Anybody Else See A Pattern Here ??? - And... If We Know What's Good For Us...

[WillyT]

We'd all support, create new, and join... Unions.

It's our last best hope...



















:shrug:

[Blue_In_AK]

1. I'm thankful every day

for my husband's union and his defined pension. We are the lucky ones.

[Edweird]

2. I gotta say, things are looking pretty bleak right now.

[southernyankeebelle]

3. Until you get people especially in the south to join a unions we all will become slaves.

[Kalyke]

34. And, you know... I still haven't been able to determine why the

South is so anti-union.

I've Googled it some, but didn't find anything definitive. I've asked around and, other than some right-wing talking points of today, I haven't been able to find anyone who knows why or how the anti-union sentiment began.

It looks as though the people of a region of the country considered the poorest in the nation would want unions to bring them up to par with the rest of the country. Odd.

[WillyT]

35. Just A Theory Here... Has To Do With History...

The South had Slavery. And after the Civil War, they had the Klan.

It was a shorter journey for Northern workers to go from basically "indentured servitude", read "Sell my soul to the company store." to forming/joining a union, than it was for people to come out of a system where they were OWNED by their "masters".

Just a theory...

:shrug:

[mike_c]

4. solidarity!

I :hug: my union!

[WillyT]

6. Yep... Met With A Few Thousand Of My Friends Today !!!

Thousands descend on Capitol for SEIU Local 1000 rally
Jon Ortiz - Sacramento Bee
June 30, 2010

<snip>

An ocean of purple washed over the west side of the state Capitol today as thousands of SEIU Local 1000 members wearing the union's signature t-shirts rallied for a new contract and held signs that pushed a new message, "I am California."

Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker furthered that message, telling the cheering crowd that labor talks that started Monday must lead to a deal that "not only makes sense for state workers, but that makes sense for California."

The crowd, estimated at about 8,000 people by the union, protested Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's assertion that the state must withhold their pay to the federal minimum wage if lawmakers don't reach a budget by midnight that appropriates funding for state payroll.

The rally spilled from the Capitol's west steps to 10th Street, with information and registration booths lining both sides of the broad walkway. Participants grabbed croissant sandwiches, pizza or hot dogs for the lunchtime event. A massive electronic monitor showed live video shots as cameras panned the cheering crowd.

Guadalupe Gonzalez carried a sign that read, "Hey Arnold, I can't feed my dog on minimum wage! Why do you want to kill my puppy?"

Gonzalez said she makes less than $30,000 per year working in a Los Angeles-area office of the Department of Food and Agriculture. She's worried that just one or two months of her pay being withheld to $7.25 per hour would "put me on the street."

Even worse, she said, is the uncertainty of what her Aug. 1 paycheck will be. The 3rd District Court of Appeal is expected to rule any time on a trial court decision that Controller John Chiang overstepped his authority during the 2008 budget impasse when he refused to comply with administration letters instructing him to withhold state workers' pay.

"This makes everybody insecure," Gonzalez said.



Photo captions: top - A large group of SEIU Local 1000 members and supporters gathered at the State Capitol in Sacramento on Wednesday, June 30, to protest the proposed cut to their salaries to the federal minimun wage. bottom - Patsy Alvarado, 41, of Porterville, holds her daughter Elisa, 3, as her son Adrian, 5, sits next to her during a rally by the SEIU Local 1000 at the Capitol on Wednesday. Photos by Hector Amezcua
Come back later today for Bee videographer Hector Amezcua's video from today's rally.

<snip>

Read more: http://blogs.sacbee.com/the_state_worker/2010/06/thousands-descend-on-capitol-f.html#ixzz0sNukFct6

:patriot:

:kick:

[panader0]

5. Here in So Arizona I have seen a pattern about unions

I my small town, 20 miles from Mexico, there is almost no union representation. In Tucson, 70 miles to the north, there is more. When you get as far north as Phoenix, the unions have even greater power. And by the time you get to Las Vegas, the unions are strong.
All I can take from this is that the closer you are to the border, the less the union power. In my town ther are many legal green card workers from Mexico. They will work for less money.

[WillyT]

7. So... You're Saying It's The LEGAL Immigrant's Fault ???

:banghead::banghead::banghead:

:wtf:

Please... do explain.

:evilfrown:

[panader0]

17. What's to explain?

The nearer you are to the border, the less the union representation. Just the way it is.

[WillyT]

21. Are We Talking Northern Border, Or Southern Border ???

:shrug:

[newspeak]

24. well, until you hit right to work states like Utah

I believe Arizona is a right to work state also. I lived in Utah for about six years--hell, the Mormon church is like a huge corporation. I would debate with my boss all of the time-he'd get excited showing bogus graphs on the board like some Amway tool. It was always the corporate mindset over people and that's about the church's mentality, too. Also, the mindset that everyone should pay tax for food-see that's fair-property tax isn't fair. Tried to explain that everyone doesn't pay tax for food because it's something we all need to live--poor people can't afford buying a house, but they still need to eat.

