No more Twinkies - Hostess out of business

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by Rudeboyelvis

Unions are a very convenient straw man to absorb the discontent people feel during hard times.

They primarily exist these days to insure a fair wage, adherence to schedules, and healthcare.

Everything that was bargained for years ago and have been history since the '90's (healthcare for life, cradle to grave healthcare for immediate family, lucrative pensions, etc.) have really nothing to do with the current work climate, the folks footing the bill for the last generations of these perks are lucky to be able to keep their union jobs (witness today).

The fact is, that unless and until we lower our standards to that of a 3rd world country, we will never be competitive with the 3rd world for those manufacturing jobs.

And it is spreading well beyond the lower middle class. Engineers graduating from college can't get entry-level jobs because there are qualified engineers with experience ready to do the work remotely in countries like Turkey, Singapore, etc. for a fraction of what an entry-level salary is here.

Blaming unions and union workers in particular for the "downfall of the economy" is simplistic and misguided. in my opinion.

It'll go even farther; just wait. A friend of mine who works in the legal profession told me that his law firm is testing out not assigning secretaries to the lower level lawyers; instead, they will email documents and things they need done to a floor of people they will never actually interact with. He thinks they'll eventually look to ship that sort of job overseas, too, or to a state with much lower wages.