Washing machines/dryers prices up 17% under Trump (thank you, tariffs)

[Correll]

There you go again with your unions bad thing. If it weren't for unions you would be working for minimum wage with a mandatory 60 hr work week. He'll if you were union you would have health benefits, thank your company for the lack there of though.

Everything was fine until Ears invaded the White House. So what happened when unions made demands in the past? Companies moved out of state or country to get away from them.

Unions had their place and use at one time, just like the ice man and horse shoe maker. But that time is long gone, and people realize the damage unions have done to this country.

As for your minimum wage argument, it's nothing but bull. Most companies today are non-union and they don't pay minimum wage or force people to work 60 hours a week. That's boloney.

However that's the same argument my father kept making to me. He's a retired union bricklayer. One day when I got fed up with him telling me I wouldn't be making what I make today if not for unions, I told him i wouldn't have to make what I make today if I could afford one of the houses that he built.

That was the last time he used that argument with me.

If there were no unions you would be making minimum wage bud. If you were in the union you would have health insurance. Unions are needed for those things, if you were union you would have a pension as well and possibly an annuity. But you go on believing that the unions are bad and I will go on having health insurance.

My employer told us repeatedly, if we ever decide to unionize, he's closing the company. That's what unions have done to tens of millions of people.

I'm glad you think your crystal ball is so accurate that you know what would have happened without unions. Have unions done some good in the past? I believe so. I'm willing to admit that. But you refuse to admit the harm they brought us.

In my line of work and personal experience with unions, I could write a book on the subject. If I went to a company I knew nothing about, I could tell you within ten minutes if they were union or not simply by how the employees worked. It's not a special talent, anybody could do it. Union employees were substandard to non-union employees every time it's compared. It's one of the reasons my employer quit accepting deliveries to UAW plants. There were times I was there for half the day trying to get unloaded; something a non-union crew could have done in a half-hour.

I think conditions are ripe for unions to start coming back.

THe labor market is tightening up, but managers are stuck in the past, where they had unlimited access to cheap Third World labor, and could get away with being petty tyrants.


Workers with degrees, and technical skills are getting tired of being treated like burger flippers.

Yes. The Silly Con Valley sweatshops are always sniveling about 'labor shortages' that don't exist, and crying for more Green Cards, which is just an indentured servitude scam since the workers who come in on those can't quit after they're here because the companies aren't required to pay their way back home when they find out how crappy the management is, how extremely low the pay is compared to the cost of living there, even though they sound like vast fortunes compared to the local wages in their home countries, and the how grossly the jobs are misrepresented.

And then donate some money to some lefty causes or politicians, and bad mouth Trump and tell themselves that they are sooooooo enlightened and wonderful.

 

[KissMy]

Plenty of them are not. THey got degrees and training, and the jobs are not there.

Their student debt remains.

Yes, but the real problem is that they don't get an education in fields in demand. They take classes that are easy or less challenging, and then get out and find there are no jobs because a lot of younger people did the same thing.

One of my tenants told me she was going to part-time to attend college for better work. I advised her the first thing she needs to do is look in the want ads and see what's in demand. She took some courses in college previously to learn how to draw blood in hospital labs. She got out and found there were no jobs in that field, and the ones that were out there didn't pay very much.

People flood the fields that they hear have good potential. Then those fields are oversupplied, and people are left out.



Because there are not enough good jobs. Why did phlebotomy fill up? Lord knows it can't be that great.

Which is why people need to get an education in fields of demand. Today few want to get an education in fields that also require physical work. Work like construction, HVAC, plumbing, electrician. They want to go to school, come out and get a job sitting behind a desk.

It's the same thing when I attended electronics school back in the early 80's. It's very difficult and all math, but regardless of the cost and complexity, the jobs didn't pay squat. Why? Because everybody and their mother was interested in electronics.

We are only worth as much as our employer can pay somebody else to do the same job and same quality of work. That's how wages are determined. It works fine and dandy until you throw a monkey wrench into the system like foreigners or unions. But outside of that, the supply and demand system is the best for employment.

