Unions are no longer needed

My wife is a teacher and because she is a teacher she felt forced to join the teachers union. The reason was the litigious character of today’s society. Based on what she was told, the union is the only body capable of defending her is a student or a student’s parents sued her over an imagined slight. It was until much later on that we discovered that there is an association of American teachers, http://www.aaeteachers.org/ offering every benefit of the unions and more at a considerably reduced cost. In addition to that, the association doesn’t use its member’s money to support issues and candidates the teacher doesn’t agree with. In essence, the union, as far as most teachers are concerned is not only useless but harmful. Now for a history lesson;

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City on March 25, 1911, was the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city of New York and resulted in the fourth highest loss of life from an industrial accident in U.S. history. The previous sentence is taken verbatim from a Wikipedia article, but even at that, its information is historically accurate. Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, the owners of the business did everything they could to create the worst possible working environment in a highly competitive industry, and as a consequence put in place the factors necessary for disaster.

Following the disaster lawmakers began to correct the oversights allowing misers such as Blanck and Harris the freedom to abuser their employees. Unfortunately, those oversights also paved the way to give eastern European style socialists a foothold into the American economy in the form of trade unions.

Right now the United States of America is faced with an implacable enemy bent on nothing less than the total destruction of the US economy and the pursuit of individual prosperity. No, I’m not writing about Islamic Fundamentalism. Our enemy is the vast interlocking group of trade unionists. If you don’t believe me, check out the posted death threat sent to the courageous Wisconsin legislators who, in spite of the illegal tactics of the Democrats managed to pass a bill that forces the unions to work on the same playing field as everyone else. If those threats had come from a conservative source they would have been the week’s headline news in every media outlet possible. As it is, you have to dig to find a single article.

Back in the early 1900’s a case for unions could be made since far too many business owners function from a primary motive of utter greed. These men had little or no regard for the men, women and yes, even children whose sweat made them millions. But those days have long passed and entire libraries of legislation have been created mandating a safe workplace. The chief obstacle against employment and prosperity these days is the interagency of the unions against what matters to nothing more than common sense.

Consider the American automotive industry. There was a time when America was the primary industrial power of the world and the partnership between the steel mills and the auto manufacturers rolled out the best most-affordable mode of tr4ansportation money could buy…and then the unions got greedy. Class warfare showed its ugly face and instead of being the reason they had good jobs, people like Henry Ford became the enemy. Where is Detroit now? It is nothing more than an ever-expanding ghetto that produces far more crime than anything else.

Education is another industry the unions have ruined. Teachers are under the illusion that the NEA is there to help them that their local union branch is there to protect their jobs, even though every ancillary position, included janitorial, has better wages, benefits and working conditions than the classroom teacher. A teacher is the only governmental job requiring a 4-year degree that pays less than that of a Las Vegas parking valet. Here is a bit of news that would never make the news; if the public employee unions did not exist every decent teacher would get a raise because the government would be allowed to pay the workers based on their merit. They would also be allowed to get rid of the lousy ones, and kick the brats out of the school to make room for kids who want to learn.

So, do we need unions? No, not with the current laws covering the workplace; a job should be something you earn, not something you inherit.