$3 a day wage for a 12-16 hour workday 6-7 days a week.

[Union Yes]

6 year olds, 10 year olds, 40, 60 any age can apply and be hired. The only age discrimination practiced- if you age and slow down on the job because of age, you'll be fired. Children make great employees because it's easiest for an employer to exert Authoritarian control over a child laborer. Children tend to submit their free will much easier than an adult. Labor is easiest extracted from the submissive. (What some call child labor, I call "child abuse to extract labor".)

But when they run out of children, they're forced to hire adults..
Tougher measures are required to break the will and force total submission from adult employees.
(We'll discuss that later in this OP)

There is no such thing as a benefit package. If you ask for one, you'll get hurt.

NO overtime pay. $3 a day straight pay is your wage.

No 40 hour work week. Try 60+. Many/most work 80+.

No grievance procedure.

No on-the-job(OTJ) safety standards. No OSHA oversight. No access to material safety data sheets regarding dangerous, toxic chemicals that a worker may be exposed to OTJ.

No whistle blower protection. (Workers have the inside track on a company's wrongdoing because they witness it, perhaps daily.) Since there are no safety standards in existence yet, workers even more so, fear retribution from their employers for any attempt at exposing the truth to 'authorities' that are owned by these company's. Those 'authorities'- American politicians.

The Bossman/supervisors/lead-men carry real whips. And they use them.

Docking of pay. Screw-up OTJ? If you piss-off the bossman in any way, he can dock your pay.

No paid holidays.

No paid vacation.

No sick pay.

No health insurance benefits.

No life, disability, dental, and other types of employer provided insurance.

No breaks. You best learn this company motto- 'hold it'.

Blatant discrimination against women and minorities- less pay, worse OTJ conditions etc.

No pension.

No bereavement leave.

No sick leave.

No maternity/paternity leave.

Little OTJ training. Little attempt to help employees become better employees by educating them. No OTJ safety training.

Zero accountability for how an employer treats his employees.

Unhealthy/unsafe/unsatisfactory workplace conditions you say? Tough shit. *Cracks the whip*

Wrap all of that up in one bundle- You've come to dread going to 'work' because you feel like you're wandering into a wage-slave pit. Safety conditions may be so bad that you've witnessed co-worker death/dismemberment or some other horrible OTJ work-related accident. (Think unsafe mines and how dangerous the mining industry is for it's mineworkers. Underground mining is extremely dangerous. From cave-ins to flooding to gas leak explosions to black lung disease.)

No OTJ safety/healthy workplace environment requirements/standards.
(Think factories with toxic smoke filled air and the workers forced to breathe that shit all day long. Or workers exposed to dangerous, toxic chemicals. Or a worker getting crushed in a punch-press.)

If conditions on the job have become so bad, so bleak that you utterly dread going to work and sacrificing yourself for a $3 dollar a day wage, don't you dare think the unthinkable.

Don't even think UNION, or you'll get hurt.
(Henry Ford was a tyrant, Hitler-supporting, Nazi-sympathizer who created the "Ford Service Department" and 'staffed' it by hiring members of the radical wing of the KKK, known as the Black Legion. The Ford Service Dept had nothing to do with oil changes. The sole purpose of the Service Dept- Terrorize union organizers and activists and their families with nightrides, crossburnings etc. If that doesn't work, brutalize, beat and kill them. Ford's Service Dept was HF's union-busting department at Ford Motor Company in the 1930's.)
........................................................................

I apologize for the excessive tone of this OP. The references to "you'll get hurt" etc. I'm asking people to stop and reflect on how life was for American workers in the days before unions began organizing workers. Think 1920's, Great Depression, ensuing union organizing of the 1930's-50's.

Would any of us tolerate going to work in those conditions? Watching ourselves and our coworkers being subjected to rampant employer abuse, low wages, no benefits, unsafe workplace conditions etc.

Unions rallied workers in the 1930's and organized them. They formed powerful labor unions. Workers came together and used the process of collective bargaining to negotiate the UNION CONTRACT.

