For those who claim to believe in market economics, in which labor is freely bought and sold as a commodity among willing buyers and sellers, LABOR UNIONS should be seen as a means of strengthening the marketplace.
In the market where many elements come together to produce wealth — investment, management, administration and LABOR that actually puts hands on raw materials to create real wealth in the form of goods and services — the investors and administrators manage the incoming revenue and how it is distributed. That is their “contribution.”
Workers who actually produce the wealth are not skilled in this area, and cannot compete on a level playing field with those who a) own and control the productive resources; b) have the financial and managerial expertise that gives them the advantage.
By coming together in labor unions and hiring experts who DO have that negotiating skill, working people are able to somewhat equalize the playing field and USE THE POWER OF THE MARKET to leverage their bargaining position.
Of course, those who give lip service to the market HATE it when others actually find a way to maximize their own market value.
Unions sound good in theory. In practice, you get a bunch of lazy morons who won’t work any harder than they absolutely have to because they know the union will protect them. Ive seen it myself when I had a job that was unionized. Worst job I ever had.
And then you get absurd rules like advancement based on seniority rather than merit. So you get stupid unqualified people as managers just because they stuck it out longer, and the newer, more qualified people are stuck waiting their turn.
Unions had some use back in the day, but government regulations cover most of that now, and unions have branched out into sticking their noses where they don’t belong. Most of them nowadays are useless skum.
“Viva La Union”: Those would include the Delano grape strikers. But since 1983 Hispanic workers’ unionization rate has dropped 56.3 percent. (Center for Economic and Policy Research)
Unions stifle production and incentive at ALL levels of business. They are just another example of vain attempts to regulate free markets. Ask Detroit.
In PA the courts allowed the governor’s order to have a partnership of the AFSCME and the SEIU represent the state’s 20,000+ home care workers, who now have to fork over 2% of their income to the unions. If any worker doesn’t like it, they can opt out, BUT they have to wait a year, it’s a long, bureaucratic process, and they will still be subject to the rules the union negotiates with the state — and can lose their right to work as a home care provider if they violate the rules.
By the way, less than 3,000 home care workers actually voted in favor of unionization (the governor’s order set a threshold of 10%), the unions have contributed over $4 million to the governor’s campaigns since 2013, and they gave over $33,000 to the 2017 retention election of the judge who wrote the opinion upholding the governor’s action.
Unions…… a representative of one I belonged to insisted we demand a certain hourly rate – we were already being paid more than he suggested! Just how big a house does the union leader live in whilst saying that we should all be equal?
Spot on. This needs to be said again and again. LABOR has the right in a free market economy to maximize the return they get on their investment. WHICH IS THEIR LABOR! The union forever!
Was a steward put a pension and place work my time and am collecting that pension the bosses never really gave a damn you had to fight for everything you got wouldn’t have the safety that we have now without unions and all the ungrateful should realize that in the end unions are what made the working place better
First, I’m not in a union because I work in an employee owned and operated company, so…
Everybody seems to forget what unions have done for them.You like a 40 hour week with paid overtime? Thank the union.Sick days? Union.Paid vacation? Union.Employer supplied health insurance(even if not fully paid)? Union.Child labor laws? Union.Workers comp insurance? Union.Workplace safety laws? Union.Pension plans? Union.
But yeah. I know. “But what have they done for me lately?”
If you showed up every day, on time and did your job, our union took their cut, left you alone. If you wouldn’t work, came in late, left early while drunk, high or hid from the boss all day, that’s who the union loved, protected, and fought for. The best are reduced to the level of the worst, and all paid the same.
The answer of course is $15 per hour burger flippers. It will stimulate the robot industry and the kids can go back to their bicycles and paper routes. Sounds like a plan.
I was in a union. They made me Middle Management and got me out of the union. They gave me a good raise when it happened. But thatwas the last raise I saw. After a while people with lower titles than I who had been there less time were making more money. Because they were in the union and were getting regular raises, and I wasn’t.
