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Look into all the people who pushed unions in the late 1800's to 1900's. The leaders of the unions were socialists and/or marxists.
No they didn't. Ut started with NAFTA, to help a bordering nation, to aleviate tbis proble. Then like the militarty cuts, president Clinton had to out-do the republicans. That when the hit the fan. Mexico alone, we could help, and it was in our best interest because oh the huge border. If Mexico could have achieved a good economy, we wouldn't need to worry about illegal immigration. We don't with Canada, now do we...
Asia, China, Malaysia, etc. etc. etc. Never should have happened. President Clinton ed this nation royally.
Look into all the people who pushed unions in the late 1800's to 1900's. The leaders of the unions were socialists and/or marxists.
That's a ridiculous argument. Like I've said before...do you really believe that illegal immigrants are to blame for lower wages? No they aren't...like if we remove all illegal immigrants the wages will suddenly increase. False.
No business enterprise is looking to increase it's labor cost. The only people you have to blame for the low wages is the businesses and capitalism you conservatives love so much. There is no "natural" supply and demand in this country...there is only businesses whose sole purpose is to increase profits and decrease labor costs.
You don't think it was a good thing they were demanding higher wages? And they weren't all socialists or marxists...some were just demanding better working conditions. Like women in the textile factories in New England during the 18th and 19th century.
Look into all the people who pushed unions in the late 1800's to 1900's. The leaders of the unions were socialists and/or marxists.
Name one thing that unions accomplished that you would say have been bad now?
a) You didn't answer my question. When has picking fruit ever been a good paying job?
b) "They" can only lower standard wages for "such jobs" when employers care more about profits than they do about verifying legal citizenship.
By: Mark Hemingway 12/27/10 11:16 AM
Columnist James Ahearn of New Jersey's Bergen Record has a great column on, of all things, the stagehands at New York city's top performing arts venues such as Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. These are not highly skilled or technical jobs but take a gander at how much they are paid:
At Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center, the average stagehand salary and benefits package is $290,000 a year.
To repeat, that is the average compensation of all the workers who move musicians' chairs into place and hang lights, not the pay of the top five.
Across the plaza at the Metropolitan Opera, a spokesman said stagehands rarely broke into the top-five category. But a couple of years ago, one did. The props master, James Blumenfeld, got $334,000 at that time, including some vacation back pay.
Ahern also notes that the top paid stagehand at Carnegie Hall makes $422,599 a year in salary, plus $107,445 in benefits and deferred compensation. So why such exorbitant pay? You probably already guessed that a union is involved:
How to account for all this munificence? The power of a union, Local 1 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. "Power," as in the capacity and willingness to close most Broadway theaters for 19 days two years ago when agreement on a new contract could not be reached.
Wakin reported that this power was palpable in the nervousness of theater administrators and performers who were asked to comment on the salary figures.
Kelly Hall-Tompkins, for one, said, "The last thing I want to do is upset the people at Carnegie Hall. I'd like to have a lifelong relationship with them." She is a violinist who recently presented a recital in Weill Hall, one of the smaller performance spaces in the building.
She said she begrudged the stagehands nothing: "Musicians should be so lucky to have a strong union like that." Uh-huh.
Be sure and read Ahearn's whole column. And next time someone tells you unions are just about fair wages for an honest day's labor, remember that's not always the case. All too often they're about power and greed.
While those salaries are exorbitant, it IS worth nothing that the stagehands work every performance, an individual musician, even in a symphony, isn't in the hall nearly so many hours as the stagehands.
...But , I know specialist orthopedic surgeons who make the same amount of money.
I'm not gonna sit here and say that unions have been the perfect model for anything. But if that's what they get paid, then that's what they get paid. Right now..labor unions are becoming a thing of the past, at least in this country. But when they started out they dramatically improved the lives of working people all over the country.
It's true that labor unions now have become complacent and lazy, like the auto workers unions that are a complete joke. If it was up to me, I'd have let those unions collapse because all they've gotten is shiftless and corrupt. But at the same time, the reason they formed in the first place was because the powers that be ignored their calls for better working conditions.
You don't see what they are doing nation wide. It's pretty bad here in Oregon.
I would agree if Portland didn't sanction the illegal hiring, tax evasion, etc. that goes on.
A) This isn't about fruit, and traditionally migrant farm work was legal. Primarily because it's seasonal by crop type.Picking fruit can pay well for a skilled picker, but it's hard work. This is about full time, and part time jobs non-seasonal jobs that have been taken away by citizens.
B) that concept. That requires everyone involved to look away from the truth, and law enforcement to fail to enforce the laws. Are we a nation of laws, or not. For you to say such is OK, says little about your morals.
You do know the history of this country right? Capitalists have always been trying to skirt laws in anyway they can. Laws do exist to be sure...and I'm not denying that they don't. But to act like since the founding of the nation everyone and every business has been law abiding every second of every day is naive. many of the giant corporations made their money by skirting the law as best they could.
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