Hi Archie,

Unions WERE necessary for the working man/woman during the early and middle 20th century. This time frame would encompass at least the beginning of your own career, and it's quite understandable that you remain vehemently loyal to that system. However, this system is a dinosaur at this point in time when one takes a serious look at the current economy and a close look at how many large corporations treat their employees. Two examples:

Fast food resaurants are offering several dollars over minimum wage with health benefits to unskilled beginning employees to start.

Rolm was a company that had a manufacturing plant here in Colorado Springs. They were a subsidiary of IBM. This company gave employees 12 weeks of annual paid vacation after 6 years of employment. It was not a union shop. When IBM decided to consolidate this operation into another area, the severance package for those that didn't choose to relocate to another IBM subsidiary was one year's salary, plus $25,000, plus $2500 retraining funding. This is an example of how a company treats employees that are valuable to them, and the employees didn't need to pay dues to a union every week to tell the company what those employees were worth.

Your list of meaningful benefits that unions have bargained or campaigned for is a list of programs that I pay for out of my pocket for myself and my employees. I'm a working man too! I get tagged the full 15.3% from my earnings for social security. Show me which union initiative made IRA's tax exempt, and then show me who is fighting raising the max exemption rate (a hint, it ain't the guys who got $36 million in union funded advertising during the last election.)

I do have insurance on my business against losses caused by almost everything that is out of my control except stupid business decisions and losses incurred by striking union workers that work for a business that I do business with. It is my experienced opinion that unions don't care if they hurt innocent third parties when they have a problem with their employer. The transfer of loss to innocent third parties is what my real problem is with today's union movement.

What the modern day unions accomplish.... ...they drive up the costs of goods and services. ...they line the pockets of union bosses and democratic politicians (and fight every initiative to give THEIR OWN MEMBERS A CLEAR CHOICE on how to spend dues.) ...they disrupt large segments of our economy without regard to who they hurt when they go on strike. All to often a lemmings mindset occurs.

Don't be a lemming! Jump off the cliff first, but pick the right cliff! Then you'll find out who made mistakes and who didn't....

Bob