45,800 Ford workers to get record $8,300 profit-sharing checks

[Demo_Chris]

32. You are no doubt smarter than the average person...

You are no doubt smarter than the average person. You understand the deeper issues going on here, the long term cause and effect, and the historical context of the worker's struggle.

But then maybe the American people aren't as ignorant as we believe. Maybe they cannot afford to care about that stuff when they are trying not to lose their home. They see companies closing plants in union states and reopening them in non-union states or, thanks to Clinton and NAFTA, out of the country. And if that plant opens in their town they aren't cursing the fact that it's non-union, they are praising Jesus that they have a shot at a job. And while they know they won't make the mega-bucks they believe union guys make in Detroit, they are happy to have anything -- there are a thousand guys applying for every opening that exists. That's not ignorant, thats just wanting a job.

Nor are they ignorant in their understanding of the benefits they currently enjoy. Most people know by now that those benefits were originally won by union workers. They know that a hundred years ago union members fought and often died to win them those rights. But that was then, and this is now. Today those unions and jobs are long gone. It's not non-existant unions protecting those rights, it's their votes, and they know it. That's not ignorance, that's just how it is.

Further, unless they happen to be in one of the few remaining powerful unions themselves, they have never once had a union do anything on their behalf. No one is winning them $8000 bonuses. The Longshoremen aren't taking to the streets to protest the pay or conditions at Walmart -- America's largest employer -- nor are auto workers or teachers. If you work at Walmart or McDonalds or Target or Home Depot you are on your own. Hell, forget unions, they don't even have a party that does anything for them. Again, that's not ignorance, that's reality.

Mind you, it might be short-sighted.

But here's the thing, for the most part the unions are already gone. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 94% of American private sector workers DO NOT HAVE union representation. And so long as there are more workers looking for work than jobs available, that isn't really going to change significantly.

So really, just how ignorant is this 94%?

Maybe we were the ignorant ones when we passed NAFTA and shipped their jobs away. And if the company is saying you can have a job but no union, what choice did we leave these workers but to say "Yes sir, when can I start!"

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm