Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Trust Me...I'm from the Government

I ran across this comment (and more) on an odd blog. Sadly, his comments reflect a growing perception of unions.

“Personally, I’d just as soon see all unions go the way of the dinosaur. The problems they were created to solve (poor working conditions, atrociously low wages) have largely been alleviated and, given the realities of today’s technology and media environment, are not that hard to monitor for future violations.”


So here is my perception...

I can’t help but wonder about this dream world that the writer inhabits. Does he really believe that the XYZ Corporation will continue to pay a living wage after the unions disappear? The marketplace demands a lower wage and a higher profit. Without a union contract, the wages will quickly fall to meet or beat the lowest wage.

It’s largely self defeating; as once the workers wages have declined to that lower number, there is no money left in their budgets to buy the products of the XYZ Corporation. So XYZ must become even more competitive, lowering wages again so that prices can be dropped. And there certainly isn’t any money available for XYZ to maintain workplace safety, so that has to go.

Don't believe it will happen? Read your history. The labor movement was created for a purpose...to better workers lives, because companies like XYZ didn't care for their employees and the government wouldn't step in to protect them. (Remember the old saying..."Follow the money.")

And who is going to monitor XYZ for possible violations? The government? Would you trust the government to monitor anything? Anything at all? Please tell me; I’m really curious as to what portion of your life you would trust the government with…not just accept, but trust.

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