Sunday, February 16, 2014

UAW vote: Not a landslide but it wasn't close either.

(My new American Thinker post)

 By any election standard, we would call a 53-47% victory a strong win.  It's not a landslide but wasn't close either.

The workers in a Tennessee plant shook up union leaders in the last 24 hours, as reported by The Wall Street Journal:
"Volkswagen workers rejected the union by a vote of 712 to 626. The defeat raises questions about the future of a union that for years has suffered from declining membership and influence, and almost certainly leaves its president, Bob King, who had vowed to organize at least one foreign auto maker by the time he retires in June, with a tarnished legacy.   

"If the union can't win [in Chattanooga], it can't win anywhere," said Steve Silvia, a economics and trade professor at American University who has studied labor unions."
The unions are trying to spin it by saying that they lost by 80-something votes.  No way!  They lost 53-47%.

I think that the voters rejected the union for a few reasons:

1) Union membership means little these days.  It does not guarantee jobs as we've learned in Michigan or Ohio.  In fact, you can argue that union membership will drive plants elsewhere.

2) What do you get for paying dues?  You support Democrats and not much else.  Union contributions go Democrat and that does not play well in Tennessee.

Last,but not least, union membership gets you leaders who didn't read Obama Care or how it would impact jobs.  Why vote for unions that don't read or understand the laws that they fight to pass?

Why join a union?  I think that is why 53% said "no thanks"!  53% said that they are happy keeping their own money rather than paying dues.

P. S. You can hear CANTO TALK here & follow me on Twitter @ scantojr.
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A couple of “fechas” to remember this weekend


(My new Babalu post)
We recall a couple of dates from Cuban history this weekend.   
First, the Maine blew up in Cuba on February 15, 1898.   This is from the front page of The NY Times the next day:     
"At 9:45 o'clock this evening a terrible explosion took place on board the United States battleship Maine in Havana Harbor. 
Many persons were killed or wounded. All the boats of the Spanish cruiser Alfonso XII. are assisting.  
As yet the cause of the explosion is not apparent. The wounded sailors of the Maine are unable to explain it. It is believed that the battleship is totally destroyed.  
The explosion shook the whole city. The windows were broken in nearly all the houses. 
The correspondent of the Associated Press says he has conversed with several of the wounded sailors and understands from them that the explosion took place while they were asleep, so that they can give no particulars as to the cause."    
"The United States initially recognized the new Cuban dictator but withdrew its support after Castro launched a program of agrarian reform, nationalized U.S. assets on the island, and declared a Marxist government."
He also closed newspapers, threw people in prison and executed many.   He started the destruction of Cuba that day!
These two events ignited changes in Cuba.
The Maine explosion led to the US-Spanish War and the eventual independence of Cuba in 1902.   Castro's promotion to prime minister legitimized a man who never wanted democracy in Cuba.
A couple of "fechas" to tell your kids about.
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We remember the late Jim Fregosi, one of my favorite plaeyrs

We remember Jim Fregosi who passed away yesterday:

 "Jim Fregosi, the first star player in Angels franchise history and the manager who guided them to their first American League West championship in 1979, died early Friday in a Miami hospital after suffering a stroke in the Cayman Islands. 

 He was 71.  His death was announced by the Angels, who retired his No. 11 jersey and inducted him into their Hall of Fame in 1998." 

Fregois was a great player, an AL All star, manager of the 1979 AL West champion Angels and 1993 NL champion Phillies.  

He is also remembered for a 1971 trade that sent Fregosi to the Mets and a very young Nolan Ryan to the Angels.  Ryan turned into a Hall of Fame pitcher and Fregosi was over his prime.

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