Conrad, what do you mean by "big labor?" What in the world is that?

Sleeping Partners of Big Oil,Big Steel,Big Pharma,Big Corporations!
And the Sleeping Partners of Big Government!
The Marriage who wrecked Detroit!

Nafta free trade and global capitalism wrecked Detroit. These results were forseen by many who were against them at the time.

Of course one can parrot the corporate controlled medias line all day but its not a well thought out statement.

Nope,the Unions did it,especially the UAW,even stole from their Fellow Unionists!


http://laborpains.org/2013/12/03/judge-clears-detroit-to-go-bust/

http://laborpains.org/2012/05/01/uaw-cuts-rival-union-out-of-auto-recovery/

http://www.mises.org/daily/6558/ProUnion-CronyCapitalist-Thinking-Dooms-Another-Employer


Why do you think your Unions are steadily loosing Members?
Because even they are getting hip to the Facts that they are being ripped off by the Unions!

Last time I checked it was not the unions who wrecked the global economy LMAO it was the bankers we bailed out and then gave themselves bonuses. I have never seen a statement so empty of reality in all my life.

i thought yall were talking about Detroit... i agree with conrad, unions killed detroit... and barry paid for it, by bailing out the auto manufacturers and watching them move to mexico right away...

another smooth move barry...

I live in a fairly good sized city and we simply do not have these problems, or anything "para military" looking going on here....so it all sounds a little like henny penny

certainly the police should refrain from excessive force. search and seizure needs tightened up, and care given to arrest the right people. that part I agree with of course.

then again, as criminals and thugs easily obtain assault and military style weaponrey in the face of lax gun regulation, the police will need to be armed in kind.

normally big labor is used to refer to unions

Of course you do that is how the servile corporate media spins the story and its hard to get real information.

I suppose when a city is built on labor tax dollars and you take those laborers jobs away killing the tax base and you replace the remaining jobs with automation you kill the tax base.

A brief reminder this all happened when Nafta was put in place and we all remember things were not this bad prior to that yes ups and downs but not a decade long downward slide in living standards for the middle class.

http://laborpains.org/2013/05/01/newsflash-benefits-of-union-membership-declining-by-the-year/

Newsflash: Benefits of Union Membership Declining by the Year


Unions have always turned to the same trump card when trying to convince employees to unionize: Unions members make more money.

It's a compelling and appealing argument. But it's also becoming less true by the year. Bloomberg BNA has released a new report demonstrating that the wage gap is growing smaller and mainly because union wages are declining.

The drops aren't staggering, but they're definitely noticeable. As BNA noted:

[E]ven though union members earned about $1.21 for every dollar earned by nonunion workers in 2012, their mean hourly wage fell for the second year in a row only the fourth back-to-back decline in the past 30 years. Nonunion workers, on the other hand, saw their wages in 2012 grow for the first time in four years.

These changes are close to historic levels, as they have narrow[ed] the gap between union and nonunion pay to its third-lowest point (79.1 percent) since the Data Book started keeping track in 1973.

Nowhere are these seismic shifts more apparent than in the private sector. For the second time in the last decade, the ratio between union and nonunion pay is higher in the public sector than in the private sector $1.18 on the dollar to $1.17, respectively. This is a dramatic drop since the 1980s, when the ratio used to be as high as $1.35 in the 1980s.

Some industries have even seen nonunion pay exceed union pay. Consider the case of manufacturing where union members earned just 96 cents for every dollar earned by nonunion workers.

Oh, and one other thing: None of these numbers factor in union dues. Once those are accounted for, the wage differential grows smaller still. Ouch.

All told, these changes point to something that many union members have known for years: Union officials are no longer serving the best interest of their members. Instead of prioritizing workers welfare, they've become distracted by the billions they spend on political campaigns, the size of their own paychecks, and other peripheral issues,none of which help the people they claim to represent.

"The men who are to protect the community against violent aggression easily turn into the most dangerous aggressors." - Ludwig von Mises (Teal)

It's not the regulations that are lax, NOT by any means, it's the enforcement of laws already in place.

Just like immigration. There are laws, but this admin picks and chooses winners and losers, who wins and who pays.

There is no "free trade" or "free market" anymore. That is an illusion! With big corporations writing the regulations small business must operate under, protected by politicians bought and paid for in a corrupt crony capitalist world, even the unions are playing second fiddle and losing their power in this game of musical chairs.

You could ban anything and everything in the world but then a black market springs up to fill the gap (remember prohibition?). Criminals will always get guns, drugs, and gain power under such regulations and restrictions, because laws are useless and wasted on the element of society we call "criminals", and only restrict or regulate those with honest intent who seek to obey them.

If that weren't the case, a lock would be all that was needed to keep from having your home robbed or vandalized, immigration wouldn't be a problem, and small business would be flourishing.

The Unions these days are active participants in that Crony-Capitalism-Game!
They help the Big Guys write the Laws,and see that the "Right" People get elected,screw the Working Man!

http://mises.org/daily/2897

Society Is a Blessing, but Government Is Evil

Mises Daily: Thursday, March 06, 2008 by Thomas Paine

"Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one." - Thomas Paine



http://mises.org/daily/2897

Society Is a Blessing, but Government Is Evil

Mises Daily: Thursday, March 06, 2008 by Thomas Paine

I feel that Mr. Paine, and most of the forefathers, saw this clear as day, from their time. All governments get purchased, this is not new. This is why they have tried to instill balance in our government powers. It seems that even this is being surpassed.

This is why Mr. Jefferson believe that revolution was a healthy thing, and should be exercised on a regular basis.

Unions were a necessary solution to corporate greed way back...

They add a increase in costs to goods... But maintain a fair playing field in regards to corporate mistreatment and unites the average blue collar worker to stand up to corporate abuses.

Things have changed since the mid fifties... Your economy(and mine) decided to outsource to 3rd world and Communist countries who have no problem with child labor or dangerous working conditions.

How did you ever expect to compete?

I was just in Vegas and toured the Rodeo convention... This industry understands it seems, Buy locally made, Keep the skills needed here and make a way better product which outlasts the cheap Chinese chit. I must hand it to the cowboys(no not the team ) To identify and protect their industry

Sorry, Identifying NAFTA as the culprit is an uninformed opinion on worldwide business.

unions were valid when they were needed, now they are just a drain on the economy...

BTW, for all you pro union people, who pays for the 25.00 dollar an hour janitor that sweeps the floors at night? THE CONSUMERS, or the people that want their product... is it not ok to hire a 16 year old kid for minimum wage to sweep the floors?

I suppose if your so against unions you can give back your weekends, social security,child labor laws,health and safety laws,overtime pay etc etc.

the government regulates that now, no thanks are needed... still didn't answer the question...