why do they strike? why can't they let someone else get a job? i'm just curious and have been, and i just want to know what the big deal is.




why do they strike? why can't they let someone else get a job? i'm just curious and have been, and i just want to know what the big deal is.
They strike because they are fighting for their rights as workers and they want to make it known to anyone who sees them that the company is not giving them what they feel they deserve. And they see the other people taking those jobs as part of the problem. If those people accept subpar pay, benefits, and whatever else, it makes it that much harder for the ones who are trying to unionize for those things.
That's the gist of it.
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Yeah, the idea is to flex the workers' power by demonstrating that business suffers when the workers are unhappy. By striking and forming a picket line, they discourage customers from doing business there, they are halting business themselves by not working, and they try to keep out scabs so that the bosses have to negotiate with them for better conditions.
People who cross a picket line to replace striking workers are called "scabs" for a reason. The strikers are trying to cause a sort of blood loss (except it's money and labor the business is losing) and the scabs act as a scab does on your skin, by stopping the outflow. This hurts the strikers' position considerably.





so, uh, how are there going to be enough jobs for those who aren't lucky enough to be allowed into a union-controlled industry? what kind of work are they allowed TO do?
unions often do a lot more harm than good, since they essentially have to create a monopoly for their industry, allowing them to artificially inflate salaries for work that is not necessarily highly skilled (which the market does happen to reward without recourse to unionising-- see software dev as an example).
driving a bus-- difficult, but not too hard for most people. unions keep wages for that work artificially high for the select ones lucky enough to be in the union. not so great for anyone else. as an example of unions being a problem.
You can thank the unions for:
- The weekend. Before unions workers were expected to work six days a week and some up to seven days a week.
- The eight hour work day. Before unions workers were expected to work from sun up to sun down.
- Worker safety. Lost a hand in the belt drive of heavy machinery because it had no cover? To bad. You should have been more careful. Oh yea, since you can't work, you don't work here anymore.
- Child labor laws. Who needs school when there is a robber baron to be worked for. If you don't know what a robber baron is, you need to go to school yourself.
- Violence. If you didn't meet your quota, you could literally get an ass kicking. Unbelievable in todays world but not before unions.
If you think unions do more harm than good, you really need to learn a little more about labor practices in the US.
^ Well, I actually agree with this.
Unions have a place...but that place has come to pass. They need to be reorganized and restructured.
http://www.kentlaw.edu/ilhs/majones.htm
yet another strong women that help build our country.
thanks to ani DiFranco and Utah Phillips for pointing the way with the
Fellow Workers CD.
http://www.amazon.com/Fellow-Workers...outThisProduct





