Dan Krueger wrote:


""Collective bargaining" is the only means by which the worker can even
begin to establish a level playing field." In what world? What is a
level playing field anyway? If they are good, they get paid well. If
they are lazy or they don't like to report for work on time, they are
gone.

"The power of the employer to withhold pay"? What the hell is that
about. They work 9 hours, they get paid for 9 hours. It's the law, not
a power. There are other jobs out there. If someone is a hard worker
and not getting paid accordingly, there and many employers willing to
compensate them based on their individual merit.

So now every employee needs an agent? This isn't the NFL. When I run
an ad for a driver, for example, there are always at least three dozen
applicants. I choose the best and pay them what they are worth. In
fact, I tend to pay more so they are happy and don't feel like they have
to look for a better job the next day. It pays off in a number of ways:
Less training time & expense, more seasoned employees, solid customer
relationships, etc.

Dan

The way in which any person makes money from employees is by paying the
employee fewer dollars per hour in wages than the employee produces in
value. No secret, and nothing wrong with that in the least. Collective
bargaining allows the workers the opportunity to participate in the
decisions about how much of their productivity will be retained by
management. Nothing wrong with that in the least. If you don't have the
union signing up your truck drivers, it is probably becuase you pay a
fair and competitive wage and treat your employees properly. It's the
disgruntled workers that are susceptible to the siren song of the union
organizer, not the group that's happy and satisfied with current
conditions.

But striking a parallel to the Boat Show Exhibition Services situation:
Let's say you were the only trucking company in town. In fact, your
city council (equivalent to the show sponsor) has informed all the
businesses in town that they are legally required to do business with
your firm and no others if they use any trucking services at all. You
have been paying your truck drivers $35 an hour- but some schmuck from
Local 666 sneaks around the break room and gets everybody to vote in
the union. Now you're paying drivers $45 an hour instead of $35. If you
raise the price for hauling a load of scrap metal
across town from $500 to $1100 (and we'll assume the average driving
time is two hours for this run), it's pretty tough to blame the
increase on "union labor"...........but it's commonly done.