By not getting out of their way and forcing them to drive behind you at your pace, aren't you also being a bully?

55 is not the answer for safety. Both the roads and cars are designed to safely handle faster traffic. Also, for true interstate travel, I would argue 55 is actually more dangerous. If someone is taking a long trip, the more time it takes, the more fatigued they will become and the more dangerous they will be behind the wheel. If you can cut two to three hours off their trip, they will be more alert and a safer driver. It might also mean the difference between not getting enough sleep prior to the trip or not. The biggest safety issue with highway speeds is lack of conformity. The people that choose to drive 45 because they feel safer actually imped and endanger other drivers. Everyone just needs to go with the flow -- not excessively faster or slower. Traffic enforcement needs to go after both cases.

Most union contracts require the entire shop to become union. 30% of the work force should not be deciding on the future of 100% of the work force.

And now many of those benefits you list are enacted in labor laws. Unions served their purpose and did some great things many years ago. Their time has come and gone.

That's really, really funny. Unions have driven more manufacturing jobs out of the country than any other factor. The contracts may have dictated a certain number of jobs be kept domestically, but it would never have come to that if labor costs were competitive.

That $19.00/hour is not a fully loaded salary. Keep in mind benefits and other per employee costs take a chunk out of that profit. Fully loaded salaries can be up to twice what the worker takes home. On top of that, not all employees make the same amount. There needs to be room to reward good employees with raises and/or bonuses without raising what customers are charged. If you think you deserve more than you're making and can get the business, go solo. If not, your employer has a skill you do not -- finding customers. They deserve to profit from that. Unions tend to be magnents for those with entitlement syndrome.

That's normally company policy. Everywhere I have worked, managers typically have an unofficial comping system. If people put in a lot of overtime to meet a deadline, they often can take a freebie day or two when things are slow. Likewise, if someone has some personal business to take care of, they can make up the hours another time. The general rule of thumb is "get your shit done on time". That's an advantage to being salaried -- you can add some flexibility to your schedule (if you have a good manager). Hourly workers don't have that so much as it leads to overtime pay. Laws make accounting for hours much more stringent for hourly workers. People should know what they're in for when taking a salaried IT job. Ask during the interview what typical hours are. Take that in to account when the salary is offered.