New way for workers to get back power.

[Kiljan Arslan]

This is a way worker orginizations can have more power over their employers, and they won't have to worry about striking. Buy stock in the company if the company tries to screw you you and other workers threaten to sell the stock causing the stock to lose value.

[Big War Bird]

Only in the short term is value of stock effected by buying and selling activity. Over the long term the value of a stock is based on the present value of future profits.

[Kiljan Arslan]

Still it could be affected if say 100,000 workers each holding 10 shares dumped those shares in a short amount of time?

[Big War Bird]

Still it could be affected if say 100,000 workers each holding 10 shares dumped those shares in a short amount of time?

For the workers to have a say in management they would have to own a considerable portion of the stock. There are only several dozen companies in the USA a with payrolls that large, walmart being the largest with 1.8 million, McDonalds second with 447,000. Those companies have hundreds of millions to billions of shares.

[Kiljan Arslan]

How much is a walmart share though?

[Big War Bird]

How much is a walmart share though?

As of the close of business today it was $46.22, with 4.1 billion shares for a market capitalization of $189.91 billion.

[Niccolo Machiavelli]

And how much power is a walmart share? Nice idea though - that way they'd actually work and stop making claims in order to want to increase their stocks value ...

[Thanatos]

Pshaw. The workers need to "get back" power? That's silly. They already have way more than all the power they need in unions.

[Rhinosaur]

So your answer is for more union membership Thanatos? I like it

[Kiljan Arslan]

Okay that idea goes down the trash shoot.

[Rhinosaur]

Thanatos' idea about union membership is good though.

[Kiljan Arslan]

Unions!? Great Idea but nowadays unless its a goverment job unions have little say at all in their pay.

[Rhinosaur]

Depends on how active the membership is, and how well they can state their case to the public, besides what is bearable to employers. And the worm will turn as far as administrations friendly to labor, nothing lasts forever.

[Poisoner]

Unions get in the way of good capitalism.

[Kiljan Arslan]

So nice to see you drop in posioner explain why.

[Thanatos]

I won't be back on the threads until way later today, but here goes anyways.

The problem, Kiljan, is that unions make it nearly impossible to fire anyone, which is absolutely terrible. If stores can't even fire the employees they hire, then all those employees are, are parasites.

Unions exist only to make you unfire-able, and to pay you more than you're worth.

I however, would still not want to see us return to the days of the Industrial Revolution.

[Ragabash]

Unions exist only to make you unfire-able, and to pay you more than you're worth.

And who is right to determine value of the worker? Employers hire cheapest labor available, is that a good way to determine worker price for the company, absolutely not.

When you are first time sacked from a job just to raise stock holders bank account, or you need to take a job with unrealistic low payment compared to job you are doing to support your family, you will realise how important it's to have third party control over employment, salaries, work safety, etc.

Don't live in a fantasy world where companies are victims of the unions, it's far from that, once you get older you will notice how the real world works.

[Poisoner]

And who is right to determine value of the worker? Employers hire cheapest labor available, is that a good way to determine worker price for the company, absolutely not.

When you are first time sacked from a job just to raise stock holders bank account, or you need to take a job with unrealistic low payment compared to job you are doing to support your family, you will realise how important it's to have third party control over employment, salaries, work safety, etc.

Don't live in a fantasy world where companies are victims of the unions, it's far from that, once you get older you will notice how the real world works.

Not all employers hire the cheapest labor availible. Anyone who takes a job with unrealistic low pay does so out of desperation, not choice. Employers will pay more if you have more training. Why do a lot of people ask for college graduates when you have to pay them more? Because they are more educated, and often make better employees. Which is a direct violation of your claims. I suggest you step out of your fantasy world and take notice of how the real world works. Nobody forces anyone to take a job.

[Ramashan]

Actually I'm quite a bit older and I have many problems with unions. On one side I do see the benefits of them, on the other, I see some unions as being jus tas greedy and non-employee interested as the companies they claim to oppose. Part of the reason why many factories up and left is because the unions would not budge on certain things.

But granted, things are far more complicated then that. My gripe with unions is that some can be elitist. I lost work because of a union that changed its rules which made me have to work an extra three years to gain entry and in time I had to leave that career for health issues that would have been covered had I been able to join in the first place. Also, recall several times where I had to teach these union folk how to do their job because they got into the union through nepitism and back door policies that I was not lucky enough to gain.

On the other side, because the union exists, my pay in the non-union world is much better. So, as I said, love hate relationship.

As for the original point of this thread. I am an ardent supporter of employee stock ownership and I believe every company should have an ESOP plan.

[Kiljan Arslan]

SoYes something is forcing them Posioner its called being able to feed themselves.