From: orville%weyrich@uunet.uu.net (Orville R. Weyrich)
Subject: Re: Bargaining for vacation time?
Reply-To: uunet.uu.net!weyrich!orville
Organization: Weyrich Computer Consulting
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 92 16:53:13 GMT

In article <greg.718929867@saltydog> greg@saltydog.dpsi.com (Gregory R. Travis) writes:
>In <1992Oct8.142043.9892@weyrich.UUCP> orville%weyrich@uunet.uu.net (Orville R. Weyrich) writes:
>
>>In article <greg.718424955@octopus> greg@octopus.dpsi.com (Gregory R. Travis) writes:
>>>Screw them.  It's been 200 years since the last revolution in this
>>>country and it's about time for another one.
>>>
>
>>Well you obviously aren't a "dull chap." Advocating armed rebellion against
>>the government? My, my. a "real" man for sure. :-)
>
>Once again, a comprehension problem Orville.  Find where I advocated
>"armed rebellion against the government" in my above sentence, please.  You
>can't because it's not in there.  Revolution does not always equate to
>armed rebellion against a government.

Well E-X-C-U-S-E  M-E.  It has been a long time since I studied history, so
I am probably wrong in my belief that the revolution that you were apparently
referring to was the "American Revolution" that was fought using very sharp
pens making sarcastic attacks on the Brittish Crown. :-)

>
>>They are
>>demanding MORE work, LOWER taxes and RESPONSIBLE stewardship from those that
>>they send to Washington.
>
>What kind of a moron would demand MORE work?  Do you mean that some people
>want to be employed so that they can make some money?  Frankly, if I were to
>start making demands it would be for LESS work or MORE money.  Ideally
>both, where the amount of work comes as close as possible to zero.

It may surprise you to learn that there people that consider themselves
unemployed or underemployed and that even among those who are officially
"fully employed", there are people that would like a larger slice of 
"ecconomic" pie.

Now, there are several ways to get a bigger piece of pie -- you can work
harder or smarter so as to actually make the whole pie larger, and so your
[constant percentage] share becomes larger. Or you can try to take away part
of someone else's slice. You can get part of someone else's pie by working
harder or smarter than they do [in a free market economy] or by strikes,
coersion, and threats [if you are Unionized].

Personally, I prefer to work smarter rather than harder. Part of working 
smarter is using the right person for the job. If the job calls for someone
that is going to be constantly available [except for a few days sick per year],
then it doesn't make sense to put someone into the position that is inclined to
take several months of family leave. And it makes even less sense to hold that
position open for several months waiting for the person to return. There are
jobs that such a person can do where they can come and go at will with little
impact on the productivity of the employer [who is presumably making some part
of the economic pie]. Jobs like flipping hamburgers at Micky-Dee's. But there
are also jobs where loosing an employee for several months and then being forced
to re-integrate the employee is disastarous. For some reason, the latter kind
of jobs pay better :-). Could it be that in a free market, consistency and
reliability are marketable attributes of a cndidate?

Please don't get me wrong -- I strongly believe in equivalent pay for equivalent
jobs.
But I think that consistency and reliablity are valid criteria for some jobs.

Note that I said equivalent, not equal -- I also believe that an employer and
an employee sould be able to negotiate the most mutually advantageous employment
agreement possible on an individual basis. For example, I enter negotiations
wanting as much cash up front and not caring about employer contributions
into retirement funds, because I am saving for a house right now. Someone else
may already have a house, and look more favorably on employer matched 
retirement funds. And I place strong "family value" on NOT being required to
do a significant amount of overnight travel. I accept lower pay than I might
otherwise get because of this. Others may have no young children and favor
jobs that generate maximum cash, even if they are on the road much of the time.

Any job has its good points and its bad points. People should be willing to 
match their needs and desires to appropriate jobs, rather than trying to
force the job to fit their needs and desires.  Doing it that way makes the
economy more efficient, and increases the size of the pie being divided,
and everyone comes out with a bigger slice of pie.

orville

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Orville R. Weyrich, Jr.                        Weyrich Computer Consulting
Certified Data Processor                     POB 5782, Scottsdale, AZ 85261
Certified Systems Professional                   Voice: (602) 391-0821
Certified Computer Programmer            Internet: orville%weyrich@uunet.uu.net
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