES.
Without unions the underclasses of this society would have had no benefits, pathetic salaries and horrific working conditions with nothing to say or do about it. Leaving the treatment of employees to the discretion of management is like putting the fox in charge of the chickens. Please. Perhaps in some cases union benefits got out of balance with the demand for the product, but in general unions have been a blessing and a salvation to the working men and women of this country. The automakers - like the other industries - made plenty on the backs of those workers. Don't cry for them. It was their own laziness, greed and inferior products that killed them, not the workers trying to get what they earned.
"...“What I don’t think people should do is suddenly stuff money in their mattresses and pull back completely from spending,”..."
I don't know about the rest of you, but I'M STUFFING!
"...you may be under the impression that somehow there’s a clean answer one way or another..."
PLAIN ENGLISH: We're in deep shit; there's not a damn thing we can do(but stuff our pockets, advance a fringe agenda, and make things worse.)
THAT we can do.
Keith - what are you talking about? If you are looking for a parasite-host relationship look at the banks and the greater economy. The banks played with the system so hard this time that they (the parasites) killed the host (the economy). If anything, this economic climate may even promote the rise of some new unions. The working class man will realize that is his only weapon against having all his wealth confiscated.
yeah,during all negotiations there were two parties at the table.the uaw gained out of hand concessions,but where was autos management?if i was a share holder i would be questioning why management gave away such great contracts.could it be that they did not want to kill their own high compensation.as for your evil union comment,go tell that to the united farm workers.
Keith you ignorant idiot. Japan and Germany from the start paid their car worker's health care and pension cost. They were in essance dumping. So we should have either had a tarif imposed or done the same for our car companies to stay competitive. Sometimes you are so obviously stupid I wonder why I bother. Shesh!
"Parasite killed the host"
It is a good one. A century ago unions were very important and useful but these days they are really just that - parasites.
It takes two parties to sign a contract. The CEO's of the big three were warned 15 years ago that the pensions will kill the company eventually but they didn't care as they would be long out of the picture when everything collapsed.
The UAW also were warned about the failings of a defined benifit pension as opposed to a defined contribution plan that comes of your check each week and is controlled and held by the members them selves.
Defined benifit plans are a watered down Ponzi scheme.
To blame unions speaks volumes of your ignorance in such matters.
As a regular reader of this blog and a long-time reader of your previous one, I am surprised and disappointed to read your comments about unions.
To lay the blame for the failure of GM, the auto industry, or any other industry at the feet of the unions is misinformed at best, and I do not take you to be such a man.
Our nation is currently seeing the results that corporate greed and unregulated capitalism have brought us. In such an environment, and combined with the fact that corporate and business lobbyists have such unfettered influence over our elected officials, unions are one of the few remaining voices for working Americans.
If the American auto industry fails, there will be a long list of culprits. Corporate leadership that failed to adapt to a changing market and the qualitative and competitive threat of the Japanese and Korean car makers. An American government that failed to act in the interest of its citizens and provide an equitable and affordable health care system in this country. A shortsighted buying public that chose gas guzzling SUVs over more fuel efficient models, and a government that failed to educate its people on the need for an energy policy to make our country self-sufficient.
The ultimate responsibility for the demise of the US auto industry lies with the boardrooms and corporate leadership of the individual companies. That's where the power sat and where the decisions were made. Don't blame it on the working men and women.
We still have SEIU and the public employee unions left to bury.
Let's get busy!
.
Couldn't happen to a Nicer bunch of mind numbed robot Morons!
.
I think you need to understand who the true parasites are. Here's the reality: technically the share holders own the company. In reality: the board of directors actually run the company and siphon off the all of the profits that used to go to that quaint old idea 'the dividend' you know the actual profits going to the actual owners of the company. These social parasites take the lion's share of the profits as stock options and bonuses. And for what? Well they MUST be compensated well for running the company into the ground. Hell I could run a fortune 500 company into the ground for a tenth, no a hundredth of what these buttheads charge for the priviledge. I guess having your investment destroyed by an ivy league graduate is just SO MUCH MORE IMPRESSIVE!
Unless and until corporate governance is reformed, anyone investing in one of these scams without being able to buy a significant percentage of the shares, enough to insure they have an actual voice, is a goddamned idiot.
But yeah you're right it's the unions fault.
Now iF we can only get rid of all the federal and state unions...
california can't afford the pensions for these unions.
They will kill the State... just ask the king of calif. ARNOLD
RECALL THEM ALL
Gotta love the liberal crooks from California and their unions:
LA Times - Lobbyists gave California lawmakers getaway during budget talks
The wine-country trip cost $14,000.
