A few thoughts for those...
 

Just John... for today! wrote:
On Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:46:27 -0500, Eddie
wrote:

On Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:05:39 -0400, HK wrote:

...whose lives are easier now because of the labor movement:


I have a little experience with unions.
I was a police officer with a union that was *state wide*
The union? SHOPO, in Hawaii. I was an officer with the Honolulu
dep't. I handled between 8 and 10 cases a *day* both felonies and
misdemeanors plus infractions and accidents.
The same cop in Hana, Maui, who handled maybe two cases a month, none
being felonies, made the exact pay I did. Why? Because when it was
time for a new contract, Honolulu county would agree to a 12% pay
hike. But Maui county did not have the tax base like Honolulu, so
they could only agree to 2% pay raise. What did we get? 2% of
course.
Currently HPD, one of the largest police departments in the nation is
also the lowest paid. I think they start out at around $30K a year.
Local departments here in N. CA start out around $75K. And the cost
of living is about 25% higher in Hawaii than in Ca.
Fast forward to CA. I work for a transit company in San Jose. The
union is ok, good salary, benefits, etc. But we are rewarded not on
merit but on seniority. There are drivers that should not be drivers
but because of seniority they retain their jobs.
Eddie

You are providing HK way too much personal information.
--
John H

"A government policy to rob Peter to pay Paul can be assured of the support of Paul."
-- George Bernard Shaw


I like this part.

I work for a transit company in San Jose. The
union is ok, good salary, benefits, etc. But we are rewarded not on
merit but on seniority. There are drivers that should not be drivers
but because of seniority they retain their jobs.

Any union guilty of this practice should be shut down in the name of
public safety. Oh wait, they all do it. This is the number one reason
that unions suck. There's a whole sack full of other important reasons too.

And this part.


The same cop in Hana, Maui, who handled maybe two cases a month, none
being felonies, made the exact pay I did. Why? Because when it was
time for a new contract, Honolulu county would agree to a 12% pay
hike. But Maui county did not have the tax base like Honolulu, so
they could only agree to 2% pay raise. What did we get? 2% of
course.


Do you mean that, BECAUSE OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING, Honolulu county was
penalized a 10% increase because a different county couldn't anti up? I
just can't believe this injustice to a unions own membership. And to add
insult to injury, you had to pay these thieves to represent you at the
bargaining table.

I wonder if our own resident union spokesperson Mr. Harry Krause would
care to comment. Probably not. It's doubtful that he could spin this.