Discussion: Labor, Unions, and Workers' Rights

[InCali]

Biden Instantly Fires Trump-Appointed Anti-Worker Attorney

But he didn't fire him soon enough. He should have done it BEFORE his first day in office......

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

But he didn't fire him soon enough. He should have done it BEFORE his first day in office......

Until they pass those Pre-Cog laws my man... They never should have busted Dionne Warwick's Psychic Friends Network!

 

[BrollySupersj]

This video will further show why.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Vice - Amazon Is Forcing Its Warehouse Workers Into Brutal ‘Megacycle’ Shifts

Amazon intensifies 'severe' effort to discourage first-ever US warehouse union | Amazon | The Guardian

 

[Lily Adler]

Vice - Amazon Is Forcing Its Warehouse Workers Into Brutal ‘Megacycle’ Shifts

Amazon intensifies 'severe' effort to discourage first-ever US warehouse union | Amazon | The Guardian

Well **** you Amazon.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

 

[Schlosser85]

When I did training at Wal-Mart we had to watch this almost cartoonishly propagandistic anti-Union video about how bad unions are and how Wal-Mart is all you need to take care of you.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Food for thought for our dyed in the wool Prog bros and sisters out there, especially the under 35's.

You want to make inroads into mobilizing "workers" for economic and political gain as well as helping to keep the country functional and NOT a breeding ground for extremists? Then ask how the cheap shot demonizing of "Boomers" or older people in general that is oh so in vogue as casual humor as well as near bed rock gospel helps in any way acheiving that goal if your opening salvo of your pitch or the introduction to modern Prog thought and political culture is ya'll personally slamming older working people who are literally on the job until they die these days or are the supposed disadvantaged and financially stressed in need of the policy proposals the Left always, RIGHTLY, offers up?


It would be nice if the fantasy of every Boomer being this were true:

Where as the reality is closer to this for more people in that age category than many with the Online Left would care to admit to if it undercuts a joke or some diatribe generalizing every single person born during a certain time period regardless of class, race or other demographic markers:

Building a coalition that wins is key.

I don't think indulging in the indignation and outrage at some group dynamic that is so prevalent online is a path to putting down proto-Fascism or widening the strong and impassioned support for Pogressive policy.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

 

[InCali]

I'v been through a lot of anti-union campaigns and they range from "Unions will suppress your freedom to talk directly with your supervisor", to outright firing of pro-union workers/leaders.

The bottom line is that unions provide a collective voice with legal protections for workers. If collective strength doesn't exist, why do corporations coordinate with each other?

 

[Lily Adler]

When I did training at Wal-Mart we had to watch this almost cartoonishly propagandistic anti-Union video about how bad unions are and how Wal-Mart is all you need to take care of you.

Dollar General has those too. Apparently they use scare tactics like union fees will leech off your paycheck, you're not directly negotiating to your superiors, and could result in deceptive or corrupt union leaders who will hurt more than help.

 

[InCali]

Dollar General has those too. Apparently they use scare tactics like union fees will leech off your paycheck, you're not directly negotiating to your superiors, and could result in deceptive or corrupt union leaders who will hurt more than help.

Yeah....because it's SO effective when you negotiate with your immediate supervisor. Has anyone ever heard this before? "Oh, I think you deserve it and if it was up to me, you would get a raise." The thing most people don't realize is that salary isn't everything. Try going to the CEO and ask for improvements in health care, family leaves, workplace safety improvements, workload, etc.

Get back to me in after you've been ignored for 10 years or released for cause.....

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

 

[InCali]

It’s why I prefer the term living wage and think it should be a minimum floor

 

[moviedoors]

Well **** you Amazon.

For real. This is why I'm so virulently opposed to Jeff Bezos' obscene wealth; he's getting there by ****ing over the working class, period, end of story.

 

[moviedoors]

When I did training at Wal-Mart we had to watch this almost cartoonishly propagandistic anti-Union video about how bad unions are and how Wal-Mart is all you need to take care of you.

I remember those during my tour of the 6th circle of hell known as Walmart. The way the corporate speak was at that company, you'd think it was a massive charity organization instead of the rotten-hearted soul vacuum that it is.

It's almost more depressing now at my current job (almost, but not really). I'm at hospital and it's easily the best job I've ever had. Good wages, great benefits, great opportunities for advancements.

Still, when it's time to do the annual module retraining on things like fire safety and disaster codes, there's also a module of pure anti-union propaganda. I should start skipping it in protest.

 

[InCali]

I remember those during my tour of the 6th circle of hell known as Walmart. The way the corporate speak was at the company, you'd think it was a massive charity organization instead of the rotten-hearted soul vacuum that it is.

It's almost more depressing now at my current job (almost, but not really). I'm at hospital now and it's easily the best job I've ever had. Good wages, great benefits, great opportunities for advancements.

Still, when it's time to do the annual module retraining on things like fire safety and disaster codes, there's also a module of pure anti-union propaganda. I should start skipping it in protest.

You work at a hospital? Generally speaking those places tend to be more unionized jobs. Nurses in particular are highly organized and are usually the powerhouses. We represented about 2200 people that were in what was known as the Residual Health Care (HX) unit. They consisted of Social Workers (it's how I met my wife), Pharmacists, Clinical Lab Scientists, Audiologists, Physical Therapists, etc.

