If you Support Auto Workers Union: Check in Here, Make your Voice Known

[Mike 03]

We either DO or we DON'T. There's no grey area. Even if you believe that upper management has messed things up in the auto industry, that is a TOTALLY different issue than asserting that the workers or the unions are to blame. This is a crucial distinction to make, and we have to make it.

But this is a poll, so I don't want to overstate my bias.

Thanks.

[spindrifter]

1. 4 generations of my family have been proud union members.

[ACTION BASTARD]

3. 2 generations of Union membership right here.

If it wasn't for being in a union right now, I'd be worried about my family. I rest easy...for now.

[amdezurik]

2. i have to qualify my support

to not include a lot of police unions. their entire point seems to be to hide malfeasense of their members. IMHO anyone issued a gun needs MORE oversight then anyone else, no none at all as they seem to advocate.

[demosincebirth]

12. You're right, I never wanted my union to organize any law enforcement

Forty years as a Teamster.

[readmoreoften]

4. Former UAW member. Pro-union. 100%

No reservations. Ever.

[Omaha Steve]

5. I think everyone knows my heart is with the workers of America

Union and non-union alike. But it is unions that pave the way and raise the level of ALL.

K&R too.

[gizmo1979]

6. UAW local833

Kohler WI.Loud and Proud.

[monmouth]

7. Iron Worker family here...n/t

[mike_c]

8. former CWA, current CFA member....

I support unions. My union supports me.

[Bozita]

9. Solidarnosc!

[Dinger]

10. Just Sent This To The Greatest Page : )

:)

[barbtries]

11. hundred percent

and i deplore the way the repukes and the press etc are slamming people who work their asses off and deserve every benefit they EARNED.

[billyoc]

13. No zeroes, no givebacks.

Ever.

[navarth]

14. DAMN straight

Democracy in the workplace. I like paid vacations, lunch breaks, 5-day work weeks. Unions gave me that.

[stray cat]

15. I support unions however I will not promise to bail out all their employers

[gravity]

16. This issue is full of shades of gray

What if I believe that both share some of the blame?

[liberalhistorian]

103. And how the hell would that be so?

Were unions responsible for bad management, bad corporate decisions on what to sell, the steadfast refusal to design and build fuel-efficient cars, etc., etc.? The UAW has made many, many, often draconian concessions, to their detriment, to keep things moving and plants operating. How many concessions did upper management and the executives and CEO's make, other than increasing their own pay, benefits and perks? How much more blood do you expect from them, and from the retirees who worked their asses off all of their lives and relied upon promises of retiree benefits that they fucking more than EARNED and not by sitting on their asses watching everyone else work, like the executives?

[Maven]

17. Absolutely, 100%.

:patriot:

[FreeState]

18. Union supporter here n/t

[CTyankee]

19. Hubby proud member of AFSME in city government, New Haven , CT.

"Oh no, you can't scare me I'm in the union..."

[robinlynne]

20. UNIONS YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GM and FORD upper management NO!

[robinlynne]

21. Actually my great grandfather started one of the first unions in the country. textile workers.

It is family history we are all very proud of. The unions are the "good' of America, not the idiot consumer greed people mistake for freedom.

[Idealism]

44. Mulally has done great things for Ford, please don't bash him

:(

[20score]

22. I'm glad to see zero no votes.

[LSK]

23. my father was a union member - they have my support

[malaise]

24. I'm a Union member

Unions forever.

[AwakeAtLast]

25. I worked for Guide Lamp in the mid '90s (non union position)

It is not the union's fault. It is management's. They knew it then as they knew it ten years before then. When I left I swore I would never own another GM car, and I haven't. Of course I know that the workers suffer when I don't buy their cars, but I cannot support the white collar decisions that brought us the vehicles such as the Pontiac Aztek and the like. Do the members of the UAW conceive, design and engineer the product? Of course not!

What we have is the tsunami created by thirty years of mainly Republican rule allowing these CEOs to do pretty much whatever they wanted. How is it possible that the workers are blamed? I don't get it. I'm surprised they're not being forced to claim responsibility for the Edsel.

