No. 104 – September 4, 2011

WHEN GREED GIVES WAY TO NEED, YOU BLEED

The above Maxim is one that I coined a few years ago and have since, put into one of my many Maxim Books to be published next year.  I have been selling copies at outdoor sales around Sacramento all year, and people seem to really like them. But I digress.

During this Labor Day weekend, I thought it might be appropriate to do a Special Edition of the American Telegraph, and try to make it directly to the point of Labor Unions and Company Owners in America.

We all know how the Unions began – and the good causes they represented.

But did you know how other “good” organizations began – and how they ended up?

The Mafia, in its original form, was a group of men who banded together to protect the rights of artisans in Italy.  They tried to protect the “workers” against the tyrant kings and queens of the day, who used many people as slave labor – and paid them little or nothing for their services.

We all know what happened to the Mafia – and who now controls that band of thugs.

Then, there was the Japanese Yakuza, in its original form, was another group of men who got together to protect themselves against the ruthless Japanese Emperors in the earlier period of Japanese history.

The Japanese Yakuza deteriorated into what it is today – an international organization of thugs, murders, and hit-men.

The Mafia and Yakuza had humble beginnings, and were well-respected, dedicated to protecting their own kind from the wanton thuggery of the “Leaders” of their time.

But during the course of years, the men in power of these organizations began to turn to criminal activities – out of PURE, SIMPLE GREED.

And now we have the Union organizations that were originally set up to help the “working stiff” against the greed and corruption of Mega-corporations and dishonest politicians.

We now know what happened to the Union Movement.  Need I say any more than, “Jimmy Hoffa?”

UNIONS – THE RESULT OF GREEDY OWNERS

If there was a time for some serious thinking about Unions, it is now.

I have always thought that, if a company has a Union – then it does not CARE about its employees.  It is as simple as that.

If Company Owners were REALLY concerned about those who work for them, then they could eliminate Unions, and their crime-based syndicates with relative ease.

But the Company Owners must first be convinced that it is in their best interests to be FAIR with their employees.  Once this task is accomplished, then the corrupt union system that we have today will just fade into the annals of historical footnote.

Some simple ideas about how to accomplish this task were bantered about the other night between a few friends of mine, while slugging back too many Asahi Dry Beers (one of the best beers on the market) on this Labor Day Weekend.

Here are some of the ideas that we came up:

1.  Convince company owners to SHARE THE PROFIT with their employees.  This could be as little as a 10% profit distribution to all employees on a quarterly basis.

2.  For each year the employee works for the company, award him 100 shares of the company stock as a loyalty bonus.

3.  Take a hint from Japan.  Every summer and every winter they have what they refer to as “Bonus Season.”  This is when most employees are paid an extra amount – usually two or three times their monthly salary as a “bonus.”  In return, the employees work long, hard hours – but also have one of the highest saving and banking rates in the world.  American companies could very easily initiate a bonus system such as this.

4.  Company CEOs should actually get down and dirty with all of their employees.  This means putting on Levis and a short-sleeved shirt and get right in with the workers as they are performing their daily tasks.  Talk with them, have lunch with them, get to know about their families – and really have concern for the people they employ.

5.  CEOs and Company Presidents – and all upper echelon management – should take it upon themselves to limit the amount of pay that they receive. CEOs and Company Executives that pay themselves outlandish bonuses only add fuel to the employees ire, when they hear about $20 million dollar bonuses.  Who the hell can justify a bonus of such a large amount – when workers are getting laid off all around the country?  It simply is NOT right.

These are just a few thoughts and ideas that we were talking about.  The main essence of our conversation was, in order to get rid of the criminal union organizations – and their overpaid Union Representatives – the CEOs and Company Executives MUST begin to think more about their employees well-being – and less about their own bloated salaries and bonuses.

As a consensus, we came to the conclusion that $10 million dollars should be the top pay for CEOs and Company Presidents – provided they do the 5 ideas as stated above.

Another lesson that American CEOs should learn from their Japanese CEO counterparts, is that the Japanese company leaders get paid MUCH less in salaries and bonuses.  In doing so, they inspire more loyalty from their employees, as compared to American employees nowadays.

It is time for ALL American Company Leaders to start thinking about running their businesses in a more fair-handed manner.  In doing so, the union thugs would simply disappear, the workers would be better cared for, and company executives would STILL reap huge paychecks – while the company enjoys even better profits.

I am hoping that readers will add to this discussion on how to make our American Companies the best in the world.  Feel free to write your ideas and opinions on the Blog section of this newsletter.

A happy employee is a successful company.  Another one of my Maxims.

HAPPY LABOR DAY TO ALL!

Lawrence Klepinger
Editor/Publisher
THE AMERICAN TELEGRAPH