Interesting conversation on FB about unions and elections

[proud2BlibKansan]

My friend posted the story about the McDonald's that told its employees how to vote. The conversation went like this:

Person A: Hey,,my two sons work for Stop N Shop,,an grocery chain which is owned by a Dutch conglomerate,,,their union keeps calling,,,telling them they HAVE to vote democratic,,,,,its UNBEARABLE the robot calls,,so,,,don't PICK on McDonalds,,they all do it!

Person B: You do realize their union is not their employer? And it's perfectly LEGAL for a union to make those calls?

Person A: but their Union is the one that handles their health insurance claims,,,and their disability,,and any kind of complaints they have against their EMPLOYER Get over it,,,,BOTH SIDES are no better!

Person B: So? It's still very legal for a union to call its members for GOTV. An employer, on the other hand, may not tell its employees how to vote. That's illegal.

Person A: Yeah,but you know,,when your fringe benefits are handled by a UNION,,then they have clout.

Person B: Also handling insurance claims is a service and something they pay dues for. That's quite different from being paid for working. Not sure what your point is here.

Person A:Legal or not,,,if I have to find a shop steward to get my benefits,,then a union has clout. LOL,,obviously you have never worked for a place where a union has power ,, My point is take off the blinders,,both sides will do whatever they have to do to get over their agenda,,,,
49 minutes ago · Like

Person B: Unions shouldn't have clout? You do realize unions are made up of WORKERS? Like your sons?

Person A: LOL,,you are soooo naive. unions have their own lobbyists,,,they collect dues,,,,they represent their own interests,,,,obviously you have never worked in a union job,,like the teamsters,,united garmet workers,,etc

Person B: No that's not the point here. Once again - what McDonald's is doing is AGAINST THE LAW. Unions (who are not the employer in this scenario you offered) are NOT breaking the law when they encourage their members to vote for particular candidates. Find an employer who is telling its employes to vote for Democrats and then you can claim both sides do it. Once again I am reminded we do a terrible job of teaching labor history in our schools.

Person A:LOL,,I think you are missing the point,,,Unions have a lot of clout when it comes to the working common man,,,,and if you get that phone call to elect someone,,then you go out and do it,,,NO UNION,,,NO JOB....no entity should tell anyone who to vote for,,,I am sorry,,you people always point the fingers at Republicans,,,not realizing that the Democrats are not any better,,,,THEY ALL SUCK

Person B: Okay now I am going to dare to ask why unions should NOT be lobbying. Or collecting dues. Or representing their own interests. Why is this wrong?

Person A: LOL,,,,you are talking to someone who has been a civil servant most of her life,,so don't preach UNION to me,,or labor history,,get off your HIGH HORSE,,,,if you can't see that every party has their agenda,,then GOD BLESS YOU,,AMEN,,,

Person A: Its wrong when they call people and tell them who they should vote for,,much like this McDonald's franchise did the same thing. No union should be telling people who they should vote for like they tell my youngest son who really has no other egress to a job because of his stubborness,,so ,,he will go out and vote for whatever candidate they will tell him to,,case he wants to keep his deli job,,so you add up all these disenfrachised people in these fringe jobs,,and hey,,you could have great political power,,I don't mean to be rude,,I just think the Democrats are not any better than their Republican brotherhood when it comes to using power over the disenfranchised,,,and let's face it,,,,a lot of Unions do crap for their members,,,,,lots of union head live high on the hog,,,,and I don't need labor history,,,,,I know they did serve their purposes back in theday,,,,Teamsters Union does crap for their members today,,,,

[Lasher]

1. You cannot pour tea into a full cup.

Person B might exert some positive influence over a spectator or two, but Person A is a waste of time.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. Yep. Had to let that one go.

Yikes though. How dumb do you have to be to think a union doing GOTV is exactly the same thing as an employer telling employees how to vote?

[The Philosopher]

3. You should've stop the conversation short

And told her she was right. Then added that the RNC has a lot of clout and they tell people who to vote for so they should all be put in jail.

I hate anti-unionists. They'll tell you they want to think for themselves, to look out for themselves, they don't need anyone doing it for them. But they're missing that while they're not being union they're benefiting from the hard work (and lives) of those who did join a union. I doubt anyone will tell their employer, "Oh, no thanks. I don't want to work anywhere near minimum wage. I hate unions! Give me 50 cents an hour, for 12 hours, and no vacation or days off! God Bless America!" So while they benefit and demonize the rest of us, they only weaken everything the unions have worked for all these decades so that their future children will be back to square one.

And the next time someone tells you that a Union told someone how to vote, tell them firmly, "No they did not." A union will research the candidates who best represent the interests of their members. Then they send out material, talk to their members, to inform them who that candidate is. It's to help you decide, not to force you to decide. Just because someone is too stupid to notice the difference between a strong, non-violent recommendation and an actual threat, doesn't mean the unions are forcing anyone to vote a particular way. Idiots!

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. Excellent advice.

And very true. It really struck me that this idiot thought that unions making recommendations is the same thing as an employer telling a worker how to vote.

That's just nuts.

[EC]

5. Person A doesn't seem to get that the Union

is the representative working for the workers, while the employer is normally working against the workers better interests...

[Dinger]

6. KNR!