Union contracts are legally binding agreements between the union rank-and-file and management/ownership of a company. Contracts protect workers' rights to fair pay, job security, benefits, pensions, OTJ safety and workplace healthy environment standards. Unions also aid in regulatory oversight. Whistleblowers are protected. Safety issues are addressed and made safer. Unions will bring in government regulatory agencies if companies violate safety laws etc.

I often wonder if Walmart, Lowe's, Smithfield Farms, Mcdonald's, Home Depot workers feel like their wandering into a wage-slave pit as they go to work.

I'll bet my right foot that if those miners who were tragically killed in the recent mine explosions were covered under a union contract, they'd still be here today. Massey Mines wouldn't have been able to skirt safety laws for years that may have led to the explosion.

Mining unions like United Mine workers would not have tolerated Massey skirting safety regulations. UMW would've had OSHA and the EPA all over that mine. Unions provide additional oversight and help enforce safety regulations by holding employers accountable. Union contracts are also legally binding safety contracts.

The growing wealth divide between rich and poor, the dieing middle class, falling wages, outsourcing due to "Free" Trade, declining safety standards and lax enforcement of OSHA and EPA regulations.

It's easy to see the need for unions now, isn't it?

Unions have been and still are one of the few allies that American workers have in the fight against NAFTA, CAFTA, WTO, Free Trade, job-outsourcing. Labor has always been a staunch opponent of "Free" Trade.

Labor unions warned of job-outsourcing in the run-up to the passage of Nafta. They were 100% correct.

Can it be any clearer?

THE EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT MAY JUST BE THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF LEGISLATION/BILL THAT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY HAS SITTING BEFORE IT TODAY.

EFCA with card-check has passed the US House and went where good progressive legislation goes to die, The US Senate. Enough DLC Senators oppose the card-check provision which in essence, kills the bill. Last I heard, we have somewhere in the 42-46 Dem Senators that do support EFCA.

Elected Dems that oppose EFCA are a fucking disgrace to our party. Why be a Dem if you are going to be anti-union? Answer: Corporate sellouts.

EFCA can rebuild our economy from the ground up by rebuilding America's desperate middle class. EFCA will move people out of poverty and into self-sufficiency and off of government welfare programs. Growing wealth and earning power, rising wages of the poor and middle class can drive national economic growth and job growth.

EFCA is long term national economic stability. Economic stability = national security. When America's economy is stable, the global economy tends to be stable.

Again, can the need to pass EFCA be any clearer?

Ending 2 wars, balancing budgets, reforming a fairer income tax, bankster re-regulation, rebuilding our economy, prosecuting war criminals, saving PUBLIC EDUCATION, continuing the fight for a PO or Medicare for all, are all near equally high priorities that our party should be addressing.

IT'S TIME TO PUT EFCA WITH A STRONG CARD-CHECK PROVISION FRONT AND CENTER. IT'S THAT IMPORTANT. IT'S ECONOMIC STABILITY FOR OUR NATION'S FUTURE. IT'S ECONOMIC GROWTH AND STABILITY FOR THE POOR AND MIDDLE CLASS. AT ONE TIME IN AMERICAN HISTORY, THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND LABOR UNIONS FORMED A POWERFUL PRO-PEOPLE ALLIANCE.

THEIR CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT- THE CREATION OF THE MIDDLE CLASS.

That's how important EFCA with cc is to America.

Please demand our elected Dems pass EFCA with cc.

Solidarity is patriotic.

:patriot:

[20score]

1. K&R

[Union Yes]

2. ..

Thanks!

:fistbump:

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. knr

[Union Yes]

15. American Federation of Teachers is one of our most needed and important unions.

All unions are important but AFT is fighting to try and save public education. EFCA is so important to existing unions because if signed into law it will strengthen all unions nationwide by growing union membership etc. More membership = more powerful unions.

Solidarity!

:fistbump:

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. Solidarity

[Demstud]

50. I like teachers

When I have kids, I want them taught by happy, healthy, well paid teachers who can concentrate on teaching rather than worrying about their job from week to week. Go union!

