Tag: Trade union

That the public sector unions form a vote bank and help politicians who to retain their seat, accommodate them with scant regard for economy .
Workers in the unorganized sector,say electricians , plumbers etc,. have their grievances unheard,
In India politicians have descended to another level,that of offering freebies like electricity to sections of Society without bothering about economic repercussions or the unease it creates among the other sections of the society
Blue collar r workers like IT professionals have no forum to represent their problems ;their problems in the private sector is as bad as in camp labor,only thing being they get paid substantially without having the time to eat or relax which has resulted in depression ,suicides,murders,marital disharmony and high rate of Divorce.
Sociologists need to pay attention to both these problems along with governments,
Also now that Communism is laid to rest, workers do not have effective forum to voice their grievances.
Imperative that a responsible forum is in to represent the problems of those affected objectively.
Private companies and public sector companies’ unions represent extreme views and they need to be regulated.
If both remain unchecked a revolution on the scale of the French Revolution is not afar

Story.

The notion that Wall Street and Main Street are fundamentally at odds with one another remains a popular orthodoxy. So much so that we may be missing the first stirrings of a true American class war: between workers in government unions and their union counterparts in the private sector.

In theory, of course, organized labor is all about fraternal solidarity. For many years, it is true, private-sector unions supported collective-bargaining rights and better benefits for government workers, while public-employee unions supported the private-sector unions in their opposition to legislation such as the North American Free Trade Agreement in the 1990s.

Suddenly, it’s a different world. In this recession, for example, construction workers are suffering from unemployment levels roughly double the national rate, according to a recent analysis of federal jobs data by the Associated General Contractors of America. They are relearning, the hard way, that without a growing economy, all the labor-friendly laws and regulations in the world won’t keep them working.

What’s more, “blue-collar union workers are beginning to appreciate that the generous pensions and health benefits going to their counterparts in state and local government are coming out of their pockets,” says Steven Malanga, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. “Not only that, they are beginning to understand the dysfunctional relationship between collective bargaining for government employees and their own job prospects.”

….

These days the two types of worker inhabit two very different worlds. In the private sector, union workers increasingly pay for more of their own health care, and they have defined contribution pension plans such as 401(k)s. In this they have something fundamental in common even with the fat cats on Wall Street: Both need their companies to succeed.

By contrast, government unions use their political clout to elect those who set their pay: the politicians. In exchange, these unions are rewarded with contracts whose pension and health-care provisions now threaten many municipalities and states with bankruptcy. In response to the crisis, government unions demand more and higher taxes. Which of course makes people who have money less inclined to look to those states to make the investments that create jobs for, say, iron workers, electricians and construction workers.

Some of these folks are beginning to notice.

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