The UAW, facing massive concessions, went on strike this afternoon

[Fading Captain]

And you'd never know it by reading this forum,

Honk if you support union workers.

[flyingfysh]

1. HONK! HONK!

I'm not a union member (I'm a computer programmer), but my wife is a union rep for her teachers union.

[Joanne98]

2. I'm sorry! I'm supporting them 100%

[Snotcicles]

3. Honk, We had to give up 15% of wages for three years to save our company. nt

[MrCoffee]

4. the UAW can go hang

they and their AFL-CIO cronies fucked PATCO almost as bad as Ray-gun did. fuck 'em.

[pnorman]

33. That's not fair or even correct!

Many constituent unions had NO difficulty whatsoever in recognizing what was involved, or sensing the "BREAK ALL UNIONS" doctrine that PATCO-busting foretold. I'm thinking of unions such as ILWU, PACE, and a few others; most certainly UAW and other traditional CIO-style unions. Admittedly, the head of the Federation then, Lane kirkland, was a blithering (and useless) idiot, but don't curse the entire labor movement over that!

Actually, PATCO was an affiliate of my own union at the time, and WE fell far short of giving them proper support. Since we were primarily shipboard officers, few were even aware that it was a Brother Union!

pnorman

[BlooInBloo]

5. DU's not the place to go if you're looking for labor support.

[monktonman]

9. Yeah, no kidding.

I had my butt flamed off today for showing some support for the UAW.

I couldnt help thinking about how Dems are supposed to be looking out for the working man.
You wouldnt know it by reading post's on DU. Seems to me, DU is moving farther and farther to
the right. Look at all the flame wars going on over the last few months.
Seems like if you disagree with someone with multiple stars and over a thousand post's
there's gonna be hell to pay.

Sorry DU....I dont write very well and sometimes its difficult for me to express myself properly through my keyboard. Yeah you guessed it...I didnt finish colledge. Ooops, my bad.
What I have done though is work my ass off my whole life to support my family. I have never complained about that, in fact I'm proud to be a working laborer.
I cant help but think that alot of Dems on this board are as full of hate for the working person
as the republics are. All day I've been reading post's about the strike and it seems there are a a bunch here that would rather be nasty, rude and downright insulting . I have never seen so many insults against working people on this board as I did today.

Note to presidential candidates and Duers alike. I AM THE WORKING MAN YOU CLAIM TO SUPPORT. I'm tired of being talked down to and sick of having my identity trashed. Sorry, I'm not a reporter or lawyer or computer guy or a doctor and such, but I deserve respect none the less.

With that being said, I'm seriously considering leaving the party. I've had enough with being talked to like a child whether its on DU or listening to a candidate speak. Fuck these snobbish bastards who are no different than those they claim to fight.

[Fading Captain]

11. Damn, You hit that fucking nail right on the head.

I grew up son of an autoworker. I grew up right in between a Ford, Chrysler and GM plant in Windsor, Ontario. I went to school thanks to my dad's union wages and I helped stay out of massive debt thanks to working weekends at Chrysler.

I live in "liberal" Ann Arbor now, where people drive Subarus and Hondas and Lexuses and every god damned status symbol bullshit foreign car around here.

The Ann Arbor Democrat is EXACTLY what is wrong with the Democratic Party.

They claim to care about those in poverty but shop at Whole Foods, where the food is expensive and workers are treated like dirt.

They've completely lost touch with the idea of struggle.

[SidDithers]

29. K&R...

We've had 4 generations work at Chrysler in my family. My great grandfather, grandfather (along with 3 of his brothers) and my dad all worked at the assembly plant in Windsor, and I worked at the Parts Depot in Mississauga for a couple years.

Here's a thread kick from all of us.

Sid

[hfojvt]

23. I am a working person too - blue collar in spite of my University degrees

but I do not have alot of experience with unions, only working as a janitorial contractor and a temp at one union plant. My first impression of unions is that the union worker is a privileged class compared to the rest of us. Football players and baseball players are unionized and have gone on strike, even though they make lots more money than the rest of us working stiffs. At $10,000 a year, it's hard, very hard for me to support my fellow workers who are striking because they do not like the $40,000 a year that the company offered them. The UPS strike a while back is an exception, as far as I remember, because the union went on strike to benefit some of their co-workers.

