Get down on your knees and thank unions

[senseandsensibility]

Unions have triumphed over INCREDIBLE odds to win concessions from corporations. Their members have given their lives so that even non-unionized workers have a forty hour work week, paid vacation, a safe workplace, and breaks.

There's a lot of anti-worker rhetoric on the board today. Much of it is from low-post count new members. Their timing is odd, to say the least.

Will you help by keeping this thread kicked? Will you take a few moments to thank the union members who have sacrificed over the years for all workers?

Give your thanks here, brothers and sisters.

Go, strikers! Management, negotiate in good faith with our fellow working men and woman!

[Helga Scow Stern]

1. You have got my vote!

Unions are a big part of what has made this country great, and they may well be what saves it in the future.

[senseandsensibility]

4. Thank you

You are right, and I just wish that more people realized this.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. You don't scare me, I'm stickin' with the Union

I'm sticking with the Union,
I'm sticking with the Union
'Til the day I die..... "The Union Maid"

I've walked a picket line. I honor picket lines. I go and serenade people who are on picket lines. I know what unions have done for our country.

[senseandsensibility]

13. Great post.

I love those old union songs.:hi:

[eridani]

146. Oh, there once was a union cat

Who on the table sat
At contract talks
And for a box
She'd often use the boss's hat!
She wore a union sign
When she walked the picket line
At the running dogs of the capitalist system
She arched her back and hissed 'em!

Courtesy of Garrison Keillor on Songs of the Cat

[sniffa]

3. new members?

Like the "member since 2002" with thousands of posts, who wants the strikers Locked up and heaviLy fined?

[LostinVA]

9. Well... that's true.... however, most of them are low posters!

Kinda really freaking appalling, huh?

[foreverdem]

191. So, only posters with 1000+ are allowed...

to have an opinion? The opinion of others doesn't count unless it's in agreement with your own?

[liberal N proud]

5. We all should stand in support of a the transit workers

It takes a lot to stand up to the corporations and cities when everything is against them as these times are.
Unions are what has driven this nation to be so strong.

[billybob537]

6. Thanks unions

The people that brought you the WEEKEND. Might be these new people are formerly confused repugs seeking a new outlook. Welcome aboard.

[oasis]

7. UNION YES (eom)

[calico1]

8. I have never belonged to a union

nor worked for a company that had a union. However, I am very much aware of the fact that all of the benefits I have today are due to the hard work and sacrifices of many union workers. And that the reason why I have these benefits in a non union company is that they want to avoid unions by keeping workers happy. So we all benefit. The big picture is often missed by some when they are inconvenienced, and that's a shame. Especially here.

[senseandsensibility]

11. Thank you for your

excellent post. You have a wonderful grasp of the situation, and I hope everyone reads what you wrote.:)

[CountAllVotes]

17. I belong to two of them myself

as a retired public servant. I still support my union(s) as I know that they are the ones that are the reason I have health insurance.

So, Union YES alright! :D

:kick:

recommended too ... :D

:dem: :kick:

[Misunderestimator]

10. Hear hear!

:patriot:

[LostinVA]

12. Thank you, comrades, for shedding your blood

So that we have rights and safety! And shame, shame, shame to all workers past and present who spit upon these brave people's memories with their anti-labor rhetoric.

[in_cog_ni_to]

14. HEAR! HEAR! My dad was a union man...I will always support unions.

:thumbsup: They gave our family a pretty good middle class life. :thumbsup:

[bobalu]

40. "UNIONS: The anti-theft device for working people"

Those are the words on my bumper sticker...

My dad was also a union member, and our family lived a pretty good middle class life as well.

This is one "low poster"..who is 150% PRO-UNION!:toast:

[Bluzmann57]

114. Thank you very much!

As a long time Union man, I thank you as do other Brothers and Sister Union members. Cool sticker by the way.

[bobalu]

133. Absolutely!....(I think the sticker's pretty cool, too. thanks.)

[xchrom]

15. my thanks to unions!

[mark414]

16. UFCW Local 1444 checking in and giving thanks

i enjoy weekends...and the 40 hour work week...thanks unions!

[senseandsensibility]

44. Thanks, brother!

Go, unions! :-)

[gulfcoastliberal]

18. We all owe a big debt of gratitude to unions.

Any with an inkling of American history ought to be cognizent of what working conditions were during the pre-union robber baron era. Get a brain, morans!

[Oceansaway]

19. i'm a proud retired member of

UAW Local # 281.....GO STRIKERS !!!!

:kick:

[senseandsensibility]

20. I think we made the greatest page!

Thaks to all of you who nominated and/or responded! Keep 'em coming!:-)

[DJ MEW]

21. I would like to thank and condemn them

I would like to thank them for keeping my fathers wages at a livable level and making it so he could have health insurance. I would also to thank them for the level of job security they fought for, even though the Regan years were hard on him. I would like to thank the unions for working to keep the standard of living up in our country.

I would like to condemn one chapter of the Machinist union, which my dad currently belongs too. The other members of the union were being really stupid and almost caused the either plant to shut down when they refused to accept a deal that would of only cost them about 50 cents an hour. The deal that they later were forced to accept was a bigger cut in pay and a higher co-pay on insurance.

Unions are great and wonderful things, but greed and short term thinking are killing the power of the union to negotiate.

[Bridget Burke]

36. So--that one union chapter that you condemn....

Is a sign that all unions are guilty of greed & short term thinking?

Lots of companies have forced unions to accept worse terms to "save" the company. Then the company declares bankruptcy or sends the jobs offshore. Golden Parachutes for the bosses. No jobs & no pensions for the unions.

[DJ MEW]

175. No, I am not really saying that

but the members of that chapter of the union are like that. I also know of a few other union members in other unions that are like that too.

I can see the power of the unions fading and I think greed and short term thinking on the part of some union members is what is causing the problems.

Plus I keep hearing about people getting out of the unions to avoid paying union fees, greed.

[texpatriot2004]

22. Unions are great. Unions = the right of the people

Unions began for a reason, because corporations abuse people, corporations abuse their power, corporations get greedy, corporations don't look after the people...the same corporate evils that are happening today. There was a period of time after unions when American businesses did take care of American workers but that time has passed.

When Unions began people were threatened, beaten, some just disappeared, others were murdered.

There is a good reason to have unions. Let's not go backward in time.

[Oceansaway]

25. without the union,

most of us women that worked in factorys would have never been hired.
they called it a 'mans' job back then...
unions also made the workplace ALOT safer(OSHA)

[senseandsensibility]

28. Yes, women

benefit greatly from unions. Thanks for pointing that out.

[Oceansaway]

39. most welcome !!

[patrice]

23. Thank Goodness for Unions.

The history of this country clearly demonstrates that we Need unions as much as we need food. Without them, the profit motive will Always succeed over the common man.

If, as I hear, there are unions that need to reform, that does not mean that, because they are flawed, they should cease to exist, nor does it follow that any given union is necessarily corrupt.

Instead of bashing Labor Unions, those who have problems with the transportation workers' strike should discuss the relative merits and faults of the specific demands on the table. If the union is being crazy, let us be the judge of that.

[ohtransplant]

24. Union Yes! Yes! Yes!

Not only have unions brought us the weekend but fair pay, benefits and decent working conditions.

Unions are under siege in this country right now - as are all wage earners in *'s "ownership society".

It's no more complicated than that. In *'s bizarro world, wage earners can go pound salt and those who own things like skyscrapers, utility companies and oil rigs need even more profits, tax breaks and corporate welfare. IOW, it's all-out war on the economic middle and lower end of the spectrum - wage earners!

