Made in the Mahoning Valley

[iwasthere]

rr to keep them in place for future workers from harm. today's unions are fighting for a decent wage and fringe benefits for union workers. if you think working without a union why don't you go south of the border or work in one of the Asian companies and come back tell us the pro union people that these companies in those areas are providing the same protections that the us unions fought for their members in the USA.

[Rick Rowlands]

Now that those laws are in effect, what are the unions fighting for now? Seems that their job is done.

The

[iwasthere]

rr what i meant by a safe workforce was that unions were the forrunners in having government regulated safety standards that setup such groups like FDA, OSHA, fair wage standards, workermen's comp, child labor laws etc........ what were the rigid work rules that the csx union had that made you resigned from a well paid job with excellent fringe benefit package?

[Rick Rowlands]

I don't subscribe to the concept of a "safe workplace".  I don't know what that means.  Safety is my ability to handle situations and accomplish tasks in such a way as to avoid injuring myself or others.  An employee who does not practice safety in their actions will become injured even if every conceivable guard is erected and every precaution taken.  Likewise, an employee who practices safety stands much less of becoming injured in even the most "unsafe" conditions. In all of my years working at railroads, foundries, machine shops, stamping plants, and in the myriad tasks building the Tod Engine Heritage Park I have never been seriously injured.  Actually the most serious injuries that I have ever sustained were a broken wrist (roller skating) and a broken toe (pissed off at the computer and kicked a metal trash can).   

No union membership will ever instill the state of mind and safe work practices that constitutes what I call "safety". 

As for compensation, unionized CSX did pay the most, but the rigid work rules caused by the union also led to my increased dissatisfaction which directly led to my resignation from the company.

[iwasthere]

Don't forget government entities that look out for workers rights, safety,
etc. that aren't labor unions.

OSHA - "Occupational safety and health [agency?] "

Department of Labor

etc, etc....

who was responsible for those government agencies that look out for the worker? the answer the collborations of organized labor groups and public servants that were on the side of the american workers.

[AllanY2525]

Don't forget government entities that look out for workers rights, safety,
etc. that aren't labor unions.

OSHA - "Occupational safety and health [agency?] "

Department of Labor

etc, etc....

[Why?Town]

Unless Rick was working sometime in the first half of the 1900s or even earlier I'd be surprized to hear of any difference in safety between union and non-union employers.

[iwasthere]

I've worked in a union shop, four years as a member of the United Transportation Union while with CSX, and briefly with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.  I've also worked in several non union shops.  Since I have done both am I qualified to criticize them?

rr which one gave you a better/safer work place and a  decent pay?

[tony]

From "Hostile Takeover - How Big Money & Corruption Conquered Our Government - And How We Take It Back" by David Sirota:

Why should you, an ordinary American, care about Labor Unions? Why are union rights as important to a discussion of pocketbook issues as any other issue? Because unless you are a super-wealthy fat cat, the existence of unions is integral to your economic well-being--whether you are in a union or not. For union members themselves, the benefits of unions couldn't be more stark. "By every available measure, union members are better-clothed, better-fed, better-paid and better house than nonunion workers with comparable jobs," notes University of Alabama Professor Glenn Feldman. "They enjoy better and fuller access to health care and prescription drugs. They have safer and more dignified workplaces and a great deal more recourse when employers violate the most basic standards of justice and equity."

Want a real-life example of what those union benefits really mean? Just look at he Enron debacle. Though you didn't hear about it in the traditionally anti-union media, one of the big stories coming out of the scandal was about the power of unions to protect workers. While thousands of nonunion workers saw their pensions decimated by politically connected corporate rip-off artists, those who were in a union survived. As AFL-CIO president John Sweeney noted in 2002, "Some 1,000 employees of Enron subsidiaries who are members of the Sheet Metal Workers didn't lose a dime in pension dollars because they were protected" by contract guarantees they had secured from their employers through their union.

But what about nonunion members? Why should you care about union issues if you aren't in a union? Because unions help all workers. Don't believe it? Next time you enjoy a night at home with your family or a relaxing weekend, remember - it was the union movement that helped end the system that forced people to work twelve hour days, seven days a week for almost no pay. And that's not all, as Feldman points out. " A majority of the MBA students I have taught can enumerate with childlike glee the Christmas list of goodies that awaits them once they go out and take a real job," he wrote. They get "Sick pay, overtime pay, vacation pay, health insurance, disability insurance, good wages, safety standards, pension benefits, prescription drug coverage, and more--without ever once realizing that it is unions to whom they owe a massive thank-you for setting the industrial standard."

Those benefits, however, are being eliminated as Big Business and politicians persecute unions, and do everything they can to keep the public in the dark about benefits unions offer. Corporate American and its allies in Congress have spent the last few decades spreading all sorts of lies about unions to make people forget about the labor movement's positive effect on America's past and present. The ultimate goal is to make the public see unions as monolithic monsters instead of what they really are: just a collection of ordinary workers banding together to protect their basic common rights.

[Rick Rowlands]

I've worked in a union shop, four years as a member of the United Transportation Union while with CSX, and briefly with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.  I've also worked in several non union shops.  Since I have done both am I qualified to criticize them?

[iwasthere]

stewie work in a nonunion plant and union plant then you can damn the unions to hell.

[AllanY2525]

A while back, GM was running a pre-production prototype test of 100
Chevy Equinox SUV Crossovers equipped with Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology.

It would be interesting to be able to get an update on where this project
is at.  As long as there is water on the planet, there will always be a cheap
renewable fuel to power this technology and everybody already knows the
"green" qualities of fuel cells.

[Youngstownshrimp]

Here is a big tip for all of us who are beseaching and praying for deliverence from  Youngstown (Gotham City).

What's made in Mahoning County is the largest natural gas reserve in the country, the marsellus shale.  Yes, in the next decade, those who are innovative and capitalist will grab onto this blessing and make us prosper again, where is batman?

And GM, you need to make CNG vehicles and be what you once were, the leader in innovation.  Germany already manufactures the CNG pump that goes into your garage (Fill) so your home is now your gas pump.  Wouldn't you rather pump fuel into your vehicle with the other end of the hose being in our own ground than across the globe in hostile country???  CNG is cheaper and greener than petro, what's the hold up?

[stewie]

Non union people are not scabs. Union supporters are not scabs.

Strike breakers are scabs.
Worker that cross picket lines while union workers are on strike are scabs.

"After God had finished the rattlesnake, the toad and the vampire,
he had some awful stuff left with which he made a scab. 
A scab is a two-legged animal with a corkscrew soul, a waterlogged brain,
and a combination backbone made of jelly and glue. Where others have hearts,
he carries a tumor of rotten principles......Judas Iscariot was a
gentleman compared to a scab. For betraying his master he had the
character to hang himself- the scab hasn't. There's nothing lower than
a scab! "           Jack London

You are quoting someone lthat ived in a time when Unions served a purpose other then protecting lazy incompetent workers.  Also, he is comparing a Scab to the man who betrayed the Son of Man? Really? Also, God created Vampires?  Personally I think we need more "scabs".  Unions have become corrupt evil entities.  When union officials walk down the street men turn their backs and Angles weep in Heaven, and the Devil shuts the gates of Hell to keep them out! LOL! But seriously though I do shop at the stores that have the pickets in front on purpose to support the owner from being bullied by union thugs.

[iwasthere]

i will defend union organizations that offer  a decent living wage and benefits. my union was half baked but i was rewarded a lifelong pension after thirty years of service. i retired at the age of forty-eight that was due to unionbrotherhood.