I have been watching this story with mixed feelings over the new right to work law in Michigan... While I clearly feel that some unions have pushed companies and municipalities to the point where it is impossible to make a profit other unions bargain in good faith and try to do what is best for their membership while not killing off the goose that lays the golden eggs... Many years ago I was traveling in the South East for a few weeks and I noticed that every place I stopped to eat older folks that might have been retired here in New York were waiting on tables in places like Georgia, North & South Carolina and even as far north as parts of Virginia... One night I was in a place and I struck up a conversation with the person serving the dinner who happened to also be the owner of the place... The person was a transplanted New Yorker who had moved to Virginia many years before... We talked for some time and I finally asked her why so many older folks like herself were still working at an age where they clearly could be on retirement... Her answer was that unlike back in New York where the pay rates were better and people usually had even a little retirement money other than Social Security people there did not... Pay rates were less which made their social security monthly payouts smaller... While it is cheaper to own or rent a place to live in most places outside of New York other expenses like food and clothing are most likely about the same... People working for a few dollars over minimum wage really are going to be in a hand to mouth existence no matter how carefully they budget their money... My question now is when many unions can no longer function because companies in Michigan no longer have to bargain seriously with them causing wages and benefits to collapse are prices for housing , food and the like in Michigan going to drop also... Many companies over the past few years have cut workforce's and spending to the bone while the CEO of the company walks away with 14 or 15 million dollars in compensation... While some adjustment is clearly needed to allow companies the ability to be profitable I feel this law will cause more problems that it will solve... Many companies should have been more careful bargaining with unions over the years and should not have given the store away... Then again when the rank and file get a raise lower and middle management eventually also gets brought into alignment ... More dollars for hourly union workers eventually translates into more dollars of the companies salaried workers.
Topic: Unions Clash With Police At Michigan Right-To-Work Rally (Read 2109 times)