Trips to Egypt, Jordan, Israel, New Zealand, Australia and Spain are also reported in disclosure statements, as are Disneyland and Dodger tickets.
In the midst of intense state budget negotiations, Democratic lawmakers stole away to an elegant wine-country lodge where the gourmet meals, rooms and cocktails were provided by a trio of interests with much at stake in the Capitol.
Soon after the trial lawyers and the unions representing firefighters and carpenters covered the $14,000 tab, their agendas advanced in Sacramento.
http://tinyurl.com/dmowk3
Keith,
I am starting to get whiplash reading this blog. The mania and the depression is taking a toll on me. Please ease up a little for God's sake.
Are we f*cked or are we rebuilding?
Are stocks facing ‘irrational pessimism?
"...a growing number of markets experts are saying the time may be near when the Cassandras of doom should also be ignored...
YET
..."For the last two years, the best bet you could make on the market was against it."...
...investors seem to be focused entirely on its finance arm, GE Capital...GE's stock has been ravaged by "irrational pessimism"..."
That's some nerve.
Wail all you like; Denninger's spot on that either the government will enforce it's laws...
or the market will.
Banker fraud exposed by Max Keiser in his latest episode:
http://www.karmabanqueradio.com/podcast/tam070309.mp3
Unions didn't create the Pontiac Aztec, badge engineering, big trucks for little peens, cheap ass compact shitmobiles that nobody wants, three speed transmissions when everyone else had four, four speed autos when everyone else had five, The Excursion, doughy handling, chintzy interiors, they didn't give $3500 rebates to sell a 20k p.o.s. car, The Firebird, the fucking Escort, Mercury, The 25year old Ford Ranger, pushrod engines when everyone else has DOHC, and gay ass 'excitement' stickers when all else fails, etc. etc. etc.
Management signed off on each an every idea and crapmobile ever manufactured and sold here. As much as I don't like the unions, they definitely don't shoulder all the blame.
The bottom line is that it boils down to poor management and legacy costs first and the unions second.
How is it that we live in a world where I am on the hook for pension plans for union workers? This is insane!!! Where is my pension plan? If we are to guarantee these plans then everyone should have this benefit and not just a few. Oh wait that s called social security which will bankrupt this country if we aren't bankrupt already...oh what we are! Just wait, there will be a generational war soon...Gen X will not stand by and watch the baby boomers squander our future.
Hiya Keith. I love the unions. Really, I do.
Keith,
Really surprised at your anti-union bit, when it comes down to it,it was the anti-union, maximize profits, screw the other guy so you can get a little more mentality that got us into this mess.
Yes, I do agree that unions can and do get to the point where they become the larger problem: protecting bad workers, trying to get more at the wrong time, etc, but keep in mind your practical alternative for a non-union job these days is either Wal-Mart, or maybe selling real estate. You and even the company you work for could do a lot worse than going union.
Hey Keith,
Unions have played a very important role throughout the years. They have fought for clean working conditions, restrictions on hours worked, etc. etc. Without them, corporate execs would work people literally to death - ala parts of China today. Why do you think the sh*t from there is so cheap?
The fact that unions are now run by corrupt, greedy ignoramuses' should not diminish that fact. Union leaders today are on a par with the US congress and corporate executives.
When the time comes for the people to rise up, clean the slate and restore the Constitution, those bastards should be some of the first to go.
The mentality of the average Americano Joe-6-pack is amazing if not stupefying.
-----
The Americano nation and its pitiful occupants's fate has entered a dark age, an ominous age filled with peril and uncertainty. An age of unimaginable stench emanating from the fart of the Housing Bubble. Who do you have to blame but yourself when you bough a $700K house on a $40K annual salary as a low-life telemarketer, a StarBuck cashier, a convenient store sales associate, a Best Buy sale clerk, a 30K-Millionaire ? Add in a fat-ass, lazy, couch potatoes, hoity-toity wify, a couple of redneck, foul breath, rotten-teeth kids and you now have a perfect storm for the crashing of not only the Americano economy but the Americano family value as well.
This is the funniest nation on the planet Earth. And its occupants are no less funny as hell. No doubt about this. No BUT, IF, WHEN, WHAT, WHY. WHO, or HOW...
And you asked yourself the question over and over again "Why is the Americano so toasted ? ". Well, the answer is: This pitiful nation is comprising mostly of Joe6Pack and JaneZinfandel whom muddles through life having no clue as to why their existence on this planet Earth matters to them or the people around them.