i have read plenty about unions shutting out workers who weren't white, but whom wanted to join the union, and about the strongarm tactics unions have ALWAYS used to maintain their political power and influence. it is a bit misleading to attribute unilaterally better working conditions entirely to unions, btw.
There are plenty of non-union workers out there doing the same jobs as union workers. My dad owns a non-union painting business and every now and then the union people will strike at a job site and try to convince my dad's guys that they aren't making as much as they would if they were union. But that is blatantly untrue and my dad's guys don't hesitate to tell the union guys that.
I'm not entirely sure how it works, but I remember one story where a union guy came up to one of my dad's workers and held up a paycheck, saying, "If you join up with us you could be making this!" I guess my dad's worker said, "I'd die if I had to live on that." lol.
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You can thank the unions for:
- Funneling union dues into the coffers of organized crime and political movements that are counter to the long-term interests and goals of the membership
- Bankrupting and/or offshoring of countless manufacturing businesses through denial of globalization and unrealistic wage and benefit demands (US auto industry, anyone?)
- Engaging in legal extortion of taxpayers for state and local government workers (especially teachers) despite a demonstrated lack of accountability, cost-efficiency and effectiveness
The time of unions has come and gone...and it shows; less then 14% of the labor force is unionized and it's dropping every year. I remember the first time I applied for a job at a union workplace (didn't know it was union when I applied) when I was 24. There was the business manager and a union representative (who didn't introduce himself as such at the beginning). Here's how the conversation went midway through the interview:
Business manager: Would you have any problem working in a union environment?
CO: Yes, actually, I would.
Union rep: Why?
CO: Because I'm completely capable of negotiating the terms of my own employment without using an organization that doesn't represent my concerns or interests.
Union rep: You do know this is a union shop, right?
CO: No, but I do now.
I left without taking that position. They called me three more times for other positions in the company, but I finally told the HR rep that they could call me again when they had a non-union position available. I could tell some stories here about Teamsters extortion rackets I had to endure during my first IT services company but it's not really important anymore; as the economy becomes more knowledge-intensive and less labor-intensive, unions matter less and less.
Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
The idealism of unions is a good one. The implementation of that ideal is next to impossible in a globally functioning economy. Nowadays unions are nothing more than a kind of lobbying group and act as oppressors of the very people the purport to represent.
In the US today we have a kind of federally mandated union called the board of labor and OSHA and the minimum wage. None of those existed before the Union formations back in the 1930's. The unions took up the cause where there were no laws to do so.
There may be a need for unions again in the near future, but a lot of unions are pretty much useless. Truck drivers (teamsters) aren't permitted by law to strike. Ditto with airline pilots and air traffic controllers. The teacher's union seems to do okay at getting what it wants, but no one is looking at teacher's salaries with envy (I'd feel like I hit the lottery if I could score a benefits package like what teachers get, though...).
Promote yourself and earn more money! This is a business that is owned by strippers for strippers. Let's make that money!
I have mixed feelings about unions, especially in the film industry. On the one hand, I have a huge problem with paying thousands of dollars to an organization that supports political causes contrary to my own, so that they can tell me who I may work for and when.
On the other hand, exploitation in this industry is ridiculous. The difference between a union show and a nonunion show can mean the difference between $500 a day (or more) and $100 a day, a 12-hour workday with 12-hour turnaround or a 19-hour workday with six-hour turnarounds. If it wasn't for unions like SAG and IATSE, we'd all be working 20 hours a day and crashing our cars in our sleep on the drive home; we wouldn't be fed and we'd never get overtime. I don't know why this industry is like that, but it is. Also no one gets benefits until they join a union, but the union benefits are pretty good (free health insurance, pension, etc). K expects to turn union by the end of the year and we will be better off for it. I just wish the unions would stay out of politics and lower their dues.
You should come out here and see what we're paying teachers in the east...and what we pay in property taxes as a result.The teacher's union seems to do okay at getting what it wants, but no one is looking at teacher's salaries with envy (I'd feel like I hit the lottery if I could score a benefits package like what teachers get, though...).
Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive.
William F. Buckley, Jr.





In the interest of equal time ...The difference between a union show and a nonunion show can mean the difference between $500 a day (or more) and $100 a day, a 12-hour workday with 12-hour turnaround or a 19-hour workday with six-hour turnarounds. If it wasn't for unions like SAG and IATSE, we'd all be working 20 hours a day and crashing our cars in our sleep on the drive home; we wouldn't be fed and we'd never get overtime. I don't know why this industry is like that, but it is. Also no one gets benefits until they join a union, but the union benefits are pretty good (free health insurance, pension, etc). K expects to turn union by the end of the year and we will be better off for it. I just wish the unions would stay out of politics and lower their dues.
I would also point out that while remaining union work in the US entertainment industry does indeed pay rather well and provide benefits, the higher costs to producers which stem from being 'forced' to fork over union pay scales and bennies and paying extra to comply with union work rules, has prompted some producers to start 'offshoring' production in exactly the same manner as unionized US manufacturing industries. Thus while the 'remaining' unionized entertainment industry workers are still enjoying higher pay and better benefits, many productions which would have previously provided work for additional unionized entertainment industry workers is now providing work for Canadians or Croatians instead of Californians !
Haven't heard of any production in Croatia, but yes, Canada, Romania, and Morocco have all benefited from our unions. However, given the exploitative conditions in this industry, I think we're all safer in the long run by not working for those producers. At the moment, K is working on one of these shows, and I'm terrified for his welfare; he's been working 20-hour days for two weeks, with no more than a six-hour turnaround at night, and he has to drive halfway across town and back. There's a lot of dangerous equipment and tricky terrain to negotiate on set, and he drives to and from work on almost no sleep. I really wish he would quit because it just isn't safe.
If it weren't for the unions, this would be the industry standard. That frightens me.
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