The next time you have a three day holiday weekend

[1gobluedem]

Thank these guys:





This is what they went through to get it for you. Don't desert those who followed.

[Robbien]

1. um, who are those guys? n/t

[notadmblnd]

2. people who fought for unions.

to gain every benefit in this country for all employees. Union or not.

[Robbien]

5. Well then yes. A thank you to those guys and a k&r for the thread

n/t

[catnhatnh]

3. In the top photo...

mostly Ford hired thugs.

[1gobluedem]

4. Except for the guy they're beating up

He's an early UAW organizer. It's the infamous Battle of the Overpass at the Ford Rouge plant.

[TahitiNut]

6. A friend and neighbor of my (extended) family ... Walter Reuther.

I met Walter and May Reuther several times during summer visits with my Great Aunt and Uncle and their daughter's family on the family 'compound' near Rochester (MI) which was close to the Reuther family compound in Goodison. Walter and May were 'real people' and the work the Reuther brothers did organizing labor is legendary.

I'm a proud union supporter. My family is largely blue collar and union.

[madokie]

7. You got it

[LisaM]

8. Oh you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union

I'm sticking to the union....till the day I die.

And plenty of them did.

[liberal N proud]

9. They fought for many things that most Americans take for granted today

Many have no clue what working in this country would be like with out the gains unions made.

Does anyone have that story where describing all the things unions are responsible for in an average day?

[1gobluedem]

10. Here you go

Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised.

All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance - now Joe gets it too.

He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.

In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.

Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for the laws to stop industries from polluting our air.

He walks on the government-provided sidewalk to subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.

Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joe's employer pays these standards because Joe's employer doesn't want his employees to call the union.

If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he'll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some stupid liberal didn't think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.

It is noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.

Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime. Joe also forgets that his in addition to his federally subsidized student loans, he attended a state funded university.

Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards to go along with the tax-payer funded roads.

He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers' Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans.

The house didn't have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.

He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn't have to.

Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn't mention that the beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day. Joe agrees: "We don't need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I'm a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have."

[liberal N proud]

11. Thanks

[kath]

12. Heck, thank 'em each time you have a weekend, *period*.

Unions fought hard for a five-day work week. That, plus of course overtime, workplace safety, decent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation.

I love the bumper sticker that says "The labor movement. The folks who brought you the weekend."

[1gobluedem]

13. I like that too

Where can I get one?

[kath]

15. Northern Sun - all kinds of cool liberal T-shirts, stickers, etc.

http://www.northernsun.com/

on edit - the "Texas Homegrown Dope" t-shirt is on clearance - think I might need to order one...

[Lydia Leftcoast]

14. Read Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle," a novel about workers in

a meat-packing plant in the late nineteenth century.

The workers in that story literally had NO days off. They worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week and still couldn't afford to live anywhere but a slum.

This novel not only revealed brutal working conditions in meat packing plants but also sickening sanitary conditions. It's not great literature, but it's one of the most influential novels in American history.