I would love to support unions.
I’d love to support the Democratic Party.
I’d love to support UM.
But you know what? I can’t.
I can’t support those institutions and it’s extremely frustrating.
I will say that it’s a little easier to not support them, mainly because they’ve given me no reason to support them.
There was a great letter in the Missoulian today called Unions: Montana should follow WI’s example.
The Missoulian letter was written by Dennis Startin from Missoula and he was a union member for 25 years he says.
The frustration. God, it must be frustrating to have supported unions, to want to support unions still, but then they give you no reason to.
“Today's unions are nothing but money-grubbing outfits that help elect officials to push their agendas. With your money,” Startin writes.
I cannot agree with him more, as I’ve said. People like Eric Feaver will cling to their position by their fingernails should you try to pry them away from it.
I totally agree with this letter and said as much in the comments. I mentioned that at one point Butte had both of its street sweepers unionized, but now we’re lucky to get 1% of the state’s dishwasher unionized. I doubt it’s that.
Hell, I don’t know. I don’t know what union numbers in Montana are, and I made that clear when I wrote about the Montana AFL-CIO’s 2015 Convention in June.
Unions don’t seem to be friendly with the working man anymore, just the highly-skilled workers.
Yeah, plumbing and pipefitting – that’s damn skilled compared to cooking fries and cleaning toilets.
Unions don’t want to get their hands dirty with that kind of work, however. There’s no money in it.
Unions like their money, especially the top brass. In Montana that’s Eric Feaver for the MEA-MFT union of teachers and state workers and Al Ekblad for the AFL-CIO. I know Feaver makes six figures, not sure what Ekblad makes.
This just turns off the legislatures, this high pay – it makes them not want to fund education!
Royce Engstrom at UM is another fine example of how terrible leadership, inflated salaries, and large egos are destroying Montana’s ability to compete nationally when it comes to education.
And is that such a bad thing?
For unions it’s not. That means they can keep their same small membership levels. Furthermore, the people that have cemented themselves at the top – where the money trough is – can keep themselves there, without question, accountability, or any expectation of results.
Those are the results – keeping things just as they are, because gosh darn, that’s profitable for the select few.
We might as well add in the 52,000 unionized workers in Montana – I’m not sure they want to see more unionized workers added to the union rolls. That might take away from their benefits.
Ah, class conflict.
That’s the thing that’s most beneficial for the ruling classes in America – pitting workers against one another.
Union, non-union, high-skilled, low-skill, education or not – turn them against one another so they don’t band together and start asking for some real change, like no more 1%, period.
The world has that every few years, maybe every 70 years by some economic cycles I’ve seen, and I think we’re at that again.
It’s a complete turnover, and we’re in it. Incumbents will not be doing well politically, ideas will not be doing well culturally, and institutions will not be doing well when it comes to withstanding the overwhelming desire for change.
People are pissed.
Unions aren’t helping with that. They’re currently part of the problem, not the solution. Ass-clowns like Scott Walker have propelled themselves to the national stage, and changed the dialogue. It’s all because of that corrupt union leadership that Startin was talking about in his Missoulian letter.
Unions created Scott Walker! I never would have heard of the schmuck otherwise!
I’d love to support the Democratic Party.
I’d love to support UM.
But you know what? I can’t.
I can’t support those institutions and it’s extremely frustrating.
I will say that it’s a little easier to not support them, mainly because they’ve given me no reason to support them.
There was a great letter in the Missoulian today called Unions: Montana should follow WI’s example.
The Missoulian letter was written by Dennis Startin from Missoula and he was a union member for 25 years he says.
The frustration. God, it must be frustrating to have supported unions, to want to support unions still, but then they give you no reason to.
“Today's unions are nothing but money-grubbing outfits that help elect officials to push their agendas. With your money,” Startin writes.
I cannot agree with him more, as I’ve said. People like Eric Feaver will cling to their position by their fingernails should you try to pry them away from it.