The Americano Housing Bubble has now revealed the true anatomy of the Americano Australopithecus species to the whole wide world. And what that anatomy amounts to is a heap of putrid, rotten to the core, maggot filled, rat chewing pile of garbage.
Greed, Ignorance, Irresponsibility, Laziness, Materialistic-Craze, Hoity-Toity attitudes are all part of the Americano rotted anatomy, stinky gut.
How a fat-ass, obese, beer-gut, rotten teeth, putrid breath, dumb-ass Americano male driving by himself a Ford Expedition on the road, consuming 10-15 miles per gallon of gasoline is just beyond the realm of reasoning.
-----
So John-Doe and Jane-DooDoo, what have you done lately that contribute to a good thing for this land of the Americano ? And no, driving that big-dumb-ass SUV or F350 is not a good act of contribution. And neither drinking a 6-pack of Busch light or Old Milwaukee is a good contribution toward rebuilding this Skunk land also.
Thus, the final question is: Is the Americano toasted yet like a grilled, succulent Snapper Turtle skewered on a green Chinese bamboo stick from mouth to ass all sizzling, fat oozing, smoking nicely, juice dripping down aromatically over a bed of white hot charcoal ?
Get off your soapbox about the Unions, I am a Union member of the IAM who is no longer a visitor to your website.
----------------------------
wow, how open minded of you.
Love all the "unions are great" spin.
Folks, if you believe that, look around.
Get a good look?
Unions destroyed America. They served a purpose 100 years ago, when workers were exploited. Then they did the exploiting. And finally, their greed and corruption killed their companies, killed themselves, and killed America.
And if you don't see that, you are a fool.
The point however is moot. We will now move on, without unions. There is no choice, as all the union companies go bankrupt. The only parasites to continue on of course being the government unions. But private industry unions? Dead. As private industry dies.
It hath been foretold.
This is an obvious troll by Keith, who for some reason, hates the working class -- and the only people who look out for them, the unions.
FEAR GOVERNMENT AND UNIONS
Lost Cause, trust me, this ain't a 'troll'. Long time readers will know that
I truly hate the unions. I truly think their leaders should be imprisoned. And the summer I spent in college working at a job that required union membership taught me everything I ever needed to know about unions.
Unproductive. Corrupt. Greedy. And the cause of tens of millions of job losses and the deaths of once-viable companies.
And don't get me started on the teachers' union. Or hell even the baseball union (got roids?)
"...Unions destroyed America..."
Realtor union? SEC union? Mortgage-backed security bundler union?
$2 Trillion to financial stockholder union?
Social Security union? Medicare union?
ISDA union? {smirk}
Pharmaceutical union? HMO union?
"...When they go under, you will reap the benefits of the government backed pension plan that can be added to the losses the taxpayers have been absorbing."
Don't bet on it.
There is no taxpayer safety net for the pension funds.
It's all an an illusion.
A magic trick.
A politically-projected hologram.
They will hit the floor with terminal velocity.
Like all the other *government-guaranteed* funds.
For those of you using the liberal vs conservative mantra - you are fools on both sides and just pawns in their greater game. You play your part perfectly, and buy their propaganda and believe their lies and twisted truths. So, hope you morons feel good about being played tool for the machine, you are all blathering idiots with out a clue about reality or truth...just mindless drones of knee jerk simplistic generalizations of speculation and conjecture...be proud of your research and stupidity sheeple.
Hi anonymous! I wasn't going to blather on this comment thread, because a lot of other people have said the same things I would have, about how it was GM management that made the bad decisions about product lines and GMAC Finance foolishness. Unions didn't kill GM, management did.
But since you bring up my name -- you know you love it! -- yes, I'm still proudly union. At orientation on my first day of work, a rep from the nurse's union came around to see who wanted to sign up. The hospital is REQUIRED BY LAW to let organisers into orientation sessions. However, membership is not mandatory. Lots of nurses on my ward aren't members. (In British Columbia, where we're thinking about moving next, nurses HAVE TO join.)
Of course, I signed up immediately. Dues cost me about $38 a month. Because of that, my class, the working class, has power. Politicians in the state parliament listen to us. The government runs my hospital, so that means management listens to us.
I get decent pay and good working conditions. I can sit down to eat lunch or dinner, instead of wolfing it down in five minutes standing up because I had too much work to do, as it was in the U.S. We get proper equipment to lift obese patients out of bed, so we don't get crippled by back injuries. In the U.S., it was the "arm-strong method," which is why so many nurses are on disability.
