No I'm an air traffic controller. I thought of some other things but I thought jerk was more of a funny name to go with jeryst.
If you really are an ATC, than I apologize if my statement offended you. It did not apply to you, but I stand by my statement. Although I didnt totally agree with what Reagan did to the ATC's, I think he did it to keep the country from being paralyzed. I feel that it needs to be that way, in any area that involves the safety and/or security of the population at large. If the Big 3 are as critical to the economy as they, and many others, keep saying they are, then the ability of the UAW to bring the industry to its knees needs to be curtailed. Most of the perks they have are a result of crippling strikes that threatened to do more harm than good, so the auto makers were forced to give in to their demands.
But it goes the same for all unions. Strikes are just a legal form of blackmail that has gone way beyond what it was originally intended for, whether its blue collar or white. Teachers strike, and the school boards have no choice but to give in because once so many days are missed, the school districts lose state and federal funding, kids lose a whole years of school, etc. So the teachers get raises, property taxes go up, and many people, especially those on fixed incomes, are forced into bankruptcy, lose their homes, etc. Around here, twenty years ago, teachers made $15k a year, and it was below average for the area. Today, they are making $70k+ a year, with no end in sight, and the average income in the area is around $30k. That's nearly a 500% increase in twenty years, yet our kids are doing worse on test scores than they ever have. So what is the extra money getting us? NOTHING! Yet all you hear on the news is about how little teachers get paid. Government employees (federal, state, and city) strike, and chaos ensues because nothing gets done, so they keep getting their raises while many of the taxpayers that are paying their salaries arent getting any increases. Look at the results; record deficits for city, state, and federal budgets. Police forces get cut, along with maintenance, other services, etc. People start to flee those areas, and look for places to live where the taxes are less. They wonder why there is not enough money to do the things that they used to do and provide the services that they used to provide. Duh, it doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure it out, yet everyone just keeps skirting the issue.
Unions had their place at one time. I think they still have a place in making sure that work places are safe and secure, but it needs to end there, or sooner or later, as with both companies I worked for that were shut down because of union practices, they will eventually price themselves out of the market. Once costs start to get too high, in any job market, the first thing that happens, is the elimination of jobs, so in reality, unions dont save jobs, they eliminate them. It just takes a while. The current condition of the auto companies, is a perfect example.