[bertman]

26. Union member briefly, now management (business owner). Support unions.

[Canuckistanian]

27. UBC Local 27, former member

Also a former organizer for CEP (Communications, Energy and Paperworkers) 27 in Toronto.

I support the Union.

[Festivito]

28. That was a no brainer. And I see two had no brains!

Wonder how demented they are.
:scared:

[Political Tiger]

29. I am 100% pro-union!

I can't understand how anybody could be against employees having a union!

[nichomachus]

30. I support all unions

I just want to make sure that any auto bailout will, in fact, reach the workers. Look at the banks. The bankers get billions in bailout money and they're laying off people as fast as they can, while the executives are stealing all the money. B of A just announced it's firing 35,000 people.

We need guarantees.

[trayfoot]

31. Unions havealways had my total support!

After all, historically, they are one very big reason why we had a middle class develop in this country!

[unkachuck]

32. K&R....Solidarity Forever!....

"When the Union's inspiration through the workers' blood shall run,
There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun,
Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one,
But the Union makes us strong."

[TheKentuckian]

33. 100% Its pretty much saying I hate the American people if you dont, in my opinion.

Many of us that aren't in unions should be organizing instead of hoping for the crumbs that fall off of master fat pig chin.

[Kat45]

34. Oh yeah! Actually, I used to be a member of the UAW when I

was in the National Writers Union, which became part of the UAW.

[blue_onyx]

35. I don't think unions are to blame

It's crazy that many Democrats think it's so awful that unions demand their members get paid a good wage. Many have completely bought into the Reaganomics crap of the Republican party. The blame should be placed on the automakers for their poor choices (like focusing only on SUVs and not on small/mid-size cars that are fuel efficient), as well as on the government for the lack of support on gas prices (there should be a gas tax to keep prices higher) and trade policies that hurt our companies.

[gratefultobelib]

36. Honestly, I didn't understand the importance of unions until I read the biography of Mother Jones

many years ago. It made a believer out of me!

[GrantDem]

37. Proud IBEW member here...

[louis c]

42. Well said, Brother

I'm from IBEW Local 123

A small local in Boston

[Lugnut]

38. UMWA family here.

My grandfather, father, husband and son were/are members of the UMWA. We support the UAW.

[Greyhound]

39. This is obvious. K&R

[Idealism]

40. Whoever said No to this poll I demand you back your bullshit up

Explain to me how Unions caused the downfall, seriously, do tell.

[liberalhistorian]

104. And then they can give back all of their

work benefits that were promoted and fought for (and some men even died for them) by unions, because most employers never, ever would have even considered such benefits on their own, much less implemented them.

Don't like unions? Fine. Then give up your weekends off, your forty-hour workweek, your paid sick days, paid vacation days, paid holidays, health insurance, retirement benefits, unemployment compensation, worker's compensation, employment anti-discrimination laws, etc., etc., etc., and on and on. Did you think employers just offered these things on their own out of the goodness of their greedy little hearts? Did you think that workers have always had these benefits? You don't get to benefit from benefits that others worked and fought and sometimes even died for, at great risk to themselves, if you don't support their efforts, both in the past and now.

[1gobluedem]

41. UAW bargains for me

Local 1976.

[opihimoimoi]

43. Still a member for the IAFF...the Fire Dudes...after 42 years

:toast: to the Brothers, Past and Present

[brentspeak]

45. Who's side am I on? On the side of the the unions.

:kick:

[Sebastian Doyle]

46. Anyone who calls themselves a Democrat and is anti-union

is a goddamned liar.

[Oak2004]

54. I'd like to say I'm in awe of how much anti-union, anti- worker, anti- civil rights, anti- poor,

anti-activism crap is spewed at DU at times, but long ago I've concluded that the congressional blue dogs and their staffers have a minor hobby posting on DU.