I don't have to take care of more patients than I can possibly handle. In non-union hospitals when I lived in Florida, I'd have seven or eight patients to care for. That meant that they'd wait for pain shots longer, or lay in beds soaked with their own urine, because I was running around to tend to five OTHER people who were in the same predicament as they were. Not having unions didn't just harm me, it meant that old, sick people suffered more pain.
I could go on about the virtues of unions, but why bother? They've been good for my life, and the lives of the patients I help. Viva unions!
I have a question for you, though, Keith. You had a bad experience with a union when you were young. That's one strike. But do you think you're making the same logical fallacy as global warming deniers who say "Look, there's a cold snap! That one incident proves that climate change is not real." Don't generalise about the whole because of one small part.
And you're one who rails against the abuses of powerful corporations. With no unions to represent the working class, the only ones who have power are the ruling class. Not a good thing. The world needs unions, for the sake of the little guy.
GM killed itself.
when, in the early '70's, the bean counters pushed aside the engineers and product quality/ inovation took a backseat to profit.
Mark in San Diego said...
Unions were actually useful during the 1900-1950 time period, but beyond that, they did become leaches. . .I was born and raised in a steel town in Ohio (Canton), and my father worked in the steel industry - by the 1960's the unions had run out of anything useful to ask for, so they started getting an extra 6 week vacations once every few years - like sabatical leave for professors. . .only the steel workers didn't have to even do research - my father just kicked back in the house for 6 weeks and drove my mother crazy.
----------------------------
Back when I was a kid, during the middle 60's, and Sparrows Point/Bethlehem Steel OWNED Baltimore City, the next-door neighbor got 13 weeks off every five years, in addition to regular vacation time. One summer he took off from Memorial Day, clear through to Labor Day, plus three days added on for the holidays that occurred over his "vacation." Even as a kid, something told me "that's just not right."
Today that vast steel plant complex is a miles long archeological site. A rotting, empty, decaying shell, a reminder of the arrogance and opulence of union "glory" days.
============================
keith said...
Lost Cause, trust me, this ain't a 'troll'. Long time readers will know that
I truly hate the unions. I truly think their leaders should be imprisoned. And the summer I spent in college working at a job that required union membership taught me everything I ever needed to know about unions.
Unproductive. Corrupt. Greedy. And the cause of tens of millions of job losses and the deaths of once-viable companies.
And don't get me started on the teachers' union. Or hell even the baseball union (got roids?)
----------------------------
Always nice to see another perceptive individual extolling the virtues of the God almighty teacher's union. I also learned everything I needed to know about labor unions during summer jobs in college. Small world!
Go Keith!
============================
keith said...
Love all the "unions are great" spin.
Folks, if you believe that, look around.
Get a good look?
Unions destroyed America. They served a purpose 100 years ago, when workers were exploited. Then they did the exploiting. And finally, their greed and corruption killed their companies, killed themselves, and killed America.
And if you don't see that, you are a fool.
The point however is moot. We will now move on, without unions. There is no choice, as all the union companies go bankrupt. The only parasites to continue on of course being the government unions. But private industry unions? Dead. As private industry dies.
It hath been foretold.
----------------------------
Those government unions will be enough to take down what's left of this economic/housing fiasco, especially since (at least here in PA) they are supported by skyrocketing, outrageous property taxes.
According to the news, at least six PA municipalities are facing bankruptcy. If I recall correctly, one city raised property taxes 26% and got 29% LESS REVENUE.
Overburdened taxpayers are finally waking up and smelling the assessments.
It's pretty bad when you walk away from owned outright houses, and the tax god's can't sell them for $1 because of the outlandish property taxes.
Then they become abandoned and derelict, and the a$$hole can't even afford to even tear them down.
Die government unions!
Die tax pigs.
Suck it and suck it good!
Here's one of my union stories. A friend of mine was working as a Production Assistant on a commercial shoot at the train station in Hoboken. It was an all-day/one-day shoot. It was near the end of the day and they needed the lights turned on (one switch). Where's the electrician? Couldn't be found. The union would NOT allow anyone else turn on the lights. You had to be a union electrician to do it. The union wanted the shoot to go to two days...they said they could get an electrician for the next day. They couldn't just continue the shoot. It wasn't budgeted and the talent wasn't booked and the props weren't rented, etc, etc. All they needed was to have someone turn on the f#ckin lights! They would not do it. The whole thing was ruined and the commercial had to be cancelled.
"Bukko_in_Australia said...
Hi anonymous! I wasn't going to blather on this comment thread"
And then proceeds to do just that.
Typical inefficient Union Shill incapable of making a payroll or anything productive. THE reasons why Unions are dead in USA and dying elsewhere.