[Fire1]

55. Ditto!! n/t

[tavalon]

4. Yeah, when I bitch about how weak my union is, I have to remember

that at least we have one!

[Union Yes]

8. Know exactly what you mean.

EFCA will also strengthen existing unions by helping to swell the ranks of union membership nationwide. Larger memberships = stronger unions.

Thanks for checking in!

Solidarity.(UAW here)
UY

:fistbump:

[James48]

93. It's only as weak as you let it become.

Stand up and tell your Union leaders you want them to make a difference.

Stand up and become a Union leader.

That's what Unions are- the legal way YOU get to participate and stand up for what is right. A Union is only as strong as the people who ARE the Union want it to become.

Want it stronger? YOU are the Union. Make it so.

[tavalon]

99. I was on the renegotiating team until I couldn't take it anymore

I didn't even make it to the part where we sat down with management. I was one of two voices fighting with the union establishment to make our contract better and they fought me (and the other person) every step of the way. Not management - the union. My union is also the union for most of the other hospitals in the area but when I brought their contracts to our meetings and showed them places where ours could be better, they said I was cherry picking and management wouldn't like that. I heard "management won't agree with that" so many times, it sickened me. I finally said that I didn't give a damn what management wanted, I was there to help my fellow nurses. Apparently, my union's motto is "show belly" (I think that was why I was so mad at Obama for walking into the healthcare negotiations with the lowest common denominator plastered on his forehead - that isn't how you play poker and it isn't how you negotiate). It is beyond weak and beyond even my leonine determination to make it otherwise.

When I was a union rep. and one of my fellow employees would ask me to escalate something, I rarely got better than the run around. I stopped being a rep. because I couldn't take telling the people I work with that the union wouldn't help. Or couldn't help. It was always a little confusing as though no one really knew anything about how to do anything. But at least I can't be fired at will. That's about the best I can say about my union.

So, while I understand where you're coming from, I hope you now have a better idea of where I'm coming from.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. Doing a little history on labor

and actually the 1920s were far better.

By then child labor was gone, and the MOSTLY forty hour week had been won.

Now the 1880s that is where that fight took place.

And you should remember the Hay Market Martyrs

That said... there were many problems in the 1920s... like in the Mines in the usual suspects... you know the states, we know the states, free to work states we call them these days. And we had a war, the largest civilian uprising since the civil war, in Padawan and Harlan County and other places.

And yes, the glory days of labor and the union movement started in the post war period... as well as the reaction with Taft Hatley...

And I am not trying to pick on you. Overall I agree with the post... but these little facts matter, as we put together these actions, and the inevitable reaction... oh and EFCA, we need it like yesterday.

[pnorman]

9. The Twentie wasn't all that great.

WW1 was the high point, especially as compared to the early years of that century. But the 8 hour day was`very far from common. But aggressive union-busting (with much federal support) commenced right after the War. The`AFL took a very serious hit, and didn't even begin to recover until the Thirties (riding the bow wave of the CIO). The maritime unions (my own connection) was`all but destroyed after the 1921 Strike, and` didn't even begin to revive until the Thirties.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. I know that, why you got the Harlan war

for example.

It was pretty much better though than the 1880s.

I personally blame, from what I can see, the American Federation under Gompers basically saying, we won't play in the political arena and just get behind a party... sound familiar by the way?

Where the forty hour week was not common by the way, matches geographically with the Right to Work states today. Coincidence? I don't think so.

By the way, purely in the trivia department... we should all become Adam Smith Capitalists. (WHAT YOU NUTS?) On his chapter on labor pay he argues strongly for at the very least a minimum wage if not plain out a living wage. This was in 1776...

I actually pointed this out to a free marketeer who worships at the temple of Adam Smith. I mean I showed him the book, highlighted section and everything. Apparently I got the Marxist version of the thing. WHO KNEW? But then again both Marx and Smith saw value added by the worker, a quaint concept these days.

:banghead:

[xxqqqzme]

91. The Marxist version huh?

I had no idea that happened. Are all books so printed? So there are dour versions of Twain? And where, pray tell, do we find the liberal versions of coultergeist's books?