In the current environment all wage earners have something to gain from revitalized unions.

Proud member of NTEU

edit:sp

[theHandpuppet]

26. Thank you, Union brothers and sisters!

Battle on! :applause:

[mcscajun]

27. I walked to work in NYC during a transit strike in the 80s,

was inconvenienced during the earlier one in the late sixties, and I am still in support of Unions and the right to strike. Like another poster said elsewhere here at DU today, sometimes Freedom means you have to Walk.

My dad was a Teamster at one point; no, not a trucker; the Teamsters grew to such an all-encompassing scope that they had organized maintenance workers at a major Catholic university in NYC, and he got his union card then.

I've never been in a union, but I don't cross picket lines. Doesn't mean I agree with every labor dispute or every demand, but I appreciate the history of the union struggle for worker dignity, worker safety, living wages, and real benefits. Without those earlier fights, many of us in non-union jobs wouldn't have many of the benefits, or indeed protections, we take for granted.

Certainly, there's bound to be some wiggle room in what the TWU is demanding, but you always have to ask for Far More than you expect in the end to get, and management as usual is being intransigent and cheap, doing what management does when labor is under pressure as it is in Bushie's Economic Nightmare, helped by CorporateMayor Bloomberg.

I see too much press (and even posts here) focusing on the outrageousness of the demands of the TWU, when everyone knows the reality is that demands are a bargaining point from which you compromise on the ultimate solution. Also, for the people who live far from the East coast and don't have experience living in really major cities, NYC has a cost of living that you just would not BELIEVE unless you've spent some serious time there (no, vacations or the occasional business trip does NOT count). That's why I live and work in NJ now. :)

[sandnsea]

30. $45-$50,000 isn't that much anywhere

Either we pay people a living wage or we support them through our tax dollars. It doesn't matter whether it's Walmart or the city. I do not understand why people don't get this.

[neweurope]

29. KICK! Without Unions the worker is lost.

Here in Germany the unions are rapidly loosing in influence, loosing members, too. I think that is very, very shortsighted. In the time of globalization unions are more important than they ever were.

-----------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[David Dunham]

33. The NY Transit strike is illegal. Fine the strikers to the max

All the transit workers knew when they took their jobs that NY law outlaws striking by them. They are striking nonetheless and greatly endgangering the public safety and crippling the city. I support the city's efforts to fine them to the max and to jail the strike leaders.

[alarimer]

58. That's real progressive of you

NOT!

We should support working people in trying to get a better deal from their owners...err management. Obviously negotiation is all about compromise. Striking is the ONLY leverage they have. It is meaningless to have a union without the willingness to strike. Hopefully management will come to its senses and bargain in good faith.

[sabbat hunter]

70. striking is not

it is not the only leverage they have. they can declare an impasse in which case an independent arbitrator agreed upon by both sides will come in and help reach a settlement.
also if they go to the labor relations board and say the MTA is not negotiating in good faith and they win the MTA can be fined.

so it is BS to say this is the only alternative.

management has been bargaining, i think toussaint wanted a strike. he was elected on holding a hard line with the MTA and striking.

[prolesunited]

59. So, do you dislike unions in general

Or, are you against this particular action.

[LostinVA]

65. He;s posting this on every strike thread

Whatever.

SOLIDARITY!

[BrklynLiberal]

101. Probably never lived in a big city in his life

[driver8]

31. As a union member...thank you for your post! My union allows

me to make a decent wage for the work I do. If my company decides that I will work overtime, my union ensures that I will be compensated fairly. Because of my union, I have a health care plan and dental plan for my family.

What is it that people don't get about unions? Why are unions seen as "the bad guys".

[killbotfactory]

37. corporate propaganda

spread through our corporate media.

[K8-EEE]

32. KICK!! Unions Are Pro-Family -- My Husband's Health Care

allows me to stay home with the kids, otherwise, forget it -- he works in Television and if we had to pay Cobra every time a project ended, I would be working just to provide insurance. We don't mind having less money with me home and living a more modest lifestyle but health care is a necessity, I am really grateful for the IATSE insurance!

[DoYouEverWonder]

34. This Union is also anti-war

Washington, DC - 09/24/05

[David Dunham]

38. The union is acting illegally in striking and should be removed.

[DoYouEverWonder]

42. They're apparently willing to pay the fine

which is two days pay for every day on strike. The workers seem to be willing to put their money where their mouths are.

[David Dunham]

47. A court order today will make the fine $25k per striker each day

[DoYouEverWonder]

57. What court order?

Got a link.

That's an outrage if it's true.

[David Dunham]

63. That's the order the judge in Brooklyn will issue later today.

[LostinVA]

67. Guess you have ESP, as well as being anti-labor

[rug]

46. I think somebody else should be removed.

[David Dunham]

48. I'd favor deporting both Bush and Toussaint

[NashVegas]

52. That's What Civil Disobediance Is All About

..

[David Dunham]

62. Striking and crippling a city lands you in jail, s Toussaint will learn

[me b zola]

139. How the fuck do you think that ANY labor laws came into effect???

Not only were people inconvienced, but people DIED for your right to unionize, earn a living wage, and work in a safe environment.

Do you KNOW the history of labor vs owners in the US???

[LostinVA]

66. Whatever -- we've heard you for the 20th time

And, it's not illegal. Any government body that says ANY strike is illegal is spitting on the workers and breaking the law themselves.

SOLIDARITY!

[David Dunham]

69. NY State Law makes this strike ILLEGAL, as Toussaint will soon learn.

Eliot Spitzer, NY AG, got a Brooklyn judge to issue an order today confirming the illegality of the strike. Toussaint and his crew will now be held in contempt of court and be sent to Riker's Island jail and fined $25k per day.

[NashVegas]

92. Great

If Toussaint et al are willing to be jailed for their convictions, what's your problem?

[sabbat hunter]

72. in NYS

there is a law called the Taylor law. it makes illegal strikes by municipal or state workers. the TWU works for a state agency. thus the strike is illegal.

[LostinVA]

164. As I've said on other threads, I think Taylor is illegal

State employees have the same right to strike as anyone... it's in the Constitution, actually.

[LincolnMcGrath]

170. You support free speech zones as wel?

[K8-EEE]

41. KICK From Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists #839!

That's my hub's union, I am really grateful that he is a member.

[kahleefornia]

206. Hi from a Motion Picture Sound Editor (Local 700)

How about our fantastic health plan, huh??? And pension! Go union!

[Sapphire Blue]

35. Kick... in honor of my father, grandfather & uncle, who shed their blood..

... for unionization.

[senseandsensibility]

43. Thanks to them, too

and all the others like them.:-)

[AuntiBush]

106. Back-Up Kick... In Honor of my late-husband.

A one-time *proud* long-time, dedicated & hard-working union member. ~ Local 194 ~

He'd be proud of all DUers support for Unions.

[Sapphire Blue]

111. ...

:toast:

[StaggerLee]

194. Right on!

A hearfelt thank you to your brave family members. :patriot:

Where would we be now were it not for progressive souls like them?

I'm a new UAW local member (state employee, less than one year) and very proud to be a part of the union.

[lapislzi]

45. Thanks, Dad

and thanks to all of the good people who worked with you.

[sabbat hunter]

49. the MTA

isnt a corporation. it is a quasi public agency.

the TWU are not allowed to strike under law. they have other routes. mediation and arbitration.

the parent union is not supporting the TWU 100 strike. they will get no funds from the national/international union.

