Quoted Text

Census: NY remains most-unionized state
The Business Review - by Adam Sichko
Date: Monday, January 24, 2011, 6:17am EST

New York has retained its crown as the most-unionized state in the nation, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data.
The Census Bureau reports that 24.2 percent of New York workers belonged to unions in 2010. It is the highest rate of any state, followed by Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, California and New Jersey.
New York is home to 1.96 million union members, second only to California, which had 471,000 more union members.
Still, union rates dipped in New York, a small part of a nationwide drop in union membership as the recession dragged on. And labor’s power faces big tests this year as state legislators tackle an $11 billion deficit, with Gov. Andrew Cuomo calling for limits on state spending as well as pay freezes for state union members.
In 2009, New York had 60,000 more union members, meaning that 25.2 percent of workers in the state belonged to a union.
Last year also marked the first time the U.S. had more public-sector union members than private-sector union members.......................>>>>.................>>>>.......................http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/news/2011/01/24/census-ny-remains-most-unionized-state.html

pathetic......

Quoted from senders

pathetic......

You can say that again...and I'm sure it has a lot to do with the fact that Occupied NYS boasts twice the number of
public/government employees than the national average.

Quoted from gadfly

You can say that again...and I'm sure it has a lot to do with the fact that Occupied NYS boasts twice the number of
public/government employees than the national average.

The other side of the coin is that people can have jobs where they have low pay and no benefits and that's not good either, one cannot easily make it on those less than $10 or $12 an hour job with no insurance.  I don't like the overly generous pensions that we all know of gets, but by the same token, if the unions didn't do good by my dad in the private sector, my parents would never achieved the American dream of owning a house and an uncle of mine who also was in the private sector would be trying to make it on about $600 a month in Soc Sec and no pension - his pension is what let's him live in his home instead of public housing for the elderly

I come from a Union family--my grandfather was the big union guy at the ALCO.  In those days if you didn't join,they broke your head.  That being said, I have joined two unions in my life the teachers union and CSEA.  In both cases NEITHER one ever did jack for me.  So although I support unions because they do good for some folks, you just couldn't prove it by me.

Quoted from mikechristine1

The other side of the coin is that people can have jobs where they have low pay and no benefits and that's not good either, one cannot easily make it on those less than $10 or $12 an hour job with no insurance.  I don't like the overly generous pensions that we all know of gets, but by the same token, if the unions didn't do good by my dad in the private sector, my parents would never achieved the American dream of owning a house and an uncle of mine who also was in the private sector would be trying to make it on about $600 a month in Soc Sec and no pension - his pension is what let's him live in his home instead of public housing for the elderly

sure he would have....it just would have been arranged differently.....THEY NEED TO GET OFF OUR BACKS....

Quoted from mikechristine1

The other side of the coin is that people can have jobs where they have low pay and no benefits and that's not good either, one cannot easily make it on those less than $10 or $12 an hour job with no insurance.  I don't like the overly generous pensions that we all know of gets, but by the same token, if the unions didn't do good by my dad in the private sector, my parents would never achieved the American dream of owning a house and an uncle of mine who also was in the private sector would be trying to make it on about $600 a month in Soc Sec and no pension - his pension is what let's him live in his home instead of public housing for the elderly

I understand that...there was a time when unionization was necessary to prevent exploiting labor...and it had it's legitimate
purposes...but they have grown into a devastating financial monster that is now more of a political constituency flexing their
muscles at spineless politicians at the expense of taxpayers who fund their salaries and benefits...they have lost sight of their
original purpose, IMO. Unions complain about jobs going overseas but they are a big part of the reason why that's happened
because of their increasingly unaffordable demands.

UNIONS SUCK!
Just ask any Conservative, and they'll tell you that unions are the root of all evil in our society.

YUP UNIONS SUCK!...
Well except that Unions gave us Holidays... that's good, but other than that UNIONS SUCK!
and
Except that Unions gave us  the 40 hour week,... that's good, but other than that UNIONS SUCK!
and
Except that Unions gave us  the weekend...(before unions most jobs were 12/6) that's good, but other than that UNIONS SUCK!
and
Except that Unions gave us  company provided health care... that's good, but other than that UNIONS SUCK!
and
Except that Unions gave us  workplace safety rules... that's good, but other than that UNIONS SUCK!
and
Except that Unions gave us paid vacations... that's good, but other than that UNIONS SUCK!
and
Except that Unions gave us  pensions... that's good, but other than that UNIONS SUCK!
and
Except that Unions gave us  Overtime pay... that's good, but other than that UNIONS SUCK!
and
Except that Unions gave us  Child Labor Laws... that's good, but other than that UNIONS SUCK!
and
Wait a minute...
Unions gave us a lot... but Unions Suck anyway.  Just ask any Conservative who works a 8 hour day, has weekends off, has vacation, pension, sick days, and health insurance... They'll tell ya... UNIONS SUCK!

