Israeli Port workers strike as government plans reform : Unions debate.

[chequita guevara]

If the purpose of government services is to make money, let me ask this. Are the police and fire departments profitable? Is the army profitable?

[Az]

I know what you mean, che, but this is different. Fact is, these CAN be profitable. Police, FD, Army, don't recieve any other income.

[chequita guevara]

Why should they be anymore profitable, than, say, roads? Roads are absolutely necessary for commerce. So are ports. We only charge user fees on some roads, not all roads. If the fees the port is charging are below average, then your end prices should also be lower. Either way, you end up paying, either in taxes or prices.

[Az]

because roads are used mostly by the various taxpayers, whether citizens, or companies based in the country, and paying tax.

Ports are used by people outside the country a lot.

[Ramo]

Union
Government
(of course )

They should keep on striking till they take over the docks from the state.

[Ned]

If I understood John McCleod's rendition of communism, or was it Naziism, in another thread, the dock workers should accept lower wages and work for the greater good of Israel. Only workers in a capitalist society would seek high wages for personal benefit. So, the communists here, or is it Nazi's, should condemn the Israeli dock workers striking against the best interests of Israel for their own personal benefit.

However, the clear problem here is that the three ports are under one managemant and have one union. They need to compete with each other for cargo. Thus the move to make each port into a government corporation is the right move.

[Sava]

terrible troll Ned...

[Ned]

Not really, Sava. Do you support public-employee union striking for wages far, far above the wages of the average worker?

If the union is a private-employee's union, of course they should get what they can. However, private companies have competitors so that wages can only go up with productivity else the employer goes out of business. With public workers, the wages can go through the roof because the taxpayers have to pay. But is the use of this self-serving power against the people justified?

[Sava]

Originally posted by Ned
Not really, Sava. Do you support public-employee union striking for wages far, far above the wages of the average worker?

If the union is a private-employee's union, of course they should get what they can. However, private companies have competitors so that wages can only go up with productivity else the employer goes out of business. With public workers, the wages can go through the roof because the taxpayers have to pay. But is the use of this self-serving power against the people justified?

Unions = higher wages, better benefits...

private employees = lower wages, less benefits...

I really hate it when people have these misconceptions about unions. I'm not necessarily a pro-union guy, but people (working people, not rich corporate fat cats) are better off with unions than without them.

[Ramo]

Perhaps you should read the article before making idiotic bald assertions of the supposed "greed" of others. They're not striking over wages, they're striking over control of the means of production.

And workers ought to be able to strike whenever, wherever, and against whomever they want. It's the self-serving power of priviledge in forcefully breaking strikes that isn't justified.

[Sava]

btw Ned, my troll comment was about your apparant comparison of these people to Nazis...

[Ned]

Ramo, I did read the article. Apparently the dock worker makes an enormous amount of money and the Israeli taxpayer is being gouged. The aim of the government corporation is to introduce competition in order that costs eventually go down through productivity increases that would justify the high wages.

[Ned]

Sava, I was just pointing out both communists and Nazi's seem to justify low worker wages for essentially the same reason. Capitalists actually defend unions and high wages that are supported by high productivity.

[Theben]

Originally posted by Ned
Capitalists actually defend unions...

ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!

[Ned]

Originally posted by Theben


ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!

Another victim of Marxist propaganda.