Free choice with fries...

If anyone doubted the Labor Agenda and its potential negative impact on our economy, you need do nothing more than read Andy Stern's anti-McDonald's missive.  McDonald's is a large company which provides solid entry level jobs, decent benefits and flexible working arrangements for its employees.  No one is forced to work there - there are a host of entry level positions available - not as many with flexible hours though.  McDonald's offers management training, ownership opportunities and contributes of strong social programs across the country.  They are many of our first experiences of work. 

 

What the SEIU is trying to do is bully McDonalds employees into becoming a member of their union.  The disparity of CEO pay to base employee compensation is a matter for a responsible compensation board and the 770x multiple is misleading as it takes into account stock options (which may be worth zero at any given moment).   McDonald's provides simple food (one can make any case about nutritional value - it's about OUR choices) that people want.  I would be very interested to know exactly what benefits SEIU would offer organized members.  It was partly labor's intransigence which led the United States automobile industry, textile industry, steel industry and electronics industry overseas. 

 

Will their efforts cripple McDonald's as well?

 

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From: Michael Whitney-SEIU.org [mailto:info@seiu.org]
Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 2:47 PM
Subject: Go to McDonald's tomorrow at noon

Dear, Last week we told you that McDonald's wasn't lovin' free choice at work. Several thousand of you stood up and told the company what you think about their efforts to stop their employees' free choice. Now we're kicking our campaign into high gear. We want to speak directly with McDonald's employees about what it's like to work for a CEO who is paid 770 times what his workers earn, leaving working families with barely enough to afford the "Dollar Menu." We're organizing events at McDonald's locations around the country for TOMORROW at NOON. Can you take an hour tomorrow to go to your local McDonald's to educate McDonald's employees about free choice? Click here to find an event at a McDonald's near you and RSVP now. If you can't find an event near you, you can plan your own - it's easy, quick, and we provide all the materials you need. According to published reports, the fast food giant is organizing its store owners to oppose the Employee Free Choice Act. McDonald's has reportedly even formed an "internal response team...to actively participate in the opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act." The Employee Free Choice Act gives workers the free choice to join unions so they can bargain for better wages, benefits, and retirement security. But it's apparent that McDonald's doesn't want its employees to see any of that. It's time for McDonald's to give workers more of the wealth they help create, and it's up to us to tell them how to do so. Find or plan an event at a McDonald's near you TOMORROW at NOON to tell employees why they need free choice at work. Click here to RSVP. Thank you for your support of McDonald's employees and workers everywhere. In Solidarity, Michael Whitney Change that Works SEIU.org   PAID FOR BY SEIU. WWW.SEIU.ORG. THIS COMMUNICATION IS NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE OR CANDIDATE'S COMMITTEE.   SEIU 1800 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036 Unsubscribe

Media doesn't get it...

I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!

The M3O (Mass Market Media Outlets) have contributed more hysteria, misunderstanding and confusion to the current financial problems than the entire membership of the FASB. I am no longer going to use the term "main stream media" anymore as it no longer adequately describes the reach of mass market media. All throughout the problem period these past few weeks, the M3O mischaracterized the proposed stabilization plan (a better term than rescue or bailout) as a free ride for a few market insiders and corporate entities. In reality, the proposed plan was a purchase of radically discounted equity in a market stalled by the burden of toxic debt (meaning high risk and even some default). At no point was the federal government going to give a handout to anyone.

A concerned citizen, with a modicum of ability, could have easily begun to piece together the origins of the crisis and the basics of the possible resolution. What happened was that every talking head, pundit, news outlet and other mass market outlet started screaming about "bailouts" and "interfering with the free market" (as if the onerous regulations of SARBOX, the SEC and cruel mark-to-market accounting rules are not interference enough). The American public, rightly concerned about funding a program with no hope of return pressured their infinitely malleable congressional representatives and the whole initial house of cards collapsed in a flurry of grandstanding.

Add to the sound and fury the din of angry liberals/conservatives, goldbugs and TLC conspiracy freaks and the public all but stampeded to halt any meaningful action on the crisis. If the American public (read rest of the world) can not grasp the basics of a global economy and why having free flow of capital and credit is important, then having a hysterical media harp about "free rides" and other ridiculous comparisons will not aid that understanding. To be fair, the government did nothing to help educate the population on the issue. I am not sure that anyone would have believed them, but at least make an effort!

Our society has become extremely complex. Every action has implications far beyond expectations (for good and ill). And yet we are making decisions largely from a place of fear and emotion. As citizens we owe it to ourselves and our society to be as educated on the facts as possible. Almost nothing offered by the M3O is of any value. The details we must understand are challenging to grasp and open to interpretation. Taking a purely partisan approach (whether ideological or philosophical) is ridiculous and dangerous in the extreme.