So me and three others who were in same boat got back into the union. I immediately got a $10,000 raise for longevity. Benefits. Regular raises thereafter. Money from the union when I retired. The union boss gave me his phone number and told me to call him if I needed anything. Said that if I ever had to deal with my boss on the subject of salary or discipline, he’d accompany me into the meeting.
The union dues were $13 a month. I would say that was worth it.
We need white collar unions. Unfortunately, we have a culture in this country that looks down on the working class, so desk workers feel as though joining a union makes them lower class. Have you ever seen people complain about union workers’ salaries? But it doesn’t occur to them to unionize themselves, instead they want to equalize by taking away the other guy’s money? It’s amazing what suckers we’ve become.
One of the nice thing about being in the National Guard is that you meet all kinds from many different companies, occupations and walks of life. One such squadron member was a Union Shop Steward who told me that management is its own worst enemy. There were “slugs” in the workforce that fellow union members would be glad to be rid of but management either ignored the problem or they failed to do their “due diligence” in firing them – assuring them permanent employment when they were re-instated.
I’ve had to fire people, and I did it “by the numbers.” By the numbers requires work and time and I was marked down by my subordinates on 360 reviews for letting so-and-so “get away with substandard performance.” I couldn’t tell them that he was on his way out. I had a good HR department to advise me.
Perhaps if the union leadership was made up of actual members, skilled in that trade and too no salary from the dues… and perhaps if the dues were mandated to be only used for the direct benefit of the members… In other words, no union bosses allowed to become wealthy oligarchs like Hoffa et al…
I am, also, a retired union steward and an officer. I like to think that our local USWA was on the up-and-up. Now, farther up the stream, I have no idea.
As far as I know, the ONLY businessman to correctly understand the balance needed between worker and employer was Henry Ford. He paid his workers decent salaries (for the times) so they could buy the Fords coming off the assembly line. Big Business now sees workers as “human capital,” and their salaries/benefits as the biggest “expenditures”/drains on profits. Greed is the driving force—and remember, employers, ya get whatcha pay for.
It ain’t just Trump, and it ain’t just Republicans. The Democratic Party was taken over by corporatists, too, but their public face has resulted in some people being elected who actually believe in the purported platform.
Piss and moan to your heart’s content, Trump is still the President and with my help (and the help of other like-minded people) he’ll still be the President after 2020. Despite all the road blocks being thrown into his path, he’s still doing what he said he’d do and I’m lovin’ it.
Current unions are not perfect but if they were never created where would the American workers be today? Short sighted people don’t want to give to get. They only see the short term. I don’t know the cure for the short comings of union/management but I do understand the “lesser of two evils” concept.
Unions only work when there is no other alternative for labor to be used for means of production. The death knell of labor unions in the USA was the signing of NAFTA and removal of tariffs on imported goods. Unfortunately union bosses partially helped by supporting politicians the instituted NAFTA.
If the brilliant barons got their way, competiting companies in their nations would be outlawed and the products of ones in other nations subject to onerous tariffs to “protect” their businesses.
People have been known to claim that those with views like mine are anti-union. They are often the same people who think I and others are anti-government. Simply not true. Just as I (and those who agree with me) oppose not government but government violations of individual rights, we oppose only union actions that violate rights. Our solution is simple: repeal all laws for or against unions, for or against employers. Government’s job is the protection of rights, not violating the rights of one group to the benefit of another group.
You all are missing one very interesting historical fact. If it weren’t for unions, there would be no Labor Day.https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/01/us/what-is-labor-day.html
I was a union member almost my entire working life, two different unions; the Retail Clerks International Union and the UAW. Our “contract” with the Retail Clerks International Union and the supermarket I worked for had a no strike clause, and both the factory and the UAW local I belonged to are history due to the “Party” the UAW is in bed with!
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire; March 25, 1911. Why unions came about, you ask? 146 dead, 123 women and 23 men. Most of the fatalities were caused by the locked exit doors to reduce “unauthorized breaks and theft.” The owners were found not guilty of negligence as locking such doors was a common practice.
Because of graft and politics, the unions made themselves irrelevant. Many times the were in bed with management! Unions need to be taken back by the workers!