[David Dunham]

51. I agree. We should denaturalize and deport Roger Toussaint .

[LSK]

50. my father was a union electrician for over 40 years

He damn near broke his back and is in bad pain but he is getting a nice pension now.

I will always support the unions.

[rman]

53. :bows:

[we can do it]

54. Go Unions!

While they are not perfect - they have done much to improve the lives of ALL American Workers.

[malaise]

55. Correct

I'm a Union member.

[Rainscents]

56. If it wasn't for Union, I would be living on the street right now!

They really protect injure workers!!! Go Union Go... Got my support! Thank you!

[Pathwalker]

60. SOLIDARITY FOREVER!

n/t

[SammyWinstonJack]

61. I grew up in a Union household.

:kick:

[David Dunham]

64. Legal union strikes are fine. The TWU strike in NY is illegal.

The city should throw the leaders in Riker's Island jail for a few days. Then they'll learn a new meaning for the phrase, "Is this seat taken?"

[LostinVA]

68. I am very tired of your nasty anti-union posts on a thread

Celebrating unions. This strike is NOT illegal, not matter what the law says. And yeah, that makes sense.

You are on my ignore list now.

[senseandsensibility]

77. Thanks for your support

You're fighting the good fight. By all means put him on ignore for your mental health. Personally, I find his comments amusing in their narrow mindedness and redundancy. But I've been there...I've had to use the ignore button for another poster recently, and for the first time ever! Solidarity!:toast:

[LostinVA]

157. Solidarity!

[AndyS40]

152. Good .. stick your head in the sand.

You want to know why unions are threatened in today's America? I guess not.

Your unions have failed millions of people in America. You crow about victories that have been undone and are in the past. You ask people to thank you for things they don't even get and would be immensely grateful to have. Even a little bit of what you have, yet we are workers too and we don't go on strike over minutia.

Unlike the poster you ignored .. I support the transit strike. I support unions, but I don't have a single thing to thank them for. Not one. I only support unions because, while unions have failed me and everyone in a position like mine, you didn't do this to me. Corporations did.

[Solon]

82. Screw that, I thought we lived in a democracy...

Bill of Rights
Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

OK, any other questions, you support a law that, on its face, should be declared uncontitutional, but I guess you just hate democracy in action. After all, they are employed by the state, so in this case, what they are doing is perfectly legal, according to the constitution.

[tishaLA]

109. Not Cricket To Picket

It's not cricket to picket, not cricket
Oh, no it's just not coming for to picket
You haven't any right you know
You're acting in great haste
Just think of the predicament
In which your boss is placed
And entre-nous I think
It's an exceedingly bad taste
Not cricket to picket, not cricket

It's not cricket to picket, not cricket
Atrocious and gauche you know to picket
Go home and starve like gentlemen
Not like a noisy brood
Real ladies never make a fuss
Though they like clothes and food
And money's never talked about
For that would be quite rude
Not cricket to picket, not cricket

It's not picket to cricket, not picket
Uncultured and unmannerly to picket
You know you're misbehaving now
You mustn't lose your mind
You're being so inelegant
And frankly quite unkind
Excuse my indiscretion
But you're all damned unrefined
Not picket to cricket not picket

It ain't ticket to stick it, not picket
Now officer get each man there a cricket
Oh, dear, where is your decency
No Vanderbilts or Asters
Would ask in such a vulgar way
Be fitting only dastards
I beg you get the hell away
You lousy bunch of...

What do you mean disturbing the peace?
Come with you officer?
Oh, you see, you're brushing my mink
Get your hands off, kid!
You don't seem to know who I am
Or whom I know
Listen, I'm an intimate friend of Jimmy Walker
You won't get me in that black wagon, no sir!

[EstimatedProphet]

71. I absolutely agree

[Fox Mulder]

73. Thank God for unions!

:woohoo:

[DarkTirade]

74. Thanks to my union

for guaranteed hours, a secure job and health insurance.

[High Plains]

75. Anti-union Democrats...

I thought those were only mythological creatures, but they seem to be rearing their heads today.

Gee, maybe they had to take a taxi to work today. Solidarity, brother.

[G_j]

76. nominated!

:applause:

[senseandsensibility]

78. Thanks

We got a pro union thread on the greatest page, thanks to posters like you!

[G_j]

83. Talking Union

Talking Union

by Millard Lampell, Lee Hays and Pete Seeger, 1941
The Almanac Singers, Woodie Guthrie, Lee Hays, Millard Lampell and Pete Seeger

Now, if you want higher wages let me tell you what to do
You got to talk to the workers in the shop with you.
You got to build you a union, got to make it strong,
But if you all stick together, boys, it won't be long.
You get shorter hours, better working conditions,
Vacations with pay. Take your kids to the seashore.

It ain't quite this simple, so I better explain
Just why you got to ride on the union train.
'Cause if you wait for the boss to raise your pay,
We'll all be a-waitin' 'til Judgment Day.
We'll all be buried, gone to heaven,
St. Peter'll be the straw boss then.

Now you know you're underpaid but the boss says you ain't;
He speeds up the work 'til you're 'bout to faint.
You may be down and out, but you ain't beaten,
You can pass out a leaflet and call a meetin'.
Talk it over, speak your mind,
Decide to do somethin' about it.

Course, the boss may persuade some poor damn fool
To go to your meetin' and act like a stool.
But you can always tell a stool, though, that's a fact,
He's got a yaller streak a-runnin' down his back.
He doesn't have to stool, he'll always get along
On what he takes out of blind men's cups.

You got a union now, and you're sittin' pretty,
Put some of the boys on the steering committee.
The boss won't listen when one guy squawks,
But he's got to listen when the union talks.
He'd better, be mighty lonely
Everybody decide to walk out on him.

Suppose they're working you so hard it's just outrageous
And they're paying you all starvation wages.
You go to the boss and the boss would yell,
"Before I raise your pay I'd see you all in hell."
Well, he's puffing a big seegar, feeling mighty slick
'Cause he thinks he's got your union licked.
Well, he looks out the window and what does he see
But a thousand pickets, and they all agree:
He's a bastard, unfair, slavedriver,
Bet he beats his wife!

Now, boys, you've come to the hardest time.
The boss will try to bust your picket line.
He'll call out the police, the National Guard,
They'll tell you it's a crime to have a union card.
They'll raid your meetin', they'll hit you on the head,
They'll call every one of you a goddam red,
Unpatriotic, Japanese spies, sabotaging national defense!

But out at Ford, here's what they found,
And out at Vultee, here's what they found,
And out at Allis-Chalmers, here's what they found,
And down at Bethlehem, here's what they found:
That if you don't let red-baiting break you up,
And if you don't let stoolpigeons break you up,
And if you don't let vigilantes break you up,
And if you don't let race hatred break you up,
You'll win. What I mean, take it easy, but take it!

[senseandsensibility]

84. Great song from 1941

But some people have no idea of their union history. We need an updated version of that, by someone way more talented than I am. This one is great, though.

[Critters2]

79. People who bitch about unions

should work 12 hour days, 6 days a week, without any benefits, with no retirement, until they drop dead.
Unions won the 8 hour day, the 5 day week, health care and other benefits, retirement and SS. It's only right those who hate unions forego the gifts unions have given them. Anything else is hypocrisy.

