Well once again I’m excited about people, energy companies and most regulatory agencies. First of all there are those out there who insist that we, the American public, have it so much easier than European counterparts. After all we only pay $3.75 (USD) for a gallon of gas and in Europe they are paying almost twice that amount. Well let’s take a closer look…… most countries in Europe are small sized compared to many US states. Europe has extensive rail networks between cities and countries. If no rail is available buses fill in the gaps. Here in the us Cities are much further apart and much more of the population lives is areas where there is no public transportation. We need to drive more….. much more!
As has been explained many times by “experts”, the cost of fuel in particular and energy in general is a pipeline type of price index. Today’s price goes into the pipeline and the end users price comes out the other end. So the $50 a barrel oil comes out after all the $75 a barrel is through the system. Ok, this makes sense and anyone can see how fluctuations occur. What nobody can explain is how it can take weeks for the lower prices to flow through the system and one day for the higher prices to appear on the market. So it’s not funny that electricity and natural gas follow the pipeline theory, but gasoline and diesel fuel seem to be opposite. Why is diesel fuel so much higher than even hi-octane gas? Is it because America “runs on diesel”? Supply and demand are one  thing, but, is the price of America’s life blood being manipulated? It seems to me the foxes are watching the hen-house. Where is the common sense?  The free market would bring lower prices if regulators used more common sense and less “feel good” theories. If regulation was at a level that would allow companies to provide the supply, then consumer prices would drop. The United States is a country that runs on gas and diesel fuel. Our size dictates that goods and people must be on the move. Will somebody stand-up and get this train back on the track?! Oh well, I’ve vented. Thanks for reading my blog. Be safe and have fun. Jim Dance

Well I’ve finally had it with all the “talking heads” in the media bashing unions and their members. Even the print media is getting their licks in with article after article being written about the “evils of unionism. Now, let it be said there are abuses, and seemingly outrageous clauses in some union contracts. All you hear about are high retirements and seemingly endless benefits for the bulk of retirees. You hear about strict  job classifactions, low productivity, do nothing job positions. Most of all this was indeed true……. 30 years ago. What you don’t hear about are the people involved on the management side who agreed  to and signed these relics of labor relations. I would venture to say management never agreed to a contract that would knowingly lose the company money. Their jobs were to make profit for the company and stockholders.  In todays environmentt,  union and management work together to meet those ends while securing  jobs for a well trained, skilled and productive work force. In an effort to increase profits companies have shifted production overseas or,  to nonunion areas of the country. Many overseas factories were build on the profit earned by hardworking and dedicated union members. For their labors workers were rewarded with closed factories here in the US and massive layoffs.  I would further venture to say that most of the “experts” who demonize unions have never spent a day or more working in an environment where production output is the priority and to make that happen takes hard physical labor and a lot of sweat. Oh, a worker also need to be able to think too. The days of the “factory drone” are gone. The opportunity to move forward with high employment and good paying jobs is  ahead of us. Remember unions really did build this country and they should be a part of rebuilding it. Be safe and have fun.  Jim Dance UAW Journeyman Industrial Electrician