Shizzle jus' got reals!

Take away any protection from unions and show me 100 company owners and I will show you 99 of the greediest, SOB's you have ever seen. They aren't in business to make you and me money and it's human nature to keep as much of the income as possible even if your employees are stuggling. I can assure you that if there was a place for unions 50 years ago they are still needed. It would take only a few years for business to lower wages across the board on us all if you do away with the only thing that got them where they are. Whether anyone wants to admit it or not unions helped us all when it comes to fair wages and especially safety in the workplace. I for one am grateful that the IAFF came along way before I did. Before the IAFF municipal firefighters worked like 25-28 days per month straight then went home for a few days to see the family.

That's the best one I've seen yet.

Also most all of us gets some OT on occasion and that was given to you because of UNIONS. If you think companies would be paying time and 1/2 for everything over 40 hrs (except FF's and cops)without FLSA.... think again. If not for FLSA they could work you 100 hrs per week at your regular hourly rate and if you refused they could fire you. Even with unions this state has VERY little protection for employees.

You mean their bosses took the gun away from their head long enough for them to take time off? The same gun they held to their heads to make them take the job?

I guess it is human nature to look over things that you feel directly benefit you but I am always amazed that some otherwise conservative , well intentioned men Will talk about individual responsibility , freedom and capitalism but fail to see the socialist mentality of the union. Many have been brain washed into believing they only have what they have because the union made the mean ol bosses do the right thing.

No I imagine anyone who worked as a firefighter back then did it because they had to feed their family. It's funny how some people who apparently don't know much about history think this country has always been fat and happy. It wasn't like they could just go next door and find another job and they dang sure couldn't look to get a welfare check or foodstamps. Back then there were millions of starving workers making pennies and starving so their kids could eat and meanwhile people like the Rockefellers, Carnegie, Astor, and Vanderbilt were making hundreds of millions of dollars. Research how workers were treated and paid back then or better yet go out and drive railroad spikes all day for 10 cents and get back with me.

I'm know unions had their place at one time even though they were largely mafia ran. That time is passed. Government regulations and competition have made them unnecessary as evidenced by their ever declining numbers
and popularity. The only propose they serve today is to make the union heads rich and to elect democrats. I never pass an opportunity to thank union members for that gift that keeps on giving. ... our money away.

Hire and fire who you want? Try to hire all white employees. Or fire a black one.

If you think that the government....any government will protect you when big business sees a chance to pad THEIR back account think again. This state is a prime example, it was 100% controlled by democrats for 100 year and has one of the worst sets of laws to protect workers. What has the republican controlled government done since they took control? Eroded our rights even further. Unions probably don't give as much to politicians as big business if it was all reported.

Everything has to be made "fair". It's gotten so fair that many Companies have reduced work forces or gone out of business. The ultimate "collective bargaining agreement" is being implemented now by the name of obamacare. That largely is due to the impact of Unions that supported it. They are now seeing the error of their ways. How long before the government" collectively bargains " these business owners to force them to pay for more of the employee health care? The government is the ultimate union dream. Interfering in the free market with nonsense like minimum wage and health care.

Don't worry, Obama, Reid and Pelosi are gonna make those greedy, rich people pay for their sins and make everything fair. Then everyone can get jobs from all the poor people who provide them. Your unions and the democrats they, and you, support are getting things just like they want them so everything will be "fair".

Back to beer drinking in uniform. PLEASE.

That topic is over. We have moved on. Next up is the annual crossbow debate. Hijacking takes up less bandwidth than starting a bunch of new topics.

I think the UPS guys should be able to drink in uniform AFTER hours if They want. If you think Not, you are just like PETA, Greenpeace, 49er, ACLU, Atheists, Treehuggers and etc.. You want your opinion to be the reality...

Is a business owner supposed to start and build a business in order "make you and me money"? Is that what you think drives business development? The desire to provide jobs?

Show me 100 company owners and I will show you 99 people that are the first ones to work and, the last ones to leave. I will show you 99 people that studied in school while their peers were getting drunk and stoned. I will show you 99 people that wanted to be successful so badly that they made great sacrifices in their personal lives that their employees didn't have to. I will show you 99 people that pay more than "their fair share" in taxes. I will show you 99 people that assume most or all of the liabilities regarding lawsuits associated with that business. I will show you 99 people that are totally underappreciated for the contributions they make in their communities.

So the owner makes more money than the employees. What the hell is wrong with that?

Amen. I'm soon to be a business owner. Hopefully to employ a number of people someday.

With that being said, first employee to whisper union is fired. I'm not starting my company to provide for anyone but my family. If I can provide some extra $ to someone or even a full living, then all the better. Appreciate what you have and stop coveting what others have.

Anybody recognize this? It applies to business owners and unions.

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

It doesn't say "unless others agree with you".



As for the other Firefighters on this forum that are singing the union song and demonizing the business owners. Go look at who pays the taxes in your community to keep you employed. It's not the unions or the homeowners. It's business. You think property taxes support your wages? Go look at Fairfield. Less business than ever, no wage increases in decades and hiring the lowest common denominator. Cities with business that's not the case. And I know for a fact IAFF is worthless because more than once local unions needed their help in recent years and they were nowhere to be found. All they want are your dues.

Don't try to put words in my mouth G/H. CSX Railraod was a closed shop. My dad had no choice but to be a member and trust me, he had no love of the union. I never discuss politics and have rarely discussed unions with my father-in-law. Those are two topics best left undiscussed between us. Whether or not he is or was one of the types to blindly pull the lever for a straight democrat vote because the union said so, I honestly don't know. These types that spew the pro union crap about all management is evil and how dare a company make a profit and not take care of me the rest of my life types are the liberal asses I'm referring to. As I said before, unions had there place once, but MOST have out lived their purpose.

Agreed.

I wasn't trying to demonize anyone, just stated that if you take away unions you WILL lose many of the rights you now have sooner or later. When that happens many business owner would most likely start cutting employee wages and benefits. Just human nature. I am surely not a big IAFF man and have thought lots of times about getting out for various reasons but I can tell you several times they have helped or attempted to help locals in this state even if they do pass on some cases. Many times they are handcuffed because of things the local fails to do(I have first hand experience in this). You are wrong about who pays taxes.....Sales tax pays my salary,businesses don't pay taxes, their customers do. When sales tax goes up do you plan on eating that as a future business owner or pass it on to your customers? I would assume you will pass it on. If you can't charge enough to cover the taxes and still have enough to make a living you won't be around long. I find it amusing that I along with others are labeled as liberals because we don't agree on this one issue. I can assure you that anyone who knows me would tell you different. But I do lean a little to the left on this one issue I guess. Over the whole spectrum Ron Paul is not conservative enough for me I am done with this one and sorry for getting off topic, if UPS don't have a policy against drinking in uniform I sure don't have a problem with it. BUT if I owned UPS there would be a policy.

Not in Mtn Brook. There are a lot of things in and out of this world you'll see before you see picket lines in the Brook. They are WAY more connected than the mob But I agree with them wanting your dues.