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The Enemy; What they are up to
Topic Started: Feb 28 2007, 03:25 PM (131 Views)
Condor
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Ruler of the Mountain
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Just in from the Democraptic Party - and I am the guy that still remembers his Dad in a shoot out with the AFofL/CIO when they tried to force him to join their union in the Mobile ship yards. He won the shoot out, but was almost killed when he mysteriously fell from a scaffolding to the hold 18 feet below with his wielding tourch still burning a week or so later. It was 1954 and I don't remember the details that well, but the basics are still bright! After he left the hospital, we left Mobile! Now they want to make Unions a law! I guess the labor unions are tired of killing people to get them to join. I always carried my union card in my head. If I was worth the pay, they wanted me there and if not, I was happy to leave.

Dear Thomas,

American workers need help - and there's something you can do about it.

Regardless of where you live or what you do, labor unions are our first line of defense for worker's rights. What do they fight for? Raising the minimum wage. Improving labor standards. Expanding health care benefits. Protecting retirement security.

And these fights don't only make a difference in the workplace: They are critical to providing economic security for families, strengthening our communities and rebuilding America's middle class. Every day, millions of Americans work hard and play by the rules but are still struggling to get by. Democrats understand the important role that labor unions play to fix this crisis.

The House of Representatives is set to debate and pass a bill that will restore American workers' right to freely choose whether or not to form a union. Join the Democratic majority in the House and show your support for the Employee Free Choice Act:

http://www.democrats.org/StrengthenUnions

Research shows union members earn 30% more than nonunion workers. What's more, union workers are 63% more likely to have employer-provided health insurance, and are four times more likely to have a guaranteed pension.

The benefits of union membership are clear. That's why nearly half of American workers who are not currently represented by unions -- 60 million people -- say that they'd join one if they had the chance. But every year since 1981, union membership has declined. And a major reason for that fall-off is the many obstacles workers face when they try to form a union or negotiate a union contract.

The Employee Free Choice Act is a simple, effective solution to restore the right of workers to form unions and bargain for better wages and benefits for themselves and their families. It has three key provisions:


Require employers to recognize a union if a majority of workers sign authorization cards saying they want union representation.
Provide mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes.
Strengthen penalties for companies that illegally intimidate employees to prevent them from forming a union.

No management coercion, no waiting period, no stacked deck -- just the freedom for workers to stand up for their rights.

Democratic leaders in the House overwhelmingly support the Employee Free Choice Act. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called it a "top priority." House Labor Committee Chairman George Miller called it "an important step towards strengthening America's middle class." Now you can join the leadership in calling on Congress to pass this critical legislation:

http://www.democrats.org/StrengthenUnions

Big business is scared of the Employee Free Choice Act -- and that's why they're doing everything in their power to stop it.

75% of companies hire consultants or union-busters to fight organizing campaigns. And their tactics work: every 23 minutes, a worker is fired or discriminated against for supporting a union. All in all, over 22,000 workers each year are illegally fired, demoted, laid off, suspended without pay, or denied work by their employers as a result of union activity.

Why have our leaders in Washington allowed this to happen? Follow the money trail.

The public opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act is funded in large part by GOP-allied corporate lobbyists and interest groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Conservative Union, and Americans for Tax Reform. The dozens of groups that make up the "Coalition for a Democratic Workplace" spend big bucks each election cycle buying Republicans' votes on bills like this one.

This is nothing new. Big Business always gets what it wants from the Republicans-- from an energy bill written by Cheney's oil industry pals to a prescription drug bill full of giveaways to Big Pharma.

This time, though, the Democrats in Congress can stop them. Show the House that you will stand with America's workers:

http://www.democrats.org/StrengthenUnions

Do you believe in the right to demand a raise? Health care coverage? A pension? Do you believe workers should have a voice in their workplaces?

The fate of the Employee Free Choice Act depends on your work. Help score an important victory for worker's rights and for rebuilding America's middle class.

In Solidarity,

Governor Howard Dean, M.D.
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Almtnman
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Condor,Feb 28 2007
02:25 PM
Now they want to make Unions a law! I guess the labor unions are tired of killing people to get them to join.