There you go again with your unions bad thing. If it weren't for unions you would be working for minimum wage with a mandatory 60 hr work week. He'll if you were union you would have health benefits, thank your company for the lack there of though.

Everything was fine until Ears invaded the White House. So what happened when unions made demands in the past? Companies moved out of state or country to get away from them.

Unions had their place and use at one time, just like the ice man and horse shoe maker. But that time is long gone, and people realize the damage unions have done to this country.

As for your minimum wage argument, it's nothing but bull. Most companies today are non-union and they don't pay minimum wage or force people to work 60 hours a week. That's boloney.

However that's the same argument my father kept making to me. He's a retired union bricklayer. One day when I got fed up with him telling me I wouldn't be making what I make today if not for unions, I told him i wouldn't have to make what I make today if I could afford one of the houses that he built.

That was the last time he used that argument with me.

Repubtard Bush destroyed more Jobs than any president in HISTORY!!!

Clinton created More Jobs than Republican presidents Ford + Reagan + Bush 1 + Bush 2 COMBINED!!!

Dear Retard, It was not Unions that drove employers out of the USA, that was "Free Trade" tax policies. Paying 39% in the USA & 0% outside, caused business to leave & sell products back here tax & tariff free giving corporate all the money..

If union at US "company A" drove up cost to far, non-union US "company B" would take market share. CEOs lobbied for tax policy to punish workers, hollow out the country to fill their own pockets.

Companies are forcing people to work 60-80/hrs weeks without overtime, benefits or healthcare. They simply limit hours to part time at minimum wage forcing them to have 3 part time jobs!

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Yes, but the real problem is that they don't get an education in fields in demand. They take classes that are easy or less challenging, and then get out and find there are no jobs because a lot of younger people did the same thing.

One of my tenants told me she was going to part-time to attend college for better work. I advised her the first thing she needs to do is look in the want ads and see what's in demand. She took some courses in college previously to learn how to draw blood in hospital labs. She got out and found there were no jobs in that field, and the ones that were out there didn't pay very much.

People flood the fields that they hear have good potential. Then those fields are oversupplied, and people are left out.



Because there are not enough good jobs. Why did phlebotomy fill up? Lord knows it can't be that great.

Which is why people need to get an education in fields of demand. Today few want to get an education in fields that also require physical work. Work like construction, HVAC, plumbing, electrician. They want to go to school, come out and get a job sitting behind a desk.

It's the same thing when I attended electronics school back in the early 80's. It's very difficult and all math, but regardless of the cost and complexity, the jobs didn't pay squat. Why? Because everybody and their mother was interested in electronics.

We are only worth as much as our employer can pay somebody else to do the same job and same quality of work. That's how wages are determined. It works fine and dandy until you throw a monkey wrench into the system like foreigners or unions. But outside of that, the supply and demand system is the best for employment.

There you go again with your unions bad thing. If it weren't for unions you would be working for minimum wage with a mandatory 60 hr work week. He'll if you were union you would have health benefits, thank your company for the lack there of though.

Everything was fine until Ears invaded the White House. So what happened when unions made demands in the past? Companies moved out of state or country to get away from them.

Unions had their place and use at one time, just like the ice man and horse shoe maker. But that time is long gone, and people realize the damage unions have done to this country.

As for your minimum wage argument, it's nothing but bull. Most companies today are non-union and they don't pay minimum wage or force people to work 60 hours a week. That's boloney.

However that's the same argument my father kept making to me. He's a retired union bricklayer. One day when I got fed up with him telling me I wouldn't be making what I make today if not for unions, I told him i wouldn't have to make what I make today if I could afford one of the houses that he built.

That was the last time he used that argument with me.

Repubtard Bush destroyed more Jobs than any president in HISTORY!!!

Clinton created More Jobs than Republican presidents Ford + Reagan + Bush 1 + Bush 2 COMBINED!!!

Dear Retard, It was not Unions that drove employers out of the USA, that was "Free Trade" tax policies. Paying 39% in the USA & 0% outside, caused business to leave & sell products back here tax & tariff free giving corporate all the money..

If union at US "company A" drove up cost to far, non-union US "company B" would take market share. CEOs lobbied for tax policy to punish workers, hollow out the country to fill their own pockets.