On the other hand, in a political sense, the unions are as close as we come to an AAWP - American Association of Working People that lobbies for pro-worker legislation, and provides information to and about the working class. So I love them for that.

[monktonman]

25. So a raise wouldnt be nice?

I gotta laugh at poor people who complain about people making money.
Wouldnt you like to be one of those $40,000 a year union members
or would you rather be broke?
I'm not flaming you. I get what your saying but I'd never knock a working man for making some money.

[hfojvt]

30. it's not knocking them for making money

but then why knock a CEO for making money? It's knocking them for complaining about their pay and benefits when both are so much better than mine.

I once worked at a non-union plant which talked about unionizing. I worked as a temp. The union was gonna be for the non temps, and likely would not have done sh*t for the temps. Here's kind of a typical story. Four of them are standing around, complaning about the plant manager or benefit cuts. Meantime I continue to work. The work's not all that hard mind you, but working nonetheless. Finally after ten minutes of their yakking I decide to stop doing what I am doing, and I watch as the machine is running low on cardboard. Soon it will hit an auto stop and shut the machine down. I was hoping it would, but the flashing warning light caught their attention and the maintenance guy actually re-loaded the machine.

Anyway, I could just see them going on strike over their pay and benefits which were more than twice of mine. Why don't they think about me and mine? From my perspective they have alot less to complain about than I do. They should go on strike to improve my pay and benefits before asking me to support a strike for theirs.

[monktonman]

31. you don't have to support a strike for them.

How about for the worker in general.

I know, theres alot of bullshit that goes on in unions I'll give you that.
On the other hand, a vast majority of union members are good people
and work hard for their employers.
Don't let a few bad apples spoil the bunch.

Also, CEO's make four or five hundred times more money than their average employee.
Then, after practically bankrupting the company, they turn around and say
the workers are paid too well. Now I'm not disputing their right to make money,
but its been my experience that when a company is in financial trouble, the
first place you look is at the top. Aren't our CEO's supposed to be leaders?
I would like to think so but alas......

[proud2BlibKansan]

44. I'm with you on the CEO pay

All the way.

[proud2BlibKansan]

43. At what price?

If your employer risks going out of business because your wages are so high (and many of the auto plants have closed) is your high salary really worth it?

The custodian at my school lost his job when the GM plant here closed. He makes less than half the hourly wage he made at GM. He says he would go back there in a heartbeat for a lower salary if that would keep that plant open. He has had to delay retirement and took a cut in his pension. He says he would much rather have stayed there than be thrust into the job market at the age he was when the plant closed.

[proud2BlibKansan]

41. I understand what you mean

The first school I taught at was a Catholic school made up mainly of kids whose parents worked at the Leeds plant. They all made better money (LOTS better) than any of us teachers. One of my parents was making over $20 an hour - a lot of money in 1980 - working on the assembly line putting gear shift knobs on steering columns. She made more money in a week than I did in a month. They threatened to go on strike over wages at one point and wanted the school to waive tuition while they were on strike. Our school board said no and the parents were pretty upset.

Nearly 30 years later, none of those parents are still working at Leeds and I still have a job. My own parents told me at the time that I had traded high wages for job security by choosing a teaching career. And of course, I make better money now than I did then. But I often wonder if unreasonable high wages paid a part in that plant's closing.

[Thickasabrick]

26. If you left - that would leave more assholes. This place can be

really rough at times - I hope you stick around to help balance things out.

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[pnorman]

34. Kindly direct me to that thread. I imagine it's still "active".

I'd like to check out some of the comments there, and weigh in with some of my own!

SOLIDARITY FOREVER: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solidarity_Forever
Listen to it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYiKdJoSsb8

pnorman
PS: I don't have a collitch diploma either.

[BlooInBloo]

6. I assume there's a membership strike vote? What's the % required?

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

7. I HONK FOR ALL UNION WORKERS!!!!!

It takes even more courage, these days, to go on strike.

HURRAH FOR THE UAW!!! :woohoo:

[BlooInBloo]

8. Wow. Labor threads drop faster than racism threads. Didn't think that was possible.

EDIT: Way to go DU.

[Fading Captain]

14. Disgusting, isn't it. Tasers. Attention whores. "When they came for ... bullshit"

Nascar
Cindy Sheehan (who apparently doesn't need to work anymore).
Clothes shopping with Mrs. Kucinich.