I haven't heard of anybody getting killed lately about joining or not joining a union. I have heard a lot about how places like Wally-World resists unions and won't let one organize at their store. They hire workers, work them 39 hours a week and then send them home til the next work week so they don't have to pay for health care, retirement or any other benefits. I often wonder how many fast food places and other business' do the same? Then I see the benefits that some of the big business' pay their CEO's profit sharing in the millions of dollars, free planes and country clubs all for free and the workers that are making the money for them are paid on a much lower scale. Just recently the CEO of Home Depot walked out of his position with enough money to buy several small south Pacific islands for basically doing nothing. If big business' played fair with paying their employees on a scale of what they were really worth in profits in compasion to what they pay their CEO's, there would be no need for union's.
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gobblerblaster
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To have unions or not to have unions. This is a , to say the least, a very complicated subject. We have the unions on one hand that have done allot to reform labor laws by getting a fair wage and benefits and they have used their clout to bring about safer working conditions in industry.
On the other hand they have helped push jobs out of the United States because the extravigant wages and benefits cost the employer and take away from the profit margin and the ability to hire and fire based on merit and productivity. Union run Jobs cannot compete with the rest of the world because of the cost. and NAFTA has not helped this situation.
Labor Unions ( Especially the teamsters) are known for being corrupt and surviving on the backs of the American work force. They are also known to be major contributors of the Democratic party and have pushed and brainwashed their members to vote Democrat in every election. The Unions have used violence to intimidate workers and have tried to takeover certian industries by some pretty shady means.
Then you look at the Non-union Jobs and find that these workers work with little or no health insurance sometimes, sometimes no retirement, a wage barely liveable, and they have no bargaining power with the employer but, they knew this when they took the job
It makes me ill when people say oh these poor people have no choice in life but to work these menial labor jobs for Chicken feed. Yeah no choice except to decide whether to work the job or quit or get and eduacation to get a better job or do a good job where your at and get promoted. Ain't this the way it is supposed to be. Us making choices and either reaping the benefits or paying the consequences. Don't wine about the wages and the benefits, if it ain't good enough go back to school or look for a better job. Know one is making you stay there. This is called the free job market and with current labor laws it is what is keeping America at the level of competitiveness that we still have.
Unions are nothing but the Communist Party at work in America these days and have lived out there usefulness. No one can compete when they have a man on assembly line making $50 bucks an hour who isn't worth $20 and in China the guy doing the same Job is making about $1 and hour and his company is allowed to sell their goods in the US.
So whats the answer to the Labor and Trade problems, I don't know but, I do know it is not more union control of the American workforce.
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Condor
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"It makes me ill when people say oh these poor people have no choice in life but to work these menial labor jobs for Chicken feed. Yeah no choice except to decide whether to work the job or quit or get and eduacation to get a better job or do a good job where your at and get promoted. Ain't this the way it is supposed to be. Us making choices and either reaping the benefits or paying the consequences. Don't wine about the wages and the benefits, if it ain't good enough go back to school or look for a better job. Know one is making you stay there. This is called the free job market and with current labor laws it is what is keeping America at the level of competitiveness that we still have. "

Gobbler, I am in absolute agreement. Everyone pretty much has a life to do something with. They make good or bad choices and have to live with them. I started learning a trade when I was 11 years old and that developed into a job and then a career. I saw many drop out in the process and then, once it became well paying, saw a lot jump in for the good times - that hadn't been there for the bad times. Those who party through school and then, if they are lucky, through college and come away with nothing shouldn't have the right to join a gang of thugs to get what they refused to earn. When I worked for IBM, I wished we had a union. I worked for them in the bad days, not the good ones. If there had been a union, I would have been tempted to join it. We didn't have one so I had the choice of staying and sufferein or moving on. It took a lot of courage to move on with a wife and two babies to support, but that worked out well. That decision cost me some nights of sleep and wasn't the only time that tough decisions had to be made.
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Duke
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One thing that bothers me is that they want to do away with secret ballots/votes.

That will surely make people targets no matter which side of the issue a person votes.

Thanks,

Duke
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Hick
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My personal experience with a Union left a very bad taste in my mouth. While in Arizona (a Right to Work State), I joined the Teamsters Union when I worked at Hertz Rent-a-Car. Our brand new contract was for a 10 cent a year Raise for the next 3 years, no medical benefits, no sick days, and no Paid Vacation. Any problems with Management was swept under the rug, and the Union Rep always sided with the Management. Most of the people working there were Mexican, were on Welfare, and kept after the Managers to cut thier hours because Welfare was going to start cutting back on the benefits they were getting. Needless to say, I didn't last very long there.
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