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FedEx threatens to cancel Boeing jet orders: report
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(Reuters) – FedEx Corp is threatening to cancel the purchase of billions of dollars worth of new Boeing Co cargo planes if Congress passes a law that would make it easier for unions to organize at the package-delivery company, the Wall Street Journal said.
FedEx may cancel plans to buy as many as 30 new Boeing planes should Congress pass a bill that would remove truck drivers, couriers and other employees at FedEx's Express unit from the jurisdiction of the federal Railway Labor Act of 1926, the paper cited the company spokesman as saying.
In January, FedEx said its express unit exercised options to buy 15 more Boeing 777 freighters, worth $3.75 billion at list prices.
However, the company deferred delivery of some of the planes as the U.S. economy faces a bleak outlook.
FedEx's actions raise the stakes in an increasingly bitter battle involving chief rival, United Parcel Service Inc, and the Teamsters union, which has been trying for years to organize at FedEx, the Journal said.
FedEx and Boeing could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters.
(Reporting by Bhaswati Mukhopadhyay in Bangalore)
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I hope this disaster fails and Arlen Specter said he will block it.
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333386
what are your feelings on card check? I've never seen you take a position on the matter.
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333386
what are your feelings on card check? I've never seen you take a position on the matter.
Does the phrase "Unmitigated Disaster" mean anything to you?
This is a giveway to Big Labor at the expense of everyone else in the form of higher consumer goods, less choice, no more secret ballot, Federal monitoring of businesses, allowing the govt to impose union work rules on companies who wont go along with this.
I posted a good video from the Ex-Ceo of Home Depot about this bill and it was shocking how far reaching this bill is.
Even George McGovern is against it!
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333386
what are your feelings on card check? I've never seen you take a position on the matter.
CHECK THIS OUT ON CARD CHECK - GREAT VIDEO:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=833707638&play=1
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Well then from whom will FedEx purchase the airplanes?
China? Japan?
There's a commercial in there somewhere about FedEx's fidelity to the USA and to the backbone of our country - the laborer...the creators of wealth...the majority of our people.
We want Labor to be strong. We want a workforce with a good standard of living. Unions help make that possible.
Let FedEx pull their contract offers and run to a foreign country to save a buck. That just shows you where their hearts are at.
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That's all well and good until you lose your job. Unions destroy jobs, not the otherway around.
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That's all well and good until you lose your job. Unions destroy jobs, not the otherway around.
Union workers create wealth, 40 hour work weeks, benefits and bargaining leverage with the ownership.
If the jobs are lost, it's due to executive elitest greed.
Since when does paying a livable wage on a 40 hour work week with basic benefits become a job-killer?
There has been a concerted effort by the elites/republicans to kill unions. Why? You seem to think that worker bargaining power, livable wages, benefits and 40 hour workweeks are bad for business and bad for the country.
Look at 401k accounts, 125 healthcare accounts, the average 48 hour workweek, the stagnant income, etc. Benefits are put on the back of individual workers with these tax deferred vehicles that favor those who can afford to make contributions. We work more hours for less pay yet producitivity and profits have been growing consistently. Executive pay has exploded. Rank and file pay is stagnant.
Don't you see a trend here?
Why do you wish to continue this march towards the death of the middle class?
Why do you view an organized workforce as the enemy?
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Well then from whom will FedEx purchase the airplanes?
China? Japan?
There's a commercial in there somewhere about FedEx's fidelity to the USA and to the backbone of our country - the laborer...the creators of wealth...the majority of our people.
We want Labor to be strong. We want a workforce with a good standard of living. Unions help make that possible.
Let FedEx pull their contract offers and run to a foreign country to save a buck. That just shows you where their hearts are at.
CHECK THIS VIDEO OUT.
If you think waging wars on corporations is going to help anything, tellt hat to all the new unemployed people who are going to lose their jobs due to this insanity.
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I can't watch that at work. I'll have to wait until friday.
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Union workers create wealth, 40 hour work weeks, benefits and bargaining leverage with the ownership.
If the jobs are lost, it's due to executive elitest greed.
Since when does paying a livable wage on a 40 hour work week with basic benefits become a job-killer?
There has been a concerted effort by the elites/republicans to kill unions. Why? You seem to think that worker bargaining power, livable wages, benefits and 40 hour workweeks are bad for business and bad for the country.
Look at 401k accounts, 125 healthcare accounts, the average 48 hour workweek, the stagnant income, etc. Benefits are put on the back of individual workers with these tax deferred vehicles that favor those who can afford to make contributions. We work more hours for less pay yet producitivity and profits have been growing consistently. Executive pay has exploded. Rank and file pay is stagnant.
Don't you see a trend here?
Why do you wish to continue this march towards the death of the middle class?
Why do you view an organized workforce as the enemy?
________________________ __________
They hinder the ability of a company to be flexible in dealing with costs and new realities of the marketplace.