You should have been a Fireman, Dickhead.
Off the Island, No One Cares or will soon read what you post.
Enjoy the masturbation at your poor companies expense.
You are a Perfect American.
I would be out there on my ass if it wasn't for my union. High risk, high potential jobs are great during the good times. They all laughed at me down here during the good times. We had one job opening last month and you would not believe the type of people applying for my "joe" job. They are not laughing now, they just want to take away my benefits.
Fully paid health care, paid holidays, good benefits package. We are not going to budge. You say unions are dying yet you forecast such a horrible future. Don't you know that in times of trouble.....PEOPLE UNITE!
Unions destroyed America.
You're an idiot and a delluded fool. Obama has just spent 3 trillion bailing banks, and you want to blame the unions.
The point however is moot. We will now move on, without unions.
After management has stolen Americans blind, you now expect anyone to trust them? If anything - these stupid acts ENSURE that unions are going to grow!
Don't forget, there may have been alot of cost-cutting and cheap car making because of the labor costs were so high, thus moving factories out-of the country. But it could also be the devaluation of the dollar over time, the thing thats not as obvious.
I came from a town that had alot of unions and factories back in the 50's, 60's. My dad was a non-union construction supervisor and was always having trying to ignore their attempts at unionizing, coming on his jobsites and hassling him, he even came home one day after getting a shovel up-side the head in a fight with one of "them" and everyone knows who "they" are.
So, there are many to blame for the current situation, they used to call it - RIDING THE GRAVEY TRAIN, but if GM (and GE) goes, like they always said, so goes the country.
Keith, the "parasites" aren't the ones working on the lines and actually making something. You need to look higher up in the corporate pecking order.
As I said Bukko you are always on the wrong side of it. Ask the auto workers if their going to have job security. Hiring freezes all throughout the med field with mass layoffs beginning. Your new country is much much weaker than this one. If you have a job in one year your pay will be cut in half.
Keith,
The irrationality of hating unions so much--in the face of this economic GLOBAL meltdown caused by the economic elites--worries me.
Could you possibly have a drinking problem? I'm searching for an explanation to why someone smart about other things--the REIC goons and the damage they've done gang-raping American homebuyers--would blame working people banding together to obtain fundamental human rights as the ultimate bad guys. It's a hysterical kind of thinking that makes no sense unless you truly believe you are superior to working people and those who are doing the hard work of society teaching, policing, fighting fires, and other basically thankless tasks. What do you do, anyway? Why so harsh and bitter about unions, in the face of the unmitigated greed and wrong-thinking of their "masters"?
I guess you can never underestimate the power of social conditioning. If you think you are better than the poor fools in unions, then you will rationalize all your demeaning, biased, and irrational hatred of those people.
Keith,
The financial institutions on Wall Street, being driven into the ground, (e.g., Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, AIG, Citigroup, etc...) are NOT unionized.
CEOs destroyed those companies.
Same story in Detroit.
Unions never did anything for anyone that they couldn't have done for themselves.
I make lots of money as a VOIP engineer working for Cisco. Did a union have anything to do with that? NO - if a union had anything to do with that, my job would have been sent to India or China.
(In British Columbia, where we're thinking about moving next, nurses HAVE TO join.)
Buh buh we thought you were in love with Australia. What happened, union parasite? Slowly but surely making your way back to the America you hate so much, eh? Funny how that works.
Stay in Australia, union-thief a$$hole.
I am a firm believer in the survival of the fittest.
If GM and the unions that the workers are so proud of are insolvent and die, then fine. Period. I don't give a flying fuck whose fault it is.
What I do care about is the gubmint taking my tax dollars to give to Gm so they can survive.
I have emplyees and I give them what I can. They don't make what union workers make, and I am sorry I can't pay more. If I did pay more than I would have an unsustainable business model.
So why do I and my employees, who both of us live great lives have to pay taxes so that the management and unions of GM can get bailed out?
I am calling for a new union. It is going to be called something like, "The Union of people who will fuck you up if our tax dollars goes to bailing out your stupid fucking verpaid lazy fat ass, and we don't care if you are a fucking worthless union worker or a management bitch. Our guns are bigger the bitches whop work for a union, Union We will fuck you up with our union, Union."
I like the name I just came up with. A little long but has a great ring to it.
