When you see a Waste Management truck in Shorewood, chances are that it is a scab driver who was hired by Wasted Management as a Permanent Replacement Worker during the recent Teamster strike.  Thirty Eight of the Teamster Drivers were shafted by WM.

Waste Management decided the time was right this year to beat down the Teamsters on benefits they had negotiated over the years.  In today's economy Waste Management did not have too much trouble finding drivers who would work for less than the Union Drivers.

Since Ronald Reagan set example of how to break a union (air traffic controllers) private industry has followed his example in questionable negotiating tactics ever since --- and with the blessing of Federal Regulators who are suppose to assure that Union Workers' Rights are not violated.

Must be the same Federal Regulators watching over the Financial and Securities Industries that now need a $700 Billion Bailout !!

I have heard (to be confirmed) that Waste Management has a 10 year contract with Shorewood. 

I wonder if Shorewood gets a discount for the lower costs Waste Management now has ?  

I wonder how Shorewoodians like the idea of a Union Busting Company as one of our Vendors ?

WHAT DO YOU THINK ?  YOUR COMMENTS ARE WELCOME !

Read all about it on my Google Blog at   

This past week we saw Lehman Bros go bankrupt --- and AIG, the Largest Insurance Company in the World --- get an $85 Billion bailout from the US Federal Reserve System.

 
Even more alarming to me than the fact that AIG needed a Bailout, are the terms of the Bailout.

 
Home loans to individuals with decent credit and adequate equity (ratio of loan to appraised value) are getting 30 year fixed rate mortgages in the 6% range.

The terms of the AIG Bailout however calls for an interest rate close to 12% !!!!

Obviously, the Fed does not have a whole lot of confidence in AIG's assets -- or its ability to repay the loan -- if it is charging Twice the rate that a homeowner would get.

 
Keep in mind that companies like AIG are use to borrowing money at low single digit rates --- indicative of investor confidence.

This Bailout, however, is akin to getting a high interest loan from a Finance Company --- or getting jacked up by a credit card company.

This is NOT a good sign for our economy here --- or globally for that matter.

In future postings to my blog, I will explore further some of the reasons our economy has become such a mess --- and why the Middle Class, especially, is on the verge of extinction !
 

WHAT DO YOU THINK ?  YOUR COMMENTS ARE WELCOME !!