Er, Gerald Ford was prez in '76. Carter got sworn in Jan. '77. And he was most responsible for Reagan getting sworn in Jan.'81. Just a little clarity. And unions were just as culpable as management for the state of affairs today. I doubt when union organizers were sticking their necks out in the early 1900's to get decent pay and benefits that they had any idea just how far the unions would overreach. And BBSam, don't kid yourself. The biggest reason we have benefits today is companies trying to keep unions out. But it's becoming painfully obvious that young people today aren't going to have the same options once taken for granted. It's why anyone raging against the machine might as well be spitting into the wind. Other than irritating them we are totally toothless. In order to be competitive in a world market we'll have to settle for less. Or get into a line of work that pays better. And even that might not last for long because how are you going to be paid better if most others are making less? Even doctors are facing a less lucrative future. Not to mention we're facing increased taxes to pay for both debt and entitlements. And the irony of it all is due to environmental extremism we don't have enough oil drilling or refining capacity. If oil gets cut-off from the Suez canal it'll go through the roof and FedEx, and the country, will be in real trouble. And we dwell on our own problems.
The unions have overreached in only a few cases, and they definitely aren't doing so now. I agree with Brown 287 about the cyclical nature of labor vs. management, and I
do think the pendulum is swinging away from Big Business. The fractured Republican/Tea Party is so owned by business, yet utterly incapable of doing anything but saying "NO". It's ironic that the companies and individuals who have made billions outsourcing jobs will eventually be undone by a mass market that cannot buy the products they peddle. If they could all be like FedEx Ground, they would, just to boost short term profits and enrich themselves at the country's expense.
Carter was
elected in 1976, but his failures as President weren't a blank check for Reagan to take dead aim at the unions and blame them for everything that was wrong with America. "Trickle-down" is a joke, and Reagan's Free Market garbage is just that...garbage. There is no "free market" when government doles-out farm subsidies, special exemptions, and bailouts for selected companies (remember Chrysler, the first time around?)
No, unions aren't perfect, but it's way past time for American workers to take back at least some of what they've lost. It all can't be attributed to a global economy either, because corporate greed has mandated that employees take far less, while CEO's and top management laugh all the way to the bank. Sorry, but that's not acceptable. At some point, workers
will see the pendulum swing their way. The concentration of wealth in US society is insanely unbalanced, and the rich grow richer while the rest of us head the other way. That isn't going to last much longer.