[tavalon]

11. Not "free to work", "right to work"

It's Orwellian newspeak either way but we might as well get the draconian term correct.

[Union Yes]

12. I call it "Right to Work(for less)"

:fistbump:

[tavalon]

13. Yeah, though it actually means "right to fire you without cause"

Hence the reason I call it Orwellian.

[Union Yes]

14. Word!

:fistbump:

[Brickbat]

24. "Right to fire you at cause" is "at-will employment." A "right to work" provision means you do not

have to join the union as a requirement for employment.

[Union Yes]

25. Correct..

We were getting a bit hyperbolic there.

You're spot on!

Peace
UY

:fistbump:

[Brickbat]

49. I just see a lot of confusion over "right to work" (AKA "right to scab") and at-will employment, and

so I jump on people who have it wrong. :hi:

Keep up the good work! America works best when we say UNION YES!

[tavalon]

62. Sure, that's what they say it means

[Brickbat]

73. Well, I see a lot of confusion over the two terms, so I try to make it clear.

The two are not the same. You can be an at-will employee whether your state is right-to-scab or not.

[Union Yes]

96. Yup. Scabs can cross picket lines. Scabs can replace striking workers.

Right-to-scab came along and worked to bust unions from the inside.

:grr:

[followthemoney]

72. Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA)On Saturday, June 25, 1938.

In its final form, the act applied to industries whose combined employment represented only about one-fifth of the labor force. In these industries, it banned oppressive child labor and set the minimum hourly wage at 25 cents, and the maximum workweek at 44 hours. Roosevelt warned: "Do not let any calamity-howling executive with an income of $1,000 a day, ...tell you...that a wage of $11 a week is going to have a disastrous effect on all American industry."

http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/history/flsa1938.htm

[Union Yes]

74. +1000000 Thank you for adding that!

:patriot: Salute to FDR as always.

Solidarity!

:fistbump:

[pnorman]

6. With your kind permission,

I may use much of the above for my own rant elsewhere.

FYI: For a`very long time, my Avatar was`"UNION YES", but I changed it several months ago to the present one. A`lifelong "Leftist", I have no illusions of Obama`being a fellow "Leftist". But I feel it ESSENTIAL that we give him as much cover and support as we can --- at LEAST until after this November election!

[Union Yes]

7. Yes, feel free to edit, repost etc!

Solidarity!

:fistbump:

[mfcorey1]

16. School systems across the country are using layoffs to ....

union bust. The pattern in almost every state is the same. One of the worst is Florida. Some educators in Broward County, Florida (Ft. Lauderdale, Pembroke Pines, etc) are being told that their full time job is being cut to hourly. For example, a media specialist who has worked for approximately twenty five years might be earning about $60,000. Now she would be offered employment making half of that. State law ties the union's hands. It is illegal in Florida for them to strike. Terrible, just terrible. Charlie Crist vetoed one horrible bill proposed by the Republicans in the State legislature. However, the rethugs are biding their time until he is out of office so that they can resubmit the legislation that is anti-educator.

[Union Yes]

18. You are 100% correct. Busting of teacher unions has got to stop.

EFCA couldn't be more important.

:fistbump:

[Union Yes]

35. I wonder if Florida politicians understand that they're chasing teachers out of that state.

I imagine a lot of teachers will soon exit that state. They'll take their teaching experience with them. meaning Florida will have to replace them with less experienced teachers. Seems like their anti public education policy is a double edged sword.

Not that Fla Rethugs give a shit.

:grr:

[lib2DaBone]

84. Correct. Legislators could care less....

The real goal of Jeb Bush and his Eli Broad Gang is the takeover of public Schools.. and control of the cash that flows thru the school boards...

Hell... what a gold mine! Al Capone would be proud of Jebby and the Boys...

[lib2DaBone]

17. The job described in the first part is my last two jobs....

..Working in America these days is an ugly experience.. minimum wage.. no benefits and you better suck up to the boss 24/7.

[Union Yes]

19. I agree 100%

It's sad and sickening that working conditions and low pay have become the norm in America.

It's gotta stop.