Yeah! Screw the unions. Imagine the gall of people that devote their lives to building autos through their specialized, skilled labor so the CEO's can grossly overcompensate themselves. The nerve of them, expecting to share in the wealth of their life's work. Instead of raising the wages of workers, we need to lower them so we can compete with the 22 cents an hour the workers in China get. Sure this will only exacerbate the foreclosure, unemployment, credit, bankruptcy problems....but we must defend the status quo at all costs lest the masses rise up in anger and end the financial swindling and close the wealth gap. Studies show that nations with the least wealth disparity have the happiest populations and we simply can't have that. Happy people are dangerous people.
Teachers are vastly overpaid and so are tech workers. They need to have their wages reduced to get in line with that of India. Let's drop that stupid minimum wage nonsense too. If you can't live off of $2.00/hour, that's your tough shit. While we're at it, let's stop this unemployment insurance and food stamp nonsense too. Too many damn people in this world anyway.
[/snark]
If a union drives the company bankrupt, the employees get whats coming to them.
If a company (and media, rednecks, idiots) con the employees into not forming a union, the employees get what they've got coming to them.
It is possible to strike a balance: Southwest Airlines employees are almost all unionized, they have done quite well while the company did well, they will all be taking concessions very soon. It is a system that works when offenders are called out for abusing it - See GM and UAL.
To the haters and Keith: F*ck Off.
I like your blog and usually agree with you but you are way off the road on this one.
Unions are the reactions to MANAGEMENT excesses. We need more unions not less. Our country is DOOMED without a viable middle class that can produce and spend us back to sanity and stability.
Ain't no friggin' overseas worker gonna do this!!!
Get real and stop talking like an A**HOLE!
Of the three US based manufacturers I've worked for, by far the most well run was managed by ex-engineers, non union. Based in Portland, OR where labor is not cheap, they still pulled in 18% profit every quarter before the bust.
Now I work for a military contractor and it's almost like working in a union shop: engineers are not allowed to do any engineering. It is like we only exist to be glorified clerks.
What Fruity Pebbles said.
And, Unions, whether you like them or not, brought you:
A 40-hour working week
Paid vacation time
Paid sick leave
Maternity/paternity leave
Overtime pay
Safe working conditions
Child Labor Laws
Some (or all) of which you have used at some time in your working life.
On one hand you're all bitching about the state of the country under de-regulation and outsourcing - and on the other meekly accepting the canard that unions ruin business. In other words your mouthing the mantras of your masters - who want nothing more than an America without Unions at all.
Well, you've pretty much had a non-union US for the last decade or so - how's it been working out for ya so far?
If you don't like they way they are - then join one and work to make it better.
Stop wringing you hands about how awful they are. Stop being sheeple mouthpieces for the Megacorps.
Seriously, you all sound like shills for the corporations and industries (who really don't want unions to step on their profit margins) - I expected better from a rowdy bunch of contrarians such as yourselves.
Like just about everything else, unions have gotten corrupt to the core. Heck, even the mob got involved.
Can you spell GREED? That just about sums up the reason for all these problems. The idea of unions was not that bad, then came the thugs, the greedy, the extortionists. the cheaters.
It's the same thing with Wall Street, with the big banks, etc.
The wonderful bought off Politicians allowed Corporations to under fund the pension plans and pump up the stocks more . Had
Corporations been forced to actually set aside the funds for the pensions ,than it would be apparent what a fair deal would of been .
Pension plans should be based on what the Company profits were in any given year. This would mean that during bad business years less would be put to the fundand more durig good busniess cycles ,
Keith, I agree with you 100%!! What most of the union defenders don't realize is that union employees have to pay union dues--a significant chunk of their paycheck!! Without the unions, employees could take a pay cut equal to the union dues and still make the same money. This alone would rescue the big three!! Death to the UAW!!
Im sorry did anyone here me say that i supported gm management
didnt think so
monkey. monkeys who took that company, with the help of the unions, and ran it into the ground
American CEOs failed America. Unions failed America. And now were f"cked.
hope that clears things up
If GM and the unions that the workers are so proud of are insolvent and die, then fine. Period. I don't give a flying fuck whose fault it is.
What I do care about is the gubmint taking my tax dollars to give to Gm so they can survive.
I am calling for a new union. It is going to be called something like, "The Union of people who will fuck you up if our tax dollars goes to bailing out your stupid fucking verpaid lazy fat ass, and we don't care if you are a fucking worthless union worker or a management bitch. Our guns are bigger the bitches whop work for a union, Union We will fuck you up with our union, Union."
-----------------------------------
The United States can only build ONE Virginia class submarine per year as opposed to China's SEVEN. Lets save some tax dollars and take it down a few notches.
Im sorry did anyone here me say that i supported gm management
Your initial statement is that unions destroyed the companies.