US companies cannot and wont compete globally with a unionized workforce. Its that simple. look at almost any company that it unionized - failure and unemployment.
If this mess goes through, there will be even more unemployment since small businesses will now have t be unionized as well.
I have three clients who told me if this goes through they are going to shut down for good.
Painting Contractor - 100 employees
Food Supplier - 250 employees
Plumbing Contractor - 25 employees
The entire union mentality is completely backwards and a relic of the past that no longer applies to a global economy and highly mobile workforce and population.
The 1950's are over. Deal with it.
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Union workers create wealth, 40 hour work weeks, benefits and bargaining leverage with the ownership.
If the jobs are lost, it's due to executive elitest greed.
Since when does paying a livable wage on a 40 hour work week with basic benefits become a job-killer?
There has been a concerted effort by the elites/republicans to kill unions. Why? You seem to think that worker bargaining power, livable wages, benefits and 40 hour workweeks are bad for business and bad for the country.
Look at 401k accounts, 125 healthcare accounts, the average 48 hour workweek, the stagnant income, etc. Benefits are put on the back of individual workers with these tax deferred vehicles that favor those who can afford to make contributions. We work more hours for less pay yet producitivity and profits have been growing consistently. Executive pay has exploded. Rank and file pay is stagnant.
Don't you see a trend here?
Why do you wish to continue this march towards the death of the middle class?
Why do you view an organized workforce as the enemy?
My shop isnt unuinised.We have good benefits,good pay,good bosses a good work atmoshphere.WE dont need a fucking union.i DONT WANT MY HARD EARNED MONEY BEING GIVEN TO FILTHY DEMOCRATS!!!!Thats why unions exist.To fund the democratic campaig machines.
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CHECK THIS VIDEO OUT.
If you think waging wars on corporations is going to help anything, tellt hat to all the new unemployed people who are going to lose their jobs due to this insanity.
If by "waging wars on corporations" you mean a more equitable distribution of profits, I got no problem with that.
The corporate elites waged the war for dominance and have won hands down. They take home the wealth that the laborers create. They own our political system.
Where exactly is this dire threat that organized labor allegedly poses?
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If by "waging wars on corporations" you mean a more equitable distribution of profits, I got no problem with that.
The corporate elites waged the war for dominance and have won hands down. They take home the wealth that the laborers create. They own our political system.
Where exactly is this dire threat that organized labor allegedly poses?
Let me explain something to you, I started a business from nothing to benefit me because I was not happy at the salry I was making working for someone else. I hope to grow it in the future. I employ people who are free to leave if they want to do better. Let them go work somewhere else or start their own business if they feel they are being undervalued. My business does not exist to provide benefits to other people.
The day that I am told or forced to allow my employees to tell me what to do, or how to run my place, I am shutting down and laying them off.
Our country was founded on freedom, not redistribution schemes by criminal union thugs who always have their lazy hands out.
Unions as they exist today are a plague, especially in education and government..
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They hinder the ability of a company to be flexible in dealing with costs and new realities of the marketplace.
No they don't.
US companies cannot and wont compete globally with a unionized workforce. Its that simple. look at almost any company that it unionized - failure and unemployment.
So you want the average worker in the US to have the same quality of life as the slumdogs in India...so we can be competitive. That's crazy.
If this mess goes through, there will be even more unemployment since small businesses will now have t be unionized as well.
What are you talking about? The Fed Ex controversy is over the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill. I'm not aware of any pending legislation that makes small businesses unionize.
I have three clients who told me if this goes through they are going to shut down for good.
Painting Contractor - 100 employees
Food Supplier - 250 employees
Plumbing Contractor - 25 employees
Then you'd better tell your clients that they are basing their decision on wrong information. That'll save them a lot of headaches.
The entire union mentality is completely backwards and a relic of the past that no longer applies to a global economy and highly mobile workforce and population.
The 1950's are over. Deal with it.
Here's the crux of the problem. Corporate elites and apologists like yourself want the US to compete even if it means killing any reasonable quality of life for our laborers.
Why if you're part of the labor class - the ones actually creating the wealth - then you should be accustomed to living like the slumdogs in India. Work for food and be happy about it.
The 1950's quality of life is over b/c corporate elites have conspired to kill it. Now both mom and dad work creating latch key kids. We have more work hours for less pay and few or no benefits.
Your answer for economic growth - kill the middle class, destroy the US's standard of living, and win the race to the bottom of the economic rung for the vast majority of the country - i.e., the laborers.
That's not a good plan.
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In this day and age, unions clearly increase overall costs for companies while providing limited benefits to workers. Typically, union disputes are long, drawn out and costly. Unions are often corrupt. Historically unions had a noble purpose. Now, there are a burden for the employer and often for the workers too. Its not just about fighting for vacation and health benefits. If anyone has worked in a large unionized company, you know the red tape and BS restrictions/over-regulation you have to deal with. It increases cost of completing work because of how the internal structures work and the inefficiencies it promotes (not just the increased cost of benefits).
