I understand everyone’s point but since about the mid 90’s the American worker has lost benefits it’s as simple as that the healthcare that most companies offer now is garbage and the thought of having insurance through a company after retirement is just that a thought because it’s non existent. I’m not on the bandwagon of “rich owners” either because I believe if they could offer those benefits they would.The problem is we have to many free loaders in this country and that has caused the price of healthcare to sky rocket let alone the taxes these business owners have to pay.It’s not a “rich owner” problem it’s a government problem.This Country is about at its breaking point,I would not be scared to say that the number of adults working vs not working is about 50/50.

Facts add up to facts every time.

Stupid and entitled don’t add up to right ever.

Unions have put thousands of businesses out of business in the last 30 years.
Because idiots that run and work in unions have no concept of what it takes to run a business or just how little of the revenue it generates today is actually profit for those “rich investors”

Unions have driven more jobs out of this country than greedy “rich investors” ever will

Unions have destroyed our country alongside politicians that they supported

Unions have destroyed our education system

Unions were some of the largest revenue generators, probably still are, for organized crime in this country

Unions have driven inflation in this country more than any other contributing factor

If you can’t find or keep a decent job without a union rep holding your hand, it’s because your either stupid or lazy.

Unions ARE a big business.

I see you live in McCalla, so your false assumptions are aimed at a lot of people who are your own neighbors. You've got some deep rooted animosity for them simply because they've made different choices than you have.

I hate to get into a debate with someone as closed minded as you appear to be, but I want to remind you that coal is a natural resource like wildlife. You're jumping on the side of out of state investors who are more than willing to drain those depletable resources for the least amount of expenses they can incur. They are motivated to make as much money as possible. They care little about our state or your neighbors who have chosen to work for them. I'd much rather see our state and our neighbors benefit from those natural resources than those out of state investors you are siding with.

Your calling them stupid or lazy doesn't help your position one bit. Some of the most intelligent people you will ever meet are hard working coal miners like some I've known through the years and have worked with and set productions records with at times. I don't understand your animosity for them.

No one on here said coal miners are lower end folks. Simply stated unions have destroyed our labor force

Absolutely correct.

Lots of my hard working neighbors would still have decent jobs at
US Steel
APGreen
Griffin Wheel
Chicago Steel
Gadsden Plate
And 100 other companies within 50 miles plus the thousands of small businesses that employed tens of thousands of people if the unions hadn’t protected the useless and destroyed the jobs

Labor unions will never have a hold on employment again, so it’s a mute point. All of the corporations and private equity are partnered together now with a shared goal to lower wages. Unions succeeded because the employees were a threat to the employer at the time unions were common. If all the employees struck it could affect the earnings and net worth of the executives and equity owners of companies. Now, it really doesn’t to much of a degree , because the people above the mid tier don’t necessarily need any additional private wealth. Employees now can be threatened with having their job outsourced, having their job eliminated, or having a plant moved to another country. Those threats from employers didn’t exist in our nations past. These corporations and private equity work together to set wages, so these people are wasting their time striking over pay.

Everybody's job situation is different, how many downing unions have worked in a factory ? If you don't like them being on strike stop by the picket line and tell them.

I have worked in a factory. Both union and non union.

hoggin called them "stupid or lazy" and I responded to his accusation.

I assume you're part of the labor force. How have you been destroyed by them?

From my experience, which happens to be quite a bit, the only union workers who ever need the union are less than stellar employees to begin with.

Have you ever worked in coal mines with the people we're talking about in Brookwood?

I said anyone who needed a rep to get a job or keep it was stupid or lazy. That’s only a percentage but when a company like US Steel can’t fire them we that the description fits and over the years just keeps moving them to paid positions “out of the way” eventually that brings overwhelming cost

The folks who were ok with actually working and doing a job start realizing they don’t have to anymore to keep a job so why bother


Yeah, it’s destroyed the workforce

How does that relate to the coal miners we're talking about here? The mines in Brookwood have been in operation for several decades and will probably operate again within the terms of a new bargaining agreement soon.

I’ve worked around 17-18 of the exact people were talking about at other jobs. Let’s just say a union job was they’re only shot at long term employment

Like you said, many of them are my neighbors

Best quote in this thread

US Steel doesn't own any coal mines now. They sold their mine to some of those rich investors I've referred to and the mine is still in operation with a workforce that hasn't been destroyed.

TCI/US Steel owned the mine for decades and since the mine sold it has changed hands numerous times. It isn't connected to the mines in Brookwood that we're talking about except for being in the same coal seam. The mine is still operating. The union hasn't destroyed it.

If he hadn't been so lazy, his boss might not have been so poor.


See hoggin, it's easy to make accusations whether they are founded in fact or not.