Unions have their place and their valid benefits. But they are just as able, and just as likely, to go astray as any other human enterprise. I can well remember the days when major unions were indistinguishable from the mafia, with whom they worked closely organizing crime. Wiley’s depiction is only part of the story, and that’s less than honest.
It’s not perfect in the U.S.; but if someone thinks there is a better place to live – move there. We penguins have been trying socialism for centuries in the Antarctic and no one ever gets ahead of the others – unless being chased by an Orca!
For all the folks who haven’t worked in years and felt so bad about it that they had to vote for trump to save them…if they had supported their unions, they would probably still have jobs. It was the union-busting of the 80’s that led to all of their strife.
Having an open discussion about the pro’s and con’s of unions ; how they benefitted workers ; what caused their decline is useful and interesting. BUT making a political reference to Trump is uncalled for. Think what you like about Trump, but he did not get rich off the backs of non-union workers. In NYC, where he built dozens of modern profitable buildings, every construction worker, electrician and plumber was unionized. Furthermore, union membership has been in decline for decades. So let’s have a discussion about that before making a useless political reference.
Be a student of history and you’ll see how corporate greed and indifference has always been, and will always be a factor in our capitalist society. And, it’s not just the problems they create for labor. Like the number of jobs moved to other countries with economies so poor they allow their unorganized labor to work for petty wages and usually conditions are absent worker safety regulations. How many corporate designs or products have been made to change because of legal challenges because they ignored common sense reasoning? And then those barons of industry complain because Unions contribute to political causes? Ask them how much they devote to advertising and PAC’s to influence government’s checks and balances on unfair or illegal practices?
Not sure I’ve ever before seen this many comments on a single cartoon/comic.
No point in adding my own opinions and the experiences on which they’re based, since hardly anyone would get around to singling them out from this whack-a-molehill mountain.
My last comment for this day: Regarding the many comments on my many comments, I only have to add that I am at an age where I won’t have to watch America die as a free country because there are so many people like the ones commenting here.
Just read an article in The NY Times from September 1, 1969 about how the younger union members don’t support the liberal causes that the older union members fought for. The 1970’s was when we saw the decline of the middle-class as the unions became less powerful and often the scapegoats for our economic problems.
I was a teamster in the late 60’s and at that union job was able to pay my way thru college with no debt and a new paid for car at the end too!! I then worked in a profession that paid well and today I have more than I owe. Now I see Obama claims to have started this economy, but fails to mention that he injected 7 TRILLION and still only had less than an average 1% growth. I am not happy with either political party but those who voted for Trump knew he was not a choir boy and wanted more substance than flash. Everything that Obama did came back to bite us in the ass. At least Trump is fulfilling his promises. I find it amazing that the hate is on the left and is as bad if not worse than the haters on the right. Ay, que lastima ! There is nothing ahead but a new Rome: from a republic to a dictatorship, and the earth quaked for many centuries and they didn’t have the military-industrial complex to force the new Caesar upon it. The constitution is our only protection and the fools on the left want to tear it apart. I despair for the future.
Cheapskate0 over 5 years ago
As a retired union steward, all I can do is cry.
monkeysky over 5 years ago
This comment section sure is gonna be fun by the end of the day
DD Wiz Premium Member over 5 years ago
For those who claim to believe in market economics, in which labor is freely bought and sold as a commodity among willing buyers and sellers, LABOR UNIONS should be seen as a means of strengthening the marketplace.
In the market where many elements come together to produce wealth — investment, management, administration and LABOR that actually puts hands on raw materials to create real wealth in the form of goods and services — the investors and administrators manage the incoming revenue and how it is distributed. That is their “contribution.”
Workers who actually produce the wealth are not skilled in this area, and cannot compete on a level playing field with those who a) own and control the productive resources; b) have the financial and managerial expertise that gives them the advantage.
By coming together in labor unions and hiring experts who DO have that negotiating skill, working people are able to somewhat equalize the playing field and USE THE POWER OF THE MARKET to leverage their bargaining position.