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My shop isnt unuinised.We have good benefits,good pay,good bosses a good work atmoshphere.WE dont need a fucking union.i DONT WANT MY HARD EARNED MONEY BEING GIVEN TO FILTHY DEMOCRATS!!!!Thats why unions exist.To fund the democratic campaig machines.
Good point!
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Decker, its not a choice of two extremes as your comparison. There needs to be protection of worker's rights, of course...but that doesn't necessitate a unionized workforce. You seem to be thinking of the workplace decades ago.
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I have a simple answer for you - stop crying and start your own business if you are not happy what you are making.
Everyone is free to do the same.
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Let me explain something to you, I started a business from nothing to benefit me because I was not happy at the salry I was making working for someone else. I hope to grow it in the future. I employ people who are free to leave if they want to do better. Let them go work somewhere else or start their own business if they feel they are being undervalued. My business does not exist to provide benefits to other people.
You sound like a great boss.
The day that I am told or forced to allow my employees to tell me what to do, or how to run my place, I am shutting down and laying them off.
Good for you.
Our country was founded on freedom, not redistribution schemes by criminal union thugs who always have their lazy hands out.
Wrong sir. This country was founded by expatriated aristrocrats who devised a political system to insulate their wealth while maximizing their own political power.
Unions as they exist today are a plague, especially in education and government..
I'll tell you, they are not a plague to the unionized workforce. They love the equitable pay, livalbe work hours and benefits...you never saw such benefits.
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In this day and age, unions clearly increase overall costs for companies while providing limited benefits to workers. Typically, union disputes are long, drawn out and costly. Unions are often corrupt. Historically unions had a noble purpose. Now, there are a burden for the employer and often for the workers too. Its not just about fighting for vacation and health benefits. If anyone has worked in a large unionized company, you know the red tape and BS restrictions/over-regulation you have to deal with. It increases cost of completing work because of how the internal structures work and the inefficiencies it promotes (not just the increased cost of benefits).
You put it much better than I did. Its not just the pay, its the work rules and red tape as well.
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I value freedom over security.
You obviously do not.
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In this day and age, unions clearly increase overall costs for companies while providing limited benefits to workers. Typically, union disputes are long, drawn out and costly. Unions are often corrupt. Historically unions had a noble purpose. Now, there are a burden for the employer and often for the workers too. Its not just about fighting for vacation and health benefits. If anyone has worked in a large unionized company, you know the red tape and BS restrictions/over-regulation you have to deal with. It increases cost of completing work because of how the internal structures work and the inefficiencies it promotes (not just the increased cost of benefits).
Jimmy Hoffa has not been a Union Boss for 40 years.
Unions have always been characterized in the manner you put forth - a burden, job-killer, a handi-cap to competition. Always.
Those tired arguments do not hold up under scrutiny.
I guess 7% unionization of our workforce is too much for you.
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Jimmy Hoffa has not been a Union Boss for 40 years.
Unions have always been characterized in the manner you put forth - a burden, job-killer, a handi-cap to competition. Always.
Those tired arguments do not hold up under scrutiny.
I guess 7% unionization of our workforce is too much for you.
Look at the industries that are unionized - Failure, Waste, Fraud, and Abuse! Auto's, Education, Govt Employees,
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Decker, its not a choice of two extremes as your comparison. There needs to be protection of worker's rights, of course...but that doesn't necessitate a unionized workforce. You seem to be thinking of the workplace decades ago.
Bargaining occurs btn two parties, not two extremes. Otherwise management holds all the cards.
I am thinking of a workplace from decades ago. Corporate elitests and republicans have effectively killed unions b/c they are greedy bastards that would just as soon go back to feudal organization rather than pay a fair day's wage.
The workers create the wealth. Remember that.
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I have a simple answer for you - stop crying and start your own business if you are not happy what you are making.
Everyone is free to do the same.
I'm not crying. Do you think you can stop insulting me with shit like that and discuss this like an adult?
This thread, which you started, is about FedEX - a giant corporation. Somehow you've gotten it into your head that all small businesses will be unionized by the FAA bill.
What the hell are you talking about?
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Bargaining occurs btn two parties, not two extremes. Otherwise management holds all the cards.
I am thinking of a workplace from decades ago. Corporate elitests and republicans have effectively killed unions b/c they are greedy bastards that would just as soon go back to feudal organization rather than pay a fair day's wage.
The workers create the wealth. Remember that.
Everyone has their role, but workers are part of the situtation, not the entire factor. Without smart management, good products, new ideas, innovation, ingenuity, etc, those workers will be on the unemployment line.
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I'm not crying. Do you think you can stop insulting me with shit like that and discuss this like an adult?
This thread, which you started, is about FedEX - a giant corporation. Somehow you've gotten it into your head that all small businesses will be unionized by the FAA bill.
What the hell are you talking about?
Its about "Card Check" which is listed in the article. Small businesses are very greatly affected by this bill.
