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12/20/2002 12:51:00 PM | Jared Alessandroni Unions in General Wow, don't know how to respond to the dis' on teachers, as I will be one soon, at least in theory. Unions themselves are a tricky issue, and in fact I will admit that I do not generally support unions, because often they create rules and precedents that eventually serve to cripple the very companies that in the end support them. Like parasites. Unfortunately, they are in some ways inevitable responses to our poorly regulated major industries. Unfortunately, it would be ridiculous to pretend that without unions, workers would somehow magically have some voice. Some people are happy to give the employers the ultimate say, which is tragically elitist and pathetic, but most would argue that the ultimate right should be with workers. Workers, however, can be replaced with quieter workers, especially in a Bush economy. This is why, unless someone has a better option, unions are necessary to counteract the power of big businesses. If you want, you can look at your Nike sneakers that were made by a seven-year-old girl who makes $3 a day, and you can see the sense of leaving the worker alone to fight against the business. And, if you think that's only in third-world unsightly little Sally Struthers countries, remember how much higher our own rate of poverty has been in the last year, and think of how many people, just like your seven-year-old Air Jordan expert, would be happy to work for almost anything. And, if you think it doesn't matter, perhaps you can post something here. As for unions existing for the greater good of the world, well, it depends. Unions certainly, as you know, aren't good for business, and so in a way aren't good for those who rely on services, whether it's something petty like Christmas shopping, or something important like ambulance transport. What they are good for is making up for something our government, especially now, is utterly incapable of. They prevent business from screwing its workers. And, as you know from your Nikes, unregulated business is happy to do this. If they do, we end up with even greater disparities between workers and managers, owners of production and producers. All of a sudden, the workers realize that they have no power unless they ALL get together and they ALL strike, law or no law, suddenly a spectre haunts the US, there is a worker's revolution and a flightly communist state and 50 years later we're all destitute and selling our organs or our children or some vestiges of our nuclear program to survive. As for teachers not teaching, that sucks, but, frankly, considering how the average teacher makes 10 grand less a year than the average plumber with, by definition, often at least 6 years more education, maybe a less blind and ignorant interpretation of the facts would imply a different cause for the lackluster results. And to average $44,000 a year living in NYC isn't that great. The cost of living is much higher. More importantly, to average anything doesn't speak to the baselines. Anyone can lie with numbers, but this is a more blatant one. The 44 average includes management - think about it. perma link |
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