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In Reply to: Re: ????? posted by groove on April 15, 2007 at 17:35:33:
the market has no sense of fairness one way or another.I would agree with that. this is why federal regulation and labor unions came into existence. They create a boundary for business to operate within.
In the end, our model is not perfect however it is MUCH better then all of the existing alternatives.
I would also agree with this statement. Or at least our model has the POTENTIAL to be much better. Corporations and business owners need to acknowledge their social responsibilities to the society they reside in. Business does not exist in a vacuum, and the profits they recieve come from people(workers) who they have an ethical obligation. It's kind of a chicken and egg scenerio. Which came first the business or the customer? The majority of customers are really just a worker for some business. They need to earn a respectable income so that they can be a good customer.
What is happening now is a gradual concentration of wealth. The middle and working class are shrinking. Industrial jobs have been exported. The post industrial stage of country was supposed to have a new class of tehcnical positions for individuals. Now those jobs are being outsourced too. Try getting ahold of technical support at Dell Computers. Since you have an economics background, you know that people must have a deent wage in order to buy goods and services. Without this the economy will shrink. As an example, look at the debt level being carried by the American family today. Now it's well over 12K a family. Either people have been convinced to live beyond their means. Or wages have not kept up with increases in the cost of living.
They day unions get in front of the issues our national industries face is the day they will begin adding value again.
Unions traditionally are looked at as a function of the workplace. But they have a social facet as well. They can be the vehicle that brings forth the thoughts and concerns of regular working people. After all, there really is no one else who will speak for the common person. Actually, you can look at a union as a PAC for working people. As a side note, unions were considere socialist and subversive groups by business. their treatment of union organizers was quite brutal. Anyways, to me, this is the true purpose of a union. To make bring the concerns of regular working people to thier employers and government.
As a bit of background. I have a BA from Eastern Washington University in Business Administration. And a BA from EWU in sociology. In some ways those degrees can be diametrically opposed. For the lst 12 years I have worked in the paper industry as an hourly operator. I currently run heavy equipment. I have been a lab tech, and worked on paper machines.
What is interesting is that we were bought last year by one of the largest investment companies in the country. Madison-Dearborn has systematically stripped our corporation of every long term assett we hold. First they sold all our timber holdings, which was the crown jewel of our company. they began to sell other long term assets and holdings to reduce the debt level they acquired from the purchase. We are a profitble company, but all the cash we generate flows to their coffers, with very little being re-invested in maintenance or capital expenditures. We are falling behind the curve every year, since our machinery is wearing out, and foregin machines come on line which are faster and newer. Quite frankly, our long term survivability depends on strategic desisions made by management. The mill workers really don't hae any influence over the important decisions.
What happens to these people if the mill were to close? I have an education that gives me a level of flexibility in changing jobs. The skill set of a 20 year papermaker is specific to this industry. Their ability to retrain or relocate is quite limited. From my perspective, the question of business ethics has a very pratical application.
Regards,
Mister Pig
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- Re: ????? - Mister Pig 18:53:53 04/15/07 (0)
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