Of course, those who give lip service to the market HATE it when others actually find a way to maximize their own market value.
somebodyshort over 5 years ago
Are those barons coloured orange for a reason?
strictures over 5 years ago
Maybe 25 years ago, a CEO was paid at most, 30 times what the factory & office workers were paid.Now it’s closer to 275 times what they get.
somebodyshort over 5 years ago
A “real” baron would NEVER stoop so low as to WORK the grill himself
Charliegirl Premium Member over 5 years ago
And that’s how the Trumps spend their vacations (when not on the gold course).
Dtroutma over 5 years ago
Uh, they also call the “minions” “government regulators”, and the rule of law.
Bilan over 5 years ago
The problem with that “perspective” is that the barons knew something about managing. Every time Trump tried it, he went bankrupt.
sirbadger over 5 years ago
Unions also get greedy. Maybe it’s greed vs. greed and then the factory shuts down.
DonPoole over 5 years ago
Yes. Instead of tax breaks for the rich, just give the money to the poor. They’ll spend it all. Talk about stimulating the economy!
lopaka over 5 years ago
Health plans, college educations, a stronger middle America……….. damned unions
RetFor over 5 years ago
Unions sound good in theory. In practice, you get a bunch of lazy morons who won’t work any harder than they absolutely have to because they know the union will protect them. Ive seen it myself when I had a job that was unionized. Worst job I ever had.
And then you get absurd rules like advancement based on seniority rather than merit. So you get stupid unqualified people as managers just because they stuck it out longer, and the newer, more qualified people are stuck waiting their turn.
Unions had some use back in the day, but government regulations cover most of that now, and unions have branched out into sticking their noses where they don’t belong. Most of them nowadays are useless skum.
gheisey Premium Member over 5 years ago
Isn’t this strip supposed to be funny?
dot-the-I over 5 years ago
“Viva La Union”: Those would include the Delano grape strikers. But since 1983 Hispanic workers’ unionization rate has dropped 56.3 percent. (Center for Economic and Policy Research)
dadoctah over 5 years ago
And this is what you get when Ayn Rand writes your history textbooks.
Lenavid over 5 years ago
Unions stifle production and incentive at ALL levels of business. They are just another example of vain attempts to regulate free markets. Ask Detroit.
khmo over 5 years ago
Robber Barons traded in for corrupt unions -some trade! In both cases only the ones at the top do well.
OscarMiller over 5 years ago
The out of work “barons” became “union bosses” and remained fabulously wealthy off of the dues of their members. Easy to see.
scpandich over 5 years ago
In PA the courts allowed the governor’s order to have a partnership of the AFSCME and the SEIU represent the state’s 20,000+ home care workers, who now have to fork over 2% of their income to the unions. If any worker doesn’t like it, they can opt out, BUT they have to wait a year, it’s a long, bureaucratic process, and they will still be subject to the rules the union negotiates with the state — and can lose their right to work as a home care provider if they violate the rules.
By the way, less than 3,000 home care workers actually voted in favor of unionization (the governor’s order set a threshold of 10%), the unions have contributed over $4 million to the governor’s campaigns since 2013, and they gave over $33,000 to the 2017 retention election of the judge who wrote the opinion upholding the governor’s action.
Why not do a strip about THAT, Wiley?
pcolli over 5 years ago
Unions…… a representative of one I belonged to insisted we demand a certain hourly rate – we were already being paid more than he suggested! Just how big a house does the union leader live in whilst saying that we should all be equal?
Tomscomics70 over 5 years ago
Spot on. This needs to be said again and again. LABOR has the right in a free market economy to maximize the return they get on their investment. WHICH IS THEIR LABOR! The union forever!
rlaker22j over 5 years ago
Was a steward put a pension and place work my time and am collecting that pension the bosses never really gave a damn you had to fight for everything you got wouldn’t have the safety that we have now without unions and all the ungrateful should realize that in the end unions are what made the working place better
in.amongst over 5 years ago
oh! everyone is pretty organised. Rich guys get to lobby – middle class get to unionize and poor folk get a ghetto!
well-i-never over 5 years ago
On to Pearls Before Swine!