[Sebastian Doyle]

96. It's worse than that.

There are paid corporate shills here. Just open any thread that's critical of the pharmaceutical industry, the tobacco industry, or the FrankenCorn/HFCS lobby and you'll find them feasting like vultures at an all you can eat rotting corpse buffet.

[Pastiche423]

47. I've never been a union member

but I support union workers!

[flvegan]

48. I support the workers and the unions that represent them.

[Odin2005]

49. K&R!!! ORGANIZE!!!

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

50. I have never been lucky enough to have a union job.

Right now, my family is suffering because of a job cut that would not of happened had my husband's workplace been unionized. There is a very good chance we will lose our house after all is said and done.

I strongly support unions.

[The Magistrate]

51. Union All the Way, Sir!

[NNN0LHI]

52. One of the best polls I have seen on DU

I commend you.

Don

[Oak2004]

53. Oh they can't scare me, I'm sticking with the union

and I hope the day they tell the workers to leave, they sit right down and stay put.

If I was able bodied, I'd be right there with them.

[Love Bug]

55. My grandfather lost his job at Ford in the 1920s for

attending a union meeting, so yeah, I'm pro-union, dammit!

[wilsonbooks]

56. Damn straight.

The list of improvements that Unions have fought for and won is one of the most underappreciated facts of American life.
Unfortunately the middle class has forgotten this and won't remember until the dinner plate is broken.

[Fading Captain]

57. get rid of the Anti-UAW google ads, please

jesus,

[MrSlayer]

58. Local 98 I.B.E.W. checking in. Fuck the rat scabs!

Unions are what make America great.

[balantz]

59. Fat Cats Suck!

Unions Rock!

[Occulus]

60. Proud APWU member.

Standing in solidarity with my UAW brothers and sisters.

[ConsAreLiars]

61. My first job out of HS was union and taught me about how things work.

I'm one of the few lucky proles. I spent most of my working years in one union or another, and eventually ended my work life with both Social Security and a union pension added to it (thank whatever is was not a Corporation plan) and get by OK. The second union job I had was a worker owned/operated operation that has thrived and grown. I am sure the problem with the Big Three and the rest is being corporate owned and operated.

[amborin]

62. big union supporter here

[Waiting For Everyman]

63. K&R for unions! n/t

[myrna minx]

64. K&R for the unions. n/t

[Rhiannon12866]

65. I think the answer is obvious.

And the vast majority of DUers agree...:kick:

[Hubert Flottz]

66. I will never buy a scabmobile!

[reclinerhead]

67. Full support from California

My mother retired from GM in Lansing 4 months ago... and my brother works for American Axle in Three Rivers.

Way to earn your 15% approval rating, senators. This will be remembered for a long time in Michigan.

[gollygee]

68. I support union workers but one of the cars I have is foreign.

So a lot of DU'ers would call me "un-American" no matter what I say or how I vote. I certainly don't blame union workers for what has happened. I think the corporate execs take some blame. There were very few foreign cars in my town until GM shut down our profitable plant, despite the popularity of the cars made there. Whoever decided that made a lot of people around here lose what had been very fierce loyalty for GM. Also, anyone who voted for any "right to work" state law holds blame. Every auto worker in the US should be unionized, despite the manufacturer.

[shrike]

69. Solidarity forever

[AndrewP]

70. I am solidly pro-union

[Peacetrain]

71. K&R and my own take on it

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=7975054&mesg_id=7975054

[Bluenorthwest]

72. Union member here

Supporting of course, and also saying the same support is expected for other unions.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

73. Former UAW, Former IBOT

Even the non-union white-collar folks in the auto industry owe a lot to the unions. Their salaries and benefits and holidays are linked (in a competitive or trickle-down way) to the concessions won by union members' struggles.

http://apps.detnews.com/apps/history/index.php?id=172

Bias? I didn't see no bias in your OP, Mike
:)

[guitar man]

74. GO UNION!!

My grandfather stood the line against the thugs in the 30s to help create the middle class.My Dad was a Teamster for 40 years and continued to fight the good fight all his life. Any scumbag that turns against the middle class worker is my mortal enemy. :grr:

[liberalhistorian]

105. That's the same story as my father and grandfather!

And my mom and stepdad were proud NEA members for the majority of their teaching careers. They began teaching at a time when there wasn't a teacher's union, and, thus, conditions for most teachers were horrendous and they had no power whatsoever. Through the years, they often had to "educate" younger teachers who thought it was somehow "romantic" to be anti-union and who had no idea of how all the benefits and collective bargaining power they enjoyed were due to the tireless efforts of the NEA, the National Federation of Teachers and other education unions. They just took it for granted. Always drove mom and stepdad nuts.

