Hello from the host state of this year's Republican Party national convention which begins this Monday, September 1st - Labor Day.
I have to sit back and simply laugh. The Republican convention begins on Labor Day! Just imagine the amount of overtime pay required to get the labor union workers at the hotels and the various convention venues to work in order to get everything finished on time.
As most of America celebrates Labor Day with one last trip to the cabin, one last BBQ with friends, or perhaps just a day lounging on their couches the people involved with this convention will be working at full speed long into the night to make certain everything goes as planned. Personally I have worked on two of the past conventions so I can empathize with the staff this week -- my best wishes to all of them.
While I plan to focus on some family time I do have to catch up on some work especially some writing I have to do for a new website being launched this week to coincide with the Republican convention. This new website will be focused on what the "average Joe and Jane" think about politics and the world we live in today. It will celebrate the right to keep and bear arms, the love of the outdoors, and limited government. So whether you were harmed by a government program or simply are interested in living "off the grid" (I would like to but I also don't want to get divorced!!) I hope my readers will spend some time using this new website. I plan to promote it via this blog so please watch this space for the website address.
I'm Regular and I Vote,
Todd
Showing posts with label labor unions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label labor unions. Show all posts
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Friday, September 07, 2007
iPhones and Picket Lines
Yesterday's business news regarding Apple Inc.'s new iPhone pricing was interesting but not really surprising given how Moore's Law affects technology. Apple's announcement that it will now sell an 8-gigabyte version of its iPhone, which originally sold for $599, for $399 and that its 4-gigabyte, which sold for $499 originally will be phased out.
So overall consumers who did not wait in line (like me!) with the "early adapters" can now get double the memory capacity for $100 LESS than what the first consumers paid. Now that is the free market and Moore's law at work!!!
As this news from Apple was breaking we tax slaves of Minnesota were/still are dealing with a labor strike at our University of Minnesota -- a "land grant" university originally created to "educate the common man..........." -- by the clerical, administrative, and technical workers who are members of the AFSCME (http://www.afscme.org/) labor union. Now shouldn't these workers be concerned with "putting students first.........." like we always hear in labor union money grab campaigns especially since classes at the university started this week?
Then again -- perhaps we don't need all of these workers at the university? Why? While driving today I heard a news report quoting the university administration that work is getting completed by those workers who are not walking the picket lines so apparently 1/3 of this work force is NOT showing up for work. So a 33% reduction in staff but some how the work gets done? How about instead of giving these strikers a pay raise we direct the university management to purchase PDAs ("personal digital assistants" such as the iPhone and Blackberries) for the entire university management and professors if they don't have them already?
But getting all the key academic staff "wired" via PDAs we can reduce the need for substantial numbers of clerical personnel while also making productivity gains similar to those seen with the changes in the Apple iPhone. This is the opportunity for the university/tax payers to break the AFSCME union on campus via modern technology.
Todd
So overall consumers who did not wait in line (like me!) with the "early adapters" can now get double the memory capacity for $100 LESS than what the first consumers paid. Now that is the free market and Moore's law at work!!!
As this news from Apple was breaking we tax slaves of Minnesota were/still are dealing with a labor strike at our University of Minnesota -- a "land grant" university originally created to "educate the common man..........." -- by the clerical, administrative, and technical workers who are members of the AFSCME (http://www.afscme.org/) labor union. Now shouldn't these workers be concerned with "putting students first.........." like we always hear in labor union money grab campaigns especially since classes at the university started this week?
Then again -- perhaps we don't need all of these workers at the university? Why? While driving today I heard a news report quoting the university administration that work is getting completed by those workers who are not walking the picket lines so apparently 1/3 of this work force is NOT showing up for work. So a 33% reduction in staff but some how the work gets done? How about instead of giving these strikers a pay raise we direct the university management to purchase PDAs ("personal digital assistants" such as the iPhone and Blackberries) for the entire university management and professors if they don't have them already?
But getting all the key academic staff "wired" via PDAs we can reduce the need for substantial numbers of clerical personnel while also making productivity gains similar to those seen with the changes in the Apple iPhone. This is the opportunity for the university/tax payers to break the AFSCME union on campus via modern technology.
Todd
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