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I know first hand what its like dealing with a large unionized government system. People are just different, attitudes change, things take longer to get done, only certain people can do certain work because of limitations on job descriptions, job orders, people being promoted that shouldn't....its just a host of things. There are drawn out disputes with lawyers and extra cost involved. I suppose if unions were better regulated and given better general boundries, it may not be as bad. I am all for protecting our workers if the system isn't inefficient, create innapropriate red tape and excessively increase cost...but most do.
I just don't believe we should be making it easier for unions to enter corporations in 2009 no matter the percentage of unionized companies. Their inefficiencies make it tougher for us to compete in a global economy.
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Look at the industries that are unionized - Failure, Waste, Fraud, and Abuse! Auto's, Education, Govt Employees,
Would you care to quantify any of your conclusions with a fact or two? I think you'll be surprised. Especially with government. B/c gov. does a whole lot of things more efficiently than private enterprise ever could.
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Everyone has their role, but workers are part of the situtation, not the entire factor. Without smart management, good products, new ideas, innovation, ingenuity, etc, those workers will be on the unemployment line.
Workers are not the entire factor.
Neither is management.
So why should executive pay explode some 800% over the last 20 years while labor's pay has flat lined?
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Workers are not the entire factor.
Neither is management.
So why should executive pay explode some 800% over the last 20 years while labor's pay has flat lined?
Again, unless you are for strict government laws mandating salaries, these things are going to happen.
Employees are free to leave, go work somewhere else, or start their own business.
I dont know what the heck you really are advocating unless you want to do away with any and all freedom of choices of people.
If someone is not happy where they work, let them go somewhere else.
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Its about "Card Check" which is listed in the article. Small businesses are very greatly affected by this bill.
Where is card check listed in the article?
Card Check legislation adds transparency to a right to unionize. That right already exists.
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Again, unless you are for strict government laws mandating salaries, these things are going to happen.
Employees are free to leave, go work somewhere else, or start their own business.
They are also free to organize and join a union.
I dont know what the heck you really are advocating unless you want to do away with any and all freedom of choices of people.
If someone is not happy where they work, let them go somewhere else.
Yeah, sure. Why are you so afraid of an even-handed bargaining arrangement? I think you devalue labor unfairly. You don't respect the workforce. Executive America sure as hell does not respect its workers. This is where strikes are important. Shut down production for a month or two and see how much wealth these Executive parasites generate. (yeah I know they play a role in the organizational aspects of the business but they over-value their worth).
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Where is card check listed in the article?
Card Check legislation adds transparency to a right to unionize. That right already exists.
Its in the first sentence and they are referring to the card check bill..
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They are also free to organize and join a union.
Yeah, sure. Why are you so afraid of an even-handed bargaining arrangement? I think you devalue labor unfairly. You don't respect the workforce. Executive America sure as hell does not respect its workers. This is where strikes are important. Shut down production for a month or two and see how much wealth these Executive parasites generate. (yeah I know they play a role in the organizational aspects of the business but they over-value their worth).
Its not the pay so much as it is the onerous work rules and red tape that goes along with it.
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former union buster speaks the truth
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former union buster speaks the truth
I have personally dealt with Union DC 9 in NYC - its the Painters Union. They are thugs plain and simple and intimiate the workers, not eh companies.
The govt unions terrorize the taxpayer more than anything else.
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Its in the first sentence and they are referring to the card check bill..
Thanks.
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I have personally dealt with Union DC 9 in NYC - its the Painters Union. They are thugs plain and simple and intimiate the workers, not eh companies.
The govt unions terrorize the taxpayer more than anything else.
I have to go ahead and disagree with you on this one. The northern teachers unions get significantly better results than their non-organized counterparts in the south. They aren't thugs.
How do govt. unions terrorize tax payers? Is it the job security? The good pay? The vacation time? The good work product? Are mailmen secretly abusing their position and taking it out on the average american?
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While unions may not always be fair or good... Their greed trickles to the middle class much more than executive greed ever did.
I will be fair and give credit where it is due... Todays middle class America was directly created by Unions.
Without them, there would simply be the elite and the poverty stricken.
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I have to go ahead and disagree with you on this one. The northern teachers unions get significantly better results than their non-organized counterparts in the south. They aren't thugs.
How do govt. unions terrorize tax payers? Is it the job security? The good pay? The vacation time? The good work product? Are mailmen secretly abusing their position and taking it out on the average american?
I live in NYC. The governor had to layoff 9000 state employees today because the Unions would not negotiate on pay raises that are slated for next year when our state is broke.
These greedy unions sacrificed 9000 jobs rather than negoaite on a pay raise.
That is what I am talking about. The Unions dont give a crap about their workers, only the union bosses at the top, no different than the corporations whom they deal with.
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I live in NYC. The governor had to layoff 9000 state employees today because the Unions would not negotiate on pay raises that are slated for next year when our state is broke.
These greedy unions sacrificed 9000 jobs rather than negoaite on a pay raise.