EFCA needs to be passed for the very reasons in your reply.

Peace
UY

[Omaha Steve]

20. K&R!

Great post.

[Union Yes]

23. A lot of what I've learned..

from reading many of your OP's went into this OP!

DU is a better place because of pro-union people like you!

Peace and Solidarity.
UY

:fistbump:

[Dinger]

21. Proud Kick & Rec

From a union member!:patriot:

[Union Yes]

26. Solidarity Dinger!

:patriot:

[Catshrink]

27. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

changed my view of unions big time. I was so pleased when one of our English teachers had her students read this last year.

[Union Yes]

28. ...

Bless that teachers heart! I wish more teachers would have their students read great books like that.

Thanks for sharing that very cool story.

:fistbump:

[Generic Other]

29. Count me in

AFT

[Union Yes]

30. ....

Hello! Thanks for checking in.

Please read reply #15. AFT is very near and dear my heart.

Solidarity!

:fistbump:

[SammyWinstonJack]

31. K & R!

:thumbsup:x3

[Union Yes]

33. ...

:fistbump:

:hi:

[LWolf]

32. k&r

[Union Yes]

34. ..

Thanks!

:hi:

[asdjrocky]

36. Indeed.

[Union Yes]

39. ...

Hello Rocky! Hey I checked out CVC and really like it. I'll be signing up!

Love them beautiful 'herbal' pics. Some hot 'ladies' there no doubt.:evilgrin:

Talk soon

Peace
UY

:hippie:

[asdjrocky]

77. Thanks UY!

Remember, we got your own page just waiting for you whenever you're ready!

[lonestarnot]

37. K & R

:patriot:

[madokie]

38. K & R for a powerful message

[Union Yes]

41. ..

Thanks!

:fistbump:

[GrantDem]

40. A K&R for solidarity!

[Union Yes]

98. Solidarity!

:fistbump:

[laughingliberal]

42. K & R nt

[notadmblnd]

43. So many anti-union people these days have no idea the struggles of the people

who fought (many died) for employee rights over the years. Many of the benefits their non-union employers were forced to implement because if they hadn't they wouldn't have been in business. It's all taken for granted.

I read a story once about the women and children who died of radiation poisoning in large numbers at a watch factory. Their jobs was to paint the watch faces with glow in the dark paint. What made them glow? Radiation. These women and children were the preferred employees because their small hands could do a better job of painting the numbers to make them glow. They would stick the paint brushes in their mouths to to make the tip in the brush fine enough to paint the numbers with the radioactive paint, that's how they were all poisoned.

I think of this story every time I hear someone speak against unions. Is this the type of thing anti union people want to go back to? Do they really think their employers would do the right thing if government regulation was eliminated and unions were abolished?

[Union Yes]

59. A very close friend's grandmother went crazy from lithium paint. She was a watch painter.

She died in the early 80's and I'll never forget her.

Her mins almost completely gone. She used to work at a watch factory in Minneapolis sometime in the 40's or 50's I think. Like you said, she would stick the fine tip paint brush in her mouth to make it a finer tip.

Exposing herself to radiation each time. Killing her cognative brain each time.

I've witnessed firsthand what you replied and that's the honest truth.

Poor women turned crazy and died in her own mental prison.

And, yes it's true, these workers could actually glow in the dark.

I'll never forget that woman.

If we don't learn from the past we'll be doomed to repeat it as a nation.

Workplace safety condition are waning. Oversight is waning.

The need for EFCA couldn't be any clearer.

Thanks for adding!

Solidarity
UY

:fistbump:

[Dappleganger]

44. BIG K&R!

[bertman]

45. What do you mean by a "strong card-check provision", Union Yes? I'm all for EFCA if

the voting is done by secret ballot. My understanding is that the way it is currently written employees must sign off in the presence of others. That is not something I can support.

[Union Yes]

79. Teddy Kennedy said it best..

Free Choice

That’s why I have introduced the Employee Free Choice Act now pending in Congress. This important law protects the right of workers to form a union; requires employers to come to the table to negotiate a contract; authorizes court orders to stop employers from firing or threatening union advocates; and strengthens the penalties in current law for mistreatment of workers who support a union.

