Edward M. Kennedy wrote:

wrote


Like what? It's a false dichotomy. You don't need a *union*
guy to do that -- you need a *qualified* guy to do that. The
"union" guy may be *more* likely to have BS certification for
all you know. You know, get passed along by the bureaucracy
like in a public school?

It's a similar thing for doctors and lawyers. I'm not against their
certification, I'm against the monopoly in deciding who gets to
practice medicine or law at all.


Interesting. How could the monopoly be eliminated and allow unbiased
certification.


Reputation. A medical standards group that racks up a lot of
bozos with malpractice suits is dead in the water. Right now,
the system is not only biased, there's not much feedback.

There's no shortage of certification systems in the private market.
A bachelors degree in engineering from an *accredited* university
is also a form accredation. Microsoft does a lot too, as does the
Red Cross for lifeguards.

You raise an interesting point. The problem is that those
certifications and degrees cost money out front before you even get a
job that might not be there when you graduate.

One of the things that a union has done in the past is to have a system
for new workers to come into a system as a helper or apprentice and work
and learn at the same time, until they passed some sort of
certification. And they didn't have to take out loans or pay someone to
teach them - they learned on the job while they were getting paid. And
while they were learning, they had job protection. What could possibly
be wrong with that?


Hey, I used to be a lifeguard!

And you don't always need a formal education. Dweezil did not
need a *union* electrician, he just needed an electrician. How
he fobbed that off is beyond me, especially with most localities
requiring electricians to be licensed to boot. Disingenuous...

One way to earn that certification or license is to work with a
qualified person for a certain period of time and then pass a test.
What problem could you possibly have with that? I mean - a person who
has a license and is certified and properly trained will probably wire
your house better than a guy who never took a class, never worked
alongside a certified electrician, never apprenticed, etc.