That is what I am talking about. The Unions dont give a crap about their workers, only the union bosses at the top, no different than the corporations whom they deal with.
That's interesting. B/c if you look at the UAW, it's recent history has been to cave to every single demand that management made for concessions.
That's a strange sounding situation re the teachers. Do you have any stories to link?
The fact of the matter is is that without collective bargaining power, labor is at a distinct disadvantage in sharing in a company's earnings. This creates a soft dictatorial arrangement in the business world. The whole name of the game is bargaining. What is wrong with that?
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Paterson announces 8,900 state layoffs
By Joseph Spector • Albany Bureau • March 25, 2009
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ALBANY - Gov. David Paterson announced yesterday plans to lay off 8,900 state workers amid a state budget deficit that has soared by an additional $2.2 billion because of a declining economy.
The decision by Paterson would likely hit every state agency that is under the governor's control, such as transportation workers, prison guards and nurses.
The layoffs represent nearly 5 percent of the state's roughly 200,000 workforce and are another blow to the state where new unemployment claims have reached a staggering 39,000 per week, an increase of more than 20,000 compared to a year ago.
In a memo to agency commissioners, Director of State Operations Dennis Whalen wrote that concessions from labor unions could not be reached, so layoffs will be needed.
Paterson had proposed that workers forego a planned 3 percent pay increase in April and a week's pay next year, as well as some pension and health-insurance cuts.
"Unfortunately, the labor organizations representing state employees have rejected all of the savings options put forward by the Paterson administration," Whalen wrote in a memo to agency heads. "As a result, the state is left with no other option to achieve needed savings other than implementing a workforce reduction plan."It's unclear what agencies would be affected most, but it will take several months to carry out the layoffs, officials said.
Also, it's unknown how many jobs can be eliminated through attrition, but most are expected to be layoffs, aides said. Each agency will have to submit a list of potential cuts.
State budget officials said the layoffs would save the state about $480 million over two years.
Agencies that are not under the governor's direct control - such as state colleges and universities as well as the attorney general's office, comptroller and public authorities - would not be affected. Of the 200,000 state jobs, 141,000 are under the governor's control.
Public-employee unions railed against the move. Unions have been battling Paterson over proposed health-care and education cuts in his 2009-10 budget proposal.
"We've been trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, but if Gov. Paterson really believes putting nearly 9,000 New Yorkers out of work is a good idea, he really is out of touch with life on Main Street," said CSEA President Danny Donohue.
Ken Brynien, president of the Public Employees Federation, said unions offered ways to cut the state's deficit, such as reducing the state's use of consultants and overtime costs.
"There is absolutely no need to do layoffs. It will not save the money that the governor thinks it will," he said. "PEF's position is clear and unchanged. We will not agree to any changes in our contract that reduce compensation."
Paterson's announcement came just hours after state officials announced the budget deficit grew by another $2.2 billion, bringing the funding gap to an unprecedented $16.2 billion.
Paterson and legislative leaders said the state's weak economy is lowering revenue projections for the 2009-10 fiscal year, which starts April 1.
The loss of additional revenue complicates leaders' efforts to pass a state budget by the April 1 deadline.
"I will take whatever actions are necessary to get our fiscal house in order and eliminate this deficit," Paterson said in a statement.
Paterson, whose popularity is at record lows in recent polls, did not take questions from the media after his only public event yesterday at the Capitol.
E.J. McMahon, director of the Manhattan Institute's Empire Center for New York State Policy, said the layoffs are an appropriate step but should have been started earlier in the year. He said layoffs would need to be conducted by seniority, so the newest workers would be the first to lose their jobs.
"If he was going to seriously threaten this, the machinery should have been in motion by the beginning of the year," McMahon said. "Now it just sort of comes out of the blue."
Legislative leaders and Paterson met behind closed doors again yesterday for budget talks.
The growing deficit and the layoffs add to the likelihood that lawmakers and Paterson may decide to increase income taxes on the wealthy, a move sought by the unions and education groups.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, ruled out increasing the state's 4 percent sales tax.
"I would not consider it," he said of increasing sales taxes, calling it a "regressive tax."
State officials attribute New York's budget woes largely to declining tax revenues.
The state is receiving less in personal income taxes due to job losses, less in sales tax due to declining consumption and fewer business taxes, officials said.
Another factor is a loss of $370 million in revenue after a deal faltered to install video-lottery terminals at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Cara Matthews and Jay Gallagher of the Albany Bureau contributed to this report.
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Union workers create wealth
How do you define wealth? (My definition is based on net worth, not income.)
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How do you define wealth? (My definition is based on net worth, not income.)
Unions destroy jobs.
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I'm not crying. Do you think you can stop insulting me with shit like that and discuss this like an adult?
This thread, which you started, is about FedEX - a giant corporation. Somehow you've gotten it into your head that all small businesses will be unionized by the FAA bill.
What the hell are you talking about?