Under the bill, employees will be able to choose between two options for gaining union recognition—a card check or the NLRB electionprocess. Since anti-union conduct is so rampant in union election campaigns, the elections become coercive and hostile, rather than free and fair. Under current law, workers can try to avoid such elections by asking the employer to recognize their union based on a signed worker authorization—a card check; but employers often refuse to accept a card-check procedure. Even if all employees sign cards supporting union representation, the employer can still require an election. The bill preserves the rights of union members by requiring employers to bargain with a union authorized by a majority of workers through the card-check procedure


http://www.lera.uiuc.edu/Pubs/Perspectives/onlinecompanion/fall05-Kennedy%20Article.htm

[bertman]

95. Thanks for the site, Union Yes. I agree with the coercion and intimidation being a problem;

however, I don't see that eliminating an employee's right to vote privately on an issue as important as whether to unionize or not should be negotiable. Whether it's the company CEO or the head of the union who tallies the cards, someone in a position of power is going to know whether or not the employee is "on her side or the other side". To me, that in itself is intimidation. If the employee votes FOR the union, she/he is on the employer's shit list. If the employee votes AGAINST the union, she/he is on the union's shit list.

To me, the remedy is to have the cards signed privately by every employee and turned in in a sealed envelope which is opened, verified, and tallied by a neutral party--maybe a representative of the U.S. Dept of Labor. Then, the neutral party announces the result of the election, which must be accepted by both parties.

[Demstud]

46. Since you mentioned Lowes, a description of my job

"I often wonder if Walmart, Lowe's, Smithfield Farms, Mcdonald's, Home Depot workers feel like their wandering into a wage-slave pit as they go to work."

I work at Lowes part time, and had a union cashiering job before that. I would love the consistency in treatment and the independent support that a union brings.

There's a numerous problems, but here's a couple of the biggest that I've personally experienced.

The last couple years, they've had a difficult time keeping delivery people around. The pay sucks for that kind of work: ($10/hour starting pay), often the proper tools aren't given to employees for the installations, the managers over-promise on deliveries basically forcing drivers to either work overtime... then telling them no overtime, and generally treating them like shit. Most don't take breaks because they're constantly behind on deliveries. So their solution is to send out even more poorly paid sales floor workers with no delivery training. It's dangerous (there have been injuries... and I have dropped a washing machine through someone's wall before).

Managers are often very poorly trained and this allows more abusive personalities to rise higher in the ranks than they should. The ops manager is tearing people down on a weekly basis, and another manager told me I needed a doctors excuse when I refused to deliver several washing machines. My excuse of "lack of sufficient physical strength" apparently wasn't acceptable. Also, this same manager told a fellow employee (an older guy pushing 60) that breaks were "a privilege, not a right".

HR is just as bad. Had to fight against both the urgent care place that my company sent me to and Lowes to get a work related injury medical bill taken care of. No one was sending the proper paperwork to anybody, and both were blaming the other AND refusing to let me just fill out the damn paperwork myself, lol. On top of that, the urgent care facility was double billing both myself and Lowes, but Lowes HR didn't seem to care. Took two years to get taken care of, and even now I'm not convinced that I won't get another bill in the mail.

A union would solve some of these problems immediately and even save everyone money in the long run. When I was in a union, it was nice having that support system to make sure things were safe, the right paperwork was getting taken care of, and to have an advocate for those tricky situations when you don't see eye to eye with your employer's practices. And with a good union, the company should be able to save quite a bit on medical and lawsuit costs (though, I'm not a business/finance guy. Maybe they have accounting tricks to make those costs less damaging... I don't know :-P).

BTW, Lowes had a 50-60 hour workweek until only about 4 years ago. Hard to believe, but this stuff still does happen in 21st century U.S.A.

