Ronald Reagan on unions and collective bargaining

[Will Carry]

This is my Republican party. Fox "news" has gone too far, they do not speak for me.

Ronald Reagan:

"Where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden, freedom is lost. They remind us that freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. You and I must protect and preserve freedom here or it will not be passed on to our children and it would disappear everywhere in the world. Today the workers in Poland are showing a new generation how high is the price of freedom but also how much it is worth that price."

And…

“Collective bargaining in the years since has played a major role in America’s economic miracle. Unions represent some of the freest institutions in this land. There are few finer examples of participatory democracy to be found anywhere. Too often, discussion about the labor movement concentrates on disputes, corruption, and strikes. But while these things are headlines, there are thousands of good agreements reached and put into practice every year without a hitch.â€

[hardknox00001]

This is my Republican party. Fox "news" has gone too far, they do not speak for me.

Ronald Reagan:

"Where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden, freedom is lost. They remind us that freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. You and I must protect and preserve freedom here or it will not be passed on to our children and it would disappear everywhere in the world. Today the workers in Poland are showing a new generation how high is the price of freedom but also how much it is worth that price."

And…

“Collective bargaining in the years since has played a major role in America’s economic miracle. Unions represent some of the freest institutions in this land. There are few finer examples of participatory democracy to be found anywhere. Too often, discussion about the labor movement concentrates on disputes, corruption, and strikes. But while these things are headlines, there are thousands of good agreements reached and put into practice every year without a hitch.”

That may be a true Ronald Reagan quote, and I liked Reagan alot. However, what this quote says and what he did to the unionized striking air traffic controllers seems to me to be opposites of each other.

[daddyo]

I don't believe Reagan was referring to public sector unions that feed off the taxpayers.

[mikegideon]

I don't believe Reagan was referring to public sector unions that feed off the taxpayers.

What is the difference?

[Will Carry]

That's true! He busted the air traffic controller union. I forgot about that. Wasn't he the head of the screne actors guild? I've never been in a union, being a southerner and all, but FOX got on my bad side when they started talking about teachers making $51K and getting lavish benefits and all. My mother was a school teacher and my wife is a retired school teacher. I'm a blue collar worker. Those FOX "news" talking heads are making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year and they are totally out of touch with the working man (and women). They do not speak the Republican party I know. They say what ever it takes to keep their ratings up. They are payed to be conservative. I'm that way by nature.

[Mike.357]

Reagan is your alls god.

The republican party I know spends almost as fast as the democrats. Not too much difference between crapping the country away at the speed of sound or the speed of light when it boils out.

Edited March 13, 2011 by Mike.357
typo

[Lumber_Jack]

What is the difference?

Neither the union or the state has skin in the game, its the taxpayer.

[dou44]

i would take reagan over who we have now,for that matter iwould take jimmy carter and i did not like him much.

[mikegideon]

Reagan is your alls god.

The republican party I know spends almost as fast as the democrats. Not too much difference between crapping the country away at the speed of sound or the speed of light when it boils out.

Reagan was a liberal, then a conservative, then ran up a bigass deficit and left. I didn't dislike the guy, but I don't view him as a God. Sorta like my first real girlfriend. Fond memories, but when I really think about it, she was kind of a bitch.

[mikegideon]

Neither the union or the state has skin in the game, its the taxpayer.

You could spin anything like that. I just don't know any teachers that are living lavish lifestyles. Just more shell game for us dumbass taxpayers.

[Mike.357]

Reagan was a liberal, then a conservative, then ran up a bigass deficit and left. I didn't dislike the guy, but I don't view him as a God. Sorta like my first real girlfriend. Fond memories, but when I really think about it, she was kind of a bitch.

Regan was a decent actor and I could never tell when he was acting or not while in the oval office. And he was pretty good, almost as good as the guy now is at spending our money.

[Lumber_Jack]

You could spin anything like that. I just don't know any teachers that are living lavish lifestyles. Just more shell game for us dumbass taxpayers.

I agree with the notion that no teachers are livin high on the hog, but some do get pensions far too long. I still stand behind the fact that a 401k plan would serve both the teachers and state far better.

[dlm37015]

its not the teachers its the union

[daddyo]

What is the difference?

Andrew Klavan says it so much better than I ever could...

[Guest m&pc9]

Andrew Klavan says it so much better than I ever could...

That was good.

[mikegideon]

Andrew Klavan says it so much better than I ever could...

That was a good description of the difference in the public and private sectors in general. Looks like the union part is pretty much the same for both. Even without unions, the politicians are taking our money and spending it the way they choose, and it always includes paying back their supporters. There will be a lot of waste so they can benefit personally.

[daddyo]

That was a good description of the difference in the public and private sectors in general. Looks like the union part is pretty much the same for both. Even without unions, the politicians are taking our money and spending it the way they choose, and it always includes paying back their supporters. There will be a lot of waste so they can benefit personally.

I agree, but the intent of the thread was to make it look like President Reagan would have supported collective bargaining for public sector unions when there was no evidence to support that notion.

[DaveTN]

There’s good and bad in everything. If the Unions were gone today, you would want them back tomorrow.

I doubt there are very many here who’s salary and benefits are not a direct results of the unions.

DISCLAIMER: I’m not in a union and don’t want to be in one. But I do work in manufacturing and I can say without a doubt that if it weren’t for unions we would not be enjoying the lifestyle many of us have; union member or not.

[mikegideon]

I agree, but the intent of the thread was to make it look like President Reagan would have supported collective bargaining for public sector unions when there was no evidence to support that notion.

I don't know how Reagan would have stood on the issue. If he were to run today, he may not be a Tea Party endorsed candidate. He was conservative, but probably not conservative enough for some of the current crop.

[hkusp40cal]

As to the notion of teacher and pay. It really depends on where you live. Here in TN the teachers are under paid. However, in states like Maryland teachers are paid well and still complain constantly about the pay. As a good example, my father did taxes on the side and he did the taxes for our next door neighbor who was a middle school science teacher. Her pay in the late 80's was 61K a year (she did have a masters). Compare that to what teachers make here in TN. So it really depends on where you are as to how nice a teachers lifestyle can be. As a comparison at that time my father was a credit manager for a 100 million dollar a year credit load concrete company and only made 45K a year.

[mikegideon]

Cost of living varies widely across the US too.

[daddyo]

As to the notion of teacher and pay. It really depends on where you live. Here in TN the teachers are under paid. However, in states like Maryland teachers are paid well and still complain constantly about the pay. As a good example, my father did taxes on the side and he did the taxes for our next door neighbor who was a middle school science teacher. Her pay in the late 80's was 61K a year (she did have a masters). Compare that to what teachers make here in TN. So it really depends on where you are as to how nice a teachers lifestyle can be. As a comparison at that time my father was a credit manager for a 100 million dollar a year credit load concrete company and only made 45K a year.

So, what does the average teacher make in TN?

[Spook]

You gotta look at the context of Reagan's election and presidency. His budget increases were largely tied to rebuilding a military that had been in decline since Viet Nam. Remember that during the Carter years the economy had tanked and the U.S. was considered very weak - the economy and the Iranian hostage crisis had put the U.S. in a "malaise". Reagan promised to revive America. I think he did so in a large manner. While we spent alot of treasure in doing so, we did win the Cold War. Our country became stronger for it. Domestically, as others have noted, he broke PATCO, the air traffic controllers union. My guess is that he would not have been too keen on supporting other public sector unions.

[M4sherman]

Unions are like any other type of government. By that I mean that when they know what is fair to both parties and only push for what is fair they are great, but when they get greedy and start overstepping what the market can handle they quickly become an major P.I.T.A

I have a Funny story about the Air traffic control strike. You see my grandfather was one of the many people who went on strike back then and he said he did it more for fun than anything. well he held out and got fired but amazingly he was rehired.....because he took his vacation to go on strike

[Guest 6.8 AR]

He was honest