From: jmorriso@ee.ubc.ca (John Paul Morrison)
Subject: Re: Union Bashing (Was Re: Bill 40)
Organization: University of BC, Electrical Engineering
Distribution: can
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 09:44:53 GMT

In article <17038@mindlink.bc.ca> Nick_Janow@mindlink.bc.ca (Nick Janow) writes:
>SPRAGGEJ@QUCDN.QueensU.CA (John G. Spragge) writes:
>
>> On a similar aspect of this thread: a number of posters have referred to
>> employers creating jobs. Employers do NOT "make" jobs. At their best, they
>> identify public needs, and coordinate the work of many people toward
>> filling those needs. That work matters, and it usually attracts substantial
>> rewards. But calling this creating jobs misses the point: the employer does
>> not create the job, the customer does. And when we exploit employees, we
>> make sure they can not become customers. And a vicious circle develops....
>
>The customer does not create a job; it merely creates a potential market
>opportunity.  The coordination of resources by the employer creates the
>opportunity for a person to be employed to meet that market opportunity.
>IMO, the employer is the one who creates a job.
>

you're both wrong. the market process and the act of trading creates jobs.

The consumer doesn't do much to "create" jobs though. Twenty years ago, a
combination of engineering technology, capital, marketing and management
skill created the VCR and an entire industry and thousands of direct, and
spin-off jobs, right out of thin air. Now the consumers
of the time all wanted VCRs before they even existed, they just didn't know
it! :-)

The same can be said of TV, the telecom industry, the music industry, computers,
autos, air travel, and too many other examples to list.

In all those cases, the consumer and the workers did absolutely nothing
to create those jobs, since those jobs could have never existed without the
technology and industrial knowledge of the designers, researchers, and
people who risked it all on unproven, totally new products.

In other industries, it's harder to be so clear cut. Service industries
depend a lot on the worker. A lot of proffessionals fall into both an
employer-employee role simultaneously: doctors, lawyers etc. Their
skills define the job.

Still without consumption and trade there would be no market and no jobs.


I think in this day and age, it is alot harder to argue that it's
the "blood and sweat of the brothers toiling in the pits" etc. that
the unions try to justify their traditional positions with. 
If a job can be replaced
by a machine, or other efficiency techniques it WILL be. There's no
doubt about that. Union people cant argue that there'd be no cars without
the employees it takes to create a car. Not these days. Unskilled jobs
are going out the window. Jobs are going to be created by skilled employees
and well managed corporations. Without this synergy, there won't be any
jobs left for us.
>
>--
>
>Nick_Janow@mindlink.bc.ca


-- 
__________________________________________________________________________
 John Paul Morrison                     |  
 University of British Columbia, Canada |  
 Electrical Engineering                 |   .sig file without a cause
 jmorriso@ee.ubc.ca              VE7JPM |  
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