[calico1]

80. Well said.

I'd only add that for many people it was more like 16-18 hours. Being out sick meant you could lose your job. Exits were barred so that workers didn't goof off. This is how the women at the Shirt Waist factory in NYC died. Some people just have no clue at all.

[raccoon]

178. And sometimes exits are LOCKED so workers can't pilfer.

That's why so many died at Imperial chicken processing plant in Hamlet, NC.

"Ten years ago this week (9/2001), 25 workers were killed and 50 were injured in Hamlet, North Carolina after being trapped in a burning chicken factory. Factory owners had locked the doors from the outside to guard against theft but instead trapped about 200 employees inside when a hydraulic line spilled flammable liquid onto a hot fryer."

http://www.ufcw.org/workplace_connections/meatpacking_and_poultry/safety_health_news_and_facts/memorial.cfm

Shirtwaist factory fire was in 1911. The fire at Hamlet, NC, was in 1991.

Ain't life grand in "right-to-work" states?

[senseandsensibility]

85. Yours is the appropriate response to such

creatures. Watch them sputter wordlessly if you actually challenge them like that. It can be very funny.

[IronLionZion]

122. damn, I wish i had an 8 hour day

I work 12 hours a day at $14 an hour, but I have benefits that I have to pay part of.

The TWU workers have a higher salary and much better benefits than I do. Look, I appreciate what unions have done for workers rights and realize that's why I have the benefits that I have. But what these TWU workers are doing now is selfish and unnecessary. They are affecting a lot of good people who depend on the transit system and just can't afford some of the alternatives that corporate conservatives and latte liberals have. The budget surplus was made to rebuild after 9/11 and attract tourists back to the city.

I thought for a long time about supporting my brothers and sisters during the Indian general strike this year, but didn't because healthcare workers and hospital patients depend on the work I do. So I went to work and did my job.

[politicat]

134. Higher cost of living - their 35K starting salary won't buy lunch in

NYC. Their pay ranges from 35K starting to 55K - and that's not enough to afford a mortgage on NYC rates.

You're in Indy - you've got a cost of living that's about a third of what theirs is.

Besides, Delphi's not going to be far behind. Up towards Kokomo, I'm hearing a lot of chatter about a pending strike, especially if Delphi doesn't stop treating the management that ran the damn company into the ground like kings. Then the pickets are going to be pretty much in front of you....

[raccoon]

176. Amen to that! nt

[Alpharetta]

81. Solidarnosc!

Thank you unions.

Thank you Lech Walesa, for bringing down the Warsaw Pact and subsequently the Soviet Union.

America needs a Lech Walesa. When the workers strike, the powerful will notice. Now that the elections are rigged, strikes are our last resort. It's about the only thing they'll notice.

[senseandsensibility]

86. Exactly

:kick:

[sabbat hunter]

87. court fines

the union 1 million per day every day for striking illegally under the taylor law, payable immediately.

[senseandsensibility]

88. Your concern for the unions is touching

If and when the court issues such fines, it will be the union's job to deal with it. They have lawyers, and they know what they're up against. By the way, the lawyers are paid for by the workers who are striking. I have confidence in the workers, and I won't waste my time with second guessing them and their strategy. Perhaps you should e-mail them with your concerns.

[sniffa]

102. oh no!

i'm sure the members had no idea. they shouLd just give up and go back. :cry:

[CrispyQ]

89. It is because of unions that I enjoy

a 40 hour work week;
paid vacation;
paid holidays;
safety standards in the workplace;
and much, much more!

Thank you to the men & women who fought for these benefits!

[senseandsensibility]

90. Yes, CrispyQGirl

I only wish that some on this board were as perceptive as you.

[TheBaldyMan]

91. solidarity - the only effective tool of working men and women n/t

[AntiFascist]

93. I applaud the NY transit strikers.....

this invoked quite an angry response from Mayor Bloomberg, so it obviously has touched a nerve for the Republicans. This is one of the best, non-violent ways of opposing the Republican-dominated government. More strikes, more strikes!

[smirkymonkey]

94. Kicked and Recommended!

Even here in the liberal bastion of NYC, I am still hearing so-called liberals bashing the workers because the poor babies are being INCONVENIENCED! Like it's a real fucking hardship for them to get off their dead asses and walk a little bit.

My roommate is the worst - she's never worked a day in her life, sits around the apartment all day and has the nerve to call herself a liberal while trashing the union workers.

[senseandsensibility]

97. How does someone get to never work a day in their life

and just sit around the apartment? Just curious. Thanks for the nomination!:)

[smirkymonkey]

115. Trust fund.

Although it's running out and the panic is setting in. Hmmm....she might have to go work for transit! ;)

[Kolesar]

95. Thanks to all my scoutmasters from GM Packard Electric & the IUE

edit: taught me about nature and hiking and...civic participation

[Twist_U_Up]

96. Proud to be Union !!!

I have even lead a successful victory in organizing 60 guys and a HUGh!! warehouse . I'll tell ya one thing management used to love me,now they hate me . hehe Its amazing how similar they were to the bfee.

Honest days pay for an honest days work.

[ulysses]

98. indeed I will.

:kick:

[Missy Vixen]

99. I'm the daughter of a union member and

the granddaughter of a union member.

Collective bargaining is the only way for the working stiff to get a fair shake.

Julie

[AuntiBush]

107. You Truly Are, Julie!

That's an old union saying from way, way back... "for the working stiff..."

:kick:

[BrklynLiberal]

100. Even those wbo do not belong to unions benefit from the fights that

union members have been going thru for decades.
Every fair labor law and health benefit that any employee has now, is due to the action of some union somewhere, sometime.

[bread_and_roses]

103. Thank you, Union members past and present

for all the things others here have listed, like 8 hour days and breaks. Thank you for every demand you've ever made, for every strike, for facing fists and guns and hunger and jail to provide workers with the only meaningful power against Corporate Greed, against taking the tax cuts for the Rich and Corporations out of the backs of the poor and working people.

Thank you to my father and brother, Union members. Thank you to my mother, who somehow fed us through Strikes.

Workers deserve not just wages they and their families can live on, but wages that provide a GOOD living, they deserve health care, and pensions. ALL workers. That so many of us don't have them is in part a consequence of the assault against Unions over the past quarter century, at least.

There's a very good book, it's title taken, I think, from an old Labor song, titled, "Who's Side Are You On?" It's that simple.

[senseandsensibility]

105. Yes, I'm

beginning to wonder whose side some people ARE on. Trivial,petty complaints against unions are important to them, but they ignore the big picture. They fall for the distractions, which are designed to splinter us. Solidarity is everything.

[Little Star]

104. Unions are a working mans best

friend! Yes to unions!!!

[Clarkie1]

108. I'm the union rep. at my school; California Teacher's Association. eom

[displacedtexan]

141. I don't usually thread jump, but I just found your post...

When I was a school district union rep, the non-union members would secretly pass me their negotiation wish lists!

I always made sure that they saw me rip the lists up and throw them in the nearest trash can.

FAIR SHARE, y'all!

And all of this was not far from where Mother Jones is buried!

[brook]

110. Anyone...

who claims to have come from a middle class family - or any family that 'managed' the roof over their heads, four squares and a pair of shoes for each child - should realize how much they owe unions. When I first worked union, I had a boss who had worked for $3.00 a day (12 hours) in the studios of Hollywood. My starting wage in the studio was something like 15 bucks an hour; time and a half after 8 and a 60 hour week guarantee.

