American Made Saws...

[William Balaska]

Hang them high !

 

[Nitro-Fish]

The biggest thing ALL of your are forgetting is NAFTA. That is the reason other companies from other countries can outsell our american companies. There are several factors there. #1, they have to pay zero taxes to bring in they're goods because of NAFTA. The second thing is wages in the US. A company I worked for had janitors making $50k/yr to mop floors. We've already lost when it comes to what they can sell for. They can be competitive, this means selling for a little less and as americans most people look to save every nickel they can. Hence, they pay their workers almost nothing, then they pay NO taxes to import, they are ahead before their products even get to the stores. Unions coupled with crooked fatcat politicians and old treaties have been the demise of the american economy. Unions are the reason janitors are making $25/hr, politicians are taking kickbacks to keep the old treaties in place, and we as americans allow this to go on. Not necessarily us, but people in general. We as americans shouldn't be afraid of the damned politicians, they should be afraid of US!!!!!!!!!! Just my .02 and a side no one had mentioned...

:cheer: eh?

thats true about the unions see America is destroying itself by making wrong decisions. Its not the foreign products being sold. By the way Nafta takes away tariffs from Canada and Mexico only so they can sell there stuff amongst us without paying taxes. The rest of the world still has to pay tariffs though.

I think you guys have the wrong idea about Union Labor: As a Union Electrician from IBEW Local 26, I have to disagree....If it weren't for the Unions & the pressure they put on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) the wages that are earned by non-union members wouldn't be what they are today, companies would pay as litte as possible to get by. I have been in the same trade for 30 years now and have heard all of the mis-informed comments made by people that don't understand the organized labor concept. Organized labor sets the standards for which all other companies have to keep pace with. If there were no labor laws your employer would have the option to work you just like the foreign companies work their employee's; without any workers rights, long hours/low pay etc. Unless you are self employed you had better thank Organized labor for pressing for the 5 day 40 hour work week, if most companies had their way, there wouldn't be any overtime pay, there wouldn't be any weekends, why pay more if you don't have to? In our area, the Local Unions are stronger than in some areas of the country, so most non-union shops pay competitively in order to keep the experienced employee's they have from jumping ship to a Union contractor; everybody wins, even non- union employees! I don't know about anyone else, but I am proud to be a Union member & will continue to work and spread the word about the good things Organized labor provides: Health care, Dental Care, Eye Care, Retirement, Life Insurance, Apprentice programs (paid while you are being trained both in school and on the job during your regular workday; not at night like some non-union employer's require), Disability programs, Credit Union Membership, top notch advanced training classes for journeymen (to allow you to expand your knowledge and better prepare yourself for new technology), and don't forget that wonderful 40 hour work week, and still have the weekends off to do whatever we please.

 

[Bowtie]

I think you guys have the wrong idea about Union Labor: As a Union Electrician from IBEW Local 26, I have to disagree....If it weren't for the Unions & the pressure they put on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) the wages that are earned by non-union members wouldn't be what they are today, companies would pay as litte as possible to get by. I have been in the same trade for 30 years now and have heard all of the mis-informed comments made by people that don't understand the organized labor concept. Organized labor sets the standards for which all other companies have to keep pace with. If there were no labor laws your employer would have the option to work you just like the foreign companies work their employee's; without any workers rights, long hours/low pay etc. Unless you are self employed you had better thank Organized labor for pressing for the 5 day 40 hour work week, if most companies had their way, there wouldn't be any overtime pay, there wouldn't be any weekends, why pay more if you don't have to? In our area, the Local Unions are stronger than in some areas of the country, so most non-union shops pay competitively in order to keep the experienced employee's they have from jumping ship to a Union contractor; everybody wins, even non- union employees! I don't know about anyone else, but I am proud to be a Union member & will continue to work and spread the word about the good things Organized labor provides: Health care, Dental Care, Eye Care, Retirement, Life Insurance, Apprentice programs (paid while you are being trained both in school and on the job during your regular workday; not at night like some non-union employer's require), Disability programs, Credit Union Membership, top notch advanced training classes for journeymen (to allow you to expand your knowledge and better prepare yourself for new technology), and don't forget that wonderful 40 hour work week, and still have the weekends off to do whatever we please.

