>With all respect, the time-worn cry of employers to coal mine workers,
>steel workers, carpenters, seamstress groups, etc. has been " if you want
>me to give you a raise, who do I fire?"  This has been proven in the
>history of labor relations to be a phrase, not a position.  Management has
>always found how to raise wages without gutting industry IF labor sticks to
>its guns.
>
With all respect, I can't stand it any more. Unions are a wonderful, valid
solution for workers who *have no choice in where they work*. If you are
not happy where you are, go somewhere else.

I once worked for a school whose faculty unionized, seeking to redress
years of favoritism, low wages, and short notice on what classes you were
teaching. Guess what? Nothing has changed, except that now the above
situations are formalized by a contract which has the faculty across the
board getting smaller raises than some of us received before the contract
(can't give merit pay; that's a no-no; can't give a class to the most
qualified; have to give it to the one with seniority, etc).

Getting higher wages into a profession has to come from increased
recognition of the worth of the profession plus an increased supply of
money in the profession; all the union tactics in the world won't
accomplish that. And any way, isn't union membership declining even in
areas that used to be heavily union? If any of you on the list are already
unionized, how do you perceive the balance between your dues and your
benefits?

Just curious.


Ivy Fleck Strickler                     Phone 215-895-1637
Drexel University                       Fax 215-895-4917
Nesbitt College of Design Arts          [log in to unmask]
Philadelphia, PA 19104

"Never forget that life is like a Fellini movie, and you're getting to see
it for free."