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As Paul Harvey said before he died, “North Dakota is the only state where people have to work 2-3 jobs to get ahead.” Also as Paul Harvey would also say, “Now the rest of the story!”

North Dakota is a right-to-work state. Meaning employers can get by paying the employees less for the same job in another state. Thus is why young people don’t stay once they graduate in their fields; and who can blame them.

Since North Dakota is a right-to-work state, labor union isn’t as prominent as in other states. I’m not saying there isn’t labor union in this state. What I will get at is the importance of labor union and how it can fight for better pay with benefits for the workers.

You probably thinking, how can a Conservative defend labor union; being labor union is usually link to the Democrat party?

Labor union was launch back in 1866. It was created to protect the common interest of workers to fight for better wages, reasonable hours, and safer working condition. It was to stop child labor, give health benefits and provide aid to workers who were injured or retired.

So you see, labor union was meant for something good for the well-being of workers. But like anything, when the government gets involved; it becomes corrupt. That’s why political parties should stay the hell out of labor union. The government is to overlook but not control labor union. It shouldn’t matter if a person is a Republican or a Democrat to be part of labor union. It’s the right thing for all man kinds.

You may be surprised to know, Pres. Trump is a supporter of labor union.

Like in the movie, “Norma Rae,” businesses/factories are against labor union coming into their place of employment. They will do all they can to prevent that from happening. They may try to buy certain people off to keep them from voting to have labor union meddling in their business. Some may even go as far as murder to keep that from happening.

If Quality Bakery had labor union, the owners wouldn’t been able to take advantage of their employees. They would had to pay decent wages with benefits for all their employees.

Labor unions offered good pensions for employees. They offer safe working conditions. They are there to fight for the employees in getting raises and benefits.

Luckily, when my step-dad was laid off from Steiger Tractor, labor union was involved. Because of labor union, he had investments with Steiger; that he was able to cashed in the right opportune time. When he did that, he invested that money back into the farm.

I have a cousin who was able to retire at 55 because of the great pension because of labor union in Washington State. He wasn’t able to get Social Security though. He’s busy doing things that he wants to do with his life and for others as well.

I even had 2 uncles who were part of labor union, and both were Republicans. The only difference was one uncle made the right choice with his benefits and the other didn’t.

If there was labor union in this state or employers took better care of their employees; they wouldn’t have to work around the clock to make a living. Their health cares and well-being would be the employers top agendas. Employees wouldn’t be treated like slaves.

There’s people who may not be able to retire; because they cannot afford to. They will have to work until they either kick the bucket or end up either in the hospital or nursing homes. They cannot depends on Social Security. You don’t get enough to live on with just that. You need a little extra put aside for retirement. Yet many cannot afford to do so on what they are being paid.

Here’s what the plaque says in the picture: “Work is time spent making a living; retirement is time spent making a life.”

If you don’t have other sources of retirement, you are pretty much destine to work until you kick the bucket.

If you are lucky enough to received a good inheritance or get a good paying job that also offer retirement; more power to you.

When you are working just to get by, it’s almost impossible to put money away for retirement.

Like many, I was concerned if I would ever be able to retire when the time comes. But then things changed for me; and now I’m looking forward for retirement. I still work 2 jobs. I still struggle financially; but at least my future is secure.

I guess what I’m getting at is: employers, such as Walmart should look at paying their employees better and giving them better wages and benefits. If labor union needs to come into these businesses so be it.

At the same time labor union mustn’t force people to support the political party they support. The government needs to keep their grubby hands out of it. That way, they wouldn’t become corrupted. That is right thing to do for the workers.