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Happy Labor Day!

Posted 8 months ago|17 comments|289 views
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Altruist
Eugene, OR
I hope everyone enjoyed your labor Day holiday. It was brought to you by the unions.

Here are a few other things that labor unions have given to you: Child labor laws,
Disability insurance, Fair pay for work performed, Forty hour work weeks, Pensions,
Over and double-time pay, Retention of American jobs on American soil, Retirement, Safety regulations, Survivor's benefits, and Workplace health insurance.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/0...

We haven't heard much about what unions have done to help workers this year because unions have been under attack. There are many problems in the country and many of those problems are being pinned on the unions.

Remember that unions are literally Democracy in action. Who knows better than the workers about the problems in the workplace? Who knows better which things work, which saves money, which practices are unsafe? Who knows better than the workers how to solve the nation's problems?

Unions realize that in tough times they have to be flexible and in nearly all areas unions have made major wage and benefit concessions.

The problem is not that union members have unfairly high wages and benefits. The problem is that the rest of the workers do not. Unions raise all boats.

The conservatives that are attacking unions and the workers rights of collective bargaining want to eliminate any representatives that are working for the good of the people. They will not be happy until America has no safety protections, no workers protections, no pollution protection, and wages comparable to those in China.

Unions want jobs to stay in this country and they want the workers to be protected and to be able to make a living wage. They want the same for every other worker in the country.

The unions made the middle class and now that unions are disappearing the middle class is also disappearing. There is a direct correlation between union membership and the decline in wages.

Instead of being angry at the union workers who are doing the hard work of protecting us, educating us and keeping everything working, we should be angry at those who control 95% of the money in the country but who make a thousand times as much an hour by hiring others to do their work for them.
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8 months ago: The Labor Day is celebration of successfully ended strike (well, successfully for the rich and the government) that actually ended when Democrat President Grover Cleveland brought in 12,000 federal troops that killed 13, wounded 57 workers and imprisoned the leader of the union, Eugene V. Debs.

It took much effort and a change in the ruling party before, under Republican President William McKinley, Pullman's company town was proclaimed "un-American" and got annexed to Chicago by the order of the Illinois Supreme Court.

Unfortunately, all recessions saw a decline in the power and membership in unions. It seems that when the jobs are scarce, workers forget that only unity can help them...
8 months ago: Al? You want to look at your list again?

"Child labor laws, Disability insurance, Fair pay for work performed, Forty hour work weeks, Pensions, Over and double-time pay, Retention of American jobs on American soil, Retirement, Safety regulations, Survivor's benefits, and Workplace health insurance"

Your sure all of those listed "Gifts" from the union apply.
8 months ago: Sarah Palin was in a union.
8 months ago: Uh...Al.

There is a difference between collective bargaining with private companies and the government.

It is obscene for workers to collectively bargain with TAXPAYERS. Go get a dang job.

Shame on you ugys.
Altruist
Altruist
Eugene, OR
8 months ago: Red these public workers work just as hard as private ones. The ones I worked with could get the job done in half the time at half the price of the private contractors.

After 9/11 we saw the bravery of our public employees and they were celebrated as heroes. Why are they being demonized now? http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/09...

TCG if you think labor is not responsible for one of these benefits lets see your research and I'll see if it holds water.

Dr. Darko I hadn't heard that version of how labor day got started. http://www.dol.gov/opa/aboutdol/laborday...
8 months ago: Did you really expect the government to say everything? Do you know why the rest of the world celebrates May 1st as the Labor Day?

The Government was afraid of further conflicts with workers and legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law only six days after the end of the strike! Have you ever heard that the government operated so swiftly?
8 months ago: Forty hour work weeks are for the leeches
Pensions are for bankrupt leeches
Retention of American jobs on American soil is a lie
Workplace health insurance replaced by Obamacare

How about those real working man facts.
Altruist
Altruist
Eugene, OR
8 months ago: In this economy we should switch to a 32 or 30 hr. work week. Germany reduced their hours to maintain a higher rate of people working. "Recent studies[5][6] supporting a four-day week have shown that reduced work hours not only increase consumption and invigorate the economy, but also improve worker's level of education (due to having extra time to take classes and courses) and worker's health (less work-related stress and extra time for exercise). Reduced hours also save money on day care costs and transportation, which in turn helps the environment with less carbon-related emissions. These benefits increase workforce productivity on a per-hour basis." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_tim...

Even among republicans only 18% approve of cuts to their favorite pension program - Social Security, and only 13% favor cuts to Medicare, their favorite health care. In 2014 we will see how any employers still supply health care. The affordable Care act is supposed to encourage them to continue, but medicare for all would be half the cost and much simpler.

NAFTA and the other Corporate Free Trade agreements shipped our jobs overseas. Unions opposed all of them.
Altruist
Altruist
Eugene, OR
8 months ago: Oops forgot the link to the article with link to the PEW poll about Republican preferences. http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com...
8 months ago: All I want is a job that does as little work and requires as little skill as an atuo plant worker for the same pay as they get. Better yet, I'll take one of those sit in a room and play cards all day for the same pay as the line worker that the UNIONS forced the auto makers to pay for.

Just so you know, I am not unskilled nor am I below average intelligence. Even with my disabilities, I still think that I can do ANY job in ANY auto plant with minimum training (as long as it doesn't require exceptional speed and agility). And no, I have never worked in one nor been a union member.
8 months ago: So you know, if hourly jobs that paid as much as auto workers make per hour were common place in this area, everyone could afford a new car more often than once every ten years or so. As it is, workers around here have to work two to four hours to make what auto workers make in one.
sunny2
sunny2
8 months ago: Does anyone who doubts the benefits of Unions really know any Union bosses personally. I don't think they have a clue what they would be facing if they tried this stuff on them.
sunny2
sunny2
8 months ago: Private companies get away with treating their employees like animals.
HR Departments aren't there to resolve differences, but to put the employee in their place to show whose boss and make them aware of how vulnerable they are to losing their jobs if they complain or speak up. That includes, sexual harassment, low pay, unfair treatment by a supervisor, fixing performance reviews and keeping people down. If you don't like it, they put you through hell on earth. There is no one to help. Unions make all the difference for the employee. They aren't perfect but better some protection than none. Many people haven't experienced this, so they wouldn't know any better.
Altruist
Altruist
Eugene, OR
8 months ago: As the president said tonight we should not be in a race to the bottom we should be in a race to make life better for all of us. We should be encouraging more unions, better benefits, more local jobs and less sent overseas, and higher wages for everyone.

With Rick Perry we have a clear delineation between the right and the left.
Yes because of their fossil fuel extraction Texas has low taxes which attracts companies. They have lax regulation and corporations are allowed to pollute so the corporations that want cheap labor and high pollution are flocking to Texas. Many of the jobs are because of the energy production, but more government jobs have been created than private jobs. Is this a good role model for America? Texas is becoming the China of America.

Since there are few unions almost all of the jobs are low wage jobs and few have benefits or health care. There is only one state with more minimum wage workers, and the average wages in Texas are about $1.30 an hour less than the national average. http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/0...
8 months ago: Then why is the res__dent in a 'race to the bottom'?

Can't he just give everyone free skittles from his giant candy jar?
Can't we have a 1 hour work week and get paid a million per year?

Why does reality keep getting in the way of your great ideas?


sunny2
sunny2
8 months ago: Very amusing.
sunny2
sunny2
8 months ago: Al....If the President follows through it would be a God sent for all of us. I'm sure he will have to battle the Republicans to get anything at all done. When Labor Day rolled around, I thought that it was ironical because no one was working. How could there be a day of rest to celebrate from work. More like a day to reflect on the anxiety of not working.
Rick Perry is someone in it for himself. I would never want to see him elected to any high office. He doesn't strike me as a person who cares two cents about the welfare of the people. He is only another businessman who will fork our Country over to the fortunate rich. Looks like Texas has Government workers in their pockets. I can just picture State buildings surrounded by poverty stricken areas with their populace working for barely any wages to keep them alive. That should make Texas a proud State.

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