5 ms·

Who do you think requests more quantity of labor for every job?

by wil421 6y ago

throwaway0a5e 6y ago
The unions. And the contractors pass on the cost because the bigger the final dollar amount the more opportunity there is to squeeze in profit. And the beurcrats rubber stamp it because the bigger the amount of resources they control the more powerful they are. And the politicans ignore it because it provides them more power to do favors and a bigger haystack in which to bury their nepotism and unethical meddling. It's self serving waste all the way down. The fundamental problem is that nobody anywhere in the chain or responsibility wants to spend taxpayer money with precision, efficiency and care because doing otherwise is in their best interest, as is every other party, except the taxpayer who has no choice but to bend over and take it. It's not just a union problem. But rest assured the unions are doing all they can to perpetuate it as it benefits them.
- bjourne 6y ago
  How does that work? Unions do not run companies and hence have no say in negotiations between government offices and contractors. Unions only concern themselves with the relationship between the employees and the employer. I don't think you know what a union is.
  - bluGill 6y ago
    That isn't true. Union members vote. There are a lot of laws on the books about what can and cannot be done in those negotiations - many of them written by the union.
  - JPKab 6y ago
    In places like New York City the unions are easily able to stop the work of any private contractor. The private contractors know this and collaborate with the unions on ensuring that they are able to ensure that the contracts mandate union labor. This is not how most unions in the United States operate but they do operate this way in locations where the dominant political party has not changed for a hundred years, see NYC. It's rather condescending to indicate to someone that they don't understand what a union is. You should research a little bit more before you assume that unions aren't able to influence private companies that employ them when negotiating contracts with local governments. It's simply wrong. I'm very familiar with these details because I had to do a detailed analysis of labor costs for the WMATA which has to negotiate with unions to operate the DC metro system.
    - bjourne 6y ago
      That you have been involved in the project doesn't mean that you know where the real cost sinks are. The role of unions are discussed extensively in the linked to article's comments. The idea that unions drive the cost of construction projects through demands for more labor appear to be quite tenuous. If you have evidence to the contrary cite them. Otherwise I would chalk up GP's comment as the typical anti-union scare propaganda. It's very common on HN.

Who do you think requests more quantity of labor for every job?

by wil421 6y ago

Who do you think requests more quantity of labor for every job?

The unions. And the contractors pass on the cost because the bigger the final dollar amount the more opportunity there is to squeeze in profit. And the beurcrats rubber stamp it because the bigger the amount of resources they control the more powerful they are. And the politicans ignore it because it provides them more power to do favors and a bigger haystack in which to bury their nepotism and unethical meddling. It's self serving waste all the way down. The fundamental problem is that nobody anywhere in the chain or responsibility wants to spend taxpayer money with precision, efficiency and care because doing otherwise is in their best interest, as is every other party, except the taxpayer who has no choice but to bend over and take it. It's not just a union problem. But rest assured the unions are doing all they can to perpetuate it as it benefits them.

bjourne 6y ago
How does that work? Unions do not run companies and hence have no say in negotiations between government offices and contractors. Unions only concern themselves with the relationship between the employees and the employer. I don't think you know what a union is.
- bluGill 6y ago
  That isn't true. Union members vote. There are a lot of laws on the books about what can and cannot be done in those negotiations - many of them written by the union.
- JPKab 6y ago
  In places like New York City the unions are easily able to stop the work of any private contractor. The private contractors know this and collaborate with the unions on ensuring that they are able to ensure that the contracts mandate union labor. This is not how most unions in the United States operate but they do operate this way in locations where the dominant political party has not changed for a hundred years, see NYC. It's rather condescending to indicate to someone that they don't understand what a union is. You should research a little bit more before you assume that unions aren't able to influence private companies that employ them when negotiating contracts with local governments. It's simply wrong. I'm very familiar with these details because I had to do a detailed analysis of labor costs for the WMATA which has to negotiate with unions to operate the DC metro system.
  - bjourne 6y ago
    That you have been involved in the project doesn't mean that you know where the real cost sinks are. The role of unions are discussed extensively in the linked to article's comments. The idea that unions drive the cost of construction projects through demands for more labor appear to be quite tenuous. If you have evidence to the contrary cite them. Otherwise I would chalk up GP's comment as the typical anti-union scare propaganda. It's very common on HN.