anyone heard of Collective Bargaining?

I would like to know what my fellow 4042ers think of North Carolina GS 95-98.
What is GS 95-98? It is a LAW that prohibits state, county, and local public employees from entering into legally binding contracts with their employers. It means that the employees can not negotiate with their employers for anything. North Carolina is one of only 2 states that have this law.

If this law is repealed, then public workers of all sorts can get together and make an enforceable agreement that will address worker’s rights and protections on the job. This would include some of the following:
- Living wages and real benefits
- Protection against forced or unpaid overtime
- Reasonable work loads and staffing levels ( no excess dead wood and no overworking of lower level employees)
- Safe working conditions
- Respect that all employees are valuable
- Assured fairness from supervisors and administrators
- Protection against discrimination by gender, race, age or disability
- Effective grievance and disciplinary procedures, including representation

What does some of this mean?
Lower public employee turnover (saves training $)
Less Public Employees (only the necessary for a given population amount)
Higher wages and usually better benefits – locked in for a set period of time.
Better moral
Equalization of wages for equal work
Economic stimulation
Improved service by public employees.
Representation of Retirees and their interests

The Right-to-Work laws are two separate matters. (Very few states are Right-to-work. The rest of the country actually has to have a reason to fire someone - Not just because they didn’t like them. Right-to-work has been said to be discriminatory).
Taxes have shown not to increase in states that have public sector Collective Bargaining because the employees and benefits that are in place are for those willing to do the work
No, striking has nothing to do with it, Collective Bargaining can actually prevent it. Everyone sitting at a table working out their difference is a far better way
Unions are already on their way….Just ask the Raleigh garbage collectors.

SEE www.nchope.org for more info and sign the petition.

 

Done! And sent a link to several e-mail contacts.

 

No one is "owed" a living wage. A person is owed the wages they earn...not the wages they need. If one needs a "living wage", I suggest that person get skills and education that qualifies them for a job that earns a "living wage." And what are "real" benefits? Benefits are what the owner of the company agrees to give the employees. There is no "real" there. If the bennies don't suit you, get a job elsewhere.

Unpaid overtime is illegal. There is already a law that protects against that. Forced overtime is part of some jobs. If one doesn't want to be "forced" to work overtime, one should find a job that guarantees you'll never have to work overtime.

It's up to the business owner how he wants to staff, not the employees. If they want to work where the staffing looks the way they think it should, they can open their own business. If a worker thinks not enough people are working, he/she can quit and find another more suitable job. Same with "excess dead wood."

Already protected from that via law. If it's not safe where you work, contact authorities. If safety is within the law, but you just "think" it's not safe, find somewhere else to work.

Respect is not "demanded" or collectively "bargained" for. It's earned. All employees are most definitely not "valuable".

If you don't think your boss is fair, find another job. Life isn't fair...deal with it or find that perfect job somewhere else. No one is "owed" a fair boss at the place of employment they choose.

Again...already provided by law. If it ain't happening where you work, contact the authorities.

Why do you feel this is owed to anyone? If you can't effectively express your grievances, or they are not received in a way that you would like...find a job where this does occur. If you don't like the disciplinary procedures, find a job where you do like those procedures. As for "representation"...if you are old enough to work, you are old enough to represent yourself as an individual. You don't need "back up."

It means that there are still people who don't get it. Unions crush business. Unions crush jobs. Why do you think American jobs have moved overseas? Because they don't have to deal with unions striking and causing the business to loose money. They don't have to deal with blackmail perpetrated by unions who feel employees should be paid more than their work is worth just because the UNION says so, and who feel for some unfathomable reason, that they should be allowed to decide how a business should be run - as opposed to the person who owns it.

Unions, collective-bargaining...all that blackmail stuff is outdated and unneeded. They were started for the right reason years ago...but they are antiquated and no longer needed because there are laws out there to protect from being worked without pay, and for safety issues. Those are the only things that should be regulated in a business outside of the owner's personal decisions on how to run a business.

If a business owner treats his employees good...they will stay and his business will be productive. If they don't, they will leave and his business will not be productive. It's a free labor-market and it works.

If you want more jobs to leave America, keep pushing that UNION label.

 

In my oppinion collective bargaining= union= long term job loss.

Unions are what brought on the steel industry problems 20 years ago, and the auto industry problems today.

Thank Goodness for that law in NC.

 

:iagree:


Oh my god and he is suppose to be a liberal!

 

Well...you said it much nicer than I did, Markfnc. You must not have had the kind of day I've had. :lol:

 

The Dems are pro union. The GOP is anti union. Why has the unemployment rate been higher during every GOP administration than any Democratic administration in the last 100 years? Why are wages at an all time low right now while corporate profits are at an all time high? Why did Ronald Reagan, the union buster, have the highest unemployment rate ( 11+%) since Herbert Hoover? Because people like you are so easy to fool! They could reach right in and take the food off your table and you would sit right there and smile and wave your American flag. They go to bed every night laughing at us!

 

I suggest that you ask your illegal alien neighbors that question.

"When Reagan took office the unemployment rate was 7.6%. When he left office the unemployment rate was 5.5%" -Cato Institute Analysis No.261; Economic Report of the President, 1996

And whose 7.6% unemployment mess did Reagan have to clean up when he took office? Why is was Carter...a Democrat. Funny how that works, eh?

LOL! Jealous of people making money, eh? Whats the matter...didn't get a pay raise this year? I just got my yearly review and got a nice raise. And we got our bonus on March 7th. Plus I got a performance bonus. I make more money now that I ever have.

