Don't forget that the compensation figures commonly used for UAW members include benefits currently paid retirees and widows, as well, which inflates the figure.
My mother's father passed on when I was about 3 years old. I remember finding a blackjack (otherwise known as a "sap") while Mom was packing their attic. Turns out he had to use it to defend himself from Henry Ford's goons on the original UAW organizing line. It is a source of family pride. (I wanted that blackjack, too, dammit, young as I was. Didn't get it, of course. :D )
Dad was a journeyman pipefitter. While he was able to work that job, it was a damned good living, and we never wanted for health benefits, either.
I do believe that unions can get too big and too pushy, but it's nothing compared to the crazy top-heavy executive structure and pay scale of the American car makers. In general, if it weren't for unions, we'd still be in the semi-feudal employment system of the 19th century.
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Date: 16 Jan 2009 10:49 am (UTC)My mother's father passed on when I was about 3 years old. I remember finding a blackjack (otherwise known as a "sap") while Mom was packing their attic. Turns out he had to use it to defend himself from Henry Ford's goons on the original UAW organizing line. It is a source of family pride. (I wanted that blackjack, too, dammit, young as I was. Didn't get it, of course. :D )
Dad was a journeyman pipefitter. While he was able to work that job, it was a damned good living, and we never wanted for health benefits, either.
I do believe that unions can get too big and too pushy, but it's nothing compared to the crazy top-heavy executive structure and pay scale of the American car makers. In general, if it weren't for unions, we'd still be in the semi-feudal employment system of the 19th century.
Go union! ^_^