One thing I saw speeding the decline of unionism - was a bunch of youngsters come in without any apprentice time ( I did 5000 hours) - who didn't come to meetings claiming they didn't know what the union had done for them. As a rep, the only time I heard from them was when they figured they might be the next guy laid off. They didn't understand when I told them they should have called when their buddy got the axe.

And, yes, I know that unions are not without fault and corruption - but the only way to change that is to be active and run for office yourself. Collective bargaining is the only way to a better future for the working folks.

[annabanana]

112. "But if you want to get together and fight, good buddy..

That's what I wanta hear"!

Do you have a weekend? Thank a Union. Are there child labor laws? Thank a Union. Does your job help support your health care? Thank a Union. Does your job have safety standards? Thank a Union. Do you get a couple of weeks off a year? Thank a Union.

[two gun sid]

113. Thanks to my Union, AFSCME, ...

my fathers Union, UAW, and my grandfather and his fathers Union, UMWA.

Thank-you to all the Union members who have sacrificed so that we could get a fair deal in the work place.


"When the Union's inspiration through the workers' blood shall run,
There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun.
Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one?
But the Union makes us strong."

Solidarity Forever!

[wadestock]

116. Your Goddam Right!!!!!!!!!

Anyone who thinks on average the unions have let down the free enterprise system sickens me.

For instance...the latest issue with the demise of GM....well that was the unions, right?...demanding benefits that couldn't be realistically paid, right?

BS on top of BS on top of BS.
We could all be working less hours, with higher pay, with responsible management that produced a quality product that benefitted our citizenry....believing in the worker, investing in the worker, with real human resources management.

It's the inherent inefficiency of producing bad products and the endless inefficiencies of cutthroat bottom line profit making for the sake of profits only that has brought us to where we are....not lazy, ineffective, union bound workers.

Capitalism can only work and evolve when it is efficient....when it seeks and produces a quality product...

This is the responsibility of management...to create an effective environment for this to nuture.....

And it is the responsible of an effective government within a capitalistic society to inspire and nuture such efficient and effective enterprise.

[wadestock]

117. You're Goddam Right!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyone who thinks on average the unions have let down the free enterprise system sickens me.

For instance...the latest issue with the demise of GM....well that was the unions, right?...demanding benefits that couldn't be realistically paid, right?

BS on top of BS on top of BS.
We could all be working less hours, with higher pay, with responsible management that produced a quality product that benefitted our citizenry....believing in the worker, investing in the worker, with real human resources management.

It's the inherent inefficiency of producing bad products and the endless inefficiencies of cutthroat bottom line profit making for the sake of profits only that has brought us to where we are....not lazy, ineffective, union bound workers.

Capitalism can only work and evolve when it is efficient....when it seeks and produces a quality product...

This is the responsibility of management...to create an effective environment for this to nuture.....

And it is the responsible of an effective government within a capitalistic society to inspire and nuture such efficient and effective enterprise.

[AmandaRuth]

118. Yeah, go workers and go unions

I have long believed that the boosh reign is all about the judges and if the dems don't stop Alito (or how ever you spell his name) from being confirmed, Unions can kiss their ass goodbye and all workers including republican workers will see, in the long run, their wages, working conditions and benefits go into decline.

I am from Washington state and, my fellow dems at the meetings I go to don't seem to understand why I am so pissed at Patty Murry for voting Roberts, The attack on reproductive rights is bad enough, but IMHO the court can't wait to undermine all unions and give even more power to corporations. It seems like all the attention is going to abortion rights and workers rights are falling under the radar. Sometimes all I can do is thank the good lord I was born when I was, to be able to live in such a great progressive age, and enjoy the benefits that Unions gave me.

[tatertop]

119. UNION YES!

[autorank]

120. I thank unions at least monthly for health insurance, working rights,

sanity in the federal government by keeping the lunes at bay at least part of the time, and for staying progressive when it was easy to not try at all.

Thanks Unions!!! As Chris Rock said, "Man wouldn't pay you unless he had to!" That's what unions do, make the man pay us.

[uppityperson]

121. Thank you unions, good luck strikers everywhere

I've been a union member and support them. Even though they aren't perfect, they are very much needed and appreciated.

[readmoreoften]

123. GSOC/UAW2110 on STRIKE AGAINST NYU

I support TWU.
I support my fellow workers.

[WillyT]

124. Right On Brothers And Sisters !!!

:toast::hi::toast:

[Jamison]

125. Shame on the union bashers here at DU.

It's a good thing they're in the minority however. They all should read up on the history of unions and what they've done for workers.

About a year ago here, the local UFCW went on strike in most of the local grocery stores that I go to, but I would not cross picket lines, I found somewhere else to go (not Wal-Mart however). I support what these workers are doing!

[nofurylike]

126. on my knees in THANKS!! thank you for this thread, senseandsensibility!

[senseandsensibility]

128. You're more than welcome

Your support and thanks are greatly appreciated. Go unions!

[nofurylike]

200. mmmh. as are yours, senseandsensibility. "Go Unions!" !!! eom

[Usrename]

127. Thank you to the unions

fair pay

[mykpart]

129. Let's remember, too, that

unions were once regarded by many as a Communist plot, as treasonous and anti-American. Thank goodness the union supporters weren't stopped by this kind of rhetoric. How about a tag line like, "If you have time to read this, you can thank a labor union."

[senseandsensibility]

130. That's good

And true!:)

[dusmcj]

131. the productive classes produce every cent of America's wealth

Not those living off residual earnings. Go labor!!!

Go MTA transit workers on strike (in my backyard)!!! Reverse the decision fining them based on the Taylor law!!!!

[REP]

132. THANK YOU, UNIONS! THANK YOU!

I am a Union member, and I support the TWU. I know they don't want to strike (no one ever wants the financial insecurity that comes with a strike) but the contract for new workers is unacceptable. Good for them for taking a stand. If it didn't sound so arrogant to say so, here on the West Coast, I'd say I stood with them, but I do support their cause wholeheartedly.

[hamerfan]

138. IBEW #53 here

Thanking all those before me who did the heavy lifting, to allow ALL of us a bit better life than they had. And good luck to my brothers and sisters with the TWU.

[politicat]

135. National Writers' Union, here.

And I thank them every day.

[NuttyFluffers]

136. united we stand, divided we fall. thanks unions! n/t

[Raksha]

137. Blue-collar and union all the way!

And proud third-generation Democrat!

:kick:

[WildEyedLiberal]

140. Thanks from the daughter of a union man

My dad has worked as a UAW member for 40 years, and I couldn't be prouder. Solidarity forever.

[KitchenWitch]

142. Thanks Unions! SOLIDARITY TO MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS!

[Surya Gayatri]

143. Thanks for this post, S&S...

We all owe a great debt to the fearless men and women who have fought for the rights of organized labor--they are truly working class heros. Sure, there have been excesses and abuses, but America's heretofore thriving middle class exists in large part thanks to the labor movement. SG

[nonconformist]

144. K & R in solidarity! nt

[eridani]

145. Enjoying your weekend?

Thank a union member!

[Binka]

147. Harry Bridges Is A Hero! Union ALL THE WAY!

"There will always be a place for us somewhere, somehow, as long as
we see to it that working people fight for everything
they have, everything they hope to get, for dignity, equality,
democracy, to oppose war and to bring to the world a better life."
-- Harry Bridges 1901-1990
The Harry Bridges Institute

[AndyS40]

148. I thought maybe you'd enjoy hearing from a "low count poster"

in transition from a philosophy you call "anti-worker" to one perhaps more friendly to your point of view.

Democratic Underground, however, had nothing to do with my evolving viewpoint on the union issue.

The point of view I evolved from should be rather easy to understand. See, what you call "anti-worker" is pure demagoguery if you're describing me. I'm a worker too, and a worker who is far less well compensated than even the least of these unions who are striking. Moreover, I have specialized knowledge, I've been a computer programmer for 20 years, it would be EXTREMELY difficult to replace me in my knowledge and skill base, and yet I am less well paid than a meat packer at a unionized grocery store.

Calling me "anti-worker" is frankly self-destructive on your part and actually geared to a point of view that would lead a person who lives my life to snort and dismiss you as an "asshole". I AM A WORKER.

I have no pension, I pay for my own health insurance, and I live paycheck to paycheck. One missed paycheck, pretty much, and my reserves have been exhausted over the last 10 years - I'm homeless. This is despite a knowledge and skill set that has cost me an entire lifetime to accumulate.

Frankly, I resent this. You're playing with fire on this front because there are many people in my shoes - people who have skills that SHOULD lead to them being better paid, but they are very poorly paid against much less skilled unionized workers. Nothing against people who stock grocery shelves .. but frankly it doesn't take a genius to do that. It takes a lot more to know several computer languages and be able to build business systems from the ground up. It seems people like you need to know people like me are out here and don't make six figure paychecks - and that we live one paycheck from homelessness.

Over the last several years, I have come to realize that it is more corporations, and not greedy unions, that have put me in the position I am in. So I support unions, even with the paralyzing transit strike in New York. THe default point of view from someone in my shoes is to see union workers as pampered self serving JERKS who don't see life as it really is.

It is this point of view you need to combat. You do this with INFORMATION, not old union screeds and self-serving, alienating rhetoric.

Thanks for your attention to this matter.

[Bridget Burke]

173. Since you asked for my attention....

Have you ever considered banding together with other workers in your dreadful situation? Or will you continue to be overworked & underpaid, while spouting contempt for those less educated than you?

You claim to have more "genius"--but your current lifestyle indicates the people stocking grocery store shelves know some things that you don't.

[Greyhound]

180. And why are you in the position you're in? We got screwed, in large part,

because when we were in the chips in the 90's we refused to organize. When the ITAA was co-opted and began spewing their lies, we didn't have a voice of our own to counter them with. I'll bet that, like me, 6 years ago you were doing well and thought your position was secure. The longshoremen and the transit workers and the grocery store stockers have their jobs and get benefits and vacations and if they should become ill they can receive health care and have a job to come back to, all because they unionized. Can you even imagine union worker having to take a 60% pay cut and total loss of benefits just to keep a check coming in, or being laid off and having to train your own 3rd world replacement so that you get a letter of recommendation to try to get your next job with?
Were you ever approached by someone trying to unionize back then?

[driver8]

195. Uhm...it sounds like you need a union! It also sounds like you are

blaming unions for your lack of health care and low pay. Greedy unions?? How about greedy CEOs and greedy corporations who ship jobs overseas? How about greedy corporations who cut their workers pension plans but pay the CEOs and upper management outrageous bonuses??

Greedy unions? I don't think so. What is wrong with wanting a competitive wage for the work you do? You just said that you are under paid...that is a union's fault?? Unions help provide health care benefits for their workers -- this is wrong because...??

It seems to me that you are blaming unions for your problems and are ignoring the real cause. Because you aren't getting what you feel you deserve, you seem to think that no one else is entitled to it. That is what a union is all about -- giving the worker some leverage against the corporations.

[louis c]

149. Thank You

From IBEW Local 123 Boston, MA.

[AndyS40]

150. Wow, this rah-rah union thread is amazing.

Thank you, unions, for the 40 hour work week, even though I'm on call 24 hours a day, make less than the least union worker does, and don't even know what a 40 hour week looks like.

Thank you, unions, for health insurance and fringe benefits, even though I don't have any.

Thank you, unions, for vacations, even though I've gotten one real vacation in the last five years, and it was paid for out of my own pocket.

Thank you, unions, for a safe workplace, even though I work from home and am responsible for my own workplace.

Thank you, unions, for breaks, even though this is an evolving society that in many sectors you do not even (apparently) know about doesn't even know the meaning of the word "break" because it is now so alien to the way we do things.

Most of all, thank you, unions, for bringing me strikes.

Indeed I am on my knees in gratitude.

[LostinVA]

155. Take your anti-labor/union sentiments to another thread

This is one thanking unions. Sorry, Andy, but it's your employer's fault that you don't have all of these benefits, not the unions. You should never begrudge another worker a better life, never. Shame.

And yes, you should get down on your knees and thank them.

[AndyS40]

158. I thought maybe you'd be interested as to WHY the unions are failing.

If you read the other posts I've made on this thread, I don't BLAME the unions for things I do not have, nor do I give them undeserved credit for things I do have.

And no, I have nothing to thank unions for. You all in unions ought to be thanking me, for my support. There's not a single thing anyone in a present union has ever done for me, except perhaps to stand on principle and be on my side otherwise, politically. So, thanks for that, for what it's worth. I believe in the union principle and you have my support if not my love.

I presumed you might want to make inroads, from the 8% private sector unions currently have to the 92% they do not have. Sorry if I was in error ;)

[Binka]

156. Your Contribution Here Is In Very Poor Taste

If you have a gripe start your own thread. This is a tribute thread. You are entitled to your opinion but please don't piss in this punch bowl. It shows a real lack of class.

[AndyS40]

159. Sorry if a badly-needed wake-up call is in "poor taste". I apologize for

intruding on your blindness .. carry on ;)

[robbedvoter]

162. No one is asleep to the private sector. It's just that there is a war on

working people going on right now - an actual specific war - not a theoretical one - and we can say "we're with you" or "whaaaa" but what about me?". You were told - again and again - that this was not the "whaaa" thread. Try the "Screw the TWU" that your HUGH1111 and series friends started here.

[LostinVA]

165. That's right, Binka! I have the poster on Ignore, so thanks for the

SOLIDARITY!

[two gun sid]

171. Sounds to me you need to join a Union, Brother...

I can send you some information on organizing your work place if you like.

Solidarity Forever!

[LostinVA]

177. Solidarity, Sid!

[LincolnMcGrath]

172. Unions did not bring you strikes.

Corporate America brought you strikes.

[Bridget Burke]

174. In the old days, unions insisted on bettering their lot.

They succeeded. But it was a struggle. You like to bitch about your life but there's no evidence that you're doing anything to improve it.

Yes, you're on your knees. But it's not in gratitude. Keep performing your duty without complaint & perhaps your Masters will recognize your service.

Perhaps they won't.

[PatriotGames]

151. Thanks!

[AndyS40]

153. You all need to get off your butts, stop with the self-contratulatory

bullshit, stop taking credit for what people long dead did and get to work.

I stand for the unions, but I don't like them. I don't like the self-referential naval gazing, credit taking for the work of others, the bubble/shell mentality and the condescending arrogance.

I frankly don't give a rat's ass what people in the 1920's or whenever did to get me my "weekends" which I don't even have anymore. No one who is currently living can claim to have done bupkus for the millions of hard working, non unionized people in this country.

I wondered why the unions were failing so badly until I got to this thread, I guess I have one answer. I wouldn't stand beside a single one of you "pro-union" people as you appear on this thread in a unionizing action. I would be embarrassed to be seen in your company, for one thing. I'll fight for unions, and I'll fight to unionize, but not with the likes of people on this thread. A new realism is apparently called for.

Moreover, the nasty, loathesome, look-down attitude and dishonest mis-apprehensions of fellow workers who don't have your protections. It's like an alternate reality fantasy world. Shame on you.

In 30 years, unless unions get a clue, unions will be gone from this country. And yeah you can all sit around grumbling how the corporations broke you.

[sniffa]

197. ...

:rofl:

[Fridays Child]

154. My favorite pro-union bumper sticker...

Get this bumper sticker, and more, here.

[gristy]

160. I am pro-union

When I heard they went on strike I said "Good for them.".
I hope it is over soon.

[robbedvoter]

161. TWU - marched with us against the war - part of why the GOP

wants to shut them up. They are political, vocal - and in GWB America that means they should be cut down. THAT's why an employer with a surplus offered them a LESSER contract.

[dryan]

163. Organized labor....

in this country helped to create the middle class. Just for starters here is what the labor movement created for EVERYONE:
8 hour day
40 hour work week
time and a half
workers comp
child labor laws
Social Security
pensions
better workmanship - look at the training union carpenters, joiners, textile workers, plumbers, etc receive versus non-union and you will see what I mean

[Pharaoh]

166. They've been chipping away at unions

since Reagan fired the air traffic controllers, they want the kind of slave labor they can get in China. Anyone who does not support unions at this critical juncture is just screwing themselves in the long run......

NALC National Association of Letter Carriers

[iconoclastNYC]

167. People have died for the right of labor to collective bargain and strike.

I had to share a car with 3 other people. We each had to pay $20. I also had to walk 20 blocks.

It's nothing compared to people who got killed by the private armies that the rober barons used against the early labor leaders.

If you think that being inconvienced by a transit strike is a big deal you really should read the biography of Mother Jones.

[LincolnMcGrath]

168. Union Yes! For My Future! For My Family!

:yourock:

[LibDemAlways]

169. Without unions there would be

no 40 hour work week, no minimum wage, no overtime pay, no health or vacation benefits, no disability pay, no safeguards regarding worker safety or the employment of children.

Every working American owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to the union movement.

[jane_pippin]

179. I don't get why some people think striking should inconvenience no one

The whole point of striking, as I understand it, is to show management and the community in general how valuable the worker's role is by showing the void left in their wake if and when they go on strike. It's not easy for anybody, nor is is supposed to be. If it was easy, it would be somewhat pointless.

Now, I admit I'm not in New York and I haven't been following this situation incredibly closely, and I'm not a union member but most of my family members are or were at some point in their lives. I just have one question:
Which of the following labor struggles were easy, and inconvenienced no one?

1934 West Coast Longshore Strike
"Bloody Thursday"
After a quiet Fourth of July the employers' organization, the Industrial Association, tried to open the port even further on Thursday, July 5. As spectators watched from Rincon Hill, the police shot tear gas canisters into the crowd, then followed with a charge by mounted police. Picketers threw the canisters and rocks back at the police, who charged again, sending the picketers into retreat after a third assault. Each side then broke for lunch.

Hostilities picked up again that afternoon, when a group of strikers surrounded a police car and attempted to tip it over. The police fired shotguns in the air, then fired their revolvers at the crowd. One of the policemen fired a shotgun into the crowd, killing a striking seaman and a strike sympathizer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1934_West_Coast_Longshore_Strike

Centralia massacre
The Centralia massacre, an infamous incident of labor unrest in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, occurred on November 11, 1919 in Centralia, Washington. The incident, erupted during a celebration marking the first anniversary of Armistice Day, and resulted in a gunfight between local members of the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World, also called the "Wobblies") and the American Legion. The clash resulted in the shooting deaths of four Legionaires by wobblies, after which vigilantes lynched Wesley Everest. The incident remains controversial to the present day, over conflicting accounts of the action and responsibility for the violence
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia_massacre

Everett massacre
The Everett massacre was an armed confrontation between sheriff deputies, vigilantes and Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) Union members, which took place in Everett, Washington on Sunday, November 5, 1916. The unfortunate event marked a time of rising tensions in Pacific Northwest labor history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everett_massacre

Flint Sit-Down Strike
The Flint Sit-Down Strike changed the United Automobile Workers from a collection of isolated locals on the fringes of the industry into a major union and led to the unionization of the United States automobile industry
In a conventional strike the union takes its members outside the plant and attempts to prevent the employer from operating by discouraging other employees from entering. In a sit-down strike, the workers physically occupy the plant, keeping management and others out.
The Flint sit-down strikers did just that, electing their own "Mayor" and other civic officials and maintaining the plant throughout the strike. The Union kept up a regular supply of food to the strikers inside while sympathizers marched in support outside.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_Sit-Down_Strike

Great Railroad Strike of 1922
The Great Railroad Strike of 1922, a nationwide railroad shop workers strike in the United States which began on July 1, caused a national outcry. The immediate cause of the strike was the Railroad Labor Board's announcement that hourly wages would be cut by seven cents on July 1, which prompted a shop workers vote on whether or not to strike. The operators' union did not join in the strike, and the railroads employed strikebreakers to fill three-fourths of the roughly 400,000 vacated positions, increasing hostilities between the railroads and the striking workers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Railroad_Strike_of_1922

Haymarket Riot
On May 1, 1886 (later known as May Day), labor unions organized a strike for an eight-hour work day in Chicago. By 21st century standards, working conditions in the city were miserable, with most workers working ten to twelve hour days, often six days a week under sometimes dangerous conditions. On May 3 striking workers met near the Cyrus McCormick reaper plant. Chicago police attacked the strikers without warning, killing two, wounding several others and sparking outrage in the city's working community
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_Riot

Ludlow massacre
The Ludlow massacre of April 20, 1914 was one of the bloodiest assaults on organized labor in American history. As a result, 20 people were killed, including a dozen women and children. It took place in Ludlow, Colorado (today a ghost town) northwest of Trinidad, Colorado and was the climax of an effort to suppress a strike by twelve thousand Colorado coal miners.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludlow_massacre

Pullman Strike
During the major economic downturn of the early 1890s, George Pullman cut wages without an equivalent decrease in rent and other expenses. Discontented workers joined the American Railway Union (ARU), led by Eugene Debs, and decided to stage a strike.

The strike effectively shut down production in the Pullman factories and led to a lockout. Many supply routes were cut off when railroad workers blocked Pullman cars (and subsequently Wagner Palace cars) from moving in the ensuing nationwide sympathy strike
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pullman_Strike

Textile workers strike (1934)
The textile workers' strike of 1934 was the largest strike in United States history at the time, involving 400,000 textile workers from New England, the Mid-Atlantic states and all over the southeastern United States and lasted twenty-two days. The strike's ultimate failure and the union's defeat left the southeastern portion of the United States an unorganized and anti-union region for the next 50 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textile_workers_strike_%281934%29

The Battle of the Overpass
The Battle of the Overpass was an incident on 26 May 1937, in which labor organizers clashed with Ford Motor Company security.

The United Auto Workers had planned a leaflet campaign at the pedestrian overpass over Miller Road at Gate 4 of the Rouge complex. The overpass connected the employee parking lot with the Ford factories. The campaign was planned for shift change time, as workers both entered and left the plant.

About 2 pm, several of the leading UAW organizers, including Walter Reuther and Richard Frankensteen, were asked by a Detroit News photographer to pose for a picture at the top of the steps of the overpass. While they were posing, men from Ford's "Service Department", an internal security force led by Harry Bennett, came from behind and began to beat them. They then beat some of the women arriving to pass out leaflets, and some reporters and photographers. They attempted to destroy photographic plates, but one News photographer was able to smuggle his away and photos of the brutality were spread across the country.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_the_Overpass



I hope this situation in New York gets resolved quickly for the sake of everyone involved, and I hope we all remember how good we have it now thanks to the sacrifices made in the past.

[brook]

181. Mike Quill

"When a judge jailed transit union leader Mike Quill during a 1966 strike (it is illegal for public employees to strike in New York state), Quill responded: "The judge can drop dead in his black robes. I don't care if I rot in jail."

He was a real Irishman with a mighty broque and a man of the people. He came to visit my Dad when we lived in Mexico City in the 50's. Though our home was modest, it did sit behind the traditional wall and iron grilles. Mike got out of the car, took one look and said to my Uncle Bill: "Sure and no workin' man lives here!"

I have a major regret,- that I was a major 'ditz' at 18-19 and didn't appreciate some of the experiences I had as my father's daughter until much later.

[erinlough]

182. Fellow Union Member for life

I honor those who have sacrificed for all that I enjoy. I fear that we will see what a workforce with no union looks like, but that won't happen without a fight from me.

[GreenPoet64]

183. Thank you unions!! n/t

[bvar22]

184. Here's one for Joe Hill!

:dem:


Joe Hill's strikes were "ILLEGAL" too.
The LAW then was written by the RICH Robber Barons who OWNED the politicians, alot like today!
He was executed by "The Man (Corporate America) for his beliefs and his courage!

http://www.aflcio.org/aboutus/history/history/hill.cfm



The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those
who advance the agenda of THE RICH (Corporate Owners) at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR.

In EVERY case, "Barriers to Trade" and "Restrictions on Corporations" were created to protect something valuable!

[madmark]

185. Unions are one of the reasons the US did not go communist in the

in the first half of the last century.

[FredStembottom]

186. I work for a company that is subject to a special ruling...

...a passed-at-midnight, non-public, committee-made ruling that says our industry (air-freight) as specifically moved by our specific company is some sort of vital national treasure. Too vital to allow our specific company to EVER unionize.

Unscalable roadblocks were then put in place that apply to my company only - not the entire industry!

If that's not unconstitutional, I don't know what is!

Oh......and our CEO was the #1 political donor that year, I believe. Just coincidence. Move along.

[Lars39]

187. Damn straight.

I back them whole heartedly.

[senseandsensibility]

192. Thanks, Lars39!

I kicked the thread you started on a union for us all, and nominated it. Read it, everyone!

[losdiablosgato]

188. Thanks

[sonias]

189. Pro-union and proud of it

Unions - From the people that brought you weekends.

Hang in there men and women of the unions!

Sonia

[Lars39]

190. Need a union to join? Here's one that could help us all...

Thanks to Koko01 for originally posting this:

http://www.workingamerica.org/home.cfm

New UNION forming for NonUnion Workers and Retirees (AFL-CIO)! Must Read
Great new Website, affiliated with AFL-CIO for all of us who are sick and tired of the Downsizing/Merging and Layoffs which follow. Now is a chance for us all to join and have a voice in a NEW AMERICAN LABOR MOVEMENT which can include all of us: Techies, Clericals, Corporate Employees, Service Industry workers...all of us who are not currently eligible for a Union where we have a voice. Let's do this and make it work for us. And for those who are concerned about Labor Union's bad reputation the past few decades, we can work to make sure that the corruption is kept out by vigilant monitoring of elected officials.

It's time for all of us to unite and have a voice. We need lobbyists who work for US. Think of the money we could raise that would send the K-Street crowd out of DC. Think of how we could have a united voice to go after our Senators and Congresspersons who continue to give away our rights to the Corporations.

Check out their website. It looks really interesting and I'm going to join and donate. The time has come!

Help Build a Workers' Movement. Nonunion workers and retirees are invited to join the people power of America's union movement and help make America work for all of us. (credit to Buzzflash for posting this headline and the link to the website)

http://www.workingamerica.org/home.cfm

Ideals are like stars..............

***********************************************************************

On edit: credit to Koko. :)

[Lugnut]

193. I support the union members

I changed my avatar to express solidarity and support of the efforts of the striking transit workers.

"Although it is true that only about 20 percent of American workers
are in unions, that 20 percent sets the standards across the board
in salaries, benefits and working conditions. If you are making a
decent salary in a non-union company, you owe that to the unions.
One thing that corporations do not do is give out money out of the
goodness of their hearts." - Molly Ivins

"If any man tells you he loves America, yet hates labor, he is a liar. If any man tells you he trusts America, yet fears labor, he is a fool." - Abraham Lincoln

[senseandsensibility]

202. Great Lincoln quote

I have another in my sig line!

[davsand]

196. Solidarity forever.

No doubts and there's no changing it.

I was union until I took office, and I refuse to ever cross a picket line (hell, I still walk lines in support!)

If you EVER doubt WHY union membership is a good idea or if you question WHY the labor movement is still something we better support in this country, you just talk to somebody from a Central American or Pacific Rim plant where unions are not allowed. I have, and I don't want to hear any bullshit about how the unions' influence died a long time ago, or about how the unions are not doing anything to help workers in this country.

Educate yourself about working conditions in places where there is no union presence and maybe you'll understand a bit better why Union is vital to our future.

Union YES!!!!




Laura

[Lars39]

198. A kick for a kick-ass post!

:hi:

[Hotler]

199. If New Yorkers played their cards right...

and everybody in NYC supported the unions instead of bitching about them, went on strike and demanded a raise for all workers. Union and non-union working together to stick it to the MAN. Congress keeps giving themselves a raise. CEO's think nothing of helping themselves to all they can pocket. It's about time for a little sugar for the working folks. All the workers in NYC should stand up and tell the mayor to go fuck himself a la dick cheney. You fine the union, you jail one person and we the working poeple will shut this town down quickers than you can take a piss. The working man has had enough of the greed at the top. Where is the "Trickel Down you Rat Bastards". Break out some of the cash stashed off shore hidden from the IRS. Come on, daddy need a new pair of shoes.

[clyrc]

201. Another union supporter!

My grandpa was in a union his whole working life, and my husband was in one when he taught high school. When my husband ran for office, unions were his main support and I will alwyas appreciate that.

[B Calm]

203. When working people band together, wages and benifits go up!

The cheapest thing you'll ever pay for, and get the biggest return, is your union dues!

[foreverdem]

204. Why do you hate the working poor?

The only ones that this strike is hurting is the working poor. How are they to get to work? If they don't work, they don't get paid, therefore cannot feed and support themselves and their families. Hasn't this currupt administration taken enough from them, now they can not even earn a living? So what, to hell with them?

I am not anti union. My father was a teamster most of his working life. And yes, I understand that unions have fought for fairness to workers and were against inhumane working conditions. I hardly consider not getting an 8% a year increase, not having my health and pension 100% company funded and not being able to retire at 50 to be inhumane conditions.

And yes, I do live in NY and am paying a small fortune in money I do not have to get to work everyday.

[SKKY]

205. Pipefitters Local 522 kept my father employed, food on our table...

...and clothes on our backs. Not going to hear any gripes from me about Unions. I support them 100%.

[nedbal]

207. kick

[nicknameless]

208. Thank god for unions.

Are there really that many top 1%ers on DU?
Let's stop this slouching towards feudalism.