The only dumb Americans are those that put the interests of the corporations ahead of their own interests and the ones who are willing to lower corporate taxes but put the burden on their own backs.

You’re watching too many movies and TV shows (produced and funded by large corporations) where all union reps are corrupt and mobsters. . It’s just fantasy, Richard Trumka and Teamsters “president” James P. Hoffa are elected by the rank and file and can and will be thrown out if they don’t represent the aspirations of their members. Ask, any Teamster, they were much better off when Jimmy SR ran the union and it had some power.

As I said, the middle class have become a bunch of wimps who would rather defend the interests of the corporations rather than their own interests. Those kids in the parks at least have some guts and don’t buy into the corporate PR campaign. If the middle class goes away don’t blame the unions.

I believe you. Your guys probably don’t even need a union. I bet none of those guys would demand that from you if they thought you’d lose customers. When you business does well they have jobs. They’re not stupid enough to cut their own throats. Despite what a lot of people believe a union can’t stop people from being fired or laid off. That is still your decision, a union knows this.

I suspect you’re a small business man. You’re still part of the middle class. I’m talking about all the conglomerates that can afford PR hucksters and ad men whose only function is to discredit the working man’s unions.

Again. I’d love to give my guys 6 weeks paid vacations a year. I’d love to give them a great health insurance plan with a great dental plan. I’d love to pay them sick pay. I’d love to give them the going union wage of a carpenter $38/hour. I’d love to give them a great pension and retirement plan.

I’d love to.

The question still remains. How long would I stay in business? Would homeowner John & Jane be willing to pay what I’d have to charge versus hiring the next guy who will do it at a mere fraction of my costs?

We all know the answer.

That’s the thing, I do know. Before I went out on my own, I workded for a huge commercial construction company, and guess what the labor force there was? Unionized.

I know first hand what the demands were, as I was in the middle of it all.

The demands I listed only scratched the surface as to what the unions wanted. It was always about “sticking it to the man”. (why is it always that with them?)

Do you own a home? Would you be willing to pay 5 times more for a union construction company to do a project than a non union company? Both are reputible, both licensed, both insured, both do high quality work. Just one is unionized and has to charge more because of it.

No way you would. Don’t even pretend to kid me. You want to stretch your dollars just as far as the next guy. Everyone does.

Don’t kid even yourself that my operating costs wouldn’t increase if my guys went union, even with your “open book meetings”. I’d be raising my rates, and that would be a fact.

Though, even you fail to see my point. I’m all for it. The question is, would I win enough work to support it? Would the customer be willig to pay 5 times more becasue of it? Based on how cut-throat it is now, I’d have to say no.

The definition of a sucker is a person who buys into all this anti-union BS. They’re just giving away any power they might have to improve their own standard of living. Any benefits you have on the job is because a union fought for them. Again, the middle class is going to become extinct because they refuse to fight for their own status.