Well, Well, Walt
Your rhetoric stuns me. You wax on and on about how great the unions are, or have been, with regard to your particular situation. You mentioned that can say no with regard to making a decision based on safety, when the company would rather go ahead with the risk. First of all, if you're working in a safety sensitive industry, and your company is asking you to take risks, maybe you should consider working in a different field. Sounds like you have serious problems at the top of that corporation. Otherwise, maybe you'd like to cite an example of when you were asked to take said risks, that were outside the parameters and limits set by the company, so that we all can understand where you're coming from on this particular issue. I also noticed that you made inference to the fact that the quality of your work would be based on your pay. (i.e. well paid happy employees make the company more money). Now, I'm not accusing you of ANYTHING, but allow me to pose a question to you. If a person is going to base the quality of their work on the amount of pay/benefits they receive, isn't this really a character issue with the employees, and NOT the employer. After all, the employer tells you prior to be hired, what the pay rate is. To then withold effort based on pay seems somewhat unscrupulous to me.
And I still have questions, which have yet to be answered with regard to the DISNEY UNIONS. I am not interested in your situation, as it does NOT apply to Disney at all. Not even a little. As someone clearly stated earlier, all unions are NOT the same. So, having said that, I still wonder how much the guys at the top of the union(s) at Disney are making. And while you make the comment that the members control the union, and not the leadership, if that's truly the case, why then do you need the leadership? It speaks to the very heart of my arguement that we as individuals have the power to do more for ourselves than ANY government agency will EVER do. And while the minimum wage is a Federally guaranteed figure, I also said that the best way to affect THAT singular issue is by how we vote. But in order to affect that change at the national level, you FIRST HAVE TO make changes at the State Representative level, as they will be your repesentation at the National level. If enough Representatives are elected with the same view on the same issue, well, you know the rest from here.
I guess if we wanted we could govern ourselves into perfection, by merely having the Federal Govt. take care of everything right? I mean, I know that's NOT what you are saying, but think about it for a minute. And I harken back to the era of Roe v. Wade. The Fed. found it necessary to legislate the right of a woman to choose to have an abortion. Now follow me here. From there we decided as a country that we needed to care for those who couldn't AFFORD to care for themselves, with the institution of the welfare programs. Now forgive me if dates are incorrect with respect to actual legislation, but I'm speaking of a MINDSET here, and not trying to be chronologically correct.
Somewhere in there we added foodstamp programs. And although I'm sure that they existed prior, it was during the era of Jimmy Hoffa that unions came into national prominence. That isn't to say that it's all corrupt by mentioning his name, but again to set a picture for people. During these times was the equal rights movement, right to vote movement. All historical times to be sure, but it shows, I believe, a couple of things. First, and foremost, people taking charge of their own lives, and affecting change at a national level, based on their own views and opinions. A great thing to be sure. Now, I also believe it shows where the government saw, and seized on the opportunity to begin dictating their terms/conditions, more than we as individuals were going to be able to do in the future. They had the foresight to see that if they could get certain constituencies to believe that they would TAKE CARE of them, that those people would continue to vote them back into power year after year. If you look at issues like Roe v. Wade, welfare and food stamp programs, etc., you see a pattern of the govt. acting as the PARENTS, if you will, to millions of americans who believed, or were made to believe, that they couldn't do it on their own. Now, fast forward to the unions of today. I believe there is a direct corellation in the m.o. of unions when they look at how the govt. has operated. While they do vote in a democratic manner, and yes, DEMOCRACY is GREAT, as our President continues to tell all us, and I truly believe. But, and this is ia big but, if my view as a union member is outnumbered, I'm out of luck. Hence the problem. Those in the minority are NOT served. Which is, in a nutshell, my entire point. If I'm not beholden to any union, all that stands between me and progress in my life is ME. WOW!!! What a concept. Individuals taking responsibility for their own lives. You see the beauty of being a business owner, is that I, not YOU, get to set the rules by which my company is run. In a publically traded company, yes, shareholders become the boss. But guess what, they tend to want the same thing that owners usually do. PROFITS!!! Again, if all of these people, who you indicate agreed to the previous contract, saw the economic changes coming, why would you continue to stay in a job that continues to put you further into an economic hole on a monthly basis? It doesn't add up. Let's see. I'll take a job paying minimum wage, cause I know the union is going to be there for me. Hmmmm, prices are going up but not my pay. Oh, that's okay, the union will be there for me. Hmmm, 3 years now everything going up, but my pay. I know the union will be there for me. Do you not see a problem with this picture? I can tell that you are an intelligent person and a great debater. But come on, you have to see this too. And contrary to what you may think, I do appreciate your views very much. And I also appreciate the plight of people less fortunate. But I don't believe that they are stupid, ignorant, or incapable of taking care of themselves. What we've been left with is a large group of people who DEPEND on government to cure all their ills. This is simply not good for the whole of our country. I, for one, don't want govt., or unions, getting/giving me handouts. I can take care of myself.
