I'm disgusted ran into these two young kids now married they went to school with 20.

[JT45242]

4. My old man was an accountant, always convinced owners to pay more than local union

He convinced the owners that although front end wage was higher, without a union they would spend less overall. But he made sure they got same insurance as the management -- and since that was his family's insurance, it was always pretty good.

He did insist on getting pensions or retirement matching for the workers.

Old man was a contradiction sometimes...wanted fair treatment of workers but didn't want to deal with union demands... especially for vacation.

Back then (he died early 90s), smart businesses did what he did. Give higher wages and some good benefits to prevent the risk of strikes and even better benefits. Now, the businesses have no fear of unions and treat workers like the cogs of the machine in the old movie Metropolis or Marx's theory of alienation.

As a teacher, I was involved in the union. When Ohio effectively decertified teachers and other public workers unions it was an early step towards the current fascist hellscape we live in.

Unions are badly needed today...maybe more so than any other time since the robber barons of the late 19th century.