Oh Boy!

I was gonna stay out of this but I guess I'll spend my .02.

Years ago when I graduated from college with my Bach. of Accountancy, jobs were scarce. The best I could do was $8.50 hr. I didn't complain (much). I figured it was a learning experience and a stepping stone to bigger and better positions.

I was out to lunch one day and stopped at a party store to buy a newspaper. As I was putting in my .35, a group of construction workers came up to me and started giving me a hard time for not supporting the News/Freepress strikes. I'm not exactly the type to hold my opinion or get bullied by anyone. I told them straight up I could care less! I asked how is it fair that an uneducated, no skill, paper delivery boy should make $18 bucks an hour or more when I could barely make ends meet? That was the end of the argument.

I eventually climbed the corporate ladder and becam a controller for a large plastice molding corp. We paid competitive wages/benefits similar to some of the union shops in the area. Promotions were based on qualifications and merit. If you couldn't do your job, well, bye-bye. We found someone that could. That's a free market economy. Competition and skills drive wages. We successfully resisted uaw/teamsters attempts to organize.

Eventually I got sick of that job and became a cop. Go figure. When I hired on, the department was/is a closed shop. My first year on the job I had to pay union dues with no benefit of representation as part of the contract with the City. How screwed up is that?

In my current profession, I don't see how a cop could survive without the protection of a union. Not from the citizens, but from the internal crap that goes down from politicking and backstabbing.

I can see the argument from both sides of the fence having been there. I can only say that each person has to do what's best for their families. Sorry guys, but my children are not gonna go without for any reason.



Mac

"I Birn Quhil I Se" MacLeod of Lewis
I Burn While I See
Hold Fast MacLeod of Harris