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Bertram31.com General Bulletin Board
Re: Frank- are you walking to work?
Posted By: mike ohlstein In Response To: Re: Frank- are you walking to work? (Harv)
Date: Thursday, 22 December 2005, at 2:26 p.m.
Harv,
Just to set one issue straight......
Our business had four bad years in a row. The employees got paid......but guess who didn't...
Owners and CEO's have no choice other than to 'give up their multi-million dollar salaries' if there are no multi-millions to go around. When we lost money, it came out of the owners pockets. The employees never offered to chip in.... In fact, they probably thought that the company was still raking in the dough, because after all....they were out there 'making money for the company' as you put it... I guess it's a good thing that we didn't spend every penny we made. We didn't have a benefit program to fall back on when times got rough.
Harv, I understand how business works and how value is added by each and every employee. But don't think for a moment that the money is made in the factory. It's made by the guy who's sitting in the leather chair. Without him, the guy in the factory wouldn't have very much to do. That's why he's worth the big salary.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm decidedly pro labor. I'm 100% in favor of workers having the right to protect themselves and to strike. I'm also in favor of employers having the right to fire people. But this issue of benefits has become somewhat like every other entitlement program. Everyone wants something for nothing, and in today's tightening global economy there just isn't the kind of fat that there used to be.
The statistics that indicate that the generation of wealth has never been so great, while the concentration on wealth continues to consolidate. It's true....but who got rich? Not the factory owners. Of the ten richest people in the country, two are from Microsoft, two from Google, one from Oracle, and the rest inherited a share of Sam Walton's money. In essence, they're people who had good ideas, and the cajones to make those ideas work.
Bottom line is this. Watch your own ass. Put something away for a rainy day. You want to be rich......take a shot with your hard earned money but don't be a stick-up man.
When I go to the bank I stand on the same line as every other depositor, even though there's a separate line for business services. That's because I'm just not that (self) important.
Be humble. Be smart. Be honorable.
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