Here's what I see: A society in which we continue to give more and more power to those in Washington, to tell us how to live, what to eat ,how much I can make, how much to pay for fuel, etc. A society in which the government attempts to level the field between the haves and have-nots, by redistributing wealth, thru taxation, and social programs. Truth is, you tax the rich and make private business owners pay more for wages, who do you think is ultimately going to pay for those increases? You think business owners are going to have a change of heart, and decide that profits aren't as important as they used to be? THE MIDDLE CLASS WILL PAY FOR ALL OF THIS!!! As I'm sure you already know, the middle class bears the biggest burden of all in this country in totality. Others pay more in taxes, but generally those folks also make a lot more too. The reason I say the middle class will pay is this:
If we go back to the subject at hand. IF, and it's a big if, Disney does give in and raise to whatever the union is asking for. (which, by the way, I haven't seen in any press releases: yet they release how unfair the proposal is that's being made by Disney). Who do you think Disney is going to pass along those pay raises to? You think you won't see a rise in ticket/resort prices? A rise in consumables? Let me give a scenario. Lower attendance, equals less $$$. That equals lower payroll, which businesses always use as a tool to maintain profit margins. That equals less hours for everyone, which in turn usually results in people moving on to other jobs. Then you hire in less skilled labor, at yet a lower wage. Now, aren't we back to square one? And in all of this, who REALLY wins? Let's see, the union leadership who has been making money thru monthly payments, (WHICH NO ONE ON THIS BOARD WANTS TO ADDRESS), the lawyers who help represent the union, and Disney, who gets to maintain profit margins. Tell me again how the union has helped out in this scenario? Now, I know you will say, "this hasn't happened yet". Hasn't it? Do you honestly think the ALL of the same people that are working there now, where there prior to May? How many people do you think have sat around saying to themselves, that's okay, the union will be there for me!!?
Now you made a comment in response to BwanaBob, regarding an incident with an airline co. The just of your comments is that the company(ies) in question would operate in a manner unsafe for their customers, if given the opportunity. I think that's a LARGE assumption on your part, and while anything's possible, it did NOT happen the way you assume it would.
In the end, here's what we have. Disney has an obligation to its guests, and shareholders. It has an obligation to its cms to provide safe working environments with competitive pay. I believe, if left to unions, that the end result will drive costs up for everyone. I believe in capitalism, and in the ability of the american spirit, drive, and intelligence. Again, I believe in the power of individuals, to that of govt., or unions. That has been my CONSISTENT VIEWPOINT ON THIS ISSUE.
And just to end on this:
Why hasn't anyone mentioned how much the cms PAY for union dues? Why is it that we can debate all of the issues surrounding how cms are so "poor" based on their pay, yet they hand money over on a monthly basis, to an organization that has allowed their current contract to lapse, and appear unable to bring anything to the table that Disney will even consider? Why don't we know how much the union leadership AT DISNEY is paid? How much are the attys AT DISNEY paid for representing the union? How many union members ACTUALLY VOTED on the last contract? How many voted no on this proposal from Disney? Doesn't anyone think that these are important questions that need to be answered?
Or are we going to continue to argue that this is just the evil corporate giant taking advantage of poor, stupid, ignorant people?
I for one, believe in the cms and their ability to succeed in this issue. Believe it or not, I hope they do succeed. As I continue to say ,they do deserve more. I say that knowing full well that I, as a consumer, will wind up paying for more everything Disney in the end. This is about doing what's right. But do we really need unions, or in many other examples nationally, the Federal Government, to tell us what is right? Or don't MOST of us already know the answer to THAT question?
