45 celebrates Labor Day by attacking the head of Union!

[samintx]

Good Move, 45...that will show them!


President Trump celebrates Labor Day by attacking the head of the nation's largest union federation, who said on "Fox News Sunday" that new NAFTA deal must include Canada.


Donald J. Trump
?
@realDonaldTrump
Richard Trumka, the head of the AFL-CIO, represented his union poorly on television this weekend. Some of the things he said were so againt the working men and women of our country, and the success of the U.S. itself, that it is easy to see why unions are doing so poorly. A Dem!
6:15 AM - Sep 3, 2018

[SteveG]

Just to make him jealous. (ps- real event ended last night)


Dear Don,
Too bad you missed the big International Military Music
Festival Finale. Wish You were here. Happy Labor Day!
love, Vlad

[Lemon Drop]

He's right that unions are doing poorly, and we wonder why wages remain flat for people in low to middle range jobs despite record low unemployment and a supposedly roaring economy. Hmmmm


45's threatening comments on NAFTA are worrisome because it's clear he's settling personal scores with Justin Trudeau, not doing what is right for American workers.

Here's what Richard Trumka actually said about NAFTA:

As for NAFTA, he said that the economies of the U.S., Mexico and Canada are so “integrated” that “it’s pretty hard to see how” the NAFTA replacement “would work without having Canada in the deal.”

He added: “We’re anxious to move forward” with a new agreement, “anxious to have all three countries involved.”

He said that NAFTA has had a “devastating effect on the working people of the this country for the last 25 years. So we’ve been aggressively pursuing an agreement that works for the workers in all three countries, and I can say we’re not done yet.”

He said the unions were seeking a way to monitor trade deal compliance, regardless of who is president.

“We’ve been told for over 25 years, ‘Trust us, this agreement will be good for workers.’ What we need is an agreement that we can enforce, no matter who’s in the White House,” he said.

Trump threatened Saturday to scuttle NAFTA and negotiate a new bilateral trade deal with Mexico only, saying there is “no political necessity” to include Canada.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tru...7b00376cac

(it was Huffington Post or Fox...for this quote...sorry)

[SteveG]

on the serious side.

Unions enable workers to address wages, working conditions, personnel policies and other workplace matters through collective bargaining. Unions give an effective voice to the common interests of those in a company to counter unfair and abusive, arbitrary management practices.

Republicans hate unions. They think they own their employees. They don't.

[max]

Steve G. wrote:
Unions enable workers to address wages, working conditions, personnel policies and other workplace matters through collective bargaining. Unions give an effective voice to the common interests of those in a company to counter unfair and abusive, arbitrary management practices..

A perfect definition of labor relations from that ancient time you were in a workforce, SteveG.

Today union are a labor management tool for big internationals and the vote machine for the corrupt election fixers of the Democratic Party ...

[sekker]

max wrote:
[quote=Steve G.]
Unions enable workers to address wages, working conditions, personnel policies and other workplace matters through collective bargaining. Unions give an effective voice to the common interests of those in a company to counter unfair and abusive, arbitrary management practices..

A perfect definition of labor relations from that ancient time you were in a workforce, SteveG.

Today union are a labor management tool for big internationals and the vote machine for the corrupt election fixers of the Democratic Party ...
max, yet another attempt at re-writing history. It was the Teacher's Unions in West Virginia and Oklahoma that finally broke those states political stand-still to put some more money into public education.

Unions and DFL have gone hand-in-hand because they tend to support the same message.

Can unions be corrupt and dysfunction? Absolutely. The union in my town that 'supports' teachers is a joke. But that's because of lack of leadership, not due to structural issues. After all, you only have to look at Orange Man to know competency and politics are independent variables.

[bfd]

Unions found a place during the industrial revolution. Today, day-workers and independent contractors have few, if any rights besides the few they've been granted by the government. No insurance, no job security, you may be making a fraction of what the person next to you is being paid, but you'll shut up because you know what's good for you. And a job's a job.

Of course, if you're one of the owners of these mega-intercontinental sweatshops, then why in the world would you ever want this to change? Pay people a minimal wage, give them a turkey at Thanksgiving, use them up, fire them at will, and then refuse to pay them - let 'em sue, rinse, repeat - with little or no penalty.

Donnie T's got your back on this for now… but the times, they are a-changin'

[max]

sekker wrote:
Can unions be corrupt and dysfunction? Absolutely. The union in my town that 'supports' teachers is a joke. But that's because of lack of leadership, not due to structural issues. .

Sure, "corrupt and dysfunctional", more excuses for their real function they perform today.
As inconvenient as you may find it, there is a real reason large internationals have union in place to control their labor.
As inconvenient as you may find it, today's industrial unions are just businesses, businesses providing wide set of labor control services. The leadership is there, doing exactly what they are set up to do, to maximize their profits....

[Lemon Drop]

The unions in and near my town that support teachers are phenomenal. Teachers are headed back to school with 10-15% raises this fall.

Also unions in general are very healthy in my state and they represent workers, not the companies or organizations that employ them (as is their mission). We have the third highest rate of union membership in the country, with close to 20% of the workforce in unions. That means workers in the state are earning, on average, 25% higher wages than nonunion workers in the same jobs.
And as far as I can tell businesses in Washington are doing quite well, thank you, and we are considered one of the friendliest states for business and have one of the healthiest economies among all the states.

So yeah, it's possible to have well paid workers, healthy unions and highly profitable businesses.


It can be tough to see that if you're mired down in a state where unions are vilified all the time or where state laws have made it difficult for unions to function as they should.

[max]

Lemon Drop wrote:

Also unions in general are very healthy in my state and they represent workers, not the companies or organizations that employ them (as is their mission). We have the third highest rate of union membership in the country, with close to 20% of the workforce in unions. That means workers in the state are earning, on average, 25% higher wages than nonunion workers in the same jobs.
And as far as I can tell businesses in Washington are doing quite well, thank you, and we are considered one of the friendliest states for business and have one of the healthiest economies among all the states.

Of course, the businesses are doing well, with that rate of union membership corporate management has the labor force under total control.

That is what these unions are paid for.
BTW, to understand your organized labor expertise better, Lemon, have you ever worked on the business side of a union?...