What the fuck happened [View All]

[mrmpa]

I'm on EDT, not feeling well and slept from 6:30 to 11:15. I turn on the TV to Lawrence O'Donnell repeat of his 8 o'clock show and see a ticker that says Walker used a nuclear option. Start reading DU, my in box has news from the Washington Post and now I'm watching Rachel's. I'll see how things pan out over the next week and make my way there next week-end.

This reminds me of the stories my mom has told me. She's a few weeks short of 81 and a proud retired union member. Her oldest sister if alive would be 95. When my mom was 5 and 6, her sister's husband would come home bloody and bruised from run ins with the law and scabs at steel mills. He was fighting for the rights of the United Steel Workers. He retired from a local mill and was union rep for all of his career.

Back in 1985, when myself and 3 co-workers were organizing a union at our work place, he's the man I went to for answers on contract negotiating terms. He told me that salary was always high on the agenda, but to also ask for things that didn't cost the company money, but would make the work place safe and union members safer. As our work place was a University Police Department, we asked for safety equipment in our vehicles, haz mat gear, training sessions, and oh yes better wages, we got it all.

Negotiating as my uncle taught me isn't always about the money, but to make the work place safe and sane.