The question is simple. The answer, not so much. Early in the history of this country the question of child labor, workplace safety and employee benefits was a take it or leave it proposal. Children were not allowed to work in harsh conditions, they were often forced to do so. Workplace safety was managed by simply hiring a replacement for the guy killed in the mine, buried in the concrete on a dam construction site or pulled into the machinery that manufactured your goods. And as for benefits, they were the sole province of the upper class, the management and corporate types.

Then entered the idea of collective bargaining. Have the workers stand with one voice and threaten to walk off the job if certain demand were not met, if children were not protected, safety not addressed and benefits not provided to show a sort of appreciation for the worker staying with a company for many years or even a lifetime. All noble ideas.

Turn to current day and look at General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. The first two are still American companies, Chrysler being absorbed by Daimler. They all have entered into collective bargaining agreements over the years that have in many ways stifled their ability to compete on the world market. G.M alone has a "benefit budget" that is bigger than it's manufacturing, marketing and transportation budgets combined. People yell and scream that the C.E.O. compensation packages and governmental regulations have in part lead to this problem. But the real problem here has been the Unions. They have forced, through there threat of strike, a major portion of our economic machine to kneel before them and be placed in a kind of corporate "time out". Don't get me wrong, G.M and Ford and others agreed to these requirements instead of letting the workforce walk like Caterpillar did in the 90's (only to have the union accept the original proposal put forth by management years earlier, and during which the white collar guys took to the production floor only to increase production and quality until the strike ended).

Today we have laws prohibiting child labor in dangerous environments, wages at most places that are nonunion have stayed competitive (for which we might have unions to thank, I admit the possibility) and benefits are now common place. The point is, unions have caused as much bad as good. The mentality that the "company" will take care of you in your old age has lead many to not prepare for the future on their own. If the company goes broke now, they are in trouble, i.e. United Airlines. And lets not forget O.S.H.A. and ANSI, both government bodies who live, eat and breathe safety regulation.

I'm not a union basher, but I think the time may have come to seriously consider the end of organized labor as it exists today. The world is not the bread lines of the early 30's, the world market is no longer the town, county, state or even country we live in, it is truly the world. Business needs to be able to compete. Outsourcing, another probable side effect of union wages and benefits rising, is the natural reaction of a company trying to stay alive and profitable.

Many companies have moved from pension plans solely financed by the company to 401K's, generally regarded as good for the company and the worker. Workers have some control over where the money goes to grow, and thanks to Reagan, it is no longer considered part of the corporate assets and can not be touched by the company for any reason, thus ensuring it will be there when retirement comes around. We all know that social security won't be there for us in the future, (News flash if you were not aware of this.)

Lastly, when did profit become a four letter word? Note to union leader nation wide, when the profit is all used up giving you all the benefits and wages you want, the company goes under. I know that should I ever exercise my freedom to start a small business, "PROFIT" will be a good thing.

One more thought, could it be that the unions know this already? Maybe it is just the idea that within the Democratic party they still hold some power. Power, like Profit, can be a driving force for someone on the verge of irrelevance.