Truckers are thier own worst enemy

Oh Yeah,that'll work,another great SOLUTION

 

Not to pick on you, but are you kidding? Before unions, there was no minimum wage, no cost of living raises, no workers comp, no unemployment payments, etc - unions have outlived their usefulness, but they did some awesome things for the American worker that most people today take for granted.

 

I think now,more than ever unions should regain a place within the North American workforce. We are seeing corporate profits surge ahead while domestic procdution drops and workers are laid off and forced to make concessions to keep their jobs.

Corporations still like selling their goods in the Americas but prefer to make them in places where workers rights and conditions come secondary to profit and productivity. They don't seem to be selling these products to the people who make them,the people who make them most likely cannot afford them.

Strong unions shape government policy and we need the common man to have more say in what transpires in the corporate world.

 

Ray Lahood's agenda may just be to drive people to the unions. Remember his boss is a union supporter.

 

Strong unions may be great in Canada, but they've absolutely killed our economy and workforce.

Unions, like the SEIU that has influenced Obama so strongly, are more about controlling the economy that actually helping their members. The true benefactors of any union (these days) are the union officers, not its members or the general public that deals with high-priced products and services offered by these unions.

 

people they dont any better bat they have a opinion you right aboute all this proablems bat nobady wans to do anyting abaute it.in sone countrys in europe farmers go into strike if they dont like something bat here people tolarate anyting.

 

No,unions did not kill your economy.
Corporate greed and the globalisation of trade killed your economy. Take a look at the trade deficit your country is running with China.......unions are not to blame.
Unions at the major auto manufacturers made concessions to keep the factories open during the bailout renegotiation yet no stipulations were placed on executive compensation. Go see what the execs are being paid,the same guys that called the shots that ran the companies to the brink of recievership.

Unions did not cause the bailout that was required for your financial institutions to stay afloat.

The reason America was the strongest economy in the world for so long was simply because of the resources it demanded to power it's factories and the goods those workers consumed on a personal level.

Now that the bulk of those(union) jobs are gone to foreign markets the economy is following suit.
Most economists will admit that until the middle class makes a "comeback" in America, the economy will not recover,Middle class working people are the bulk of American workers and consume more goods per capita than other class groups.
Without well paying jobs (many are unionised) you can kiss long term viability of your economy goodbye.

I think it's time for unions to make a comeback and demand the gov't start protecting industries from foreign manufacturers that don't produce/contribute to Americas bottom line.

 

There's a simple reason that those jobs are going to foreign markets - union labor priced the Big Three out of the automotive market, and with shoddy (in comparison) fit, finish and reliability, it was only a matter of time before the Big Three started failing miserably.

For example, you need only to compare all aspects of a mid-80s Dodge or Chevy to a mid-80s Honda or Toyota. Our own lazy butts, combined with union arrogance, killed the dosmetic automotive market as we knew it.

On a completely different area, I've seen the huge differences in union labor and contracts, versus a free contract arena.. my brother owned and operated a large construction firm that specialized in commercial gigs like resets in shopping malls. The difference in hassle and cost was night and day when comparing a non-union job in Houston versus a union job in Chaicago, as was the time to complete - usually 2-3 times longer for the union crews, costing the owner/retailer a lot more downtime and money.

We should agree to disagree.. perhaps unions are cool in your area of the world, but I've seen the devasting effects from inside the car business and construction industry.

I vote for getting back to topic on how we truckers are our own worst enemy... mostly because we want respect, but mony do nothing to earn it..in fact, many damage the opinion of the industry on a daily basis.

 

If we want change email me and I will share some ideas.

 

There are solutions but I don't know how to explain them here without breaking the forum rules so if anyone wants to they can email me.
loraine603@yahoo.ca