Without a union

[KT2000]

the workers have no recourse.

During a visit to the local Home Depot I went through the checkout. I could hardly breathe because stacked next to the checker were about 30 bags of weed & feed. The chemicals in those products should not be inhaled every day for hours on end and some of them have chemicals that are especially harsh on women's health.

I suggested to the woman that she request that the bags be moved away from her work station because it was very unhealthy for her. She said she worked for a huge corporation and there was nothing she could do about it.

The perfect employee. She has no union rep to help with her dangerous work situation and has to take whatever serves the corporate bottom line best. That or quit or be fired.

I went on my way, but have since decided to complain when I see such things. Employees may have been beaten down in order to keep their jobs, but maybe the consumer has a bit of clout left.

[Omaha Steve]

1. The honest truth

K&R!

[white_wolf]

2. I don't know about Home Depot

but I've heard Lowes is actually a decent place to work. I'm not sure if it is true though, just thought I'd point it in case it is true it might give a better option if you need home supplies. And good job standing up for her, most employees are stuck and can't do anything but perhaps customers can.

[liberal N proud]

5. Good places to work are only good for one of two reasons

They either have a union in place fighting for the employee or the company is giving benefits similar to union shops to keep the Union out.

They don't give all those benefits, wages and working hours because they like the people or how the people perform.

[KT2000]

6. Thanks

We don't have one but I try to shop at the local farm co-op when they have what I need. Had a similar experience there where weed & feed fumes were blasting a teenage checker. The smell was bothering her so I suggested she tell the manager to move the stack.

On my way home I realized she was just a kid and probably too scared to say something like that to her boss so I called him when I got home. As it turned out - she did talk to him and he moved the stack!!
I never would have had the nerve to do that when I was 17 - kudos to her!! That girl is going places.

[lonestarnot]

3. Tell'n it straight right there.

Thank you. K & R!

[jody]

4. US membership is about 12% so union members can thank the 88% of workers who allow unions to enjoy

the benefits they claim.

Note over 92% of private sector workers are nonunion.

[Arctic Dave]

7. Sarcasm?

[jody]

8. No just facts unless you can point out my error which I would then acknowledge. nt

[Arctic Dave]

22. What benefits are you referring to?

[white_wolf]

9. Wow such a Right Wing talking point.

For the record non union workers need to think Union members for the benefits they have such as the 8 hour work day and 40 hour work week or health benefits. Seriously why are their so many RWers around here lately?

[jody]

10. What fact do you wish to ignore? n

[upi402]

11. Foolish. Unions set the high water mark that non-union workers benefit from

Employers must compete with higher paying employers for good workers. They have to give "competitive" benefits packages to compete with union employers. They LOVE high unemployment so they have a pool of desperate and exploitable workers to draw from. And I suspect you do too, don't you?

[white_wolf]

12. Seriously

the guy sounds like he just got done listening to Rush. I have to ask are you even a Democrat because you don't sound like one? At best your likely a Blue Dog, so I don't know why your on a Liberal forum to be honest.

[jody]

14. "Employers must compete with higher paying employers for good workers." Did that work in Detroit

with auto workers?

What about foreign auto manufacturers who have non-union plants in several states?

[upi402]

16. Doubly foolish. Trade laws promulgated by Clinton are to blame

Clinton did more harm to workers than Reagan. There's a reason Bush 41 is his buddy.

Japan's head of MITI said, "We Japanese treat our pets better than American companies treat their workers."
I could go on and on, ad naseum. But you have drunk the KoolAid, I fear.

[jody]

31. Obviously you oppose Clinton's trade laws so do you support protectionism to allow US factories

to compete against foreign products?

[KT2000]

17. I have worked

in non-union businesses. When the unions approached workers, the owners of the businesses made improvements to keep the unions away. The power of unions extends beyond actual membership. The fear of even having workers unionize can cause the employer to improve working conditions abd listen to the workers. It is about workers having power and the vehicle for that power is unions and sometimes the threat of unions.
Sorry - but the nonunion employees in this country enjoy benefits only because unions have fought for them.

Then again - there is the story about the Irish working mines in Pennsylvania. The owner of the mine just decided not to pay them for their work. The Irish workers shot the bosses. That is the free market in action.

[jody]

19. Understand but non-union voters elect their representatives who pass laws protecting

the 8% of union members in the private sector.

Those 92% non-union members in the private sector could just as easily elect a government that would remove those protective laws.

That is the simple point I made.

[Arctic Dave]

23. Your point fails miserably.

Not all 92% percent vote

Not all are union supporters.

Not 92% wish not to be union.

Benefits by all working people were not given, they were fought for.

[jody]

30. Nonetheless, the majority of voters are non-union and it's their representatives who pass laws

allowing unions to exercise privileges they enjoy under law.

[Omaha Steve]

20. Thank Raygun & co

Look what 30 years of Reaganomics has done to us all. Labor unions used to be 40%. PATCO ring a bell? Fairness doctrine ended by his puppet. Rush and company talk about union thugs how many times a day? Koch brothers & Coors and the full dirty 18 spending vast amounts for a less than truthful picture of unions has an effect.

It has lead some people to form an incorrect opinion or two.

[lonestarnot]

25. Big part of the fucking problem in the U.S. scabs! Just think what we could accomplish if majority

of workers were union.

[AlabamaLibrul]

26. Some of the 88% sound a little bitter, that they can't organize their workforce. n/t

[handmade34]

13. we consumers

have massive power if we choose to use it collectively...

[jody]

15. Consumers do have massive power and use it collectively to buy cheap foreign goods. nt

[upi402]

18. ?

LOL
:hi:
Gee, are we stuck on stupid in America -the land of the free? Looks like we are huh?

[DCKit]

21. I stumbled into the detergent isle tonight, and lost my breath.

Last time I was in to Home Depot with a pesticide spill, it cost me four days of work, due to migraines.

It's all OUR fault.

[KT2000]

24. That is serious

one of the reasons I am so aware of this is because I went into a Costco that had pesticide product spilled all over the floor. Got dizzy in the store and that night I started having arrythmias that have never gone away after about 5 years. When I looked it up, certain pesticides are known to cause this.

I also caught them stacking returned produce, supplements and kids clothes on top of bags of weed & feed in a cart of stuff to be put back on the shelf. This time I grabbed the manager.
Actually, I wrote the CEO of Costco asking that they keep those products ourside. He said no - not practical.

[lonestarnot]

27. Detergent isle in the home depot? Why did you go back there after the first incident?

[mrmpa]

28. I complain when I see something I don't like at stores, it

probably goes in one ear and out the other, but I feel better.

I can be bad, I once conversed for over 5 minutes with a Walmart (yes I was Walmart, it was an errand for a neighbor) cashier. She looked very tired, I learned that she had worked for over 8 hours with no break. I told her that was against the law & she should be unionized. She got this scared look in her eye (probably thought I was a corporate spy) & told me unions were bad. I said "your employer is a criminal."

This summer I was at a local grocery store (non union) a clerk was pushing shopping carts. He was limping, when asked if he was ok, he said he had twisted his knee. He had reported it to his manager, and that was the end of it. I told him that he needs to get a copy of the report and a list of doctors he can see. He was also told by me to take a trusted co-worker with him when he spoke to management. Then I told him to hightail it to the doctor.

God, I wish I were a union organizer.

[KT2000]

29. Yes! That's terrific

We should all do more of that.
I know what you mean about the "scared look" because she probably feared being overheard if she said anything else.
Anyway - as consumers we can't just let pass these things by.

Good for you! :applause: