curious

Patch of what?

if you have to ask you didn't. it will be revealed at a later date, if I get any right responses

Oil patch, yes.

I was raised in the coalfields of Pennsylvania. Small "patches" were just outside of town. Anywhere from 10 > 50 houses, often along the highway. They date back to the 1900's. ( most of the houses haven't weathered well )

A patch is a very small village, Pennsylvania is full of them. You can get ten miles in some parts of the state without coming to another small town

Many of those houses were "Company" row homes of three to five houses, located near a coal mine.

paycheck at the store after paying what you owed. I was raised in a town like this in the 1930's and saw many of the poor working conditions of the miners, lost grandfather in a mine cave in and a father was seriously injured in an accidtent lost arm and finger. there were many accidents like this and without a union many would have been thrown on the scrap heap of life. I have never belonged to a union and spent my working life on the opposite side, but I will never disrespect them. Many in this group tear down unions but they were necessary then and now. the problem is they grew too large and political they were able to use political clout to make many companys give in to their wishes. Any time you see a story in the newspaper about a union problem its all about health and safety etc. never about the real truth money and power. There needs to be a change to get back to the was it was. unions were a good thing and in some companys it still is. '

Get real, the only "power" a Union has is to force the company to abide by the contract it signed.

As to lobbying, every citizen has the right to collectively, "Petition for redress of grievances," given to them by the Constitution.

NO you get real, ever been involved in talks with the union in a large company, you only have to watch our gov. in action on CSPAN to see all the trading going on. just like the 2700 page health care bill when its all done you will wonder where did all this come from, unions work well in small companies where the owners sign off, in large companies over years it just grows and grows the only way to stop it is with bankruptcy. Unions have a lot of power givein to them by the gov. if you don?t talk the gov. will make you. check the NLRB

No, it's the government (as in the NLRB entity), NOT the union, with the power and they'll hold corporations (as well as unions, re: air traffic controllers strikes) feet to the fire regarding contractual agreements and work place (and public) safety.

The tech that worked for me, in my 26 fleet service facilities in six eastern states, were members of the Machinists Union.

You remind me of my partner. When our techs voted to join a union I had to buy him out because he thought, as you do, that a union would run our company into the ground.

I still had all the power to run my business and on several occasions I had to fire workers. The only "power" the Union had over me was to make me abide by the contract I signed.

The union helped my business grow from three shops to 26 in less than ten years.

President Reagan proved that the "owner," in that case the feds, has the power. The union violated the "no strike" clause in their contract. He warned them then fired them when THEY broke their own contract

I am currently living in Peterpatch.

Precisely, and in fact my very point, thanx.