Ok, here is an INFORMED opinion on union labor. Bunch of whiners. Union labor IS driving up the cost of everything. Union pay scales do not have the effect on non union salaries at least here. Whats a 40 hour work week? I just got screwed by a union rep I was dealing with, so much for union loyalty. By the way, I make what union crane operators do because I EARNED IT, not because I paid dues and call myself a card carrying member of the union. I aint buying your trash. Belongs anywhere but on a chainsaw forum.

 

[volks-man]

my bro is in a union.
keeps dues up in several actually.
silly practices like this are part of the problem......

non union unloaded the truck at the back of the building.
bro and other union workers tore down and unpacked the crates and then unwrapped the contents.
non union employees then carried the contents in to building.

doesn't sound so bad until you realize that while non union was unloading... union had to stand there and wait, hands in pockets. while union was unpacking crates.... non union had to stand there and wait. they could not help one another at all.
sound buisness practices?

don't even get me started on the uaw.
what i wouldn't give for one of those jobs!

heres the love it or hate it line for the day:
unions were needed in the 1800s they have no place in modern america.

 

[ciscoguy01]

Unions

I think you guys have the wrong idea about Union Labor: As a Union Electrician from IBEW Local 26, I have to disagree....If it weren't for the Unions & the pressure they put on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) the wages that are earned by non-union members wouldn't be what they are today, companies would pay as litte as possible to get by. I have been in the same trade for 30 years now and have heard all of the mis-informed comments made by people that don't understand the organized labor concept. Organized labor sets the standards for which all other companies have to keep pace with. If there were no labor laws your employer would have the option to work you just like the foreign companies work their employee's; without any workers rights, long hours/low pay etc. Unless you are self employed you had better thank Organized labor for pressing for the 5 day 40 hour work week, if most companies had their way, there wouldn't be any overtime pay, there wouldn't be any weekends, why pay more if you don't have to? In our area, the Local Unions are stronger than in some areas of the country, so most non-union shops pay competitively in order to keep the experienced employee's they have from jumping ship to a Union contractor; everybody wins, even non- union employees! I don't know about anyone else, but I am proud to be a Union member & will continue to work and spread the word about the good things Organized labor provides: Health care, Dental Care, Eye Care, Retirement, Life Insurance, Apprentice programs (paid while you are being trained both in school and on the job during your regular workday; not at night like some non-union employer's require), Disability programs, Credit Union Membership, top notch advanced training classes for journeymen (to allow you to expand your knowledge and better prepare yourself for new technology), and don't forget that wonderful 40 hour work week, and still have the weekends off to do whatever we please.

I spent $26,000 for 1 yr of school so I could be a network engineer. I work on fiber optics, carrier-side backbone internet routing, and anything else to do with large scale networks. Been doing it for about 10 yrs now. I worked 12 hours a day, went to school for 6 and studies during the 6 I had off. I also played alot of Golf on weekends to keep my sanity, lmao... When I moved to Northern, NY the IBEW wanted me to join. I was the ONLY one certified in this area to do Corning EWP work, which is pretty much all done by Electrical unions in this area. Odd, data and electrical are VERY different down south, but up here it's the same electrical companies that test/certify/install all data cabling/fiber optics. Basically, long story short, I told them if they gave me $13,000 cash to pay for at least 1/2 my schooling, I'd start paying them to get me better wages. Catch 22 was that I needed the union to be able to work on these jobs. Exactly what purpose was the union doing for me other than sucking up my cashola.... In my case, they are a bad thing. 2nd scenario. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals here in Northern, NY is the MOST productive mfg. facility in the entire company. They are CLOSING this plant. REASON: while they are the most productive, and they are one of the last union shops in the company, they're cost PER PRODUCT is higher than anywhere else. Hence why Wyeth is shipping their product elsewhere. Janitors making $50k/yr, mnt. workers checking fire extinguishers that make $24/hr, then work 1 day a week of OT and kick out $55+k/yr. This is because of the union. The unions will also protect guys that sleep on their jobs and steal things or are late every day and don't show up for work. Not all things are bad in the union, but in this day and age unions have very much outlived their use... They union is causing 2200 people to lose their jobs in this area, and after paying in for say 15yrs of union dues, exactly what is the union doing for them??? NADA!!!! Even the IBEW here, I was talking to guys who hadn't worked for 10 months on some of my data jobs. That's pathetic dude. I stand by my statement. " If a bum comes along and drops a nickel in the union leader's A55, that's a nickel more than they'll EVER get from me!!!" I'd say that's why say Stihl/Husky and others keep alot of the Mfg. out of the U.S.

