Thank you, labor unions ......

[kentonio]

Actually, it from your story it sounds like it really was the unions.

Look, corporations will lower costs any opportunity they get, and when that means slashing worker benefits they will happily do so. You can say 'move to another job' all you like, but for a skilled worker whos spent years working in a plant to just find another plant doing similar work is often near impossible without completely relocating family etc (which many people can't afford to do even if they are willing to uproot their kids from school etc), even if they can find a similar job in another county or state.

Unions are fully capable of getting out of control like they did in the UK in the seventies. They devestated the country economically and were literally power-struggling with the government for control of the nation. This does not mean that unions in principle are a bad thing, they just need to be controlled in the same way that corporations do. Any large organization has the potential to run amok if left unregulated, but that doesn't say a damn thing about their purpose or necessity in existing.

[Elok]

I have mixed experience with unions. On the one hand, my mother's old workplace had a serious problem with the Teamsters trying to get a closed shop and cozening the workers with a load of lies--and she didn't even work in transport, it was a nursing home. On the other, I know an old man who got a permanent disability on the job (due to negligent maintenance of equipment) and got a comfortable retirement because his union fought for him. Ironically, those were also the Teamsters, and he did work in transport.

My present, crappy workplace (which hopefully won't be my workplace much longer) pays an extra $.25 per hour plus another dollar on Sundays thanks to the union. Now, union dues eat a lot of that up, so it's pretty well a wash. And I dislike the policy of promotions based purely on seniority; that's a powerful disincentive to competence. But our GM is a little tinpot robber-baron wannabe obsessed with cutting back hours--well beyond the point of thrift, since the store is doing well in spite of her many bad habits. I'm sure eventually her greed will get her the boot and things will even out, but I wouldn't mind it if the union had more muscle. It would at least be fun to watch the fight.

Just a little anecdotal evidence to season the sweeping generalizations here.

[notyoueither]

Needs more garlic.

[Elok]

Most things can be improved by the addition of garlic. It's like the bacon of spices.

[DinoDoc]

It wasn't labor unions that killed American manufacturing, it was management that spent more time and money on "style" than technical development.

It's odd that the post you quoted mentioned auto manufacturing and you respond with a post that doesn't mention auto makers and act as if you made a point.

[regexcellent]

Most things can be improved by the addition of garlic. It's like the bacon of spices.

I just made twice-baked potatoes and damn, did garlic help. Mixed in garlic, onions, pepper jack, cheddar, mushrooms, and bacon bits. It was amazing.

[Tupac Shakur]

My life won't be complete until I eat this.

Bacon-wrapped garlic

[Imran Siddiqui]

[Dr Strangelove]

It's odd that the post you quoted mentioned auto manufacturing and you respond with a post that doesn't mention auto makers and act as if you made a point.

I think you can say the same thing about the auto industry. There spent tons of money on the annual re-styling of their products while the Germans and Japanese invested in technical innovation. People began noticing that German and Japanese cars were simply better so they deserted Detroit in droves.

[DaShi]

Actually, it from your story it sounds like it really was the unions.

The source of nearly all corporate failures can be found in management.

[Jon Miller]

I would think that HC would be pushing that, since management says it deserves high salaries...

JM

[DinoDoc]

Thank you labor unions! High pay and low performance. Yet they have the gall to strike for more.

Chicago teachers strike for first time in 25 years

CHICAGO -- Striking teachers marched across the city on Monday as some parents chafed at the disruption and school officials scrambled to find places for displaced students to spend their day.

About 26,000 teachers and support staff went on strike -- the city's first since 1987 -- after contract talks broke down late Sunday. The key issues: salaries and benefits, job security and teacher evaluation systems. Talks resumed Monday.

Emily Lee, 31, a mother of two public school students, had a message for striking teachers: "Get back to work. The city is broke, children are getting murdered in the streets and education is the answer."

Rob Heselton, a teacher at Jones College Prep for 12 years, said the important issues for him are "not as much salary" as class size, extra days and hours added to the school calendar this year and the way Mayor Rahm Emanuel handled those issues.

"It was just the fact that it was forced on us," he said. "I don't want to be out here at all, but it's definitely worth fighting for."

Average teacher pay is $76,000 a year. The school system has a $665 million budget deficit. Teachers voted in June to authorize a strike if a new agreement could not be reached.

Chicago Public Schools kept 144 schools open from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for activities and meals, 59 churches that operate as havens were open to students. Parks and 76 public libraries offered activities. There are almost 400,000 students in the system.

Susan Hickey, a school social worker for 18 years who is on the bargaining team, said health benefits and restoring laid-off teachers are among the issues.

"Chicago is a union town," she said. "The assault on unions has been horrible."

Brandon Johnson, a middle-school social studies and reading teacher for six years, said the city and mayor "want education on the cheap."

"For far too long we've been disrespected and belittled," he said. "There's no protection for teachers."

"This is a difficult decision and one we hoped we could have avoided," said Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis. "We must do things differently in this city if we are to provide our students with the education they so rightfully deserve."

Emanuel said the district offered the teachers a 16% pay raise over four years, doubling an earlier offer.

The strike is a test for Emanuel, who said late Sunday it was "a strike of choice. ... It's unnecessary, it's avoidable and it's wrong."

Some strikers outside Chicago Public Schools headquarters chanted, "Hey, hey, ho, ho. Rahm Emanuel has got to go."

Dick Simpson, head of the political science department at the University of Illinois-Chicago, said a long strike could undermine Emanuel's reputation as a leader who can get things done. He also noted that unions are a major source of support for Emanuel's Democratic Party.

"The unions aren't the only game in town, they're not as strong as they used to be," Simpson said, "but if the mayor isn't able to reasonably settle the strike ... that will weaken him in that sector."

The Labor Department says 11.8% of the nation's wage and salary workers were union members in 2011, down from 20.1% in 1983.

Among teachers protesting Monday morning was Frank Menzies, a teacher for 15 years at Jones College Prep, a magnet high school south of downtown.

"Equity, fair labor practices and dignity" are what's at stake, he said. Menzies calls teachers "literally first responders" who need good working conditions to help kids. "Money is not a big deal," he said.

Karen Stolzenberg, an art teacher for 25 years, said her classes average 32 students, making it "hard to build a relationship with students on a daily basis."

She would rather be in the classroom than on the picket line.

"Oh my gosh. None of us wanted this," she said. "I want to be in the classroom, but this is important."

Police Chief Garry McCarthy said he would take officers off desk duty and deploy them to deal with any teachers' protests as well as the thousands of students who could be roaming the streets.

Jeff Bell, 41, a commodities broker who has three children in Chicago schools, said he was disgusted with both sides of the dispute.

"Who's thinking about the kids?" he asked. "Mine are at home instead of being where they should be -- in a classroom, learning. Fix this, get it resolved. Our kids are paying the price, and that's a real shame."

Ann Chase, 30, whose daughter is a first-grader, said she was torn. "I think our teachers should be paid more, but I don't think a strike is the best way for them to get their message out," she said.

"In this economy, everybody feels the crunch, but we all go to work every day if we're lucky enough to have a job," Chase said. "It mostly makes me sad that it had to come to this."

[MrFun]

The very first line in the article DD provided . . . . the teachers are striking for the first time in TWENTY-FIVE YEARS.

[MrFun]

One of my older brothers is a union worker as a pipe fitter and his current contract is working at a BP oil refinery. He's a very hard working person, with a strong work ethic.

[DinoDoc]

The very first line in the article DD provided . . . . the teachers are striking for the first time in TWENTY-FIVE YEARS.

So? Given the performance of the district, they should be thankful to be employed.