Companies are forcing people to work 60-80/hrs weeks without overtime, benefits or healthcare. They simply limit hours to part time at minimum wage forcing them to have 3 part time jobs!

No, that wasn't because of the lack of unions, it was because Commie Care had a stipulation that you are free of government mandates if you keep your crew under 50 full-time employees.

WTF do you get the idea that businesses paid 0% tax for moving overseas and selling their products back here? Tax was a small part of it, but labor costs and government regulations were the biggest part.

The problem with your analogy is that company A did have to produce for much more thanks to unions, but company B already moved out of the country, so company A could not compete unless they too moved out of the country.

Paying overtime is a law unless you are being paid by piece work, salary, commission, or few other positions like truck driver, waitress or waiter. Everybody else gets paid time and a half.

Furthermore, Clinton presided with a Republican Congress. The economy went to hell under Bush with a Democrat Congress. You know Congress, the people that spend our money, create taxes and laws?

 

[mikegriffith1]

The numerous nations that protect their key industries and workers with high tariffs understand that protectionism benefits their citizens and industries in the long run.

It is odd that many people who have no problem understanding why counties and states should try to keep as much money inside their borders as possible will turn around and support globalist "free trade" policies, which suck hundreds of billions of dollars (in net terms) out of the U.S., hurts our industrial sector, and forces more workers into service-industry jobs.

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

My new washing machine that I bought ON SALE damn near dries my clothes on the final spin.

Life is good.

 

[edward37]

Pay a little bit more and Buy American....

If you have a job, you can use the money you saved in taxes.

Fu and any pos republican that says he's American

 

[fncceo]

Pay a little bit more and Buy American....

If you have a job, you can use the money you saved in taxes.

Fu and any pos republican that says he's American

That’s a sweet offer. But, I’m already in a committed relationship.

 

[edward37]

Pay a little bit more and Buy American....

If you have a job, you can use the money you saved in taxes.

Fu and any pos republican that says he's American

That’s a sweet offer. But, I’m already in a committed relationship.

Good seeing someone has a sense of humor besides fn over kids

 

[LittleNipper]

My new washing machine that I bought ON SALE damn near dries my clothes on the final spin.

Life is good.

My AMANA washer says designed, engineered and manufactured in the USA. It is HE and cost me $299.00. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles. It comes in white. It is very simple to use and does a fine job of washing laundry. I could not be happier. Now if it lasts 20 years like my old GE washer, I'll be ecstatic.

 

[edward37]

My new washing machine that I bought ON SALE damn near dries my clothes on the final spin.

Life is good.

My AMANA washer says designed, engineered and manufactured in the USA. It is HE and cost me $299.00. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles. It comes in white. It is very simple to use and does a fine job of washing laundry. I could not be happier. Now if it lasts 20 years like my old GE washer, I'll be ecstatic.

How wonderful it would be for all trump supporters to be fucked and brought to their knees....And let their children learn that's what happens when you're ignorant like gramps

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

My new washing machine that I bought ON SALE damn near dries my clothes on the final spin.

Life is good.

My AMANA washer says designed, engineered and manufactured in the USA. It is HE and cost me $299.00. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles. It comes in white. It is very simple to use and does a fine job of washing laundry. I could not be happier. Now if it lasts 20 years like my old GE washer, I'll be ecstatic.

I don't think you'll ever see a product as good as GE used to be. Back in 1983, I bought my mother a used 5,000 btu GE window air conditioner for her bedroom. That damn thing still works until this day.

 

[Indeependent]

Washington compost is pathetic. The cost of washing machines increased a little? That's the thing we all should be worried about? LOL

That's not a little. When was the last time it increased that much?

If this had been under Obama, the nutters would be describing it as a fortune.

You mean the Obama who ran the second time on MAGA and then didn't give a shit after he won a second term?

 

[edward37]

My new washing machine that I bought ON SALE damn near dries my clothes on the final spin.

Life is good.

My AMANA washer says designed, engineered and manufactured in the USA. It is HE and cost me $299.00. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles. It comes in white. It is very simple to use and does a fine job of washing laundry. I could not be happier. Now if it lasts 20 years like my old GE washer, I'll be ecstatic.

