Let's be real Andrew, A smart, English speaking Mexican immigrant could probably take over quite a few executive positions as well.......for a fraction of the cost. It's not rocket science. A college degree without field experience, ambition, and a good dose of common sense is as useless as an overpaid non-productive union guy. Top level execs in this country are paid many, many times more than their counterparts in every other free market capitalist country in the world. I guess that blows up your argument about deserving executive pay. As a rule of thumb, unless you are the creator of the paycheck, you likely deserve no more than the trench guy. In this country, many top level executives who fail, get more money for severance than a union guy makes in his entire lifetime. Gee. ...I think Chrysler has one of those guys on board right now. And then there's Enron, Worldcom etc.........well..........you get the picture.
In my former world, the industrial construction racket, union wages provide the support level for all non-union wages It is a fact that no two men are created equal. That's where unions have shot themselves in the foot over time. Some unions got the message a long time ago, some didn't. All a union guy has to sell is his labor. Unions should not protect those who don't pull their weight. I grew up in a small non-union electrical contracting business. It was established in 1949, run out of our house, and is still in operation today as a union shop, run by my brother. I have belonged to the IBEW for over 30 years, both working with tools and in project management for over 20 years for one of the largest union electrical contractors in the country. In the construction racket, seniority does not necessarily apply. Successful companies apply that principle. It separates the wheat from the chafe, provides a qualified work force for the employer to make money, and strengthens the union.
As for owning my own business, I have done that too...created a paycheck for 8 people for 8 years back in the 90s. I happen to feel that all workers have a right to decent health care and a pension (whether defined or not). Business owners include their own perks in these areas as the cost of doing business. In other words the customer picks up all these costs. Why should the customer pick up the owner's cost for health and retirement.......and not their employees? What gives some the right to health care, paid for by the customer, and not others........like American fruit pickers. That is one of the premises unions were initially built on. Decent wages and benefits in a safe work environment in return for 8 for 8.
Smog Dog hit the nail on the head above here. Sadly that confluence of events may never come to pass.
On the other hand: Rich.........I am curious how $28 per hour translates to $75-78 per hour as reported. Something is definitely not right with that disparity. Are there legacy costs in that $75-78 dollar figure? $50 dollars for cost would easily give you a decent health and pension plan. What's the breakdown to arrive at the high number? If in fact, that is the correct number, then indeed adjustments need to be made. Construction unions are responsible for their health and pension benefits. For decades, if we were to get a 3-4% raise, and health care costs went up by that amount, then the entire raise would go to paying for the increased cost of the benefit. That's just the way it works.
Steve
