[Rhodes22-list] John Shulick - I draw a distiction

[John Shulick]

I don't understand the disdain for the capitalists. When the unions 
demand benefits that allow a man to work for a company for half of his 
adult life and then pay him for not working the other half, that too is 
"greed", or "screwing" the other side.

Herb,
 I think we have reached an impasse at this point on solutions and I hope
you will agree that both sides 
in the Management vs Labor discussion are guilty of abuse of power and are
motivated by greed at times over reason. But I feel an obligation to explain
my opinion of the "capitalists" in the hopes of furthering your
understanding of my position even if you don't agree. Please note I am not
looking for a sympathetic ear or making anyone out to be a victim. 
 I grew up in one of the small mill towns that line the three rivers of
Pittsburgh. During the 60s' and early 70s' management stopped making
investments in keeping the mills there competitive. Instead US Steel took
the profits made by 4 generations of labor and bought Marathon Oil for 7
billion. by 1982
the steel industry collapsed and the people of Pittsburgh paid the price. It
got so bad at one point people were stealing groceries from one other in the
parking lots. Unemployment in my home town hit 25%. Once I stood in a line
for 5 hrs. with 6000 men because 6 jobs opened up sweeping floors at one of
the surviving mills. You've probably heard the phrase "Steeler Nation" one
of the reasons you see so many terrible towels at Steeler away games is
because my generation and the following one had to leave our city to find
work. The fun didn't stop there however, not only was there no work for the
present generation the ones who retired saw pensions slashed or destroyed
because one after another the companies filed for bankruptcy not because
they were broke but rather they could make more by not living up to their
pension obligations. My distain comes from personal experience and while I
would like to see a less adversarial relationship between management and
labor I fear this will never be. The law is structured in a way that
corporations can walk away for their contracts under chapter 13 and I can
not walk away from my contracts under the new bankruptcy laws. Quite frankly
if this is capitalism you can keep as I have had quite enough of it for my
liking. This will be my last post on this thread as I have nothing left to
offer on the subject.

Respectfully yours

John Shulick   


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