My question is,"whats wrong with the secret ballot".Its one of the few rights we have to change things.We dont need some union thug sitting there trying to intimidate the workers into forcing in a union.I pray that a union rep comes knocking on my door to try to intimidate me.That will be a dead union rep.
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Paterson announces 8,900 state layoffs
By Joseph Spector • Albany Bureau • March 25, 2009
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Text Size: Normal | Large | Larger
ALBANY - Gov. David Paterson announced yesterday plans to lay off 8,900 state workers amid a state budget deficit that has soared by an additional $2.2 billion because of a declining economy.
The decision by Paterson would likely hit every state agency that is under the governor's control, such as transportation workers, prison guards and nurses.
The layoffs represent nearly 5 percent of the state's roughly 200,000 workforce and are another blow to the state where new unemployment claims have reached a staggering 39,000 per week, an increase of more than 20,000 compared to a year ago.
In a memo to agency commissioners, Director of State Operations Dennis Whalen wrote that concessions from labor unions could not be reached, so layoffs will be needed.
Paterson had proposed that workers forego a planned 3 percent pay increase in April and a week's pay next year, as well as some pension and health-insurance cuts.
"Unfortunately, the labor organizations representing state employees have rejected all of the savings options put forward by the Paterson administration," Whalen wrote in a memo to agency heads. "As a result, the state is left with no other option to achieve needed savings other than implementing a workforce reduction plan."It's unclear what agencies would be affected most, but it will take several months to carry out the layoffs, officials said.
Also, it's unknown how many jobs can be eliminated through attrition, but most are expected to be layoffs, aides said. Each agency will have to submit a list of potential cuts.
State budget officials said the layoffs would save the state about $480 million over two years.
Agencies that are not under the governor's direct control - such as state colleges and universities as well as the attorney general's office, comptroller and public authorities - would not be affected. Of the 200,000 state jobs, 141,000 are under the governor's control.
Public-employee unions railed against the move. Unions have been battling Paterson over proposed health-care and education cuts in his 2009-10 budget proposal.
"We've been trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, but if Gov. Paterson really believes putting nearly 9,000 New Yorkers out of work is a good idea, he really is out of touch with life on Main Street," said CSEA President Danny Donohue.
Ken Brynien, president of the Public Employees Federation, said unions offered ways to cut the state's deficit, such as reducing the state's use of consultants and overtime costs.
"There is absolutely no need to do layoffs. It will not save the money that the governor thinks it will," he said. "PEF's position is clear and unchanged. We will not agree to any changes in our contract that reduce compensation."
Paterson's announcement came just hours after state officials announced the budget deficit grew by another $2.2 billion, bringing the funding gap to an unprecedented $16.2 billion.
Paterson and legislative leaders said the state's weak economy is lowering revenue projections for the 2009-10 fiscal year, which starts April 1.
The loss of additional revenue complicates leaders' efforts to pass a state budget by the April 1 deadline.
"I will take whatever actions are necessary to get our fiscal house in order and eliminate this deficit," Paterson said in a statement.
Paterson, whose popularity is at record lows in recent polls, did not take questions from the media after his only public event yesterday at the Capitol.
E.J. McMahon, director of the Manhattan Institute's Empire Center for New York State Policy, said the layoffs are an appropriate step but should have been started earlier in the year. He said layoffs would need to be conducted by seniority, so the newest workers would be the first to lose their jobs.
"If he was going to seriously threaten this, the machinery should have been in motion by the beginning of the year," McMahon said. "Now it just sort of comes out of the blue."
Legislative leaders and Paterson met behind closed doors again yesterday for budget talks.
The growing deficit and the layoffs add to the likelihood that lawmakers and Paterson may decide to increase income taxes on the wealthy, a move sought by the unions and education groups.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, ruled out increasing the state's 4 percent sales tax.
"I would not consider it," he said of increasing sales taxes, calling it a "regressive tax."
State officials attribute New York's budget woes largely to declining tax revenues.
The state is receiving less in personal income taxes due to job losses, less in sales tax due to declining consumption and fewer business taxes, officials said.
Another factor is a loss of $370 million in revenue after a deal faltered to install video-lottery terminals at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Cara Matthews and Jay Gallagher of the Albany Bureau contributed to this report.
The existing contracts were bargained for. What incentive did the governor provide for a renegotiation? Did the governor forgo his pay raise, pension and healthcare?
What are the counter-offers?
If the situation is as you portray it - that budget cuts must be made, that the best or only place to make these cuts is to union health plans, union retirement plans, and union wages, then you might have something.
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How do you define wealth? (My definition is based on net worth, not income.)
Labor manufactures prodcuts. Labor performs services. That's the basis for value/wealth. Everything else is management.
They do the work that creates the things we buy. They suck our sewers, deliver our mail, purify our water, fix our roads...etc.
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My question is,"whats wrong with the secret ballot".Its one of the few rights we have to change things.We dont need some union thug sitting there trying to intimidate the workers into forcing in a union.I pray that a union rep comes knocking on my door to try to intimidate me.That will be a dead union rep.