Nebulous Premium Member over 5 years ago
First, I’m not in a union because I work in an employee owned and operated company, so…
Everybody seems to forget what unions have done for them.You like a 40 hour week with paid overtime? Thank the union.Sick days? Union.Paid vacation? Union.Employer supplied health insurance(even if not fully paid)? Union.Child labor laws? Union.Workers comp insurance? Union.Workplace safety laws? Union.Pension plans? Union.
But yeah. I know. “But what have they done for me lately?”
j260 Premium Member over 5 years ago
If you showed up every day, on time and did your job, our union took their cut, left you alone. If you wouldn’t work, came in late, left early while drunk, high or hid from the boss all day, that’s who the union loved, protected, and fought for. The best are reduced to the level of the worst, and all paid the same.
sandpiper over 5 years ago
Another perfect depiction of the problem with the if we all just work together we can solve the problem.
We don’t and won’t ever reach common ground if each side holds its tenets as all or nothing preconditions for discussion.
viking-riverrat over 5 years ago
unions explained to the masses.
GeorgeJohnson over 5 years ago
Two words…. “Eastern Airlines”.
Ignatz Premium Member over 5 years ago
They BELIEVE that! There are actually people who believe that it’s the rich who are oppressed in America.
Happy, happy, happy!!! Premium Member over 5 years ago
That boat is about to be torpedoed.
watashi73 over 5 years ago
The answer of course is $15 per hour burger flippers. It will stimulate the robot industry and the kids can go back to their bicycles and paper routes. Sounds like a plan.
Ignatz Premium Member over 5 years ago
I was in a union. They made me Middle Management and got me out of the union. They gave me a good raise when it happened. But thatwas the last raise I saw. After a while people with lower titles than I who had been there less time were making more money. Because they were in the union and were getting regular raises, and I wasn’t.
So me and three others who were in same boat got back into the union. I immediately got a $10,000 raise for longevity. Benefits. Regular raises thereafter. Money from the union when I retired. The union boss gave me his phone number and told me to call him if I needed anything. Said that if I ever had to deal with my boss on the subject of salary or discipline, he’d accompany me into the meeting.
The union dues were $13 a month. I would say that was worth it.
We need white collar unions. Unfortunately, we have a culture in this country that looks down on the working class, so desk workers feel as though joining a union makes them lower class. Have you ever seen people complain about union workers’ salaries? But it doesn’t occur to them to unionize themselves, instead they want to equalize by taking away the other guy’s money? It’s amazing what suckers we’ve become.
rs0204 Premium Member over 5 years ago
Wrong hemisphere…but my kingdom for a large iceberg and no survivors.
DanFlak over 5 years ago
One of the nice thing about being in the National Guard is that you meet all kinds from many different companies, occupations and walks of life. One such squadron member was a Union Shop Steward who told me that management is its own worst enemy. There were “slugs” in the workforce that fellow union members would be glad to be rid of but management either ignored the problem or they failed to do their “due diligence” in firing them – assuring them permanent employment when they were re-instated.
I’ve had to fire people, and I did it “by the numbers.” By the numbers requires work and time and I was marked down by my subordinates on 360 reviews for letting so-and-so “get away with substandard performance.” I couldn’t tell them that he was on his way out. I had a good HR department to advise me.
Qiset over 5 years ago
You think that was bad, try living under socialism.
Màiri over 5 years ago
Is anyone seeing 79 comments? I’m not.
asmbeers over 5 years ago
Perhaps if the union leadership was made up of actual members, skilled in that trade and too no salary from the dues… and perhaps if the dues were mandated to be only used for the direct benefit of the members… In other words, no union bosses allowed to become wealthy oligarchs like Hoffa et al…
trivers over 5 years ago
I am, also, a retired union steward and an officer. I like to think that our local USWA was on the up-and-up. Now, farther up the stream, I have no idea.
1953Baby over 5 years ago
As far as I know, the ONLY businessman to correctly understand the balance needed between worker and employer was Henry Ford. He paid his workers decent salaries (for the times) so they could buy the Fords coming off the assembly line. Big Business now sees workers as “human capital,” and their salaries/benefits as the biggest “expenditures”/drains on profits. Greed is the driving force—and remember, employers, ya get whatcha pay for.
