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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JohnM who wrote (37683)	4/3/2004 4:23:28 PM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793716

In the present climate, there are distinct pressures to reduce or take away pensions... Climate matters. Unions seem to have more value when there are downward employment trends. And sometimes they may be useful in getting a good deal for employees that they wouldn't have gotten otherwise, but I wonder. Good companies want the best employees. To get the best employees they have to provide competitive compensation and treat their employees well. In the days of the robber barons, that wasn't the case, but now it is, even during tough times. Companies have a natural interest in paying as well as they can, or at least somewhere in the neighborhood. A union may be able to squeeze a little more out of them but probably not enough to compensate for the union dues and the loss of flexibility. You mention pensions. Pension systems have been changing for a few decades now away from fixed benefit to 401K types. Unions may be able to slow that down but not stop it any more than they can stop off-shoring, productivity initiatives, and other factors holding down wage increases. So your union manages to hang on to your pension and effect a lot of other workplace practices aka productivity drags but then your company becomes uncompetitive and folds before you can collect the pension. This is helpful, how? strikes me as framed from a managerial point of view Not entirely. My thinking was influenced early by my father, who worked construction as a member of the hod carriers' union, and who didn't work as much as his fellows because he wouldn't steal the requisite amount from the job for the shop steward who handed out the work assignments. It was also influenced by my early work experiences as a member of the bargaining when I and my fellows discovered that we couldn't meet with our management on workplace issues like office assignments or teaming because that would be an unfair labor practice. From a national good perspective I think we have different ideas about what's good for the nation...<g> Karen