Since management generally holds the cards in bargaining, they can be rather effective in deterring unionization. Secret ballots permit that kind of intimidation to happen. For the most part, the executive class does not want to concede one thin dime to labor. Unions force the executives's hand to share the wealth that labor is producing.
Do you generally solve most of life's problems with murder?
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How about the fact that our state is broke?????
You see, that is the union mentality, selfish, self centered, no regard for the big picture, and rather lose everything than give concessions.
I have no sympathy for these people. We pay the highest taxes in the nation in the county I live in and these greedy slobs cant foregoe a raise????
Screw em.
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Labor manufactures prodcuts. Labor performs services. That's the basis for value/wealth. Everything else is management.
They do the work that creates the things we buy. They suck our sewers, deliver our mail, purify our water, fix our roads...etc.
I'm talking about individual wealth. How do you define individual wealth? Is it just having a job? A good paying job, etc.?
McDonalds provides products, services, and jobs too.
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How about the fact that our state is broke?????
You see, that is the union mentality, selfish, self centered, no regard for the big picture, and rather lose everything than give concessions.
I have no sympathy for these people. We pay the highest taxes in the nation in the county I live in and these greedy slobs cant foregoe a raise????
Screw em.
you remind me of the type of guy thats gets knocked out at a bar because you can't keep your mouth shut...you know the type always gotta throw his two cents in on every conversation.comes in and orders a scotch and thinks he's better than everyone else.you know the type of guy that treats his coworkers like there shit.thinks his shit don't stink.you know the type that comes to a bodybuilding board to solely argue politics.little off topic.but just callin it like I see it.
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Let me explain something to you, I started a business from nothing to benefit me because I was not happy at the salry I was making working for someone else. I hope to grow it in the future. I employ people who are free to leave if they want to do better. Let them go work somewhere else or start their own business if they feel they are being undervalued. My business does not exist to provide benefits to other people.
The day that I am told or forced to allow my employees to tell me what to do, or how to run my place, I am shutting down and laying them off.
Our country was founded on freedom, not redistribution schemes by criminal union thugs who always have their lazy hands out.
Unions as they exist today are a plague, especially in education and government..
I am sick of this entitlement attitude that permeates our society. Where is Ayn Rand when you MOST need her? Liberals cater to the losers of society.
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you remind me of the type of guy thats gets knocked out at a bar because you can't keep your mouth shut...you know the type always gotta throw his two cents in on every conversation.comes in and orders a scotch and thinks he's better than everyone else.you know the type of guy that treats his coworkers like there shit.thinks his shit don't stink.you know the type that comes to a bodybuilding board to solely argue politics.little off topic.but just callin it like I see it.
Maybe if you had the faculties to go toe to toe with him you would not feel so inadequate.
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Maybe if you had the faculties to go toe to toe with him you would not feel so inadequate.
ha ha.just know the type thats all.your probably his gimmick account anyway.but if your not your just the same.some chump that blames everything wrong with the world on the democrates.just another holier than thou finger pointer with an agenda.probably jack off to rush Limbaugh.
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you remind me of the type of guy thats gets knocked out at a bar because you can't keep your mouth shut...you know the type always gotta throw his two cents in on every conversation.comes in and orders a scotch and thinks he's better than everyone else.you know the type of guy that treats his coworkers like there shit.thinks his shit don't stink.you know the type that comes to a bodybuilding board to solely argue politics.little off topic.but just callin it like I see it.
I own two businesses fool. My co-workers are employees.
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I'm talking about individual wealth. How do you define individual wealth? Is it just having a job? A good paying job, etc.?
McDonalds provides products, services, and jobs too.
What does the definition of individual wealth have to do with the merits of union bargaining?
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How about the fact that our state is broke?????
You see, that is the union mentality, selfish, self centered, no regard for the big picture, and rather lose everything than give concessions.
I have no sympathy for these people. We pay the highest taxes in the nation in the county I live in and these greedy slobs cant foregoe a raise????
Screw em.
What you call 'selfish' I call fair bargaining. In your world, the bargaining process is sick: the capitalist is dictatorial and labor is the functional equivalent of slavery. Management needs labor and vice versa. Why do you think it's a good idea to cut labor out of the bargaining process? They are as valuable to the company as management.
This question of unionization would be moot if the goddam owners weren't so greedy. Remember the motto of today's entrepeneur: Work for food...what, you expect pay as well?
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I am sick of this entitlement attitude that permeates our society. Where is Ayn Rand when you MOST need her? Liberals cater to the losers of society.
Ayn Rand is for high schoolers. Which part of fair bargaining is an entitlement? Seriously, Rand's work is for kids.
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What you call 'selfish' I call fair bargaining. In your world, the bargaining process is sick: the capitalist is dictatorial and labor is the functional equivalent of slavery. Management needs labor and vice versa. Why do you think it's a good idea to cut labor out of the bargaining process? They are as valuable to the company as management.
