Sorry I haven't responded to your post. Here goes: Numero uno. Wes, there is saying that goes like this,"good companies don't create unions Bad companies do". As an old union official that used to represent the concerns,complaints and grievances of over 4,000 union members at a single plant. I can unequivically tell you now as I have before in about ten different posts;if you were the employer that you say you were and you practiced good corporate social responsiblity, then you would not have employees voting to be represented by a union. I have no reason not believe you that you were a good employer....so for ten thousandth time,Thank You, and my posts are not about you nor Michelle specifically,they are general.
Numero dos. There exists situations where an employee,union or not, is so dedicated to their job or is so afraid of being fired that when they are told to do a job in a way that is dangerous and the probability of being injured or killed is very great,they will do as told. I will not get into a show and tell of the times I personally worked in areas that I am lucky I came out alive or the near misses I had as an employee. But I will tell you that it is a sad,sobering and tragic thing to have to go down 3,000 feet in a mine shaft with the State Mine Inspector retrieving pieces and parts of a fellow worker's dismembered body in plastic bags. That is why unions will never contest a companiy's safety rules that are made to protect the workforce. That incident was not a single event then and to a lesser degree,incidents llike that still exists now.

Numero three,There also exists today today especially in the corporate management world, a problem of pay disperity between the genders for doing the same job as men. In unionized workforces there is no gender discrimination.If a woman has demonstrated the ability to do a job the same as a man, She will get paid the same as a male; no if buts or ands.

Numero four. Wes, you will find that most corporate management in big corporations regard union officers with respect and will involve them in some coporate decisions that are mutually beneficial or determintal to both parties. I have seen this personally in safety, costs of health insurance,or changes in work procedures.

This is a right to work state,nobody is forced to go on strike if they don't want to. But if the people that do go on strike and sacriffice, manage to negotiate better benefits. Those that did not sacrifice, get to enjoy the same benefits. one thing that is also chrystal clear is that when workers vote for union representation it is their choice and I respect that.

I stand corrected,I should have known better,I have family in AZ Cops.

Al, I must go along with Michelle, my choice. Also, get your facts straight, the Fraternal Order of Police is not a union, AZ Cops is.

Thanks for the comments Al. I do all my shopping at Safeway. I find the customer service and quality the best on the mountain and I would not go any place else. Many of the Safeway employees are friends of mine and I certainly do no consider them beneath me.... this is not an issue. I do not judge people by what they do, I do not judge people at all and I find the comment you made a little disconcerting. I do my time on this mountain and give many hours, on top of my two jobs in volunteer work with my dogs. I find every life valuable. That said, and you can look into it, Safeway employees do not pay $1500.00 per month for their health insurance. The negotiations were for $15.00 for a single person and $60.00 for a family of four. This however is not the issue. The issue is that I find it incomprehensible that a group of people called a union must dictate principles that many who must belong to that union must go along with. In these hard times when many are just trying to put bread on the table and keep the wolf away from the door there has to be a human factor involved in decision making. Many of the Safeway employees could not afford to go on strike. Many were not going to strike. This is just my opinion and I welcome your views as I do any others. The welfare of this mountain, my community depends on people putting aside their personal views and working together for a common goal and a common cause. And on a lighter note, this will be my last post as I must go out and do the job I've been trained to do, without the protection of a union and only myself to take responsibility of those who depend on me to help where I'm needed at this time.

First of all, I want to thank you for you statement that you agree that unions have been beneficial for this country. Having said that,you are correct,we all make our choices as to the type of work we do.(although in this recession the choices are quite limited) Union police officers that belong to the Faternal Order of Police or firemen that belong to the Firefighters Association are also good hard working individuals that are there to protect you and me and the rest of the public. And that is their choice of careers.,true. Safeway employees years ago also made a choice,and that choice was to form a union,and Safeway corporation agreed then that they would honor the union representing the workers interests. Safeway and the employees union came to a beneficial mutual agreement. You state that safeway employees ASKED you to support them and not cross the picket lines. If that is the case, you were not told...you were asked. You had a choice.
The problem with your logic is that when you complain about that grocery clerk trying to keep her existing benefits,(not asking for more benefits) for her family,then it seems as if you feel they are a lower class of people and do not deserve a decent standard of living. I honestly and sincerely hope that is not the case.
Incidently Michelle, if Safeway employees pay as you say $60.00/ month for insurance for a family of four then several things are possible and they are: 1.) If the benefits are good and comprehensive, they have very good union representatives. 2.) The benefits may not be that good,which is more likely the case. $60.00/month for a family of four will not buy any kind health insurance at all. I would guess the average premium for a family of four would be closer to $1,500.00/ month depending on other factors.Check it out.
You also have a choice as I do, to shop at Safeway or not to shop there. Personally, I have found that Safeway has the best meat department on the mountain and they have some fantastic sales on meats and assorted products almost on a bi- weekly basis. Consequently, because of the quality of meat and those sales I have increasely done most of our grocery shopping at Safeway. The customer service at Safeway by their clerks has been just like it is at most White mountian business, good.

