There have been a lot of union strikes in the news in the recent past.  Unions were once a good thing many, many, many years ago–at least the legitimate unions were, at any rate.  Perhaps today though, we need to re-educate ourselves on the subject.

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My father was a member of a union.  (Mind you, my father has an education.  Unfortunately, he realized that he could get more money wearing a brown UPS shirt than he could wearing a button –down shirt and tie. )

He had no real choice.  In order to get his job he was told he should join the Teamsters.  He did.

I, too, was once a member of the teachers union.  The teachers union, by the way, is the reason why teachers are not considered professionals.  Doctors and lawyers are considered professionals.  They do not have unions.

I paid what I consider a significant portion of  my pay for their (so-called) services.  Yet when a school district laid me off because I did not have tenure and they were having money problems, the union was not there for me.  In fact, when I called the office I was told my union man had already left for summer vacation.

All the money I paid went for nothing.  The contract I had signed when I got the job had long-since been established and other benefits and guidelines had already been put into place years ago.  So the money I paid went for nothing.

A few years ago the supermarket employees were encouraged by their union reps to strike.  They paid all their dues, lost pay and benefits while on strike and ended up with nothing more than they would have gotten without their long strike.  Again, what good did the union do?

 I am tired of unions.  It’s 2010.  Anything that unions could have done for workers has already been done. 

Now all they are doing is growing rich off of other people’s money.  Let’s face it, folks, unions should be a thing of the past.  Unions are one of the reasons that so many companies have outsourced.  We have lost jobs in this country because of unions.

Tom Leykis, former TV and radio personality, has often discussed this topic.  His father was a union rep.  His father told him that he spent most of his time working to save the jobs of people who did not truly deserve the jobs. 

That’s what is going on today, folks.  People who are not necessarily deserving of the jobs they have and/or the pay they get are holding on to over-paid gigs because of a union.  Companies are relocating because they cannot afford to give their employees all the benfits and pay the union reps have demanded.

We need to eliminate the unions, folks.  Union workers could afford to work for a little less if they did NOT have to pay dues that nowadays get them nothing in the long run.  Companies could afford to stay in the country and keep jobs here IF they did not have to cow-tow to unions.

Let’s face it, boys and girls, if you are oh so valuable as a worker than you should be able to negotiate for yourself.  If you’re not worth high wages then you don’t deserve the union job you have.  It’s that simple.  The future is here and unions are antique.  It’s time to stand up and negotiate for yourselves, folks, not line someone’s pockets so he can help some loser keep a job he didn’t deserve to have in the first place!

On a personal note, to all those teachers who go on strike, I say just quit!  Retire! 

I know how much you get paid!   I’ll take your job!  I’m qualified and I can live on what you make easily!

My name is Phoenix and . . . that’s the bottom line.