That is funny, and a part of the dogma that many believe, the sooner you understand that both sides have sold you and your future generations down the river, the sooner you will come to your senses. There is no such thing as labor friendly, just reality:




Union Membership: Overall (1948-2004)
U.S. Union Membership, 1948-2004
(numbers in thousands)
Year %Workforce Total members
1948 31.8 14,271
1949 31.9 13,935
1950 31.6 14,294
1951 31.7 15,139
1952 32.0 15,632
1953 32.5 16,310
1954 32.3 15,808
1955 31.8 16,126
1956 31.4 16,446
1957 31.2 16,497
1958 30.3 15,570
1959 29.0 15,438
1960 28.6 15,516
1961 28.5 15,400
1962 30.4 16,893
1963 30.2 17,133
1964 30.2 17,597
1965 30.1 18,268
1966 29.6 18,922
1967 29.9 19,667
1968 29.5 20,017
1969 28.7 20,185
1970 29.6 20,990
1971 29.1 20,711
1972 28.8 21,205
1973 28.5 21,881
1974 28.3 22,165
1975 28.9 22,207
1976 27.9 22,153
1977 26.2 21,632
1978 25.1 21,756
1979 24.5 22,025
1980 23.2 20,968
1981 22.6 20,646
1982 21.9 19,571
1983 20.7 18,633
1984 18.8 17,340
1985 18.0 16,996
1986 17.5 16,975
1987 17.0 16,913
1988 16.8 17,002
1989 16.4 16,960
1990 16.1 16,740
1991 16.1 16,568
1992 15.8 16,390
1993 15.8 16,598
1994 15.5 16,748
1995 14.9 16,326
1996 14.5 16,269
1997 14.1 16,110
1998 13.9 16,211
1999 13.9 16,477
2000 13.5 16,258
2001 13.5 16,275
2002 13.3 16,146
2003 12.9 15,776
2004 12.5 15,472



Sources: Union Sourcebook 1947-1983; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics


The author talks about spineless managers making promises they can't keep, unfunded pensions-and we keep falling for that unfunded pension trap. A pension not funded every month into your account is merely an unsecured promise to pay, keep believing the fairy tales, but you can be sure that ALPA management salaries won't take a hit.

"For spineless managers, making false promises is the easy way to dodge such fatal strikes. After all, like Members of Congress who expect to retire before Social Security goes belly up, why should an executive pick a fight today that can be fobbed off onto a successor tomorrow?

That is what needs to be fixed, for tomorrow has arrived. But where to begin?"

He offers a partial solution, but we all should know that the 401k is just a bone, a crumb thrown our way, when the pensions should be fully funded in our name-not managed by a company or union.

"Pilots are a lot trickier. I don’t know about you, but I get nervous when the pilot is my kid’s age. I’m happy to pay extra for a decade or two of experience for the person sitting in the left hand seat. Work rules can always use a tune-up, respectful of critical rest intervals, but moving these more highly compensated employees into a 401(k) plan similar to the ones the rest of us live with shouldn’t be asking too much to help assure their employer’s survival. Plus with a 401(k) they will at least know that the money is theirs and not co-mingled in the bowels of a terminally ill pension plan whose fate will surely end up in the hands of a bankruptcy judge sooner or later. And where will they be then?"






So, you fell for it and you want to blame him for pointing it out? OK.

Unions and governments just facilitate greed and stupidity, they can't fix it.