I don't think you'll ever see a product as good as GE used to be. Back in 1983, I bought my mother a used 5,000 btu GE window air conditioner for her bedroom. That damn thing still works until this day.

LOL now a days you better get a 2 year guarantee

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Which is why people need to get an education in fields of demand. Today few want to get an education in fields that also require physical work. Work like construction, HVAC, plumbing, electrician. They want to go to school, come out and get a job sitting behind a desk.

It's the same thing when I attended electronics school back in the early 80's. It's very difficult and all math, but regardless of the cost and complexity, the jobs didn't pay squat. Why? Because everybody and their mother was interested in electronics.

We are only worth as much as our employer can pay somebody else to do the same job and same quality of work. That's how wages are determined. It works fine and dandy until you throw a monkey wrench into the system like foreigners or unions. But outside of that, the supply and demand system is the best for employment.

There you go again with your unions bad thing. If it weren't for unions you would be working for minimum wage with a mandatory 60 hr work week. He'll if you were union you would have health benefits, thank your company for the lack there of though.

Everything was fine until Ears invaded the White House. So what happened when unions made demands in the past? Companies moved out of state or country to get away from them.

Unions had their place and use at one time, just like the ice man and horse shoe maker. But that time is long gone, and people realize the damage unions have done to this country.

As for your minimum wage argument, it's nothing but bull. Most companies today are non-union and they don't pay minimum wage or force people to work 60 hours a week. That's boloney.

However that's the same argument my father kept making to me. He's a retired union bricklayer. One day when I got fed up with him telling me I wouldn't be making what I make today if not for unions, I told him i wouldn't have to make what I make today if I could afford one of the houses that he built.

That was the last time he used that argument with me.

If there were no unions you would be making minimum wage bud. If you were in the union you would have health insurance. Unions are needed for those things, if you were union you would have a pension as well and possibly an annuity. But you go on believing that the unions are bad and I will go on having health insurance.

My employer told us repeatedly, if we ever decide to unionize, he's closing the company. That's what unions have done to tens of millions of people.

I'm glad you think your crystal ball is so accurate that you know what would have happened without unions. Have unions done some good in the past? I believe so. I'm willing to admit that. But you refuse to admit the harm they brought us.

In my line of work and personal experience with unions, I could write a book on the subject. If I went to a company I knew nothing about, I could tell you within ten minutes if they were union or not simply by how the employees worked. It's not a special talent, anybody could do it. Union employees were substandard to non-union employees every time it's compared. It's one of the reasons my employer quit accepting deliveries to UAW plants. There were times I was there for half the day trying to get unloaded; something a non-union crew could have done in a half-hour.

I think conditions are ripe for unions to start coming back.

THe labor market is tightening up, but managers are stuck in the past, where they had unlimited access to cheap Third World labor, and could get away with being petty tyrants.


Workers with degrees, and technical skills are getting tired of being treated like burger flippers.

The definition of insanity is..............

Unions can't come back because even with tariffs, it would still be cheaper to produce elsewhere. When wages and benefits went too high, that's when companies started to bail out. They couldn't compete against overseas countries.

There was also a domino effect as well.

Years ago when I worked in medical, our company was building a pharmacy for our home customers. This was back in the early 80's and at the time UPS was on strike. After our Monday morning meeting, we all gathered around the coffee pot for a refill, and struck up a conversation about the UPS strike since it had an effect on us.

Nobody really knew our newest employee (the pharmacist) and during the conversation, she stomped away abruptly. We had no idea WTF her problem was. Nobody even said anything to her.

The coffee crowd broke up and I was the last one standing at the coffee pot when she returned. In her hand was her pharmacy magazine. Highlighted was an article about the strike.

The article pointed out that a senior UPS driver made around 55K a year. A pharmacist at the time made about 62K a year. In anger she said "If I only knew what I know today, I sure as hell wouldn't have went through all that education and expense to be a pharmacist. I would be over there (pointing to our overhead garage door) delivering packages in my brown uniform. How dare they go on strike? Do they know what me and my parents went through for my education? I should be the one on strike!"

