I'm committed to finding a better way.
We need strong, functioning, efficient unions, so here's my stab at it:
Let's say there are essentially four overall elements to a union contract (keeping this very basic): Current salaries & benefits, workplace rules, workplace safety and after-work benefits.
I would revise that to maintain current salaries & benefits and workplace safety requirements. I would remove the types of workplace rules that say this guy can't drive that truck, or that guy can't touch these tools. That's ridiculous and inefficient. I would also change retirement benefits to defined contribution/401K with plenty of guidance and safeguards (like annuities and target date mutual funds).
Competition, particularly global competition, has become too competitive for the traditional union structure, yet we still need them. But they have to change.
Thoughts?
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I'd like to take some time and think about it.
The problem has been, most of my life, that the unions get a lot of power and make it unprofitable for companies to operate. The attitude that we let big business control everything means suddenly jobs don't pay enough to live on.
Ironically, millions of Americans were brought up by parents that worked jobs that didn't take a tremendous amount of skill. Many people that are 30, 40 and beyond are the children of factory workers, steel workers, and manufacturing businesses.
Not everybody is going to be a Steve Jobs or a Bill Gates. I really don't have the answer. That is why I said, let's give the employer the option of paying higher taxes and hire whomever they want
OR pay lower taxes, pay decent wages, and hire Americans. Put a five year limit on the legislation and see what it tells us.
But, I won't marginalize your idea. Even if I don't agree with it at some point, I won't denigrate you or the idea since we're basically wanting the same end result.
. So you are saying in affect that the company (if pays higher in taxes to the government), can then reject the older less technological savy American employee's (laborers), who you think expect more for less skills, and this will be all in favor of companies hiring the cheap laborer who will work the low wage job without complaining ?? So the higher taxes paid in will take care of the fall out found in the huge amount of American employee's out of work ?????
I would rather have Americans working instead of relying on taxes paid in by companies to the government in so that they (companies) can reject hiring Americans over cheap labor hiring.
I'm not sure I understand your question, so I'll explain my position:
The left believes you can simply mandate a minimum wage. But, as wages are forced up by government, business simply raises the prices of goods and services. That don't work.
The working class then rely on unions, but unions begin to make unrealistic demands on employers and end up pricing themselves out of the market. Why else do you think foreign autos are as prevalent as those made in the U.S.?
Then the pro-business guys come along and tell us they want to slash the taxes on business, get rid of regulations and make business profitable and... somehow the wealth trickles down. But, the employers begin to pay Trump change... I mean chump change and then upper middle class to the rich are taxed enough to make up the difference between a joke and amount it takes to meet basic needs.
I say we give employers a choice and then, after five years, extrapolate from it what works. Is it more profitable for corporations to have complete freedom to hire whomever they want and pay what they want
OR is it more profitable to
incentivize the employer to pay more in wages and hire Americans. I'm
NOT suggesting any mandated wage. I'm merely saying that the employer pays less in taxes for paying a higher wage (a percentage over poverty level wages); more tax breaks for higher pay increases; additional tax incentives to get employers to offer employees educational benefits so they don't stay harnessed to a low paying gig.
Currently we're putting older workers out of a job and not providing any
incentives for employers to keep them and pay them a realistic wage. And what have I said? Ongoing tax
incentives to hire and another tax incentive to pay those long term producing employees a reasonable cost of living adjustment...
PLUS tax incentives to get employers to provide educational opportunities and get the motivated among them into higher paying jobs.