Who Says We Don't Need Unions? - By Jim Hightower

[WillyT]

<snip>

The National Transportation Safety Board has issued its official review of "The Miracle On The Hudson"-- the US Airways flight in New York that struck a flock of geese, lost all power, and was forced to land in the Hudson River last January.

NTSB's analysis confirms what we learned from news reports at the time--Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and the rest of the crew on Flight 1549 performed marvelously in the face of looming disaster, saving the lives of 150 horrified passengers by landing the jet intact and quickly evacuating it. Their performance has been hailed with such phrases as "stoic," "nearly flawless," and "heroic."

But another laudatory term should be applied to them as well: "union." Practically everyone involved in averting this disaster was a union-trained professional. Captain Sully himself is not only a member of the Airline Pilots Association, but also served on its national governing committee and is APA's former safety chairman. Indeed, he and his union have had to fight airline chieftains who've tried to cut back on the safety- training programs.

Likewise, the flight attendants who so expeditiously moved everyone off the plane are members of their union, the Association of Flight Attendants, which also stresses safety. The ferry crews that zipped right up to the wings to rescue passengers--they're in the Seafarers International Union, which gives them the safety courses that enabled them to respond as they did. The cops, firefighters, and air -traffic controllers also performed marvelously--all are union-trained.

<snip>

Link: http://www.hightowerlowdown.org/node/2049

:bounce:

:toast:

[tinkerbell41]

1. Yes!!!!!!

We are the most highly trained. That's how we EARN our higher wages. For those against them that say we need to EARN our money. 5 yrs of school for my trade.

[bemildred]

2. We need unions one heck of a lot more than we need corporations or CEOs or any of that lot. nt

[paulsby]

9. you are kidding right? nt

[flying rabbit]

16. you are kidding right? nt

[yodoobo]

3. The geese were the only non-union participants in the whole thing!

And we know whos fault the accident was!

[Jakes Progress]

4. The neocon attack on unions

through their media dogs has reached far, even touching many here on DU.

[WillyT]

6. Yep... Part Of The Post-PATCO Brainwashing I Presume...

:shrug:

[sarcasmo]

5. Kick.

[senseandsensibility]

7. kick

and r

[paulsby]

8. i love my union.

of course many of the cop bashers here don't think cops deserve the same labor rights/protection as other working class heroes, but i certainly do.

unions are a wonderful counterpoint to management. they allow BOTH sides to have a voice at the table. neither is always right or always wrong, but without the adversarial system, one side has too much power.

[leftstreet]

10. Pfft. A cop union is essentially an apparatus of the state

Get real.

[paulsby]

11. rubbish

we are labor. just like autoworkers, or firefighters, or steel workers.

our union represents OUR interests. they protect us against management.

management IS an apparatus of the state. they answer ultimately to the chief, the mayor, the voters, etc.

our union answers to US.

but again, you are a perfect example. you are all for unions and labor rights. except for cops. then, you sound like some rightwing anti-labor person. exactly the same.

we do a job where by the nature of our calling, we respond to high risk (physically and emotionally) situations, situations where people WILL get pissed off (most people don't enjoy being arrested or having force used against them, no matter how justified...) and want our hides (and jobs), situations where management would find it MUCH easier to fire somebody, to find a scapegoat, etc.

our union, our collective bargaining, protects our rights - our rights to due process, our right to redress grievances, etc.

i was looking over our minutes for the last union meeting and topic after topic was addressing oUR needs, legislative needs, pay needs, benefits needs, job security needs, etc.

recently, our union won a HUGE lawsuit AGAINST our employer (which IS an agent of the state) entitling all of us to hefty backpay due to overtime violations. the "state" was not too happy about doling out hundreds of thousands of dollars.

lol "an apparatus of the state". what complete crap.

[Skittles]

12. worthy of its own thread

[1]

13. we only need the organized unions, those that pay dues. we like the dues...

all other workers are substandard, right?

we don't care if they get fucked.

those other unorganized workers? we got ours. fuck them.

[WillyT]

15. Geez... Then Maybe The Unorganized Workers Should... Ya Know...

GET ORGANIZED!

:wtf:

It's not that you are substandard, it's that you have to organize to get bargaining power.

:shrug:

[bvar22]

17. Unorganized Labor has directly benefitted from Organized LABOR.

Higher Wages
40 hour work week
workplace safety
overtime
child labor laws
Unemployment Insurance
Vacation
...and MANY other benefits

only....YOU got it all for FREE.

[Jakes Progress]

18. Who is it that sits back

and lives off of the work of others? Aren't they the same ones who complain when the benefits that they didn't fight for get threatened, but refuse to stand up for anyone else?

Yeah. We call them republican.

If there were a Democratic Union, we wouldn't have the crap going on in congress we have right now. Our party could use a little unity.

[Heidi]

14. Recommended.

:kick:

[tomreedtoon]

19. Who says we don't need unions? Every employer.

They are suspicious. I'm afraid that if I take the card I got as a union member into any future employers, it will fall out and they'll garrotte me on the spot.

Being a member of a union doesn't matter if employers insist that nobody who is a union member can be employed by them. End of discussion.