Unions ...... Good Or Bad??

Hehe- true! delete me outta here. I've become part of the problem!

We all become part of the problem in conversations like this. They're great at times but they never stay that way for long.

So, getting back to the topic at hand ...

Sam C. --- this has turned into quite a tennis match here, and we've already lost a spectator (RI Red). It looks like we will never see eye to eye on this hard work = sure road to riches, statement of yours. Nonetheless, as I said before, you state some valid points, but the world is not so cut and dry. I commend you for your stand on personal responsibility, more people need that attitude (but not the one where they think it's hard to be the smart one here).

The world you describe is one of true or perfect meritocracy and that is something that we do not have.

I'll try and steer back the conversation to unions, how do you think we can achieve higher pay for truckers? (I pray to God that your answer is not to work harder!)

I went on to get accepted to Harvard University (didn't go because I didn't like the program set up) as well as 15 other colleges.

Explain again how this comment proves my point bogus and invalid. Let me get this straight, YOU didn't want to go to Harvard so now it's someone else's fault you ended up homeless and unsuccessful? Once again I stand by my point from the start. People need to be accountable for the decisions they make in life that got them to the point they are. I'm sure it's hard for those Harvard graduates to find successful jobs.

I said I didn't go to Harvard. I did not say I didn't go to college. Reading comprehension is a big key to success. Assumptions usually lead to failure Now I can see how you're going to act so I'll leave the discussion.

I've already answered that question. There is no such thing as higher pay across the board for truckers in general. We live in a society today that has more low skilled workers then jobs available. Companies have no incentive to raise wages because people can be replaced relatively easy. Instead of trying to keep employees they are simply dealing with the constant turn around as they search and invest into ideas on how to replace them permanently. If you haven't already seen the self driving truck videos that they are testing, you should. Business is business. The future of low skill jobs has been on the decline for a long time. The better technology gets, the worse it looks for blue collar.

The future of low skill jobs has been on the decline for a long time. The better technology gets, the worse it looks for blue collar.

And yet the executives and the corporations they run have higher salaries, profits, and cash on hand then at anytime in recorded history. So the poor man keeps getting poorer and the rich man and the big corporations keep getting richer, right? That's what we've also been saying from the start. You just described the basics of the situation perfectly, so I know you're seeing what's happening at some level. And yet at the same time you don't seem to recognize that the reality we face is a problem in the first place, and it's one that can easily be solved and should be.

You honestly seem to think it makes sense that one man makes $10 million dollars a year while thousands live in poverty producing the goods that made him rich in the first place? If that makes sense to you then there's no sense in debating this because it doesn't make sense to me.

If the middle class continues to dissolve and wealth continues to collect in the hands of fewer and fewer people then the 99.999% of us that aren't multi-millionaires are going to be peasants living in poverty while a handful of kings rule the kingdom. You know, like we had it throughout most of miserable human history?

And if technology was the problem then why were factory workers making a killing and the middle class thriving in 1969 when we put men on the moon? Isn't that enough technology in place already to prevent blue collar workers from being valuable enough to make a living wage? It seems to me we had incredible technology, executives and corporations made tons of money, and workers were able to make a nice wage all at the same time. Why can't we do that today? If you look at where the money is going you'll see that we easily could do that today.

The future of low skill jobs has been on the decline for a long time

I am going to assume, that you are not talking about being a truck driver. If so, then yes that is a sad and unfortunate truth. But if you lump driving a big rig in with low skill, then you are in the wrong industry. True, most anyone can go and get a CDL , but out of the thousands that do every year, only a handful ever become QUALITY PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS, and make it in the industry.

If you haven't already seen the self driving truck videos that they are testing, you should.

The automated truck will always require a driver to be present, for one main reason. Humans built it, and programmed, it, so it will always break down, and even the most powerful computer in the world, cannot operate on instinct, and account for the thousands of variables that can and do happen on the highway.