I totally agree with this letter and said as much in the comments. I mentioned that at one point Butte had both of its street sweepers unionized, but now we’re lucky to get 1% of the state’s dishwasher unionized. I doubt it’s that.
Hell, I don’t know. I don’t know what union numbers in Montana are, and I made that clear when I wrote about the Montana AFL-CIO’s 2015 Convention in June.
Unions don’t seem to be friendly with the working man anymore, just the highly-skilled workers.
Yeah, plumbing and pipefitting – that’s damn skilled compared to cooking fries and cleaning toilets.
Unions don’t want to get their hands dirty with that kind of work, however. There’s no money in it.
Unions like their money, especially the top brass. In Montana that’s Eric Feaver for the MEA-MFT union of teachers and state workers and Al Ekblad for the AFL-CIO. I know Feaver makes six figures, not sure what Ekblad makes.
This just turns off the legislatures, this high pay – it makes them not want to fund education!
Royce Engstrom at UM is another fine example of how terrible leadership, inflated salaries, and large egos are destroying Montana’s ability to compete nationally when it comes to education.
And is that such a bad thing?
For unions it’s not. That means they can keep their same small membership levels. Furthermore, the people that have cemented themselves at the top – where the money trough is – can keep themselves there, without question, accountability, or any expectation of results.
Those are the results – keeping things just as they are, because gosh darn, that’s profitable for the select few.
We might as well add in the 52,000 unionized workers in Montana – I’m not sure they want to see more unionized workers added to the union rolls. That might take away from their benefits.
Ah, class conflict.
That’s the thing that’s most beneficial for the ruling classes in America – pitting workers against one another.
Union, non-union, high-skilled, low-skill, education or not – turn them against one another so they don’t band together and start asking for some real change, like no more 1%, period.
The world has that every few years, maybe every 70 years by some economic cycles I’ve seen, and I think we’re at that again.
It’s a complete turnover, and we’re in it. Incumbents will not be doing well politically, ideas will not be doing well culturally, and institutions will not be doing well when it comes to withstanding the overwhelming desire for change.
People are pissed.
Unions aren’t helping with that. They’re currently part of the problem, not the solution. Ass-clowns like Scott Walker have propelled themselves to the national stage, and changed the dialogue. It’s all because of that corrupt union leadership that Startin was talking about in his Missoulian letter.
Unions created Scott Walker! I never would have heard of the schmuck otherwise!
All you can really do is shake your head at the obvious incompetence that’s exhibited on a daily basis in this country and all over the world. Is it any wonder people just want to buy a home in the woods so they can get the hell away from all the crazy?
I think something that would help is if people just turned off the TV and the computer for a week, and left the damn phone at home too.
We have so much power yet we don’t even realize it! All we need to do is stop paying attention.
What would happen if the Donald gave a rally and no one came? What would happen if Hillary threw a press conference but no one watched?
They’d be powerless, utterly and completely powerless.
That’s how most local candidates are, and it’s why they knock on doors. Can you imagine the Donald or Hillary knocking on your door? Please.
We need to stop giving these fools so much power. We have the power, and they work for us. We pay their inflated salaries, and that goes for the union brass as well.
Start giving these people the level of respect they deserve – none.
What have they done for you lately?
Eric Feaver and Al Ekblad have given me nothing, and have probably made my life worse. I have no respect for them – and they have no respect for me.
See where we’re going here in America?
People are pissed. Change is coming, the real kind this time. I would not want to be one of the clowns currently “in power.”
What power? Oh how they cringe, fearful of this change that’s sweeping across the land. They speak out, lash out, but all to no avail.
What ever will they do?
Why, go the way of the dinosaurs, you fools – it’s what we’re trying to tell you.
It's not like your massive pay, benefits, and retirement packages are driving our jobs overseas - just the pens of the politicians you support, financially and otherwise.
The sooner we're rid of you the better.
What have you done for me lately?
It’s coming and they know it.