The only way to draw people to the medical field was to pay them more which they had to do. Now our health insurance is too expensive for many to afford. The domino effect of unions.

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

My new washing machine that I bought ON SALE damn near dries my clothes on the final spin.

Life is good.

My AMANA washer says designed, engineered and manufactured in the USA. It is HE and cost me $299.00. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles. It comes in white. It is very simple to use and does a fine job of washing laundry. I could not be happier. Now if it lasts 20 years like my old GE washer, I'll be ecstatic.

I don't think you'll ever see a product as good as GE used to be. Back in 1983, I bought my mother a used 5,000 btu GE window air conditioner for her bedroom. That damn thing still works until this day.

LOL now a days you better get a 2 year guarantee

My washer & dryer set were 20 years old. The dryer still works. The glass top stove was almost 25 before it gave out.

 

[edward37]

My new washing machine that I bought ON SALE damn near dries my clothes on the final spin.

Life is good.

My AMANA washer says designed, engineered and manufactured in the USA. It is HE and cost me $299.00. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles. It comes in white. It is very simple to use and does a fine job of washing laundry. I could not be happier. Now if it lasts 20 years like my old GE washer, I'll be ecstatic.

I don't think you'll ever see a product as good as GE used to be. Back in 1983, I bought my mother a used 5,000 btu GE window air conditioner for her bedroom. That damn thing still works until this day.

LOL now a days you better get a 2 year guarantee

My washer & dryer set were 20 years old. The dryer still works. The glass top stove was almost 25 before it gave out.

And now any replacements better have 2 year guarantees

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

And teamsters are getting smaller all the time. Outside of government, unions are pretty much a thing of the past. The only reason they are still in government is because it's a monopoly and no competition.

But they have benies, how are your benies? You know those outdated unions with their benefits, higher wages and pensions. How dare the working man ask for those things and all around better conditions. The horror. Please please stay without health benies it is what you deserve.

How have those unions worked out for Michigan? Where did those jobs go? And they're making quite good wages today too.

Yup companies did not put any money back into the facilities that they had in many industries. And much of that was inflexibility of the unions to allow them to upgrade them because of the loss of jobs to come. However 87% of the manufacturing jobs were lost to automation not do to moving overseas.
An example, Goodyear moved a plant to the south sometime in the 60's, to avoid paying higher union wages and benies of course. Then by the 80's shuttered that non-union plant to move to South America (Brazil maybe) after operating there for maybe 10 or so years they moved to Southeast Asia. You know why? Yup because it was cheaper to do over there. Why did they leave the southeast USA, and South America those plants were not union? Corporate greed my friend that's why. For people like you and Ray Ray corporate greed is great, but do not let the working class make to much money. They might get uppity and want more.

Actually it comes down to producing a product that costs low enough for people to buy. Everybody wants cheap products today and it's difficult to produce those products in the US, and impossible to produce them in the US with a union.

The problem our automotive companies had were the unions. My mechanic explained that the US puts their money into labor, wages and benefits. Japanese cars put their money into quality parts. So Toyota can offer 100,000 mile 7 year warranty that most American made cars can't. So years ago I took my mechanics advice and bought Toyota.

I've had two since then, and until last week, neither ever broke down. Last week a power steering hose went, but what the hell, the car has just a little over 100,000 miles and outside of replacing the battery once, it's the first repair I ever had done on the car.

But they build very few cars here and the price doesn't go down it goes up and the companies pocket more money. I love how you are all for corporate greed but against better wages, benies and conditions for the worker. I have to leave in an hour or so to have a minor procedure done this morning. 80% of it paid for by my union supplied health and welfare.

I have a Chevy truck with over 200,000 miles on and have had nothing but normal maintenance issues and 1 fuel pump. Looking to get another next fall.

Yes, I've heard stories like that, and many more just the opposite. With American made cars, it's a hit or miss deal. After my last American made car hit 30,000 miles, my former mechanic drove it more than I did.

