Misconception that there is a lack of jobs in America.

[anunitu]

When the unions began,it was mainly the workers themselves who ran them,then there were managers who really had to real connection to the working trades. The unions became more about the union bosses,and less concern for the workers themselves.
People died in the early years when the unions were forming. There were strike breakers, that attacked the picketting workers,the companys would hire the strike breakers to intimadate the striking workers. Every good thing can over time become a negitive force.
The companys want the most,for the least money,and with the beginnings of the unions there was a certain balance for a time. The unions pushed for better conditions,but then became overly conditioned to forceing the companys to a point that the companys pushed back.
In the present day,the wheel is turning backwards,and many things that American workers concider "Rights"(rights won through unions) may not always be there(8 hour day,40 hour week,overtime, workers protections(safe working conditions))

The real solution is moderation on both sides,and concideration of the human condition.

[dedndave]

what turned good unions into bad unions was the "pension funds"
it didn't take long for crooked people to see there was a lot of dirty money to be made
if there were some way to seperate pension fund management from union management, unions might be good again
one other problem is that essentially unskilled laborers tend to be grossly over-paid
assembly-ine workers in Detroit come to mind - some of them make doctors salaries with a 7th grade education
this happens because promotions and raises are forced to those with time-in-grade,
rather than rewarding good performance or skill

[hutch--]

There was a form of capitalism in the old Soviet that appealed to me, people who had nice clean jobs in pleasant places got paid peanuts while those who did dirty hard jobs in unpleasant circumstances got paid good money for doing it.

Now this cashed out that if you were a professional working in a clean air conditioned (and probably heated) office performing pleasant tasks with nice friendly people you got paid peanuts while some poor bastard cleaning up sewerage in a mental hospital while being abused by loonies got paid a lot more money. Funny to find such a perfect supply and demand rule being applied in an old communist country.  :P

[jj2007]

Maybe there is no lack of jobs, but many of them are sooo horrible....

For example, there is a new member called jorgea (jorgesalarcon@gmail.com) whose job is to register in strange fora like ours, create a signature with all kinds of plain horrible advertisements in it, and then the poor guy has to read all posts and try to create imaginative replies :dazzled:

Honestly, I don't envy people for such dirty jobs.

[Bill Cravener]

Tomatoes, raw carrots, beans, nuts, eggs, lean beef, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, fish, and I would add to that lean pork, green beans, snap peas, red wine, dark ale, coffee and assembly language. My goodness, no wonder at the age of 60 I'm still so debonair!! :bg

[hutch--]

JJ,

His signature has changed and so will his ability to post if there is any more nonsense.  :bg

[Astro]

I think one issue is minimum wage. It seems that since this was introduced, the "menial" tasks such as cleaning are paid minimum wage, and they stay there.

Despite the minimum wage, for years in the catering industry here in the UK, waiters/waitresses were paid e.g. £2/hr and the rest of their salary was expected to be made up from the tips they'd collect. This has only just been overturned, and now they "only" earn minimum wage, with the tips going to the company profits and not the workers.

The minimum wage just went up for those over 21 to £6.08/hr. This in a country where rents are in excess of £1000/month (USD $1500/mo.) and gas costs £1.35/L ($9.20/imp. gallon).

[Bill Cravener]

How far does the average UK worker travel to work and back there in the UK Astro?

Americans travel roughly 30 miles round trip to work and back. Currently regular gas is $3.40 per gallon here in north-western PA but gas prices vary greatly across the country. I sometimes must travel 60 or more miles round trip to visit a client. At UK's price of over $9 per gallon I'd go broke even though I drive a small fuel efficient vehicle. My brother and I have a 2010 Chevy 3-quarter ton delivery van that loves fuel and I just can't imagine paying $9 bucks a gallon to fill its large fuel tank.

[clive]

How far does the average UK worker travel to work and back there in the UK

I don't have stats, but the problem is the driving is more congested, less direct, and the roads are smaller. The US has much better arterial road systems, at least if you're west of MA.

A lot of people on the south coast of the UK would commute via train into London, so figure that's around 50+ Miles each way, plus whatever distance they are from the nearest station. Others will drive similar distances.

A lot of the smaller towns/villages are of the order of 10-15 miles from major cities, where the jobs are more likely situated. I used to go 13 miles as the crow flies, the fastest route was of the order of 17 miles, and would take 30 minutes with little traffic. That could easily double if it got snarled up. In the US I can get twice that distance in 30 minutes.

[dedndave]

if you get one of those little cars that gets bunches of miles per gallon, you can see all of England on a tank of gas   :lol
(don't tell the wife i said that)

over here in the states, things are much more spread out
and, we drive cadiliacs and SUV's   :P