Yes Brett I am saying that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. When we sent a man to the moon we still hadn't figured out how to make automated machines as efficient as they are today. Back in the day of the manufacturing boom it took 1 person for each job in the factory. Now it takes 1 person to look over 5 machines that do 15 people's jobs faster and more efficient than 30 people. Look, I get that it sucks, but it's the reality that we live in. I used to work for a company that made computer chips. I soldered capacitors onto computer chips every day for about 9 months. There were 15 of us that soldered and another 10 who checked for mistakes. About 9 months into the job, the owner purchased a wave solder machine. Guess what, 23 people were let go the week after it was up and running. 1 older Chinese lady had been working for that company since it opened 5 years earlier. This is business. People are expendable. Machines are the future. Now if you want a machine to take over for the ceo, that's fine, but it would have to have artificial intelligence. Our job as workers is to do 1 simple thing day in and day out. No real mind power needed. Ceos have to use their heads.

Sorry Dan if I stepped on your toes about driving being a low skill job but it is. Most people don't make it as a trucker, once they have their cdl , not because the job takes to much skill. They quit because they miss having a life. This job used to be a lot harder but technology has dumbed it down.

I've already answered that question. There is no such thing as higher pay across the board for truckers in general. We live in a society today that has more low skilled workers then jobs available. Companies have no incentive to raise wages because people can be replaced relatively easy. Instead of trying to keep employees they are simply dealing with the constant turn around as they search and invest into ideas on how to replace them permanently. If you haven't already seen the self driving truck videos that they are testing, you should. Business is business. The future of low skill jobs has been on the decline for a long time. The better technology gets, the worse it looks for blue collar.

That would depend on the job and the economy.

In a "boomtown," wages are higher, but so is the cost of living...see North Dakota oil field towns.

Every time I turn on Road Dog Trucking I hear this trucking company on that trucking company having the "highest cents per mile in the industry," or some other incentive.

Dave

Yes Brett I am saying that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. When we sent a man to the moon we still hadn't figured out how to make automated machines as efficient as they are today. Back in the day of the manufacturing boom it took 1 person for each job in the factory. Now it takes 1 person to look over 5 machines that do 15 people's jobs faster and more efficient than 30 people. Look, I get that it sucks, but it's the reality that we live in. I used to work for a company that made computer chips. I soldered capacitors onto computer chips every day for about 9 months. There were 15 of us that soldered and another 10 who checked for mistakes. About 9 months into the job, the owner purchased a wave solder machine. Guess what, 23 people were let go the week after it was up and running. 1 older Chinese lady had been working for that company since it opened 5 years earlier. This is business. People are expendable. Machines are the future. Now if you want a machine to take over for the ceo, that's fine, but it would have to have artificial intelligence. Our job as workers is to do 1 simple thing day in and day out. No real mind power needed. Ceos have to use their heads.

Sorry Dan if I stepped on your toes about driving being a low skill job but it is. Most people don't make it as a trucker, once they have their cdl , not because the job takes to much skill. They quit because they miss having a life. This job used to be a lot harder but technology has dumbed it down.

I have steel toe boots

That's only partially true. Boomtown, as you refer to it, are short term. Especially in the oil industry. It works like this, when the price per barrel is high, business is booming and the companies are willing to pay higher in order to make more money. The reason they pay higher is simplesimple, they want people to rush to them and get to work. Now when the price per barrel drops and the companies are no longer making millions they cut the employees and shut down. Sure they were still making thousands when the price dropped but they aren't in the business to make thousands. They want millions! It's not worth it if they aren't making millions. There is enough oil in the US to cover our needs but with what they would have to pay for employees, testing the land for regulations, the publicist cost so they can counter the tree huggers, and many more expenses. It's just not worth it. Look at how many fraking companies have closed up shop or not even got off the ground. People want cheap goods but high pays and it just doesn't work like that. There is no incentive for a millionare to open a company that only nets him a hundred thousand a year. It's not worth the headache. This is why they are all going over seas where labor costs are minimal, no Oshawa regulations, and no medical costs. Businesses are in the business to make money. They don't care about what goods they are selling as long as you're buying.

Now for the rest of us, we want the opposite. We want companies to make less and pay us more. To keep the price of the product as low as possible so we can afford it. Sounds good in theory but isn't reality.