Cerabooge over 5 years ago
It ain’t just Trump, and it ain’t just Republicans. The Democratic Party was taken over by corporatists, too, but their public face has resulted in some people being elected who actually believe in the purported platform.
Sportymonk over 5 years ago
Good outlook on Labor Day. https://www.gocomics.com/frazz/2018/09/02?ct=v&cti=1173798
BigMac over 5 years ago
Isn’t it odd though that today’s Robber Barons are Google, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, etc. All dedicated progressive left-wing anti-MAGA’s
Radish the wordsmith over 5 years ago
Republicans borrowed two trillion to pay for their tax breaks for the rich.
What the country needs is national health care and free education for anyone that wants it.
Linguist over 5 years ago
Great cartoon theme and superlative art work. Wiley. Thanks for your labor on this Labor Day Weekend.
To all of you still laboring, to those who know the value of labor, and to those retirees ( hopefully ) enjoying the fruits of your labor:
HAPPY LABOR DAY !
tonicee9 over 5 years ago
Sad but true. However it’s not too late for the minions. Get out and vote!
cornpopper Premium Member over 5 years ago
Piss and moan to your heart’s content, Trump is still the President and with my help (and the help of other like-minded people) he’ll still be the President after 2020. Despite all the road blocks being thrown into his path, he’s still doing what he said he’d do and I’m lovin’ it.
Herb L 1954 over 5 years ago
Kobe Bryant burgers?How racist of the Orange Sphincter ;~(
Masterskrain Premium Member over 5 years ago
Anyone got a torpedo handy??
bjbutler777 Premium Member over 5 years ago
Welcome to the “Gilded Age” Part 2.
alc7 Premium Member over 5 years ago
Current unions are not perfect but if they were never created where would the American workers be today? Short sighted people don’t want to give to get. They only see the short term. I don’t know the cure for the short comings of union/management but I do understand the “lesser of two evils” concept.
BeniHanna6 Premium Member over 5 years ago
Unions only work when there is no other alternative for labor to be used for means of production. The death knell of labor unions in the USA was the signing of NAFTA and removal of tariffs on imported goods. Unfortunately union bosses partially helped by supporting politicians the instituted NAFTA.
mourdac Premium Member over 5 years ago
If the brilliant barons got their way, competiting companies in their nations would be outlawed and the products of ones in other nations subject to onerous tariffs to “protect” their businesses.
lee over 5 years ago
When did Wiley turn into a socialist?
pschearer Premium Member over 5 years ago
People have been known to claim that those with views like mine are anti-union. They are often the same people who think I and others are anti-government. Simply not true. Just as I (and those who agree with me) oppose not government but government violations of individual rights, we oppose only union actions that violate rights. Our solution is simple: repeal all laws for or against unions, for or against employers. Government’s job is the protection of rights, not violating the rights of one group to the benefit of another group.
streetbeater over 5 years ago
You all are missing one very interesting historical fact. If it weren’t for unions, there would be no Labor Day.https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/01/us/what-is-labor-day.html
garysmigs over 5 years ago
I was a union member almost my entire working life, two different unions; the Retail Clerks International Union and the UAW. Our “contract” with the Retail Clerks International Union and the supermarket I worked for had a no strike clause, and both the factory and the UAW local I belonged to are history due to the “Party” the UAW is in bed with!
MichaelDuncan over 5 years ago
Not funny, SSDD AGAIN.
Dennett Premium Member over 5 years ago
Make Animosity Go Away?
Pat Schooley over 5 years ago
Sounds like the writer of this scrip would rather be unemployed and have the stock market crash. I’m boycotting “Non Sequitur”. Please join me.
Bookworm over 5 years ago
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire; March 25, 1911. Why unions came about, you ask? 146 dead, 123 women and 23 men. Most of the fatalities were caused by the locked exit doors to reduce “unauthorized breaks and theft.” The owners were found not guilty of negligence as locking such doors was a common practice.