But it's not just my mechanics advice I used. I did some searching around the internet, took note of the broken down vehicles on the side of the road, and since I made a lot of deliveries to UAW plants at the time, I didn't want these lazy MF's making my next car.

Believe it or not, Toyota doesn't pay too far off of American union wages. But unlike union plants, they promote based on accomplishment instead of how much time you've been on that union job. You get raises by merit--not by contract. They don't have legacy costs that until this day haunt our automotive industry. There was a guy I used to hang out with as a kid. I ran into him at the hardware store, and he told me he remained friends with another guy we used to hang around with. He retired with the UAW when he was something like 48 years old; fully paid medical care for life, pension, the works. That's what you pay for with an American vehicle.

 

[Aldo Raine]

But they have benies, how are your benies? You know those outdated unions with their benefits, higher wages and pensions. How dare the working man ask for those things and all around better conditions. The horror. Please please stay without health benies it is what you deserve.

How have those unions worked out for Michigan? Where did those jobs go? And they're making quite good wages today too.

Yup companies did not put any money back into the facilities that they had in many industries. And much of that was inflexibility of the unions to allow them to upgrade them because of the loss of jobs to come. However 87% of the manufacturing jobs were lost to automation not do to moving overseas.
An example, Goodyear moved a plant to the south sometime in the 60's, to avoid paying higher union wages and benies of course. Then by the 80's shuttered that non-union plant to move to South America (Brazil maybe) after operating there for maybe 10 or so years they moved to Southeast Asia. You know why? Yup because it was cheaper to do over there. Why did they leave the southeast USA, and South America those plants were not union? Corporate greed my friend that's why. For people like you and Ray Ray corporate greed is great, but do not let the working class make to much money. They might get uppity and want more.

Actually it comes down to producing a product that costs low enough for people to buy. Everybody wants cheap products today and it's difficult to produce those products in the US, and impossible to produce them in the US with a union.

The problem our automotive companies had were the unions. My mechanic explained that the US puts their money into labor, wages and benefits. Japanese cars put their money into quality parts. So Toyota can offer 100,000 mile 7 year warranty that most American made cars can't. So years ago I took my mechanics advice and bought Toyota.

I've had two since then, and until last week, neither ever broke down. Last week a power steering hose went, but what the hell, the car has just a little over 100,000 miles and outside of replacing the battery once, it's the first repair I ever had done on the car.

But they build very few cars here and the price doesn't go down it goes up and the companies pocket more money. I love how you are all for corporate greed but against better wages, benies and conditions for the worker. I have to leave in an hour or so to have a minor procedure done this morning. 80% of it paid for by my union supplied health and welfare.

I have a Chevy truck with over 200,000 miles on and have had nothing but normal maintenance issues and 1 fuel pump. Looking to get another next fall.

Yes, I've heard stories like that, and many more just the opposite. With American made cars, it's a hit or miss deal. After my last American made car hit 30,000 miles, my former mechanic drove it more than I did.

But it's not just my mechanics advice I used. I did some searching around the internet, took note of the broken down vehicles on the side of the road, and since I made a lot of deliveries to UAW plants at the time, I didn't want these lazy MF's making my next car.

Believe it or not, Toyota doesn't pay too far off of American union wages. But unlike union plants, they promote based on accomplishment instead of how much time you've been on that union job. You get raises by merit--not by contract. They don't have legacy costs that until this day haunt our automotive industry. There was a guy I used to hang out with as a kid. I ran into him at the hardware store, and he told me he remained friends with another guy we used to hang around with. He retired with the UAW when he was something like 48 years old; fully paid medical care for life, pension, the works. That's what you pay for with an American vehicle.

They paying wage pretty close to union wage, but once the benefit package is added in you will notice a difference. As far as building trades Ray, seniority makes no difference. Once you take a job, you come off the out of work list. When job is over you com e back to your hiring hall and sign the bottom of the list.

Advancement with a contractor is the same as non-union, by merit or ass sucking. As far as vehicles I have only bought domestic my whole life(it is a union loyalty thing, you wouldn't understand) and only had one bad experience with a Ford F150! All my other vehicles are maintained only for the most part..

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

How have those unions worked out for Michigan? Where did those jobs go? And they're making quite good wages today too.