Same hand, the union has saved my brother's job several times due to extremely poor management. In this case, I'd say the union has their place...

opcorn: eh?

This is a very interesting, OFF TOPIC, but interesting discussion guys...

Just so you know, most lazy people are for unions, people that work hard ALL the time and want to get ahead normally never have a problem. Not always, but normally.

Oh, just an fyi. I make $70k/yr Salary. 3 weeks vacation, 1 sick week. Company expense account, company truck/gas card, medical/dental/vision. Free cable/internet. 401k dollar for dollar up to 6%. I make NO O.T. Some weeks I work 100hrs, others I work 20. EXACTLY WHAT IS THE UNION GOING TO DO FOR ME???? WHY ON EARTH WOULD I WANT A UNION WHEN THE UNION GUYS HERE ARE MAKING ABOUT 2/3 OF WHAT I MAKE AND ARE NORMALLY OUT OF WORK FOR 3 MONTHS OF THE YEAR.

 

[Nitro-Fish]

Ok, here is an INFORMED opinion on union labor. Bunch of whiners. Union labor IS driving up the cost of everything. Union pay scales do not have the effect on non union salaries at least here. Whats a 40 hour work week? I just got screwed by a union rep I was dealing with, so much for union loyalty. By the way, I make what union crane operators do because I EARNED IT, not because I paid dues and call myself a card carrying member of the union. I aint buying your trash. Belongs anywhere but on a chainsaw forum.

Not trash, just the way it is in my area, and you're right about not belonging on a chainsaw forum, but I was just responding to other members' posts. I have worked both sides of the fence, non-union early years (and still made a good living), then started thinking more about health care & retirement....something the non-union sector was lacking. I don't think Unions are perfect in any way, especially when it comes to the politics you have to deal with just to fire a worthless employee. I've been brought up on charges for discharging worthless individuals (whiners as you say) before, probably will again, but if your not worth your weight in salt, I won't keep you around. I also understand there are some lousy BA's around, sounds like you had one, that sucks too because experienced hands are hard to come by; what they (the crappy BA's) don't understand is that for everyone they push away, its just more competition in an ever decreasing job market.

OK, enough about this crap, I'm going to have another beer & then go count some sheep!!

 

[24d]

I think the union is a great thing, in fact I think they should move over seas and drive back all the manufacturing they have driven over there.opcorn:

Later,

 

[lawnmowertech37]

I think the union is a great thing, in fact I think they should move over seas and drive back all the manufacturing they have driven over there.opcorn:

Later,

+1

 

[Rescue1]

I can see some of the issues people have with Unions,but I wish I was in one.I gotta tell ya,in my Line of work,in the stupid state I live and work in(Paramedic,NJ) we are not able to have a union due to various reasons.By having it this way,the employers can beat up on us all they want,and most of the "Human Resources" departments are more against the employee then for them.We have absolutly no backing,and if the employer wants to fire you,you are screwed.NJ is an at will employeer,so us as Medics are up the creek.I think in our situation it would help us greatly,hopefully one day...