See people like you who think the Constitution guarantees people a cushy life regardless of the work you do - or don't do - make your own problems. If you spent as much time working hard to gain skills, education and the respect that leads to more earning power, and less time moaning about how you aren't getting what you think should be served to you on a silver platter...you wouldn't be so bitter.

 

I am a retired union pipefitter. Jealous of you ??? That's a joke. You B****, couldn't keep up with me on the best day of your life!!!

 

MAGNOLIA! You are not worthy of carrying water to me!

 

see what happens when you challenge the entitled mentality?

 

Agree with you Mags!! Great post!

 

Ahh...so you were spoiled as an employee. Kinda sucks to see that the real world doesn't kotow to your "Employees rule" philosophy any longer, doesn't it?

Unions are no longer desired by anyone other than those who receive the spoils from the union....union heads and employees who think they are owed more than they are worth. That's why unions are becoming extinct. Unions are dinosaurs. The rest of the nation sees union workers as nothing more than spoiled brats whose self-serving attitudes toward working in America have caused jobs to be lost.

The rest of the nation realizes that Unions have killed jobs here in America.

LOL! Bear, dear. Your harsh language doesn't faze me. I am not talking about you being jealous of me personally. I am talking about you being jealous of those who have made it without a union. Those of us who have made good money on our own hard work and work ethic alone like a real grown up...without having to have a "Daddy" to fight for us. We stand up for ourselves and drive our own employment decisions. We don't have to worry about being told we are not to go to work because Daddy says we have to strike. We don't have to pay any of our hard earned money to Daddy under the threat that he won't love and protect us anymore.

America finally realized that unions are bad for America. They are bad for workers who lose their jobs because companies choose to leave for other countries where they don't have to deal with the extortion perpetrated by corrupt unions.

 

Let me guess...your union rep convinced you that I would even consider doing such a thing in the first place...right? LOL! Oh the poor misled people that are left in the ruins of unionization.

See...you union people have such an entitlement attitude. And your union Daddys have lied to you so much about your worth, that you have delusions of grandeur.

Life must be miserable for you now.

 

What a total POS you are....

Great posts Mags...

 

Are you aware that we are paid some of the lowest wages in the country?
Are you aware the the governor of this state said that we are almost as afordable to pay as a third world country?

I stated that holding on to employees and decreasing turn around is a money saver.
- It is a fact that ½ of the State’s workers have less then nine years on the job.
- It is a fact that over ½ of the States workers earn less then $30,000 per year.
- GS 95-98 was passed in 1959 in an effort to thwart the Teamsters from getting in. This is the times when unions were aggressive and bad. Times have changed and thanks to NAFTA many companies have left the US and given our jobs elsewhere. Unions offer protection. Ask anyone who has ever been laid off and had a family to feed how much they would have liked some protection.
- States with government unions have fewer government employees – thus maximizing efficiency and cutting costs.
- 28 States, plus Washington DC allow Collective Bargaining.
- Only eight states do not allow any type of Collective Bargaining but only North Carolina has a law against it. Oddly enough, those eight states have some of the lowest public sector wages in the country.

You make a point of responding to most of my points with get a different job. Tell me where to find one that has good benefits, a retirement package, and a decent wage. That type is not as easy to find as working in retail or fast food for example.
If this law was repealed, and what you seem to fear most in life happens – that NC public employees eventually unionize…what would happen to your salary……??????? HMMMMMM is may actually go up.

Unions are no longer the old men in suits, smoking and drinking in a back room about how to beat up the opposition. That is just left to the politicians now and a few folks on 4042.

 

Unions first took hold in this country at a time when workers were truly downtrodden - there was no such thing as overtime pay; paid vacations and holidays were rare to nonexistent; job safety was unheard of. Unions improved pay and working conditions for all workers, whether or not they were members of a union.

Unions became very strong. In the opinion of many, way too strong. We remember the excesses of the unions during that period of time. However, I think the pendulum has swung back once again. Workers no longer receive the benefit of their increased productivity. Wages in many segments of the economy are not keeping up with inflation, even in the face of soaring profits and huge pay raises for CEO's.

I don't believe public employees in NC receive overtime pay. The rules about who is and is not entitled to overtime pay have been considerably relaxed. In many cases, when workers are required to work overtime, they are given "comp time" instead of extra pay. So you have to work on Saturday, and then you get Monday off. That doesn't seem very family friendly to me.

NC public employees have had their benefits slashed in recent years. There was a time when people sought state jobs because of the benefits, even though the pay was not equal to similar jobs in the private sector. That time is long gone. The governor and state legislature found it convenient to balance the budget on the backs of state employees. What can the employees do about it? Individually, not much; if they band together, they stand a chance of improving their situation.

 

First off I have been laid off, my job went to India. Now I am a state employee with good benefits and a good salary. I think its all in what you want, I worked in the private sector for close to 10 years and 3 out of 4 companies closed down. So I went somewhere pretty secure in my opinion. I do get paid overtime when ask to work it and my pay was somewhat close to what I was making in the private sector. I didnt ask for someone to protect me or my family, I did it myself, just like my MIL who has been laid off numerous times, you adjust and get on with your life.

 

Department of Corrections employees have mandatory overtime and are only allowed to take any comp time at certain times. If they do not then they loose it.
Doesn’t seem fair to me.
If the workers do not get together and form a united group they may be picked apart by smaller unions and labor organizations and thus, loose power. It has begun already in several other regions of the state that are being wooed by certain union locals. They claim they can do what SEANC can, but they haven’t the money or the membership.

 

must be one of the few then, most everyone I know that works within the state and different agencies all get paid overtime unless they are salary then they get comp time...