Just a comment: The reason workers form unions is the same reason that many types of business will form associations, and that is to promote their welfare.

Al,
I work, every day in a dangerous environment. I work two jobs and in neither am I protected by a union. In one job, each day I can be subjected to people who might be armed or out to do me harm, working outside in rugged terrain and environmental conditions that are not suited for man or beast, yet I'm expected to do my job. To protect you, your family and in many instances the individual I am looking for. No one is protecting me as far as working conditions. I choose this job, as do union protected employees because it's my life. My other job consits of duties that require me to use, if not used correctly, dangerous equipment. There is no union official telling me what protection I need to ensure my safety, only my good judgement. No one pays my insurance bill if I happen to get hurt on the job because of outside influences. It's all up to me. So Al, that said, I agree unions have been beneficial to our country, but when it comes to the grocery clerk complaining about paying $60.00 a month for health insurance for a family of four, I just can't go along with it. When it comes to union members asking me not to cross a picket line and to shop elsewhere so they can achieve the benefits they feel they deserve, I can't go along with it. If I don't do my jobs because I don't feel the conditions aren't right, no body protects me. As a matter of fact, I loose my job.

Actually, Al, I worked my way UP to owning my own electronics company and then later got it incorporated when it was the "huge" size of ten employees, by starting at the bottom, first in the warehouse, working my way through UCLA, then by being an electical technician during which time I suffered so many electric shocks that a couple of times I was knocked unconsious and they didn't think I would survive. (Some of my friends on Town Council feel I did not survive or that ieven if I did, I suffered permenent brain damage.) So you say that's not dangerous, Al? Suuuure. And just in case you have forgotten, my guys were not unionized when I incorporated, and I voluntarily paid them a good deal more than union scale plus a peercentage of the net profit as incentive, and they worked all the harder because they KNEW I was doing it because I valued their efforts. And I paid for their health insurance and both their and my company's contribtion for Social Security. So I guess I am another one of those evil corporations that you always criticize, Al. Come on, now, we have been through all of this before, and we both agreed that we can't paint everybody with the same broad brush. Labels are almost always errant. And you do realize that the mere fact that Michelle Denton stated what she did never suggested she is anti-union either. Once, in the 1950s, there was a great restaurant named Julie's in LA. Julie also paid all her workers well over unsion scale. One day a union agitator got hold of the crew and they voted to go union. Now California is a closed shop state. So, Julie had to agree to let everybody be forced to join the union. And guess what? When they joined the union, she cut their pay to union scale. And they didn't like that very much. Al, you have good heart. so I ask you: Can you put the shoe on the other guys' feet and see why Julie did that, and why Michelle feels the way she does, and why we both believe that a man's or woman's best reward and best security is in knowing he or is doingt he responsible thing at work? Fess up now, Al.

Thanks to the Unions and thanks to collective bargining,union members make more money than non-union counterparts, enjoy better benefits, and work in an enviroment that is discrimination,nepetism, and harassment free. Safety of the worker,especially in industrial work is paramount , thanks to the unions and now to those corporations that have come to accept the fact that the safety of the workforce comes before production. It is good to see corporate management and union officials working together to make a safer,healtheir work enviroment for employees.
Wes,Michelle it is obvious that neither of you has worked in dangerous occupations or have had to recover the bodies of fellow workers that died because of management short circuiting safetry procedures. It is also clear that neither of you has had to represent a fired employee, because his immediate supervisor got up on the wrong side of the bed that day.

The notion that union workers are lazy or not interested doing a good job for their employers is erroneous and false. I know of hundreds of local union workers that everyday do an excellent job for their employers. These workers take pride in the work that they do and many,many have skills that take years to become proficient at.
Just to name few of those skills, welders, boilermakers,pipefitters,nurses,doctors,millwrights,electricians,instrumentation mechanics, pipewelders,engineers,paper machine operators,powerhouse operators and the list could go on for a long time. When a worker signs on to work for an employer he is selling his labor, his skills...not his dignity nor his life to the employer.
There is a thought I will leave you Wes and Michelle. That is...... the survival of the unions and of the jobs of union employees depends very much on the survival of the company they work for.

Michelle, thank you not only for standing up for what you believe, but having the courage to do so and sign your own name. I am not necessarily anti-union, but I feel collective bargaining should never replace the will of an individual because he or she allows it to dictate all decisions and to replace his or her common sense and value system. I also praise your courage in terms of individual responsibllity - as the reason the USA is (or was") great. I wish there were more people like you not only here. locally, but everywhere - the world would be a better place. Have you considered running for Town Council in Pinetop-Lakeside?
God bless you.