Stuuuuuuu wrote:
Squanto wrote:
Sabresfansince1980 wrote:
Again, I don't like big union BS, but they are often a necessary evil to counter the abuses of employers, private and public.
But who checks the unions when they abuse their power to basically extort the employer?
Why should a college educated person with advanced technical skills make the same amount of money as a guy who sits in a truck and WATCHES someone else mow a lawn simply because that guy has union representation?
That's a completely true scenario BTW. I worked for the Town of Lewiston Parks Department right out of high school for a summer. Had I stayed there, not went to college, and did grunt work for a time, I would have been a supervisor making the same amount of money I do now 5 years ago.
This goes to the debate about what work is "important". I hate the fact that we often look at managerial positions as more important than "grunt work" which is often the work that HAS to be done anyway. I hate that the dishwasher in a restaurant makes minimum wage when his/her job is just as important as anyone else's, who gets paid much more. You can't blame pay variations on unions alone.
Two things. A, addressing above...this is the most socialist/communist point made. Supply and Demand, varying levels of education and skill sets, responsibility, personal investment, pressure...these all should mean nothing. Fact, 98% of anyone can be a dishwasher. Fact, dishwasher is a dime a dozen. Fact, dishwasher has very little in the way of bargaining power.
Did anyone force dishwasher to not get an education? Did anyone force dishwasher to not learn a skill or trade? Did anyone force dishwasher to be dishwasher? I'm going to go with no.
That said, manager may have spent countless hours and dollars in school getting a degree and bettering themselves. This is called opportunity cost. If you throw out the concept of achievement for the concept of 'fair' as most like yourself want, then let me know how your next surgery goes when performed by dishwashers...
The second point, is while this has evolved/devolved into teachers...teachers are very little in the way of the overall problem. What about policemen? Firemen? DMV workers? Town clerks? Last I checked, hundreds of people show up (after a screening for certain requirements) to take the civil service tests for these positions, sometimes in a ratio of thousands to one for open positions. Yet these positions still get compensated at a rate ABOVE the mean average income of the area. That is not right.
Basic math...income (and benefit expense) of public sector employees is increasing at a rate greater then private sector growth and in access of tax base. Areas most affected are those where population growth is often negative, compounding issue. Eventually the system fails and bankrupts. The revolution is coming...