Yup companies did not put any money back into the facilities that they had in many industries. And much of that was inflexibility of the unions to allow them to upgrade them because of the loss of jobs to come. However 87% of the manufacturing jobs were lost to automation not do to moving overseas.
An example, Goodyear moved a plant to the south sometime in the 60's, to avoid paying higher union wages and benies of course. Then by the 80's shuttered that non-union plant to move to South America (Brazil maybe) after operating there for maybe 10 or so years they moved to Southeast Asia. You know why? Yup because it was cheaper to do over there. Why did they leave the southeast USA, and South America those plants were not union? Corporate greed my friend that's why. For people like you and Ray Ray corporate greed is great, but do not let the working class make to much money. They might get uppity and want more.

Actually it comes down to producing a product that costs low enough for people to buy. Everybody wants cheap products today and it's difficult to produce those products in the US, and impossible to produce them in the US with a union.

The problem our automotive companies had were the unions. My mechanic explained that the US puts their money into labor, wages and benefits. Japanese cars put their money into quality parts. So Toyota can offer 100,000 mile 7 year warranty that most American made cars can't. So years ago I took my mechanics advice and bought Toyota.

I've had two since then, and until last week, neither ever broke down. Last week a power steering hose went, but what the hell, the car has just a little over 100,000 miles and outside of replacing the battery once, it's the first repair I ever had done on the car.

But they build very few cars here and the price doesn't go down it goes up and the companies pocket more money. I love how you are all for corporate greed but against better wages, benies and conditions for the worker. I have to leave in an hour or so to have a minor procedure done this morning. 80% of it paid for by my union supplied health and welfare.

I have a Chevy truck with over 200,000 miles on and have had nothing but normal maintenance issues and 1 fuel pump. Looking to get another next fall.

Yes, I've heard stories like that, and many more just the opposite. With American made cars, it's a hit or miss deal. After my last American made car hit 30,000 miles, my former mechanic drove it more than I did.

But it's not just my mechanics advice I used. I did some searching around the internet, took note of the broken down vehicles on the side of the road, and since I made a lot of deliveries to UAW plants at the time, I didn't want these lazy MF's making my next car.

Believe it or not, Toyota doesn't pay too far off of American union wages. But unlike union plants, they promote based on accomplishment instead of how much time you've been on that union job. You get raises by merit--not by contract. They don't have legacy costs that until this day haunt our automotive industry. There was a guy I used to hang out with as a kid. I ran into him at the hardware store, and he told me he remained friends with another guy we used to hang around with. He retired with the UAW when he was something like 48 years old; fully paid medical care for life, pension, the works. That's what you pay for with an American vehicle.

They paying wage pretty close to union wage, but once the benefit package is added in you will notice a difference. As far as building trades Ray, seniority makes no difference. Once you take a job, you come off the out of work list. When job is over you com e back to your hiring hall and sign the bottom of the list.

Advancement with a contractor is the same as non-union, by merit or ass sucking. As far as vehicles I have only bought domestic my whole life(it is a union loyalty thing, you wouldn't understand) and only had one bad experience with a Ford F150! All my other vehicles are maintained only for the most part..

That may be true except perhaps of the union steward. My father is a retired bricklayer. He got me to join up when I was young. I know how construction trades work.

There were good unions and bad. The UAW is a bad union. Unions like them are bad.

I went to one of our regular customers several years back. The shipper was upset that I showed up. He was backed up with all kinds of work and loading my truck put a damper in his pace. So I asked why he didn't get his helper to load my truck?

He told me because his new helper was afraid to drive the tow motor. Confused, I asked why they gave him a job in shipping of all places if he couldn't drive the tow motor? He said because the guy has the most seniority in the union.

So I asked "If the Fn guy can't do the job, why don't you go to your union and tell them he's worthless to you? He turned off the tow motor, let out a sigh, and calmly said "Look.........If I drove this thing through the front of your trailer, I would still have my job tomorrow because of the union. But if I even hinted that another union man cannot do his job, they would throw my ass out on the street in 30 seconds." He restarted the tow motor and continued loading my truck.

