Thread: federal unions

Originally Posted by nnuut

NO Sir, the government employees benefits were at the level they are now by keeping up with PRIVATE INDUSTRY! Remember GM, Ford,GE, Westinghouse etc. All of those big companies that have such generous benefits, and now have lost most of them due to our good jobs being sent out of the country by Bill Clinton and Al Gore. I hate that.

Wrong...you've already been schooled on this...Jobs were sent overseas by the Republican written NAFTA agreement.

"Following diplomatic negotiations dating back to 1990 among the three nations, U.S. President George H. W. Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Mexican President Carlos Salinas, each responsible for spearheading and promoting the agreement, ceremonially signed the agreement in their respective capitals on December 17, 1992"
(Clinton didn't take office till late Jan 1993),
North American Free Trade Agreement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Clinton could not veto it even if he wanted to, since that Republican outsourcing bill passed by a veto proof majority in congress, remember? Whether he signed it or not didn't matter, it had already automatically passed as a law in Congress (thanks to some democrat turncoats who sided with the GOP).

And any benefits for fed employees on any par with past private sector, the ones you enjoy so much, were all negotiated by your hated unions.
The reason they disappeared from the private sector in the past 30 years is directly related to a precipitous drop in private sector union membership past 30 years.

popcorn index.jpg

Is this a political tread??? I feel like I lost my way ...

Originally Posted by dougscott

Is this a political tread???

i was hoping it would not become one as i was more interested in the proportion of union/non-union feds, and less interested in the reasons why. maybe some of the discussion might need to be relocated, but please can we keep the neutral poll here where more can see it and vote if they want?

Yup I see an asterisk '*' in this thread's future...

Probably another good reason why I didn't subscribe to the political section. I think I'll just keep it simple: Focus on making money for my years in retirement.

Frank

Originally Posted by nnuut

NO Sir, the government employees benefits were at the level they are now by keeping up with PRIVATE INDUSTRY! Remember GM, Ford,GE, Westinghouse etc. All of those big companies that have such generous benefits....

...via unions.

[I'm done now burrocrat]

Originally Posted by sniper

Interesting, I didn't think federal workers were allowed to unionize

Many are, even law enforcement types like me. They tried to take some of us out after 09/11, but they were only partially successful.

...so is NARFE a "union", or a "PAC" ??? I'm part of that 35% of the poll respondents that is retired !

A simple question is much more complex than Burro wanted !


Stoplight...

Originally Posted by FireWeatherMet

Wrong...you've already been schooled on this...Jobs were sent overseas by the Republican written NAFTA agreement.

"Following diplomatic negotiations dating back to 1990 among the three nations, U.S. President George H. W. Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Mexican President Carlos Salinas, each responsible for spearheading and promoting the agreement, ceremonially signed the agreement in their respective capitals on December 17, 1992"
(Clinton didn't take office till late Jan 1993),
North American Free Trade Agreement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Clinton could not veto it even if he wanted to, since that Republican outsourcing bill passed by a veto proof majority in congress, remember? Whether he signed it or not didn't matter, it had already automatically passed as a law in Congress (thanks to some democrat turncoats who sided with the GOP).

And any benefits for fed employees on any par with past private sector, the ones you enjoy so much, were all negotiated by your hated unions.
The reason they disappeared from the private sector in the past 30 years is directly related to a precipitous drop in private sector union membership past 30 years.

Yeah sure, remember Ross Perot and the then Vice President arguing on TV when Perot warned the Inventor of the internet and Bill Clinton that there would be a GREAT SUCKING SOUND at the Border of JOBS GOING SOUTH? It damn well was Clint and AL. That was followed by GATT and other American job killers. SWOOOSH!!!!!! Where are Levis and tens of thousands of then American Made products being made now? NOT HERE!!!

I'm a dues paying member of my union. In my organization (DoDDS), we can choose not to pay the $700 per year, and keep the money while still enjoying all the union's negotiated benefits. I don't care much for that policy. In California, one could opt out of union dues, but had to deduct an equal amount in the form of a charitable donation. Either way, the money didn't just go into your bank account. I think that was a more equitable policy.

I quit the union when they wouldn't fight for us to get our job description changed from a WG11 to a WG12. I was classified an electrical operator over in FOMD (Facilities Operation & Maintenance Division). We started large exhausters and compressors for research cells. I was qualified to operate, troubleshoot and repair in multiple buildings. Most of the electrical operators also helped the mechanics and we did pneumatic and hydraulic systems as well (jack of all trades master of none). Our max grade was a WG11 but an electronic tech could max out at a WG13. So we asked the union if we could get reclassified and at least get a WG12. The union pretty much said that the electronic tech was more highly skilled than our positions and they couldn't help us. Oh! Yeah! We also repaired printed circuit boards when they went bad.