Jobs, Strikes & Savings.

Having just heard on the news that yet another group of well paid workers with relatively secure jobs has gone on strike for MORE, I feel a rant coming on. What is wrong with these people? Why is it that those who have above average earnings, good benefits and actually have a job are the ones who are constantly looking for MORE. Perhaps because the average Joe simply cannot afford to dispense with a wage cheque for weeks or months, perhaps because Joe is closer to the ever failing pulse of the economy and realizes that simply having a job is a damn good thing and he had best not screw it up, perhaps because those high wage earners simply do not realize that their demands further increase the costs of good and services provided!

Whatever the reason these greedy, dissatisfied individuals with good paying jobs, particularly secure GOVERNMENT jobs, really piss me off when they keep wanting MORE. These same types are often seen on TV when the plant is closing due to high overhead (wages being a large part of that) crying about loosing their $300,000 house after 20 or 30 years in the plant. My god, what have they been doing with their $40 - $60,000 a year income, pissing it up against the wall? Oh yes, they “invested” it in the stock market or had it in an RRSP that did the same, sorry you idiots I do not feel sorry for you. If you cant afford to loose it DON’T GAMBLE, for that is all the stock market is, a scam perpetrated by a gambling syndicate, if the prime is at say 5% and you are promised 15% where do you think the money is coming from? You are simply gambling that some other sucker will buy in at a higher price than you paid and if they don’t its all gone. Well the party is over and now you must pay the price for your years of “high returns”!

The same holds true of the “corporations” who have posted millions in profits in recent years but now in the first 3 months of a downturn are crying about losses and calling for public money to bail them out whilst still paying obscene salaries and bonuses to their executives. Any bailouts using public money MUST have guarantees involving long term commitments and total repayment of loans even when or if a bankruptcy occurs. In other words a lien on equipment, land or buildings the same as if borrowing money from an investor or bank. There are thousands of little guys who could use a leg up to expand or keep their small business but they rarely are able to get ANY help, too small says the government and yet it is these businesses that create many of the NEW jobs. As for those “sports stars” making millions, well ……………..

Those employed in the transportation services in the big cities going on strike for MORE are particularly galling, the thousands of people that rely upon public transportation to get to work are effectively put in a position where they cannot fulfill their obligations because they cannot get there! That such services are not ALL declared an essential service is totally beyond belief. It all comes down to this, the unions have far to much power with to little responsibility, they “advise” (read pressure) their members into asking for MORE and MORE mostly to justify own their existence. Whilst it is true that before the days of labour laws and minimum wage legislation they were indeed needed, in todays world it is much less true. It is true that it is difficult to “negotiate” as an individual with these large, perhaps multinational corporations, and that a group must have a “spokesman” to speak for the group, unions have gone far beyond that. I always wonder what the reaction would be if the same unions that are constantly saying that their members they are being cheated out of wages or benefits would do if the employer said “OK, then you manage the company, its all yours”. We have seen in the past that when unions are the employer dealing with unionized employers of their own, thing are not quite as clear cut as they would have their member believe!

It is clear that those who spend years learning their trade, have a particularly high responsibility or other special skills should receive somewhat higher compensation for their labours, however all too many high paying jobs “protected” by labour agreements do not fall under that envelope and the average Joe could learn to do the job in a few hours or at most a few weeks. That some of these “assembly line” or “unskilled” workers receive more than say our nurses, or the local tradesman that has years of training, is an indication of the imbalance in our economy. I suspect that the next few years with see a major shake up in this regard, I just hope it narrows the gap between those who have lots but want MORE and those that would like ENOUGH or even just SOME!

There, now I feel much better!