[fatbuckel]

53. If people would`nt buy from these stores,if they would buy from actual appliance stores.

and require quality in their purchases the box stores would`nt have flourished like they have. You know , most companies now make a "box-store" version of their product in order to hit the price marks dictated to them by the aformentioned box stores. But,people buy these fartburgers and the boxes get bigger.Unions are spiffy and all but if you don`t address the bigger picture,the unions won`t be able to do anything. Box stores sell cheap crap from China.Box stores pay poverty wages. Employees from box stores can`t afford anything else.As the other companies go under,people go to work for box stores. Buy as much local as you can. Even if it`s more expensive. In the long run it`s better for everyone in your community.

[Union Yes]

61. First, a hearty- Welcome to DU!

:hi:

Great reply. Well written.

'Great' because you really laid out the case for just how bad 'service' sector work can be in today's America.

Lowes is so typical. "Lowe"-paid workers and like almost every other 'service' sector big box job, they get treated like shit and turnover is sky-high.

Meaning that workers are usually inexperienced and their moral is usually in the dumps. Who can blame the workers?

People tend to act the way they get treated. When an employer treats a worker like a wage-slave, workers performance can often reflect that poor treatment. Either high turnover, or the few who can tough it out or have no other job alternative are forced to work as wage-slaves with ZERO voice.

EFCA addresses these issues. Unions would change these horrid employer practices. The service sector needs unions as much as any sector of our economy.

The service sector is turning America into a nation of wage-slaves.

The need for EFCA couldn't be any clearer.

Solidarity.
UY

[Union Yes]

65. Also..

your reply is worthy of an OP.

People really need to hear your story. Folks need to know how bad conditions can be as a worker in the service sector.

That could almost be copied and pasted as an OP. I know it's more addressed to me so a little editing for addressing it as an OP is all it needs.

Please consider posting this as an OP.

People really need to know this stuff.

Thanks again for adding.

[Hannah Bell]

47. kr

[pattmarty]

48. The real problem today is that a hell of a lot of the gains unions................

..........were responsible for in the 30's, 40's, 50's 60's and 70's have been rolled back. 8 hour day, 40 hr wk, holiday pay, vacation pay, fucking health insurance for christ sake. I am sorry to say that EFCA looks like having less and less chance of passing at this point. I doubt ANY Republicans will vote for it and many "Democrats" will not vote for it either. And, after November there will be even less chance of it coming up for a vote.

[Greyhound]

51. K&R. An even 100.

ETA; All sheep share a common destiny.

[tango-tee]

52. K&R from a third-generation union member here!

Solidarity.

[Union Yes]

82. ..

Solidarity!

:fistbump:

[valerief]

54. +1 trillion

[Moosepoop]

56. K&R! n/t

[Union Yes]

71. LOL thanks!

:fistbump:

:hi:

[Blue_Tires]

57. thanks for this...

[annabanana]

58. Oh KICK Kick fuckety kick kick!!!

Ask your great grandma, (if you're fortunate enough to still have one).

[Union Yes]

69. She's the one who taught me at a very early age!

:fistbump:

You are so correct. The stories she used to tell me...

[earth mom]

60. I've felt exploited at most every job I've ever had. Which is why I now work for myself.

I've never had a Union job and I believe that's why I was exploited in the first place and why I've always believed so strongly in Unions.

My husband has mostly held Union jobs where he's made great wages and had great benefits.

That said, Unions aren't perfect and there are some corrupt people that game them, but Unions are far far better than the alternative.

Go Unions!

[Union Yes]

63. Thanks for adding..

important points.

Unions need government oversight to keep them free of corruption.

A strong National Labor Relation Board is very important element of providing said oversight.

Union organizational transparancy is law and one that continues to be enforced. Unions are forced by law to keep their books open to their membership and are required by law to report finances to the NLRB.

Transparancy is very important. I agree 100% with your reply. Unions need good oversight to keep corruption-free.

Go Unions! Indeed.

Solidarity EM!

Peace
UY

:fistbump:

[earth mom]

67. I said that about corruption because that is usually the first thing people say about why

they don't like Unions.

