RE: [Leica] Central now union bashing/praising

["Don Dory" <dorysrus@mindspring.com>]

Daniel,
Two points on your comments.  The first is that in the US, unions
frequently don't negotiate in good faith.  By that I mean that when a
worker has flagrantly violated the contract, the union strongly supports
the worker rather than working to change the workers behavior.  An
example would be the Mitsubishi plant where there was gross sexual
harassment for years under union support.  Only with a law suit did the
women at the facility gain some modicum of respect.  I suspect that in
the companies you mention, the workplace is a lot more harmonious in
terms of everybody on the same team.

As to de-industrialization, ultimately, it will lead to a better life
for all.  Workers in the third world gain a much better standard of
living with out having to kowtow to the "Uncle" who owns the land or
whatever.  Over time, the workers in the developing world will negotiate
for better wages/conditions.  In the developed world, work will
intensify in the areas of design, marketing, creation, and smart
manufacturing.  We in the developed world can not stand in the way of
the rest of the world gaining a better life.  We will have to work
smarter with more intellectual input to continue our standard of living.
If the developed world can not offer better products/services then we do
not deserve so high a standard of living.

This issue is close to home as my wife's employer is rapidly shifting
many positions primarily to India.  Why should I object to someone
working for obscene (high) wages in another country where the new income
allows servants in the house.

As an interesting aside, I work with a lot of individuals from India
that will never go back permanently.  They really enjoy the
opportunities in the US versus India.  By and large they come from
pretty prosperous families so economic conditions are no a huge factor.

Don
dorysrus@mindspring.com




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