I have countless stories like this one. It used to happen all the time in union plants. To be honest, I don't even know if that company is open anymore. I haven't been there in over a year.

 

[Correll]

There you go again with your unions bad thing. If it weren't for unions you would be working for minimum wage with a mandatory 60 hr work week. He'll if you were union you would have health benefits, thank your company for the lack there of though.

Everything was fine until Ears invaded the White House. So what happened when unions made demands in the past? Companies moved out of state or country to get away from them.

Unions had their place and use at one time, just like the ice man and horse shoe maker. But that time is long gone, and people realize the damage unions have done to this country.

As for your minimum wage argument, it's nothing but bull. Most companies today are non-union and they don't pay minimum wage or force people to work 60 hours a week. That's boloney.

However that's the same argument my father kept making to me. He's a retired union bricklayer. One day when I got fed up with him telling me I wouldn't be making what I make today if not for unions, I told him i wouldn't have to make what I make today if I could afford one of the houses that he built.

That was the last time he used that argument with me.

If there were no unions you would be making minimum wage bud. If you were in the union you would have health insurance. Unions are needed for those things, if you were union you would have a pension as well and possibly an annuity. But you go on believing that the unions are bad and I will go on having health insurance.

My employer told us repeatedly, if we ever decide to unionize, he's closing the company. That's what unions have done to tens of millions of people.

I'm glad you think your crystal ball is so accurate that you know what would have happened without unions. Have unions done some good in the past? I believe so. I'm willing to admit that. But you refuse to admit the harm they brought us.

In my line of work and personal experience with unions, I could write a book on the subject. If I went to a company I knew nothing about, I could tell you within ten minutes if they were union or not simply by how the employees worked. It's not a special talent, anybody could do it. Union employees were substandard to non-union employees every time it's compared. It's one of the reasons my employer quit accepting deliveries to UAW plants. There were times I was there for half the day trying to get unloaded; something a non-union crew could have done in a half-hour.

I think conditions are ripe for unions to start coming back.

THe labor market is tightening up, but managers are stuck in the past, where they had unlimited access to cheap Third World labor, and could get away with being petty tyrants.


Workers with degrees, and technical skills are getting tired of being treated like burger flippers.

The definition of insanity is..............

Unions can't come back because even with tariffs, it would still be cheaper to produce elsewhere. When wages and benefits went too high, that's when companies started to bail out. They couldn't compete against overseas countries.

There was also a domino effect as well.

Years ago when I worked in medical, our company was building a pharmacy for our home customers. This was back in the early 80's and at the time UPS was on strike. After our Monday morning meeting, we all gathered around the coffee pot for a refill, and struck up a conversation about the UPS strike since it had an effect on us.

Nobody really knew our newest employee (the pharmacist) and during the conversation, she stomped away abruptly. We had no idea WTF her problem was. Nobody even said anything to her.

The coffee crowd broke up and I was the last one standing at the coffee pot when she returned. In her hand was her pharmacy magazine. Highlighted was an article about the strike.

The article pointed out that a senior UPS driver made around 55K a year. A pharmacist at the time made about 62K a year. In anger she said "If I only knew what I know today, I sure as hell wouldn't have went through all that education and expense to be a pharmacist. I would be over there (pointing to our overhead garage door) delivering packages in my brown uniform. How dare they go on strike? Do they know what me and my parents went through for my education? I should be the one on strike!"

The only way to draw people to the medical field was to pay them more which they had to do. Now our health insurance is too expensive for many to afford. The domino effect of unions.

Three points, the small one first.


1. There are a lot of factors driving medical cost, such as technology advances and degree inflation. Don't put too much weight on wages.





2. If we can't compete against Third World labor, then what is the game plan for trade and economic policy, in regards to serving the interests of the American citizens?

Because productivity increases used to translate to increased wages. That is not happening anymore.


What is the new plan?


THe only answer I have gotten so far on this, is that the US working class doesn't get a raise, until the entire Third World catches up.


That is not a viable solution in my opinion.


3. And that doesn't explain our trade deficit with the EU or Japan, or South Korean or Taiwan, the cheating bastards.