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Housing Plans in California & New York face resistance from construction unions

wsj.com

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Re: Housing Plans in California & New York face resistance from construction unions

#2

Post by twblalock »

Unions shot themselves in the foot here. Some of the new construction projects would have been run by union shops. Now, they won't happen at all. Net result: fewer union jobs than there could have been.

At some point, the unions will need to realize that stuff is going to get done with or without them. They can be part of the process, or not. If they are part of the process, they get some jobs out of it. This should have been a no-brainer.

Re: Housing Plans in California & New York face resistance from construction unions

#4

Post by wmil »

cpncrunch wrote: post #3

Impossible to read without subscribing. Incognito doesnt work. Clicking on google search link doesnt work.

Clicking the Google search link is working for me. Did you install some privacy proxy that may be screwing with referrer headers?

Or is there some new requirement they're checking?

Re: Housing Plans in California & New York face resistance from construction unions

#5

Post by themartorana »

twblalock wrote: post #2

Unions shot themselves in the foot here. Some of the new construction projects would have been run by union shops. Now, they won't happen at all. Net result: fewer union jobs than there could have been. At some point, the unions will need to realize that stuff is going to get done with or without them. They can be part of the process, or not. If they are part of the process, they get some jobs out of it. This should…

Also, support for unions is waning. Here in Philadelphia, union support is at an all time low. They were rendered toothless in recent elections for the first time ever, and a series of bad press (arson, assault, and destruction of property by union members) and continued ties to organized crime have worn thin sympathies.

I also imagine that in difficult economies like ours, the "right" to a job or work over someone else is not looked at favorably when so many are un/under-employed.

At this point, unions seem to be the only ones around here that still support unions around here.

Re: Housing Plans in California & New York face resistance from construction unions

#6

Post by twblalock »

themartorana wrote: post #5
twblalock wrote: post #2

Unions shot themselves in the foot here. Some of the new construction projects would have been run by union shops. Now, they won't happen at all. Net result: fewer union jobs than there could have been. At some point, the unions will need to realize that stuff is going to get done with or without them. They can be part of the process, or not. If they are part of the process, they get some jobs out of it. This should…

Also, support for unions is waning. Here in Philadelphia, union support is at an all time low. They were rendered toothless in recent elections for the first time ever, and a series of bad press (arson, assault, and destruction of property by union members) and continued ties to organized crime have worn thin sympathies. I also imagine that in difficult economies like ours, the "right" to a job or work over someone e…

50 years ago, they could have gotten away with this.

Now, the demand for housing is so high that the unions can only delay the inevitable.

Ironically, the NIMBYs and the unions have ended up on the same side of the housing issue. Most union members I know would be unhappy about being on the side of the privileged and established, and against the working-class people, for whom home affordability is of primary importance in CA and NY.

Re: Housing Plans in California & New York face resistance from construction unions

#7

Post by desdiv »

wmil wrote: post #4
cpncrunch wrote: post #3

Impossible to read without subscribing. Incognito doesnt work. Clicking on google search link doesnt work.

Clicking the Google search link is working for me. Did you install some privacy proxy that may be screwing with referrer headers? Or is there some new requirement they're checking?

The Google search link fails around 20% of the time for me, without any browser/plugin/config changes on my side. So it could be just that WSJ is randomizing things.

Re: Housing Plans in California & New York face resistance from construction unions

#8

Post by gameofdrones »

This one instance might be so (unions are imperfect human endeavors), but this article comes across as thinly-veiled MSM/establishment strawman/false equivocation via the pernicious, irrational, data-free worldview which completely ignores the net positive force unions had in the bloody struggle for worker pay and working conditions in the 19th and 20th centuries.

See also: "Inequality for All" and "Where to Invade Next?"

Re: Housing Plans in California & New York face resistance from construction unions

#10

Post by twblalock »

gameofdrones wrote: post #8

This one instance might be so (unions are imperfect human endeavors), but this article comes across as thinly-veiled MSM/establishment strawman/false equivocation via the pernicious, irrational, data-free worldview which completely ignores the net positive force unions had in the bloody struggle for worker pay and working conditions in the 19th and 20th centuries. See also: "Inequality for All" and "Where to Invade N…

Unions did a lot for working people. But that's not relevant to the question of whether or not they are on the right or wrong side in this particular case.
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