Unions are "good", to a certain point. That point being where the worker is more loyal to his/her Union than they are to their company. Note that Unions provide NO JOBS, per se. It is the Company that provides the jobs.
To push a company to the point where it endangers the profitability or the competitiveness of that company is criminal stupidity. That is where "your" jobs lie, not in the Union Negotiating Team.
.... and right there is where the Unions make their biggest mistake. They blithely assume that every red blooded American is supposed to support the Union "cause", blindly and from some charitable notion that somehow the average rank and file American is supposed to feel "unity" with their demands.
It doesn't work that way. Your average rank and file American will opt (given the option to begin with) for the best product at the best price. Why? Because they, too, have to stay within their budget. (They could, I suppose, do like the Government does, simply print more money to meet their needs, but there is a Law against that, it's called counterfieting.) As such, a lot of the plaintive (and self serving) wailings of the "Poor", "Overworked" workers falls on deaf ears. Every man/woman will, inevitably, opt for the purchase that provides best "solution" for THEIR needs, not yours.
That's why it's called competition. One is expected to compete for the loyalty of the consumer, not demand it. (Or request the Government to codify your demands into Law.) Thus, if two equal quality products, one made overseas and one made in the US are offered and the one made overseas is priced lower than the locally made one, despite the additional costs of shipping halfway around the world, there is a problem with the ideal of competitiveness here and the US workers don't see (or will not see) that.
As this situation becomes more prevalent and apparent, one can easily see exactly why more and more of our consumer manufactoring is done overseas. It's a simple case of competition and price. (Toss in a batch of costly Government regulatory unnecessities on top of that.... only exacerbates the problem.)
Then you find yourself out of a job, with NO reasonable hope that you will ever get that job back.... and you wonder why.
You forgot one of the little facts of life. In a world of free trade and rather open competition, WAGE COMPETITION is part of the resultant cost considerations of production. For you Union out of work types, the "furriners" work for slave wages. From their POV, they are more than happy to have a job that gives them a leg up toward "middle class" living standards. (Exactly why you formed "Unions" for in the first place!)
It's all a matter of perception.
This "state of affairs" has been brewing for decades, much to the loss of the Union "power grip" on the Nation's industry. Unfortunate, but true. For those of you sitting around waiting for those jobs to magically come back for your personal edification and employment, I would expect a fully remedial situation to occur, even if steps were taken to MAKE it "turn around" right now, in about the same amount of time it took to develop. Thus, for many of you of middle age, not in your lifetime.
I'm not going to give any advice here. You have been "handicapped" here, rightly or wrongly. Much of it of your own doing. There does exist means by which to overcome that handicap. Those who are proactive in their own well being are already taking the steps that I would only advise anyway. Those that sit around wailing about past glory.......
GG
Fanatics of any sort are dangerous! -GG-
Which part of "... shall NOT be infringed..." confuses you?
Well now, aren't WE a pair, Raggedy Man? (Thunderdome)
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Originally Posted by Kasper 
