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Walker takes broad swipe at public employee unions

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liblady said:
yes...let's continue our race to the bottom. when salaries fall for public school teachers, they will fall for private school teachers. then who do you think will be standing in line to teach our children?
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Why would private salaries drop if public ones do?
 
randel said:
they treat employees well?? seems to me i remember having read where their benefits suck, where they have locked in employees after hours 'till all the work was done, but tried to skate out of paying overtime.....yeah, sounds like a great place.:roll:
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My favorite is their practice of taking out life insurance on employees and then collecting benefits when they die. How is that ethical? By the way:

Walmart CEO Michael Duke's Pay: More in an Hour Than Workers Get All Year? - ABC News
By Ed Smith's math, the CEO of Walmart earns more in an hour than his employees will earn in a year.
Photo: Chicago alderman: "Sad" contrast between Wal-Mart CEO's pay and employee wages
ABC News
Chicago alderman Ed Smith has calculated that Walmart CEO Michael Duke earns more in an hour than... Expand
Chicago alderman Ed Smith has calculated that Walmart CEO Michael Duke earns more in an hour than his employees will earn in a year. Smith's numbers may be a bit off, according to an executive compensation firm, but he argues that there's still a "sad" contrast between the tens in millions of dollars Duke receives and the wages of his employees. Collapse

Smith, an alderman in Chicago, presented posters at a city council meeting showing that Walmart CEO Michael Duke's $35 million salary, when converted to an hourly wage, worked out to $16,826.92. By comparison, at a Walmart store planned for the Windy City's Pullman neighborhood, new employees to be paid $8.75 an hour would gross $13,650 a year.

Smith's numbers could be a bit off. Equilar, an executive compensation research firm, calculates that Duke earned just south of $20 million in 2009 and $28 million in 2008, not counting millions of dollars in potential performance awards. But the alderman argued that there's still a "sad" contrast between Duke's compensation and the wages of his employees.
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Seems like Walmart could use a union. By the way, that is a ratio of 2,150:1. Where would Walmart be without cashiers, janitors, and people to stock the shelves? This guy earns zero without those people, yet he makes over 2000 times their salary?

Yeah, I think they could use a union.
 
zimmer said:
The sweet smell of sobriety.

.
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More like the sour taste of right wing deception (and hypocrisy).

As a classical liberal, I wholeheartedly support the idea of laissez-faire capitalism, the idea of a neutral minimal government that doesn't tax people and/or run up deficits to redistribute money, and the right of any individual or entity (including one that calls itself the "State of Wisconsin") to hire whomever they damn well want (including someone undocumented), without having to abide by hiring laws of any kind, including those that require them to defer to union restrictions/guidelines.

However, GOPers have never been in favor of such a system.

It's more likely the case that Walker wants to cut State employee benefits to avoid cutting State subsidy payments to organizations/businesses favored by his backers (i. e. private business owners, CEOs). And, oh look. . .

Business subsidy reforms backed - JSOnline

Fat chance those reforms will pass. Alas, that's the trouble with right wingers--they're too addicted to welfare to balance any budgets.
 
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Conservative said:
Just another subject you know nothing about. I competed against Wal-Mart and know their salary and benefit packages quite well. You couldn't be more wrong but then again that is usual for you.
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ah yes, the 'all knowing, all seeing, all powerful' conservative has made an appearance....subjects that someone knows nothing about... sounds about like any thread you post in, and i will leave it there .
 
liblady said:
it's not deception. why would you think he'll stop with cutting benefits? this year, maybe, but what about the future? again, it seems republicans are intent upon destroying our middle class.
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The middle class also pays those wages and benefits.
I keep hearing how without Unions, the middle class will be destroyed. Sorry, I don't get the connection.
 
Teaching kids the same basic subjects over and over does not need:

1. 4-8 years of higher education
2. superior job security/stablity comapred to private sector
3. superior pensions and benefits compared to private sector in $ terms
4. more stable pensions/benefits compared to private sector
5. constant raises over 30 years, that compound and determine the pension value

You guys are nuts if you think you need a god damned graduate degree to teach public high school history. It's freaking insane.

In the private sector, you don't do the same entry-level job for life and expect to get constant pay increases, benefits, etc. you either plateua, or you move UP the chain.
In the private sector, you don't even have pension typically, and if you do, they are riskier and have to be calcuated as such, compared to public state and federally backed pensions (taxpayer backed!)
In the private sector, you do not simply get a pay increase because you took more courses. It can actually be a detriment (overqualified)
In the private sector, you are not paid simply for a degree. You can become a VP with a high school education, it's merit based, not a check box.