But in fact MANAGEMENT was 90% of the problem. So blaming the unions points the finger of blame at the wrong source. It's like saying Malaria is caused by bad air. (So in order to fight this infectious disease, people started using air fresheners.) How will getting rid of unions prevent dumb management moves?
Even the people who are supporting unions on here don't say that they are perfect or that there is no room for improvement. But to toss the blame on unions (which might represent 10% of the problem) is ridiculous.
In the end - banks are not unionized... but they are 10 times more screwed up than GM. Using that faulty logic, I could say: "If the banks WERE unionized, they would be a heck of alot better off!"
The fact is that management in banks screwed their companies into the ground - and the same goes for the car companies, or GE, or any other manufacturing company who is in bad shape today.
If you got an issue with unions... fine - so do the rest of us... but to blame them for this collapse? Are you insane? How much of those 700 trillion CDOs were controlled by unions?
I am the original guy who stated I would not return........... guess I lied. I stopped by to see if my post made it to the live status.
Anyway, I am a Union employee working for a Government Contractor. I work inches away from spacecraft that can explode with enough force that nothing I have will be bigger than an atom. I work hard, as do my other co-workers. I make $25 a hour, working around chemicals and materials, and rocket launch residue that likely have shortened my life. My shifts swap as needed by the company to cover launches and any other operation. I have to be very aware of everything I do at all times, any small stupid mistakes can cost billions in damages and hundred of lives (if not into the thousands). We support the countries defense program and provide solid science platforms for further research that aids and inproves human life.
I take offense to being called a "thug","Leech", or any other ignorant names. I bust my ass everyday to make sure people don't die, I lose sleep at night wondering if I have failed.
My contract guarantees my wife who is sick with cancer, will have medical insurance at a fixed cost. It guarantees my wages and days off work. It also guarantees that the company won't hire someone younger than I for less wages and send me to the street.
All the same things that every CEO and Board of Directors member enjoys AND requires for their services.
Not too many CEO's risk life or limb everyday, yet people want to explain why a Union is bad. What has killed us is our ignorant need to listen to big business tell us how little we are worth. They can simply get someone in China to do our job for a quarter an hour. If we stopped buying into "free trade" as long as other countries believe in sub-human living conditions, then the system would all work out.
Institute a world wide minimum wage, and only agree to stay in any free trade agreement we have as long as the trading country abides by the wages structure.
One poster said Auto, Airline, and Teachers had one trouble in common. The real trouble is we borrow money from other countries to offer services. The Auto industry is the last manufacturing base we have left. Other than that we simply consume world rescources and don't contribute any goods back. How many counties have overpaid School Boards that do little to nothing for a childs learning? Hell, Sulley got on TV and told everyone "The Airline CEO's have been using the employees as a ATM machine for years".
The Auto market is beaten down by a combo of health costs and fighting lower cost overseas labor. Why is it OK to say a Union employee should be burned at the stake because he wants to earn a living wage? Because they are not willing to accept overseas wages while trying to live in the US.
Certainly Unions are far from perfect, but given the choice between me collectively bargaining for my earnings or relying on what someone else feels I am worth...... I will make the wise choice for me and my family and continue to be a proud Union Member. Don't tell me I can negotiate on my own, only in numbers do you have the strength to bargain. All Union members ask for is a fair share of the fruits that OUR LABOR produced.
Keith, I agree with you 100%!! What most of the union defenders don't realize is that union employees have to pay union dues--a significant chunk of their paycheck!! Without the unions, employees could take a pay cut equal to the union dues and still make the same money. This alone would rescue the big three!! Death to the UAW!!
I pay about $60 a month in dues, my current medical plan costs me $45 a week. My prior job where I earned $5 less a hour the medical cost was $120 a week. So, $5 more an hour and $75 a week less in insurance costs.
Math:
$5x 40 hours= $200
$120-$45=$75
Dues $15
Net extra VS. Non-Union= $260 a week.
Yeah, I should stop paying dues and return to my old job.
"Here's one of my union stories. A friend of mine was working as a Production Assistant on a commercial shoot at the train station in Hoboken. It was an all-day/one-day shoot. It was near the end of the day and they needed the lights turned on (one switch). Where's the electrician? Couldn't be found. The union would NOT allow anyone else turn on the lights. You had to be a union electrician to do it. The union wanted the shoot to go to two days...they said they could get an electrician for the next day. They couldn't just continue the shoot. It wasn't budgeted and the talent wasn't booked and the props weren't rented, etc, etc. All they needed was to have someone turn on the f#ckin lights! They would not do it. The whole thing was ruined and the commercial had to be cancelled."