You're right on about Las Vegas, strong union town!

[bvar22]

8. Solidarity!

Only "Democrats" with a SOLID Pro-LABOR record will get any support from me.

You can't be Pro-LABOR and Pro-"Free Trade" at the same time.

There is NO such thing as "Free Trade".
There is NO such thing as "Free markets".
There is NO Giant Invisible Hand.
The RICH made that shit up and sold it to a gullible America with smooth talking politicians.

[WillyT]

9. WORD !!!

Solidarity !!!

:kick:

:hi:

[Populist_Prole]

27. My feelings exactly and I will apply my vote viciously against any free trade candidate.

And by apply, that may also mean inaction....by either voting for none of the above or staying home.

[TheKentuckian]

31. That's fuckin A right

[LWolf]

10. I belong to one of the most frequently attacked unions in the nation.

I'm a teacher.

And it's not just conservatives and republicans favoring union-busting and attacks on teachers and unions. The Democratic Party is on board as well.

Even here at DU.

[WillyT]

11. Yep... I've Seen It...

And I used to belong to that union too.

Until I quit teaching.

[librechik]

12. anyone who attacks teacher unions (or nurse unions) ought to be ashamed

good god--of all professions, those are the most selfless and necessary. I'm furious about the lack of respect for unions and their decline. All that work and time and bloodshed just thrown under the bus, and by our own people as often as not.

[LWolf]

13. Thank you.

We need all the support we can get.

[WillyT]

14. Also WORD !!!

Exactly!!!

:hi:

:kick:

[BuelahWitch]

38. I agree

I support the teachers' (and all) unions!

[Roscoe Filburn]

15. Links to the labor and statistics site(s) where these are located please? can't find them

[WillyT]

16. Google Is Your Friend...

:hi:

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. We will have to refight those battles am afraid

[WillyT]

19. Yep... What We Need Now, Is A Real Resurgence Of The Union Movement...

And to facilitate that, we need to do a better job educating people about the benefits of unionizing.

Especially after 30+ years of very effective union bashing... with PATCO being a major tipping point.

:shrug:

:hi:

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. Yep, looking at the history of labor

it is quite depressing. They are going after the NEA because that will be the effective end. We will have to start from zero.

[JustAnotherGen]

22. Only if unions will fight for a living wage

I don't care how we get there - but we must have a working wage across the board. So if that means the creation of a child care workers union, a retail workers union, a beauticians unions, a food service union, etc. etc. Unions for every single segment and vertical. On board. It's the way to lift wages to a point of being reasonable for all. I also want a white collar workers union. Not every white collar worker is an executive making a million dollars a year. There needs to be strict regulation to stop enslaving people making 60 or 70 K a year to a 70 and 80 hour work weeks. There are no protections for salaried workers - so that union should work to assign an 'hourly wage' to salaried positions. No more working 20 days in a row for fear you will lose your 'salaried' job.

[depakid]

23. Sorry, but Republicrats won't stand for that...

[amborin]

25. K&R

[MilesColtrane]

26. We all have our "pet" issues.

An overriding factor in my evaluation of the success or failure of the Obama will be whether he is able to pass the EFCA.

Being a natural pessimist, I believe that the President's best chance has already passed. (I don't see Democrats gaining Congressional seats in November.)

I do know that if EFCA doesn't happen, and that if the condescending "we know best" rhetoric out of the WH toward unions continues, Obama's reelection will be no sure thing.

[bvar22]

36. EFCA hit the trashcan amid much laughter in the WH on Jan 20th, 2009..

..along with a stack of other Campaign Promises,
among them the promised re-negotiation of NAFTA.


"If we don't fight hard enough for the things we stand for,
at some point we have to recognize that we don't really stand for them."
--- Paul Wellstone

[WillyT]

28. Morning Kick...

:kick:

[mmonk]

29. The Dow will not continue to climb as incomes fall

unless it is fueled by foreign investors.

[WillyT]

32. Yep... Eventually, Nobody Will Be Able To Afford To Buy Their Products

They're actually killing themselves... as well as us.

:shrug:

[blindpig]

30. We cannot stand alone

there must be solidarity among the workers, it is the only thing we got against the power of Capital.

[WillyT]

33. Exactly !!!

:applause::applause::applause:

:kick:

:hi:

[defendandprotect]

37. Obama has to amend or overturn the Trade Agreements and labor has

to organize -- come together -- everyone is LABOR after all!!

You don't have to be in a union to join in a strike --

There are many actions we could all be taking together to protest this continued

move to the right --

United actions -- keep talking to your neighbors about what's going on --

gently at first because right wing propaganda has poisoned many minds which upon

hearing a bit of truth do begin to open up!!

Good luck to us all!! We need it!!

[WillyT]

39. + 1,000,000,000... What You Said...

:patriot:

:kick:

:hi: