Fair is Fair

On my way in to work I was listening to the local talk radio station, WJR 760. Paul W. Smith was interviewing the UAW President Ron Gettelfinger. Now let me start off by stating that I have a anti union stance, and living in Michigan that does not make me a very popular person, but I hold to my beliefs. Back to the interview, Paul W asked Ron to make a comment about what American Axel had to say concerning the workers, UAW and moving to Mexico. American Axel made a statement that the reason they were moving plants to Mexico was not because of the Union, but rather because the American employees they hire have a above average rate of absenteeism compared to the Mexican workers. I was not due to lower labor cost, because that really is not the case anymore, but to the dedication of the workers.Mr. Gettelfinger had an opportunity here to stand up for the union and state that yes we have an issue with some of our members, and yes it is something we need to work on. But instead he chose to respond with, oh, you mean Mexican Axel, and I got to go….

My frustration stems from not what the union represents, or should I say use to represent, fair pay for fair work, but from what it now represents, an entitlement attitude. It is the is prevailing idea that just because I show up I deserve, and based on Mr. Gettelfinger comments on the Paul W show you don’t even need to show up. Ron went on to say that it was only because of the greedy corporations that they were moving to Mexico. It seems kind of funny coming from the Union, who only watch out for their own, and have no great care for the community around them. They have created a state that is over paid for unskilled labor, an environment that is not business friendly and one that many corporations do not want to move in to. They force membership on all workers, yet claim to be for the worker. Now please understand me, I know many good and hard working Union members and I know many good and hardworking non union members, I also know that there are good and bad companies. My issue is the mentality that we are owed anything, whether it be work, health insurance or a place to live This idea of being entitled to a job or owning a home or anything else is silly.

 The founding fathers never stated we were owed any of this, what they did state was that we all had equal opportunity to achieve happiness. Happiness is not entitlement; happiness is not government hand outs or union protection. What we are guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States of America is the pursuit of Happiness and that we are all created equal, there for we have equal access to the pursuit. 

I have no problem with leveling the playing field, like I stated above, I agree with what the unions use to stand for, I have no problem with equal pay for equal work, or a fair pay for fair work. I do not think anyone should be given a disadvantage based on color or sex or creed, I believe that we all should have the same opportunities offered, no special preference for this group or that group.

But this is not the way of the land; it has become a nation of special interest groups, each striving for that extra leg up, that advantage over the other groups. Each claiming they are deserving of special treatment.  If we continue down this path we will end up with a nation divided, a nation of groups each with their own set of laws and concerns and needs. And each believing that they are entitled to whatever they want.

Don’t believe me; just look around everyone is looking to the government to gain a group status, protection under the anti-discrimination laws. Your sexual orientation may soon be protected as a class. Think about this for a second, I as a non-gay member of society will have less protection under the law than a gay member of society. How is this a level playing field? How does this bring us together, create unity or fit into our constitution? Please understand that I agree that no one should be persecuted based on their sexual preferences, but I also think that no one should be give more rights than the other based on their preferences.

Fair is fair, equal is equal, we have laws that protect all groups from discrimination, use existing laws to enforce equality, do not create protected groups, do not segregate the population, segregation is a form of inequality.  

Ron Gettelfinger  had an opportunity to stand up for the union, to stand up for his workers, to show Americans and the world that the union is truly concerned about fairness, that the unions are not self serving organizations that really do not care about equality, but rather only about themselves. The American public needs to stop and take a hard look at the direction we are headed, they need to ask themselves if they really want a country that is segregating and grouping peoples in to nice neat little boxes, to help control them and those around them. Soon we will all be labeled by some special interest group, soon we will all be better that those other groups, more deserving than them, fighting for what is owed us, regardless of what we have earned.

Paul