on 27/1/01 8:49 pm, John D. Giorgis at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> At 11:58 AM 1/26/01 -0800, Josh wrote:
>>> Nurses, teachers, firefighters, police -- all are getting the short end of
>>> the stick.
>>
>> Since they're all (except some nurses) government employees, what's the best
>> solution?
>
> Well yes - but these occuaptions have another thing in common - they are
> all heavily unionized. Now, I am not opposed to unions in general.
> Rather, I take objection to the *policies* generally pursued by unions.
>
> In particularly, unions persue policies geared to the lowest common
> denominator worker. Now, when you are dealing with commoditized workers
> doing highly unskilled and routine labor in a manufacturing plant, this is
> a very rational strategy. Unionization in these situations will almost
> certainly be able to produce some advancements in wage and working
> conditions. These strategies become less universally beneficial, however,
> in non-commoditized, *professional* occupations, like those listed above.
>
> For example, why is it that our best and brightest children do not pursue
> vocations in nursing, teaching, or law enforcement? I suspect that a
> strong portion of it is the lack of reward for merit. In business, or
> law, or medicine, if you become one of the very best in your profession you
> can expect to be very well rewarded. You can be the best nurse or
> teacher in the world, however, and you will still only be paid based on
> your years of service and the cost of living of your city.
The sticking point (as I understand it) for the teaching unions here in the
UK with regard to merit bonuses for excellence was that without a
substantial increase in the money allocated for paying teachers the
so-called bonuses were effectively (relative) *pay cuts* for teachers not
deemed excellent. Since teachers regarded themselves (quite realistically
given the shortage of teachers) as being underpaid anyway this approach was
unacceptable. Now that a better basic rate has been established the unions
are agreeable to *genuine* bonus pay above that.
--
William T Goodall
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk
