"Tom Walker" wrote to "Charles Angelich" (15 Mar 03  07:17:14)
 --- on the topic of "Mich gov"

 -> People who do not understand unions think all strikes are the
 -> fault of the unions. In all contracts there are TWO parties and
 -> either one can violate the contract, refuse to extend the
 -> contract, or refuse to negotiate a new contract when the working
 -> contract expires.

 TW> I understand them PERFECTLY. They are a CURSE on the Earth!!!
 TW> At one time of course there might have been a Need But now days that
 TW> day is LONG past and their Redicilious Endless Demands for More and
 TW> More for Nothing is Return is Killing Amercian Industry.
 TW> They Bitch and Gripe about Jobs leaving but it is their OWN FAULT!!!
 TW> THEy6 are the Ones that Killed the Amercian Steel Industry. They are
 TW> the One that made Foreign Cars so Popular, at the expense of THEIR OWN
 TW> jobs by the way.
 TW> The List goes On and On And ON!!!

I would tend to agree with you on the supreme brain damaged arrogance of
unions these days in the face of sometimes tough economic conditions for
certain industries. To be fair, industry is based on the making of
riches from a raw material. The costs of transforming that basically
"free" material into something useful can be a very tiny percent of the
final value of the product. Sometimes the opposite is true.

Thus salaries are not valued directly in proportion to the price of the
mechandise and as such anything goes. In the area of services for
example it is not unusual that a plumber may earn more than a full
tenured professor. This is a result of how unions have historically been
effective. The battles were unfortunate however. Some employers don't
have a nice historic record and as consequence neither do some unions.
i.e. firemen piercing their own hoses during bargaining (brain damaged!)

I remember an incident where a friend was consulting on a tv production
and on the day of the shoot he parked his car at the front of the
studio. The parking lot was practically empty since it was a Sunday.
Inside the union rep went up to him and asked if he was a union
employee. On receiving a negative answer he requested my friend move the
car across to the other edge of the almost empty lot. This is exactly
the sort of behaviour why unions are often viewed today as a negative
force. Let's not even discuss the ugly things that happen in strikes.

 Mike
 ****

... HAL 9000, you're pretty drunk aren't you Dave?
--- Blue Wave/DOS v2.30