Friday, January 20, 2012
We've come a long way since "Look for the Union Label." Unfortunately, in the wrong direction.
When I first viewed this commercial, I actually thought it was a put-on. Maybe a Saturday Night Live skit, or an Onion Parody.
By the time it was (mercifully) over, I had come to the realization that the people who put together this awful, sleazy, manipulative, and downright Un-American plate of steaming tripe are one hundred percent serious in their "Unions are Evil" message.
It seems that we are supposed to believe that Unions are the reason why even working people are suffering these days. You see, workers are forced to join these associations (probably through intimidation- harassing phone calls, cold shoulders from fellow employees, a brick through the window, etc.) which suck money out of their already-meagre paycheck. To what end? Why, to make Hot Shot Corrupt Union Bosses richer, of course. Isn't that just like a Union-interfering with the God-endorsed right of workers to negotiate their own wages and working hours and safety standards on a level playing field with their employers. Insisting on decent wages, health care coverage, non-draconian hours, sick days, paternity leave, fire escapes and all of those luxuries which have made it Impossible For The Most Productive to Create Jobs In This Country. Damn them.
If only these vicious Unions, and their pot-bellied, cigar-chomping, suspender-wearing bosses (did I miss any cliches? Oh yes, limousine-riding! Sorry!) would just get out of the way, the Successful Amongst Us would be free to wipe unemployment off the map. They'd go right back to providing those awesome 60 hour work weeks in factories spewing lovely black ooze into the air and turning our rivers a gorgeous shade of gray. And believe you me, they can't WAIT to hand our children all the work they want, too!
Oh, and did I mention we'd save money as well? Because no more unions doesn't just mean no more sexual harassment laws, no more job security, no more worker's comp and no more weekends with the family. It also means no more Union Dues, which means no more fat, corrupt Union Bosses! Yay!
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You know what I like about my union? That I don't work for slave wages. That I might be able to make enough to put my kids through college and buy a house. That I have health insurance. That my boss can't fire me on the spot for no reason. That I don't have to work in conditions that might cause me to be killed or maimed...
ReplyDeleteI'm ashamed of what this country has become.
ReplyDeleteYou guys clearly suffer from Class Envy and don't appreciate the Most Productive who are just trying to Create Jobs*
ReplyDelete*in Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc....
http://www.hotelworkersrising.org/update.php?city_id=358 -- HERE'S why workers need unions -- so fuckers in suits can't make you do more work for less money, threaten to fire you if you tell, and then collect huge salaries and bonuses for the "management expertise" it took to make the company more profitable.
ReplyDeleteThe real reason they hate unions is that they're a bunch of greedy shits who don't understand that they can't keep all of their money.
ReplyDelete"You guys clearly suffer from Class Envy and don't appreciate the Most Productive who are just trying to Create Jobs*
ReplyDelete*in Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc...."
Really? Pakistan's per capita GDP (the average produced by each person) is 2,400 US dollars. that is only $300 more than Bangladesh, the globally recognized POOREST COUNTRY ON EARTH! Indonesia produces only $3,700 worth of goods per person. A low end motercycle is classy transportation. (I havve a friend who teaches over there. Believe me, it's no where good.)
The US citizen produces an average of $40,000 per year, higher than almost any other country. only tied by Norway. Since we have a greater population than Norway, it is documented fact that we ARE the most productive people in the world, not just political rhetoric.
Hey, Derek? When the media refers to "the most productive" they aren't talking about American workers. They are talking about America's wealthy class, which is allegedly being prevented from creating jobs by evil entities like Unions and Government Regulation. It's become axiomatic in the media to refer to people who have money as "most productive" and people who need money as "lazy" or "suffering from class envy." Try to keep up.
DeleteSo your rant was kind of a waste of time. Thanks for playing, though.
Um, no.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't supporting the media (although I would hope you are wrong there as well). I was knocking out your false, unfounded, off-the-wall arguement that the most productive workers are found in third-world psuedo-theocracies. So stop trying to change the subject and own up to the fact that you were wrong so many times on so many levels.
And on the subject of you being wrong, your implications that weekends off from work would disapear overnight without unions is wrong on two levels.
America before unions, say, circa 1830, was a very Chritian nation. People were expected to close shop on Sundays, for worship and rest. So there's at least one day off per week.
Thousands, if not millions, of NON-UNION workers take time off from work EVERY WEEKEND!
So, don't come and tell me that the media likes ice cream sundaes as refuting "evidece" for this "rant". And maybe work up enough integrity to admit when your wrong.
Oh, but wait! You're the BLOG ADMINISTRATOR! You're like the CHIEF DUFFLEPUD from Voyage of the Dawn Treader! And 1st Republic and Czaerena will jump up and down and say "you're right" and "coudn't have put it better if you'd tried" and the like. because you've got the big red cap, and you ust not be bothers by things like facts and demographics and relevance.
Ok, where to start?
DeleteAgain, I was NOT commenting on the productivity of the American Worker- the Right Wing consistently refers to the "Most Productive" as a code word for Business Owners (they also call them "job creators," which I also point out is a fallacy, unless they are talking about creating jobs in other nations.) Seriously, that straw man you built and insist on continuing to knock down is really rather sad.
Second, America was never a "very Christian nation," before 1830 or after. I really don't even know what you mean by that term- because factories were closed Sundays, that made us "Christian?" Factories were generally open six days a week, workers labored 12 hours a day or more in those factories those six days- but having a day off "for worship and rest" made us "Christian?" Seriously?
The rights currently held by unions- weekends off, decent wages,etc- are the result of decades of Union organizing, and exist today because businesses have figured out that it's cheaper to provide those benefits without union interference than to deny them, encouraging the growth of unions. Think that these benefits will continue to exist without Unions? You are seriously naive- Wal Mart, etc. fights to keep it's workers from even CONSIDERING Unions so that they can keep their wages and benefits low- workers are routinely canned for even SUGGESTING that unions be formed. Please, get literate on this subject!
I won't even try to decipher the end of your slobbering, clueless rant. Really, really sad. I'll just point out that this BLOG ADMINISTRATOR! keeps publishing your ravings, even as you continue to miss the point and butcher history while doing it.