Unions: Gone the way of dinosaurs ?

Are unions going extinct ? Should they ?

I haven't made any secret here of my distaste for organized labour. It's pretty hard to be focused on defeating the business competition when union and management are battling each other every 2 or 3 years. I certainly don't think that it's any coincidence that Hershey has announced the closure of the Smiths Falls factory as part of their "global supply chain transformation", with no other concrete plans revealed. I'm thinking that the threat of yet another strike, following the 6 week shut-down and $14M clean-up cost due to salmonella contamination likely made this a pretty easy decision to make.

Today's PA Times-Leader has a story Crossroads for unions speculating that union's day might be done.

“One thing that we know is that 40 years ago, labor unions were the Tyrannosaurus Rex of politics,” he said. “Today, they are a smaller, less-dangerous dinosaur. Whether they’ll soon be extinct remains to be seen.”

A half century ago, about a third of American workers were members of unions. Federal labor statistics show that’s down to 12 percent, after a loss last year of more than 325,000 workers from union ranks."

Need more evidence ? Instead of lay-offs.... whose hiring ??

Much of the economic growth in recent years has been in the Sun Belt, including states with little history of union support but with eagerness to welcome good-pay jobs.

“They give ‘em just about anything they want to locate here,” said Robert Shaffer, president of the AFL-CIO in Mississippi, where the state recently offered an incentives package worth some $300 million to Toyota. The Japanese automaker will build an assembly plant in Tupelo, bringing 2,000 jobs to an area that has seen other jobs move overseas.

So, I'm thinking.... if you have a good job, with benefits, pension, a decent wage,etc... why strike ? If your not liking your job, well ....i'm quite sure anyone was welcome to use the door ... permanently. And guess what ... there's at least 100 just waiting to get in. Well, there was.

Hershey has 2500 lay-offs remaining to be announced... they have 2 unionized & 1 non-union plants in PA ....

Care to make a wager on what ones get hit ????