Work max 10 years as a teacher, get a pension to carry forward, and move up the economic ladder to do something more challenging with your foundation of teaching skills. Milking it for 30 years is unecessary. We'd LIKe all those teachers in the private market if they are "talented" as they claim they are. Hiding out lecturing children all day is cheating everyone. Let the new teachers who still have passion come in and take over. I mean, we need the job openings right?
 
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whysoserious said:
My favorite is their practice of taking out life insurance on employees and then collecting benefits when they die. How is that ethical? By the way:

Walmart CEO Michael Duke's Pay: More in an Hour Than Workers Get All Year? - ABC News


Seems like Walmart could use a union. By the way, that is a ratio of 2,150:1. Where would Walmart be without cashiers, janitors, and people to stock the shelves? This guy earns zero without those people, yet he makes over 2000 times their salary?

Yeah, I think they could use a union.
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wally world is notorious for their anti-union stance, as well as their tactics to prevent unions from getting in, many, which include the termination of employees suspected of being pro union, are illegal, but wally world violates the law any way, as the fines are not much of a deterrent to a company as large as they are.
 
randel said:
ah yes, the 'all knowing, all seeing, all powerful' conservative has made an appearance....subjects that someone knows nothing about... sounds about like any thread you post in, and i will leave it there .
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You made a statement about Wal-Mart pay, now back it up
 
randel said:
wally world is notorious for their anti-union stance, as well as their tactics to prevent unions from getting in, many, which include the termination of employees suspected of being pro union, are illegal, but wally world violates the law any way, as the fines are not much of a deterrent to a company as large as they are.
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Bet you don't mind shopping at Wal-Mart and getting those great prices. Who do you think pays union salaries if not the prices for the products you purchase.
 
liblady said:
seriously? private schools won't have to compete with public school salaries......
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So you are of the mind that without unions, people just pay their employees the bare minimum that they can get away with. That's just sad.
 
Boo Radley said:
You think? :coffeepap
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doh!! i forgot, they are union, must literally be sitting on their collective asses, doing nothing, and someone just hands them a check...lazy bastards! :mrgreen:
 
randel said:
maybe they earn it?
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So they have jobs on the side that aren't paid for by taxpayers? They keep that money separate to pay their union dues? Yea, that makes sense.
 
randel said:
maybe they earn it?
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Oh, My God! The earn it? What product do they sell that generates revenue? I cannot believe that statement, they earn it? Thanks for the great laugh this afternoon.
 
Mach said:
Competition in the free market is new to you? I blame our education system.
If Wal-Mart moved in to compete, you can move out to compete.
You can also pick a market to compete in without Wal-Mart. Hell, you can use Wal-Mart in your supply chain.

You don't really have a point in any of this.
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Right out of the Economics 101 junior college text book. Too bad real life does not work that way.

And I love how you make your point as a participant but then have to put on the referee uniform to announce that you are the winner. Humility anyone?
 
Conservative said:
Bet you don't mind shopping at Wal-Mart and getting those great prices. Who do you think pays union salaries if not the prices for the products you purchase.
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sorry cochise...i don't shop wally world.
 
Conservative said:
You made a statement about Wal-Mart pay, now back it up
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I did for him.

Conservative said:
Bet you don't mind shopping at Wal-Mart and getting those great prices. Who do you think pays union salaries if not the prices for the products you purchase.
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Did you even read my post? The CEO makes a ratio of 2150:1. You are saying Wal-Mart cannot afford unions without raising prices?
 
Barbbtx said:
So they have jobs on the side that aren't paid for by taxpayers? They keep that money separate to pay their union dues? Yea, that makes sense.
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they perform a service, so yes, they EARN their money.
 
In almost all cases, CEOs get paid high salaries because they sucked enough **** above them to get it. Teachers don't get that kind of dough because too many of them waste their time caring about kids instead of sucking ****.
 
randel said:
sorry cochise...i don't shop wally world.
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Your choice, millions and millions of others choose differently and they go to Wal-Mart because of the lower prices.

Cannot wait until you answer the question about where the money comes from that union workers "earn."
 
Catawba said:
90% of American are not college educated. Lets see your facts showing teachers are overpaid for their education level.
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OK.

Average salary in the U.S. for a college graduate: $43,000 and average for a masters is $53,000.

Source

I'd say that falls well within the range of teachers, EXCEPT, when you figure the average hourly rate.

In that case:

Bachelors Degree:
Teachers- $28.00/hour
Non-Teachers- $20.67/hour

Masters Degree:
Teachers- $34.50/hour
Non-teachers- $25.48/hour

These numbers don't include benefits.
 
Conservative said:
Your choice, millions and millions of others choose differently and they go to Wal-Mart because of the lower prices.

Cannot wait until you answer the question about where the money comes from that union workers "earn."
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seriously? are seriously saying, that these folks don't earn their pay? thank you for the best laugh i've had all day.
 
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