Not too long ago, a friend who is a teacher and whose husband is a teacher, complained to me about corruption she saw in the Teachers Union that she and her husband belong to. Instead of praising her Union for great pay, holidays and summers off and all the of the good stuff she gets from being a member of that Union, she only wanted to complain about the bad. Of course, I countered her arguments with all the positives but I'm not sure she was convinced which I found to be frustrating, if not annoying.

So, yes Solidarity! Go Unions!

Peace back at ya! :hi:

[Union Yes]

68. When I confront anti-union people I ask them to put there money where there mouth is..

and volunteer to work for a pre-union wage of $3 a day. They shut the fuck up real fast.

Solidarity union sis!

Peace!

[Manifestor_of_Light]

64. Proud daughter of a Union Organizer/Official here!!

He was with the Oil Chemical and Atomic Workers. Voted for Norman Thomas back in 1932, because FDR's platform was no different than Hoover's campaign platform.

Secretary of Local 4-367 at the age of thirty.

Showed up on picket lines at stinkin' refineries, where you got your head busted open for showing up on a picket line, dragged off to jail, and the only labor lawyer in town's wife posted every one's $100 bond. That was a lot of money in the Thirties.

Told me about the Ludlow massacre, the Haymarket riots, and all that. I read about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and later saw it on the New York PBS show by Ken Burns or Ric Burns.

Workers now have NO IDEA about the martyrs that died for the basic labor laws of minimum wage, paid overtime, no child labor, safety standards and all that.

The dirty four letter word in our house was "scab".

We had no pictures of Jesus on the wall, but we had three pictures of John F. Kennedy framed, when I was a child.

Story I read about Studs Terkel:

Studs Terkel said he once saw some yuppies on the street that told him, "We HATE unions".

Studs said, "How many hours a day do you work? Eighteen? Twelve?"

Yuppie dude said "Eight".

Studs said, "Do you know WHY you work eight hours a day?"

Yuppie dude said "No".

Stude said, "Because back in 1882 there were guys who DIED for the eight hour day, put their lives on the line and LOST THEIR LIVES so you wouldn't have to work more than eight hours".

That statement probably went completely over their heads.

[mother earth]

66. Amen, 100%! Labor laws should be universal, human rights

for all. It's time to re-ignite those values we hold most dear. Haven't we rec'd enough wake up calls?

Thank you, Union Yes! Yes, Yes, Yes!:kick:

[Union Yes]

70. +1000000 for the reference to universal, human rights..

Labor rights are indeed human rights

Agree 1000% with your whole reply!

Solidarity!

:fistbump:

[Bolo Boffin]

75. EFCA is all the immigration reform we need.

Organized labor will keep the cheap-labor employers honest, and that means no undocumented worker.

[Union Yes]

76. I agree.

My union's contract bans 'temp" and 'day' labor.

Also requires full identification upon hiring new workers etc.

Union contracts hold employers accountable.

Thanks for adding that!

Solidarity.

:fistbump:

[AnArmyVeteran]

78. What you describe is a conservative paradise! That is the world they want to create...

[Mojeoux]

89. That is the way it used to be.

This the way it is in "off shore factories" in some 3rd world countries.

[blaze]

80. K&R n/t

[Atticus]

81. "Part of the Union"---lyrics and ringtone:

http://www.stlyrics.com/songs/s/strawbs9994/partoftheunion326341.html

[troubledamerican]

83. No Unions = no middle class. No middle class = no democracy.

No Unions = Military coup. Don't believe it? Look at history.

[Union Yes]

85. 100% correct!

Solidarity.

:fistbump:

[senseandsensibility]

86. K and R

eom

[MilesColtrane]

87. K'ed

[chill_wind]

88. You've done it again, Union Yes. Another

outstanding OP! K & R.

:thumbsup:

[Union Yes]

92. Aw Thanks chill_wind!

Solidarity.
UY

:fistbump:

:hi:

[riderinthestorm]

90. Union yes! (heh! Love your name!) K&R. nt

[Union Yes]

94. Thanks!

Solidarity!

:fistbump:

[amborin]

97. K&R

[dumpdabaggers]

100. The Libertarians would return out country to this .

NT

[LeftishBrit]

101. k&r - just as applicable to Britain and other countries