If you look at the progress Nurses have made professionally and wage wise, we have their unions to thank for it. I don't see how people can't see this with clear eyes. If you have a strong union, you do better than those that don't. Period. That's it.

As an addendum here, unionized labor is our most effective defense against a rising tide of fascism and government authoritarianism. The low union membership we see in the US is also one of the biggest dangers we face politically.

 

[moviedoors]

You work at a hospital? Generally speaking those places tend to be more unionized jobs. Nurses in particular are highly organized and are usually the powerhouses. We represented about 2200 people that were in what was known as the Residual Health Care (HX) unit. They consisted of Social Workers (it's how I met my wife), Pharmacists, Clinical Lab Scientists, Audiologists, Physical Therapists, etc.

If you look at the progress Nurses have made professionally and wage wise, we have their unions to thank for it. I don't see how people can't see this with clear eyes. If you have a strong union, you do better than those that don't. Period. That's it.

As an addendum here, unionized labor is our most effective defense against a rising tide of fascism and government authoritarianism. The low union membership we see in the US is also one of the biggest dangers we face politically.

I work in the research building of a hospital in Texas, so there you go. I'm in the Med Center in Houston, which is a sprawling medical district with some of the most advanced facilities and treatment centers in the world. Most of it is not unionized.

 

[InCali]

I work in the research building of a hospital in Texas, so there you go. I'm in the Med Center in Houston, which is a sprawling medical district with some of the most advanced facilities and treatment centers in the world. Most of it is not unionized.

As Emily Litella would say....Oh, that's very different.....never mind.

I don't know how they are doing now, but The Communications Workers of America had a group at the University of Texas (TSEU Local 6186) that, under the CWA Director of National Organizing and later Executive Vice President and President, Larry Cohen, established a blueprint for how to organize in a right to "work" state.

Larry was one of the true visionaries of labor and was always the smartest guy in the room. I was on the affiliation sub-committee of my union when we were looking for a national union to help us with our organizing campaigns and later affiliated with CWA. We prepared for our meeting with Larry for weeks. It took him being in the room for about 5 minutes for u to realize that he not only knew everything we did, but a hell of a lot more. We had some pretty smart people on our committee, but we were all like "Oh S***. This guy is really smart and we better listen to him." I remember I told him "Just to be transparent, I should let you know that SEIU did a survey that indicated the University of California couldn't really be unionized". His response was, "I know all about that survey and I don't give a S*** about surveys. I want to know if you can form organizing committees and from your past record, I think you can." That shut me up. LOL. A few years later, we had won union elections in the Technical, Research, and Health Care units representing over 10,000 employees and a big part of that was Larry's leadership.

I just thought it would be nice to let people know that successful organizing campaigns are possible and a LOT of UC workers now have dramatically improved their lives because of it.

 

[Lily Adler]

You have to be a specialty private service to be unionized in Texas. My father worked for Walmart most of his life and said their workers have attempted to unionize several times over the years and it failed because retail employees are not "specialty" workers. After this, Walmart dissolved their butcher department and simplified their auto department to avoid them unionizing as they are considered specialty service.

 

[InCali]

You have to be a specialty private service to be unionized in Texas. My father worked for Walmart most of his life and said their workers have attempted to unionize several times over the years and it failed because retail employees are not "specialty" workers. After this, Walmart dissolved their butcher department and simplified their auto department to avoid them unionizing as they are considered specialty service.

As I understand it, right to work states such as Texas can have unions, but membership isn't required as a condition of employment and employers don't normally do payroll deduction. People can opt out of being represented; unlike in states where collective bargaining takes place. In California, the contract negotiated with the employer covers all people in the bargaining unit as determined by the parties and the Public Employment Relations Board (for public workers) or the National Labor Relations Board (for private sector workers).

 

[BrollySupersj]

I've watched quite a few videos on the YouTube channel Second Thought, about economy and worker's rights in the US. Educational no doubt, but also depressing. I feel like giving up after watching them.

 

[InCali]

I've watched quite a few videos on the YouTube channel Second Thought, about economy and worker's rights in the US. Educational no doubt, but also depressing. I feel like giving up after watching them.

Yes. Anything that infringes on the rights of corporations to squeeze another penny out of their workers is fought tooth and nail. Why do you think these corporations spend so much money on political campaigns? Some politicians who aren't as virulently anti-union as others still get some scraps because the corporations want to cover their bets and want to have influence when their preferred candidate loses.

The US has a horrible track record with regard to worker's rights. I've spent a big chunk of my life seeing it up close.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

The more I learn about this guy the more I think his potential is enormous.

I think...

Bernie, AOC, Warren...

This is THE guy that will run because they paved the way.

Maybe I'm being naive but I think he could unify the Dems as a standard bearer and appeal to disaffected Republicans.

 

[InCali]

The more I learn about this guy the more I think his potential is enormous.

I think...

Bernie, AOC, Warren...

This is THE guy that will run because they paved the way.

Maybe I'm being naive but I think he could unify the Dems as a standard bearer and appeal to disaffected Republicans.

I haven't been paying attention to his announced plans. Has he announced his (for sure) senate run for Toomey's seat?