MCProfessor over 5 years ago
Because of graft and politics, the unions made themselves irrelevant. Many times the were in bed with management! Unions need to be taken back by the workers!
ekke over 5 years ago
Unions have their place and their valid benefits. But they are just as able, and just as likely, to go astray as any other human enterprise. I can well remember the days when major unions were indistinguishable from the mafia, with whom they worked closely organizing crime. Wiley’s depiction is only part of the story, and that’s less than honest.
marshlb Premium Member over 5 years ago
Sad that what has been an enjoyable comic has sunk to this.
Tinman Premium Member over 5 years ago
Those mean ‘ol Barons, hurtin’ the poor ‘ol minions. What’s a comics guy to do?
Bullet Bronson Premium Member over 5 years ago
Is that the “Anoesis” hanging off the stern of that boat? What have you done with Cap’n Eddie you Evil Baron?!
WCraft Premium Member over 5 years ago
It’s not perfect in the U.S.; but if someone thinks there is a better place to live – move there. We penguins have been trying socialism for centuries in the Antarctic and no one ever gets ahead of the others – unless being chased by an Orca!
lindz.coop Premium Member over 5 years ago
For all the folks who haven’t worked in years and felt so bad about it that they had to vote for trump to save them…if they had supported their unions, they would probably still have jobs. It was the union-busting of the 80’s that led to all of their strife.
Dgately over 5 years ago
F
JayMayer over 5 years ago
Having an open discussion about the pro’s and con’s of unions ; how they benefitted workers ; what caused their decline is useful and interesting. BUT making a political reference to Trump is uncalled for. Think what you like about Trump, but he did not get rich off the backs of non-union workers. In NYC, where he built dozens of modern profitable buildings, every construction worker, electrician and plumber was unionized. Furthermore, union membership has been in decline for decades. So let’s have a discussion about that before making a useless political reference.
MarthaScottyRay over 5 years ago
Be a student of history and you’ll see how corporate greed and indifference has always been, and will always be a factor in our capitalist society. And, it’s not just the problems they create for labor. Like the number of jobs moved to other countries with economies so poor they allow their unorganized labor to work for petty wages and usually conditions are absent worker safety regulations. How many corporate designs or products have been made to change because of legal challenges because they ignored common sense reasoning? And then those barons of industry complain because Unions contribute to political causes? Ask them how much they devote to advertising and PAC’s to influence government’s checks and balances on unfair or illegal practices?
gammaguy over 5 years ago
Not sure I’ve ever before seen this many comments on a single cartoon/comic.
No point in adding my own opinions and the experiences on which they’re based, since hardly anyone would get around to singling them out from this whack-a-molehill mountain.
pschearer Premium Member over 5 years ago
My last comment for this day: Regarding the many comments on my many comments, I only have to add that I am at an age where I won’t have to watch America die as a free country because there are so many people like the ones commenting here.
cwg over 5 years ago
Cartoonist is drowning for a good joke.
BE THIS GUY over 5 years ago
Just read an article in The NY Times from September 1, 1969 about how the younger union members don’t support the liberal causes that the older union members fought for. The 1970’s was when we saw the decline of the middle-class as the unions became less powerful and often the scapegoats for our economic problems.
Phil (full phname Philip Philop) over 5 years ago
I just watched a video about the Gilded Age.
Roadrunner Premium Member over 5 years ago
I was a teamster in the late 60’s and at that union job was able to pay my way thru college with no debt and a new paid for car at the end too!! I then worked in a profession that paid well and today I have more than I owe. Now I see Obama claims to have started this economy, but fails to mention that he injected 7 TRILLION and still only had less than an average 1% growth. I am not happy with either political party but those who voted for Trump knew he was not a choir boy and wanted more substance than flash. Everything that Obama did came back to bite us in the ass. At least Trump is fulfilling his promises. I find it amazing that the hate is on the left and is as bad if not worse than the haters on the right. Ay, que lastima ! There is nothing ahead but a new Rome: from a republic to a dictatorship, and the earth quaked for many centuries and they didn’t have the military-industrial complex to force the new Caesar upon it. The constitution is our only protection and the fools on the left want to tear it apart. I despair for the future.
GarfieldJune19 almost 5 years ago
Unions suck, anyway.