[Joanne98]

75. I'm not in a Union but I support them 100% Republicans are TRAITORS!

[DemoTex]

76. ALPA (AFL-CIO)

ALPA - Air Line Pilots Association

[Political Heretic]

77. UNION. UNION TILL DEATH.

[WinkyDink]

79. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. AS IF Joe the Non-Rich would have ANY BENEFITS AT ALL w/o

UNIONS!
And union members' (sometimes ultimate) SACRIFICES.

[whathehell]

102. A Question once asked: Why is Labor History generally NOT

taught in schools? I believe this is the reason so many Americans are misinformed about unions.

Answer received: The school boards (or whoever decides the curriculum).."doesn't want to take sides".

Puhleeze!..Isn't that like refusing to teach the American Revolution..because you "don't want to take sides"?



"Everyone is entitled to their own opinions..but not their own facts". J. Pat Moynihan.:eyes:

[WinkyDink]

78. I was born supporrting Labor unions, though my father was a White-Collar employee of Beth. Steel.

Decisions are ALWAYS the role of the bosses, who then take the credit or must shoulder the blame.

Member, NEA.

[Shiver]

80. Wouldn't be here if not for my mother's union and the health plan they had.

Current member of UFCW local #1444... I support unions regardless of that, though :hide:

[recoveringrepublican]

81. Please don't give up more than you all already have! Former APWU! nt

[notadmblnd]

82. Our family is completely tied to the auto industry.

From my father and my husband who worked in the plants, to my grandfather who operated a crane in the scrap yard recycling them. My mother worked in a cafeteria at truck and bus, my sister is a buyer for a parts supplier. My job (when I had one) was IT that had several GM contracts. Educated or uneducated, the auto industry has provided for our way of life for the last 80 years.

[earth mom]

83. K & R! nt

[Chisox08]

84. K & R

UAW don't give up anything and keep on fighting against those overpaid CEO and those treasonous Repukes.

[newtothegame]

85. I do NOT think unions are responsible for the current situation..

but I hesitate to support them. I'm amused that the actions of unions today are justified by weekends, holidays, and overtime that was accomplished 50 years ago. Those bumper sticker slogans are ridiculous. If current actions were always justified by early actions and gains, there'd be a lot of evil leaders being praised today. Sorry folks, this ain't the 60's. Labor camps aren't being set on fire. When I was growing up (I'm in my 20's), it was the UNION that was scaring me, not the bosses. My Dad had no interest in joining the union at his plant and his reward was threatening midnight phone calls and 4am knocks on the door.

My 18-year-old cousin works for a company where many of the workers are on strike. I know union workers call this person a "scab." Same tactics: bullying, throwing things, late night phone calls and visitors at the door. Same question: why does someone else have to suffer because YOU joined a union and decided to strike? It was YOUR decision.

[liberalhistorian]

106. Why should anti-union workers, or those

who don't want to join a union, then benefit from the very efforts of those unions?

Less than fifteen percent of the American workforce are currently unionized, and the pukes are doing their damnest, as they always have been, to reduce that to almost nothing. If you think unions are bad, wait until there're none left.

[LostinVA]

86. How ANYONE can say the Unions caused this is beyond me

It's like saying the tellers caused the banking crisis.

[Wednesdays]

87. I've never been a union member, but give 1000% support!

:patriot:

[MrCoffee]

88. PATCO '81 survivor here...count me as a NO vote

Unions did nothing for my family, besides stab us in the back.

