In the more advanced nations of northern Europe, of course, unionized
workers do better than our workers do here, in terms of a combination of
compensation, health care benefits, re-education benefits, vacations and
pensions.

Harry, you forgot to mention some of the other 'benefits' of the workers in
your northern european socialist utopia. An example from Germany:
exhorbitant taxes, 10% unemployment, mediocre and unpopular government
healthcare system, persistent weak economy, pervasive government
interference in every aspect of daily life and business, cost-of-living far
higher than in the US, low job satisfaction, etc, etc, etc. All courtesy of
socialist-labor government policy run amok. And you want to duplicate these
conditions in the US. Geez, get a clue.

The following is an excerpt from an article found at
http://www2.dw-world.de/english/cult...1.55543.1.html

Germans are often seen as hard-working, efficient people. But are they happy
at work? Not according to an international study by the Gallup Organization,
which says most Germans feel disengaged from their jobs.


Those wondering why the German economy is in the doldrums could find part of
the reason in the results of the Gallup study.


The American-based organization said this week that only 12 percent of
Germans have a strong emotional attachment to their jobs and their
workplace; 70 percent say they're just going through the motions, and 18
percent have, psychologically at least, already quit.


The results are part of a 30-year international study on emotional
attachment to work as a measure of job satisfaction and productivity. The
German branch of the Gallup market research and consulting group interviewed
around 2,000 working Germans in the summer of last year. The organization
also carried out studies worldwide.


Americans lead the way in job satisfaction, with 30 percent of U.S.
respondents saying they feel a strong attachment to their jobs. Other
leading nations were Canada (24 percent), Israel (20), Australia (18), and
Great Britain (17). Nations with fewer people expressing job satisfaction
than Germany include Japan, where only 9 percent said they liked their job,
France (6) and Singapore (4).