Old tales like this are all over....... Of course IF true, say the electrician was gone and they needed to hook up a few more things and so they plugged them in. Fire up the "lights" and then pow out comes the smoke and fire. Of course then you would be here bashing the electrician for doing a bad job.
"And, Unions, whether you like them or not, brought you:
A 40-hour working week
Paid vacation time
Paid sick leave
Maternity/paternity leave
Overtime pay
Safe working conditions
Child Labor Laws"
1. I work more than 40 hours a week.
2. I get work calls during vacation. I should get paid!
3. I don't get sick leave - it's been called PTO for years and includes vacations.
4. #3 is used for this, on the paternity side anyway.
5. Salaried.
6. Was it unions, or people getting smarter? You have a choice - one job where you might get your hand cut off once an hour and another one for the same pay where you won't?
7. Was it unions, or human decency?
What was it you were saying unions gave us again? Wow...
There's the real world, and then there's UnionWorld.
Anon 3.02 re:Child Labor Laws
7. Was it unions, or human decency?
No, its was Child Labor Laws.
You know, the kind the Unions fought for, so that your 10-yr old child didn't lose an arm in a cotton gin. Or get decapitated in farming machinery
Kind of like the Labor Laws that kids DON'T HAVE in 3rd World countries today. Nor the majority of their parents.
But please, keep bitching about how little unions have ever done for you.
We all know how kind hearted the people at the top of the industrial complex are, how much 'human decency' they have when their profits are being threatened by petty concerns like the life-expectancy of their labor force.
Seriously, you think they do it out of 'human decency'?
No, they do it now because somewhere down the line their workforce went on strike to get minimally decent working conditions.
And none of it was passed into law without the unions taking a stand and the management having to capitulate.
But keep on biting the hand that feeds you. Good little worker bee that you are.
"I take offense to being called a "thug","Leech", or any other ignorant names. I bust my ass everyday to make sure people don't die."
Sorry union parasites, your union talking points won't convince any PRODUCTIVE taxpayer with a functioning brain around here. Move on to MSNBC with your oohh-so touchy-union-parasite stories.
.
DIE UNION SCAM, DIE!!!
.
Hmm, so Keith doesn't support unions and he doesn't support management? I guess he's in favor of... unicorns and free lunches!
And he calls other people ignorant and naive?
Hey Keith, you may be reading other people's viewpoints but you sure as hell aren't learning from them.
It hath done were getolden.
"Sorry union parasites, your union talking points won't convince any PRODUCTIVE taxpayer with a functioning brain around here. Move on to MSNBC with your oohh-so touchy-union-parasite stories."
When you see Discovery rip through the heavens come Sunday, remember a couple thousand Union members from around the US made it happen.
WebSteward said...
"Here's one of my union stories. A friend of mine was working as a Production Assistant on a commercial shoot at the train station in Hoboken. It was an all-day/one-day shoot. It was near the end of the day and they needed the lights turned on (one switch). Where's the electrician? Couldn't be found. The union would NOT allow anyone else turn on the lights. You had to be a union electrician to do it. The union wanted the shoot to go to two days...they said they could get an electrician for the next day. They couldn't just continue the shoot. It wasn't budgeted and the talent wasn't booked and the props weren't rented, etc, etc. All they needed was to have someone turn on the f#ckin lights! They would not do it. The whole thing was ruined and the commercial had to be cancelled."
Old tales like this are all over....... Of course IF true, say the electrician was gone and they needed to hook up a few more things and so they plugged them in. Fire up the "lights" and then pow out comes the smoke and fire. Of course then you would be here bashing the electrician for doing a bad job.
Here’s my union horror story
25 yrs ago give or take our company had a display at the old Chicago convention center. Every morning union electrician(?)had to turn on lights over our space. $25. End of day, turn off lights over our space. Another $25. You were not allowed under pain of death, this is Chicago remember, to touch that simple light switch on the wall.
Lighting, wiring, switches were all part of convention building, non was ours, no outlets used. If lights didn't come on over your space when this moron flipped a standard light switch, for whatever reason, YOU had to call the office to get maintenance to fix bad bulb, ballast, switch, etc. and they would send another electrician (s), different union I think, to do any actual repairs on their lighting. After all you were renting a lighted space.
But this a**hole union electrician (?) hit the switch up in the morning, down in the evening. That was it. Replacing bad bulbs, repairing wiring, or even calling in a damn problem, or obviously giving a sh*t, was somebody else's job.
Unions. What a f**king joke.
We never went back there ever again. Obviously
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