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stella41b -> RE: what is it about unions? (11/23/2008 1:24:17 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: tweedydaddy
It mostly dates back to early American unions which were dominated by crooks like Hoffa, so a certain level of cynicism can be expected.
Not like our nice British communist militant "let's wreck the industry" lot.
Which is why we no longer exist as manufacturers.
great job our union leaders are doing protecting jobs in the banks, motor industry, and Rolls Royce eh? Makes you proud.
Unions, onions, - both end in tears.
That's a nice line but the reality as I remember it was completely different. The manufacturing industries were sold off because Thatcher and her cronies decided that they weren't profitable enough and productivity wasn't high enough. They exploited the class system by selling delusions of grandeur to people and people en masse fell for it.
Nobody spoke out for the Liverpool dockers, the print workers at Wapping, the miners and so on, and there was (and still is) little sympathy for those thrown onto the scrapheap of unemployment and the benefits system which has been struggling to cope ever since. When it was set up in 1948 the welfare benefit system was designed to provide a short term means to support yourself whilst you found other occupation. Suffice to say this system has been abused systematically on both sides to the detriment of society as a whole and there are some claiming benefits who may never come off benefits.
The unions were blamed for wrecking industry when all along people were encouraged to live beyond their means 'on credit' because the game plan was always to transfer control of finance from the people to the banks. The division of the classes in this country now largely rests on their credit rating, and banks, finance companies, property companies and consumer service industries have all reaped the benefits to the detriment of manufacturing and small businesses. Let us not forget the heavy subsidies from the European Union which have benefitted our agriculture, together with cheap labour from Eastern Europe.
Unions and employment legislation - despite being ruined by idiots like Arthur Scargill (and he is an idiot, and I write here as a socialist) have their place in society but ours' have been destroyed and now there is no policing of the minimum wage nor any definite structure to prevent exploitation. This helps nobody but the more unscrupulous employers to the detriment of both workers and the vast majority of employers.
As a result we are not getting it on a plate any more, the time has come for us to pay for our excesses, and like it or not we simply have to roll up our sleeves and graft like the rest of Europe. The free market has been a disaster in this country and I feel we need to learn from the past 25 years or so and that means getting everyone back into sustainable employment and learning to live within our means. I see unions and effective employment legislation as a necessary part of this process.
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