This question of unionization would be moot if the goddam owners weren't so greedy. Remember the motto of today's entrepeneur: Work for food...what, you expect pay as well?
What part of BROKE do you not understand?????
What part of "ALREADY PAY THE HIGHEST TAXES IN NATION" do you not understand????
By taking your attitude and belief, the union just willingly sacrificed 9000 jobs. I will bet you almost anything that those 9000 employees would gladly give up a RAISE instead of losing their job.
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I own two businesses fool. My co-workers are employees.
OK so you treat your employees like shit.I know your type act like your better than others.meanwhile your old lady is getting gang banged by black dudes while your at work.I bet every time you go on one of your rants about liberals she just rolls her eyes and waits for you to go to work and crack your whip.
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OK so you treat your employees like shit.I know your type act like your better than others.meanwhile your old lady is getting gang banged by black dudes while your at work.I bet every time you go on one of your rants about liberals she just rolls her eyes and waits for you to go to work and crack your whip.
Thats funny since they have been with me for over 5 years, set their own schedule, and get bonuses routinely when more money is available.
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I own two businesses fool. My co-workers are employees.
lol. :)
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What does the definition of individual wealth have to do with the merits of union bargaining?
You said "Union workers create wealth." I'm trying to understand what you mean by that. If anything, they might help increase salaries, but I don't equate higher salaries with wealth creation.
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What part of BROKE do you not understand?????
What part of "ALREADY PAY THE HIGHEST TAXES IN NATION" do you not understand????
By taking your attitude and belief, the union just willingly sacrificed 9000 jobs. I will bet you almost anything that those 9000 employees would gladly give up a RAISE instead of losing their job.
I don't wish to take the time to look into the legitimacy of your claims re the budgetary crisis in NY. If you are correct and the jobs were lost due only to the unmitigated greed of the workers then that's a shame. If you are wrong and there are extenuating circumstances to the issue then that's that. I'm not sure what you're getting at with your complaint about highest taxes in nation. I thought New Jersey had the largest tax burden in the country. And anyways your tax burden is extremely close to mine here in WI. The top states are seperated by one or 2 percent. http://www.retirementliving.com/RLtaxes.html
Either way your point has little to do with the economic and equitable ramifications of a level bargaining field btn labor and management and the levelling effect unions have on that process.
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You said "Union workers create wealth." I'm trying to understand what you mean by that. If anything, they might help increase salaries, but I don't equate higher salaries with wealth creation.
Labor produces. Makes products. Renders services. All of which add/create value. That is the stuff that makes wealth.
You seem to be discussing only personal holdings.
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Labor produces. Makes products. Renders services. All of which add/create value. That is the stuff that makes wealth.
You seem to be discussing only personal holdings.
Fast food places do that too.
What makes wealth is people owning their own businesses, investing, and the government reducing the tax/regulation burden.
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I don't wish to take the time to look into the legitimacy of your claims re the budgetary crisis in NY. If you are correct and the jobs were lost due only to the unmitigated greed of the workers then that's a shame. If you are wrong and there are extenuating circumstances to the issue then that's that. I'm not sure what you're getting at with your complaint about highest taxes in nation. I thought New Jersey had the largest tax burden in the country. And anyways your tax burden is extremely close to mine here in WI. The top states are seperated by one or 2 percent. http://www.retirementliving.com/RLtaxes.html
Either way your point has little to do with the economic and equitable ramifications of a level bargaining field btn labor and management and the levelling effect unions have on that process.
No, I said the Union would not negotiate, the 9000 workers who lost their jobs did not have a say in the matter.
Again, I will bet you almost anything that most of those workers, givien the choice, would do without the raise if it meant keeping their job.
The Union is to blame for this, not the workers themselves.
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Fast food places do that too.
What makes wealth is people owning their own businesses, investing, and the government reducing the tax/regulation burden.
I disagree. What makes wealth is productive work. That's the basis. Without productive work, there is no investing, there is nothing to tax.
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No, I said the Union would not negotiate, the 9000 workers who lost their jobs did not have a say in the matter.
Again, I will bet you almost anything that most of those workers, givien the choice, would do without the raise if it meant keeping their job.
The Union is to blame for this, not the workers themselves.
Even if I take what you say at face value, and I don't, how does that measure up to these things:
US Bank cut 73,000 jobs.
Bank of America cut 35,000 jobs.
GM cut 34,000 jobs. HP, AT&T cut tens of thousands of jobs.
Those greedy bastards. If only they had a union to defend the workforce.
Yet you attribute the 9000 jobs lost to the greed of the Union.
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you guys are all talking about wealth.it's the middle class that makes everything possible not the wealthy or the poor.
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I disagree. What makes wealth is productive work. That's the basis. Without productive work, there is no investing, there is nothing to tax.
Hard work is definitely an ingredient, but no more important than living below your means, saving, investing, keeping more of what you make, etc.
I think we just have different definitions of wealth.