[Lars39]

90. So you've gone from blaming Reagan to blaming the union?

[MrCoffee]

91. I never stopped giving the UAW credit where it's due.

[liberalhistorian]

107. And how is Reagan's deliberate crushing of the

PATCO the union's fault?????? Seems you've swallowed the RW kookaid. Ooops, I meant, koolaid. Same thing, though.

[Two Americas]

89. k and r

As with so many issues here, where the membership actually stands, and the impression visitors would get as to where the membership stands on those issues are strikingly divergent. Many times, 90% or more of the people here support the Left wing or pro-Labor point of view, yet the views of that 90% are continually smeared as "fringe, unrealistic, purist, far left, small minority, lunatics."

[Judi Lynn]

92. Absolute support for unions forever. Only defense against abuse of workers, as everyone knows. n/t

[Snotcicles]

93. Oh HELL YES. Teamster here. nt

[madinmaryland]

94. In no way can there be any blame for the Auto-workers and their Union(s)

in this debacle.

[Avalux]

95. I'm from generations of union workers -

blue collar people who are the backbone of country and without unions, would have never been able to purchase homes and take care of their families.

I support unions. Fuck the GOP and any Democrat who joins them in trying to bust up the UAW.

[Uncle Joe]

97. I support labor unions, our society would be far worse off without them.

Thanks for the thread, Mike

[Tace]

98. I'm A Former UAW Member

Worked in a stamping and partial-assembly plant in Detroit as a member of the UAW. I'm proud to be a union man.

I also covered the auto industry for United Press International in the early-mid 1980s (as a member of the Wire Service Guild, now the Media Guild), including two rounds of contract negotiations.

Unions such as the UAW have helped pioneer the very definition of a good job. Their role is invaluable. It would be a terrible mistake to discount their importance. From my experience, anti-union views reveal anti-social thinking -- beware.

[Hekate]

99. The only reason I didn't join AFSCME was I was the boss's confidential secretary & couldn't

I worked for the Labor Relations manager at the university during the campaign to get unions on the campus -- very interesting ringside seat, and there wasn't a soul I could discuss it with.

I cheered from the sidelines when the clerical union came to the county. I alarmed some people when I discreetly inquired about making my category (exec secs and dept head secs) at the County into its own small collective bargaining unit, because there was literally no one who spoke for us and we got pennies more per hour than other secretaries. There's nothing against it, but it's not politic to ask. LOL. I also offended when the minimum wage was about to go up and I asked if that meant that all the clerical wages would go up in accordance. Silly me.

My dad was a shop steward in his union at Lockheed Aircraft. My former husband was a member of the Hotel and Restaurant Workers union in Hawai'i. My husband is a member of the faculty union at his community college.

If we don't have unions for workers, we get nada, zip, nothing. Paternalism is non-existent in our capitalistic society. A century ago men and women literally fought and bled and died for these rights, and it continued through the Great Depression.

You are right. There's no gray area.

Hekate

[DoBotherMe]

100. Step-daughter of a Teamster here!

I support ALL labor unions. Dana ; )

[whathehell]

101. UNION YES!!...My Dad was a proud FDR Union Democrat all of his life..

Unions great things for his generation and mine...They practically BUILT the middle class in this country.

[supernova]

108. I support the Unions

:thumbsup:


I hope with this debacle this mmeans that we will have a new pro labor era.

[psychmommy]

109. i am union and support other unions.

the management level jobs where i work are not protected. they are some miserable bastards. they are also concerned about their jobs. our state took a big hit with the market downturn. we were heavily invested in lehmans and others. folks are gonna lose jobs but, we won't go first-those unprotected titles will.

[michreject]

110. For

I Support Labor Unions and They Are Not To Blame for the failure of these corporations.

And I own a American truck and have never owned a foreign POS.

[Better Believe It]

111. k & r

[sarcasmo]

112. My Dad i,s a legacy, retired this year. My Grandfather was a GM employee.

This is a sad day here in Michigan.