Reply #12: You raise some very valid points

[Bluzmann57]

This was how Organized Labor was born. In the early days the Unions struggled mightily but people eventually woke up. Now the companies have a strongly pro-business administration in place and the Labor movement is in deep trouble again. As I stated in another post in this topic, I actually worked for a company where the CEO was dedicated to breaking the Unions within his corporate empire. There was a plant in Des Moines, IA which was on strike for two years before he gave in, another in Mississippi where the strike went on for about a year and a half, and the plant where I worked at eventually shut down and production was shipped to Ecuador, at a non union plant. Maytag Corporation in Galesburg, IL which employed about 1600 people at very good wages and benefits recently shipped out the jobs to Mexico. Ford was correct in making his statement about workers being able to afford his cars, no matter the reason. Now, however, corporations are getting away from that sentiment. The former employees at Maytag probably will find jobs at signifigantly lower wages, and that will affect the economy of not only Galesburg, but the entire U.S. as well. Sorry to rant and veer off subject, but this whole idea of "downsizing" is personal and emotional to me.