sure....they did that....but it's established....they had their time and did what they did....they are needed at times....but as a GIANT SUCKING machine
isn't good for the country either.....they are like stale shew bread...they are good when they are new and fresh and doing good...just hanging
around for simple reason of being a union makes no sense....it's like the Tea Party Movement, it shouldn't ever become a party.....

the longer things like that hang around as an entity the more corrupt, stale and 'diseased' it becomes.......

BTW...our health insurance issue/conversation now....is because of the unions....find out their investments......there's a reason why they are
expensive.....SHOW ME THE $$ TRAIL

Unions had their place decades ago. Not so much anymore. The pendulum has swung the other way now. The unions have now become just as selfish and greedy and power driven like the businesses they supposedly were protecting and representing their members from.

The unions are just one big controlling greedy business. Shame on them.

I was a union steward for 25 years and saw things in the union change from one of helping the worker to a union that just wanted to get more members so they could get more union dues in order to fund political campaigns. The unions did a great job of improving working conditions for workers, getting fair wages, good benefits, and a decent retirement package. The only people in the unions who have been getting steady raises and benefits are the upper union officials and the benefits to the workers have flat lined.

Unions served their purpose in the first half of the 20th Century.
Before modern media and the Internet, it was the only option.

That time has passed..Their success led to corruption from within and externally.
They present more negatives than positives today.

Quoted from bumblethru

Unions had their place decades ago. Not so much anymore. The pendulum has swung the other way now. The unions have now become just as selfish and greedy and power driven like the businesses they supposedly were protecting and representing their members from.

The unions are just one big controlling greedy business. Shame on them.

Let me just throw a question out.  Sort of in the same idea as the "unions suck." thing but not exactly.

CEO's get paid millions and ship jobs off to slave labor, how are unions being greedy if they want a living wage
Pensions were gained through unions, then, isn't it saying that unions are being greedy when they complain about losing pensions, especially since the CEO's are rewarded with a retirement sufficient to support their offspring for probably the next 10 generations.
Insurance was gained, but how is it saying unions are greedy when they complain about losing health insurance, when profits are soaring and the CEO's live like royals.

Think about this, remember that Helen Quirini that died recently.  Would anyone say that she was being greedy (as in was she greedy on behalf of workers and retirees of GE).  She was praised for what she did but doesn't it seem like the same people who praise here are the ones who say unions are greedy

Public unions, yes, they are greedy.    Think about this.  Look at the greedy teachers, getting a whopping 6% raise and the cops (or was it fire) 12%.  Totally an outrage when the taxpayers are struggling.  

But don't you think that private sector, the CEO's are just exploiting everyone, trying to take away benefits, cut pay, but I'd like to see some of these CEO's sell their palaces ad live in a 1,200 square bungalow and live like there employees.  Heck, employees these days don't even ge paid enough to buy a little bungalow, but where to CEO's live?

Am I making sense?  

The union I was in when working put restrictions on how much money the CEO, while working and their golden parachutes, when they retire by using all the proxy votes that our retirees organization could gather to put an amendment to a vote at the stock holders meeting. Unions in the private sector are fighting just to keep the benefits they have and you can forget about increasing them. When the company you work for is facing hard times you can't force them to spend money they don't have unlike the public sector that thinks the taxpayers pockets are bottomless.

Quoted from mikechristine1

But don't you think that private sector, the CEO's are just exploiting everyone, trying to take away benefits, cut pay, but I'd like to see some of these CEO's sell their palaces ad live in a 1,200 square bungalow and live like there employees.  Heck, employees these days don't even ge paid enough to buy a little bungalow, but where to CEO's live?

Am I making sense?  

No, you're not.  If a union laborer can manage a multi-national corporation, I say more power to him/her, live in the mansion.  Labor is a commodity just like anything else.  CEO's are a commodity like anything else.  Unions force businesses to inflate labor costs, and with a global labor market unions can't expect to twist the arm of a company to pay rates 10 to 15 percent above what the labor market demands.  Companies cannot compete.  That is why they leave.  If I'm a unskilled laborer, I wouldn't expect to get paid as much as a skilled carpenter.  Why...Because there is a higher supply of unskilled laborers than skilled laborers on the market.