6/3/11 - Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) Delivers Weekly GOP Address On Jobs And The NLRB

[JoeTPlumber]

You need to read "The Jungle" by Sinclair Lewis, then talk about non-union work. A huge employe becomes a bully without someone to stand up for the worker like the union or the government. The conservative movement is tearing down gov't. See "The Wrecking Crew" by Thomas Frank. read it with its 74 pages of reference/back-up. How many miners have to die, oil spills occur, financial debacles take place, and children die of e-coli before congress puts teeth in commonsense regulations.

[WildWindyWood]

Thanks. I meant unions do not allow competition between unions or between union members. I was brain washed by a union top aircraft mechanic who was laid off before less skilled mechanics who had more seniority (from working in a GE toaster factory). He thought workers should have a choice between unions. I was also brain washed by my favorite physics teacher who refused to go on strike with his fellow teachers. A LITTLE competition keeps everyone honest.

[Naturalyards]

Pro-Union is Pro-America.

[MrChamp119]

yOU GRINNING LITTLE PUKE. NOTHING AS BAD AS ENTRENCHED SUCKCESS? I GUESS HAT'S YOU AND YORE G BUSH HAVEMORES. YOU TALK OF UNIONS, BUT TELL ME HOW MANY JOBS SHOULD WE ALLOW THAT DONT ALLOW A MAN TO HAVE A WIF, A KID TEN A HOME FOR THEM AND A CAR FOR FAMILY TRANSPORT???? YORE NONUNION JOBS KEEP MEN PENNED UP ON THE PLANTATION!!!! mE AND MY BOYS DID NOT FIGHT FOR YOURE STINKIN SLAVE JOBS. DON'T BOTHER COMIN TO MY TOWN, WE GOT TAR AND FEATHERS FOR YUOUR KIND.

[bobgspinball]

Would you buy a car made by the Taliban? They attacked our shores. Wait, so did the Japanese...........Senator, where is the American Flag on your lapel?? Where is your American heart?? Union or on-union does not matter. We need to build and buy here!!!!

[WildWindyWood]

Like any monopoly, unions degenerate and do more harm than good. RTW laws simply allow individual workers to stay out of unions that they do not agree with. Unions that allow competition do not have to represent non-due paying workers. Competition and accountability are good for unions.

[WildWindyWood]

Like any monopoly, unions degenerate and do more harm than good. RTW laws simply allow individual workers to stay out of unions that they do not agree with. Unions that allow competition do not have to represent non-due paying workers. Competition and accountability is good for unions. 

[Naturalyards]

@WildWindyWood You make a good point, sort of. Unions are capable of bad things, but then so are corporations. Unions do allow competition. You obviously don't understand how American labor works. You've clearly been brainwashed.

[solidarity4]

Sen. Alexander: With due respect, you're mis-reading the facts of Boeing/NLRB. First it's not an argument to pit union workers against nonunion workers. The complaint by the General Counsel of the NLRB is the statements made by Boeing may have violated the National Labor Relations Act. This complaint would of been made regardless of the fact that S. Carolina is a R-T-W state.

[HemiHead66]

I can't believe it, a Republican that I actually agree with.. And he didn't even need to bash Obama for 5 minutes to get his point across. Every state in the country should have the right to choose whether or not to unionize. If a company does right by it's employees, there's no need to unionize. 

[solidarity4]

@HemiHead66 : But state R-T-W laws preempt a private agreement between employees and managmement as to how to govern the workplace. If democracy has a chance to take root in the workplace relationship, it should be the decision of the workers--alone--to decide if they are getting a fair return of their work.

[HemiHead66]

@solidarity4 Maybe I shouldn't have said anything without knowing all the facts. I was just going by what he was saying here. Why don't you tell me what you mean by preempt a private agreement between employees and managmement as to how to govern the workplace. I've worked at Coke for 13 years in North Carolina, which is non-union R-T-W state, and I have no idea what you're talking about.

[solidarity4]

@HemiHead66 : I live in New York state. Union security agreements are not automatic in the private sector. So my union leadership had to bargain for a "union shop" clause. This means that all my fellow workers in my bargaining unit have to pay their dues.

In your state, the state right-to-work law says that you, your fellow workers and managment can't negotiate a private agreement that every worker contributes. Otherwise, you have the same rights to form a union as any other state has.

[asphyxiafeeling]

excellent address. forced unionization might be a good short term strategy but sooner or later the market always catches up and sinks companies that are uncompetitive.

[solidarity4]

@asphyxiafeeling : Actually workers have the same rights to form their unions in R-T-W states the same as workers in the free collective bargaining states. The NLRB covers all 50 states. And the market does not discriminate against union workers. The U.S. has lost 3.5 to 5-million manufacturing jobs since 2000. And the large majority of them have been nonunion jobs.

[asphyxiafeeling]

@solidarity4

very interesting. you seem to know much more about this issue than i do, i'll take what you say to heart. i've got some google research to do :)

[zunathanzu]

variation of the confederate flag behind him?

[asphyxiafeeling]

@zunathanzu

It's Tennessee's state flag.