[BlooInBloo]

18. Yup.

[cyclezealot]

10. Liberals don't support the right to strike?

It's a universal right promised by the Universal Declaration. If I knew a majority of DU'ers not support that right guaranteed by the UN charter, then DU is not only a great disappointment , but likely a waste of our time. I think polling DU'ers would tell us that we support the Universal right to strike. Even a strong majority of Congressional Democrats have excellant scores for their support of Labor. Even often among the Blue Dogs.
And, the GM strike. Health benefits will be handed over to a trust fund that all know will be insignificant. Leaving retired workers with no health care benefits. DU'ers are not that heartless. ?
Honk, Honk.

[Fading Captain]

12. Unfortunately, the Party takes unions for granted

They want our block in the next election.
So SOME of them talk a good game.

But the corporate money is more important.

[monktonman]

22. bingo sir

you have also hit the nail on the head.

[cyclezealot]

36. It was not so much union activity

that destroyed union jobs, but Mexico and China thanks to the WTO and Nafta and some Democrats were instrumental in that betrayl. Yet, some Democrats such as Rep. David Bonior have been real troopers for our right to organize. When a majority of Democrats fail unionism is the day I will have to find another party.

[TahitiNut]

21. It's sad and ignorant. I tend to think it's associated with a lack of maturity.

Far too many aren't even conscious of how they take the authoritarian line at the patella level.

[NaturalHigh]

13. What can we do to support them?

I'm all for honking, but that doesn't seem like substantial support to me. I'm also not planning to buy another vehicle for a few years, and even then it likely will be a Honda.

It seems to me that the Teamsters Union is in the best position to help support this strike, but to be honest, I don't really see them getting too involved.

[Fading Captain]

15. Stop buying Hondas

Jesus Christ.

[NaturalHigh]

16. What do Hondas have to do with GM?

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. They're made in Tennessee

Fords are made in Mexico.

Jesus Christ.

[Fading Captain]

19. No shit

Thanks in large part to free trade policies supported by Democratic politicians.

[BlooInBloo]

20. Honda also manufactures in Ohio, I believe.

[proud2BlibKansan]

38. Kinda blows that 'don't buy Hondas cause they're foreign cars' idea

right out of the water.

When do we start boycotting Ford?

[RubyDuby in GA]

45. My 10 year old Honda Accord with 250K+ miles on it was made in Alabama

And until GM makes a car that can compare to my beloved Honda, I will stick with the Honda.

I stand with the workers. It's not their fault that the GM engineers turn out crappy products that can't compete with foreign cars. They just build what comes down the line...until the jobs get outsourced to Mexico (Ford).

[mark414]

24. how DARE those selfish UAW workers strike

how dare they stand up for their rights? don't they know they're costing their rich boss a lot of money that he already has? don't they know they management knows what's best for them and that they should just sit down and shut up? the only words that should be coming out of the UAW's mouth are "how high?"

i don't need no stinking unions! i don't need my right to strike! and i don't want these selfish workers ruining my day when i have to read about them in the morning paper before I head off to an 8 hour shift of my 40 hour work week with my guaranteed minimum wage etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.

:sarcasm:

anyone who doesn't support a union's right to strike might as well vote Republican, and there's no sarcasm in that

HONK as loud as I can from a former UFCW Local 1473. i may not be union anymore, but i'm always with them.

[nadinbrzezinski]

27. Solidarity with the Union

this is a Union household and proud of it!

(even though technically I am management... but I treat my freelancers fairly)

[intheflow]

28. Pro-Labor = Pro-Pursuit of Happiness.

Hell, yeah, I'm honkin'!

[oscarmitre]

35. How about a Labor Party?

I mean a real Labor party, one that looks to the ordinary working person and not the elites or the big end of town?

Not possible I suppose.

[rucky]

37. Honk! n/t

[Coexist]

39. HONK!!

[Marrah_G]

40. BEEP BEEP BEEP

[AuntPatsy]

42. Honking here, it is unfortunate that unions have gotten such a bad name when

it is an instrument used in aiding American workers getting better working conditions, better pay, it is amazing how far too many have shied away from its obvious benefits, I never have understood that...

[truebrit71]

46. HONK! HONK! HONK!!

Stick to your guns folks...