Unions, Strikes, and My Entry Into Local Politics

[EdwardBaiamonte]

of course if true you'd all find better jobs and you're customers would find better suppliers.

My brothers abd sisters and I get very well compensated for dealing with our employer's crap. I've looked and I can't find a non-union job with comparable salary and benefits packages. As for our customers, they have the Stste PUC and AG to protect them.

got it, so the free market does not work and everybody is miserable thanks to liberal govt manipulation all over the place.

 

[Jarlaxle]

So anyway, I would really like to hear input on the subject of unions for public employees, legal prohibitions on strikes, and particularly from the liberals on the board regarding the balance between union solidarity versus concern for the poor, which they so often claim to champion. The assumption with unions is usually that THEY are the helpless, downtrodden victims, but what happens when they're the fatcat bullies harming those even more downtrodden? Singing a couple of rousing choruses of "Look for the union label" doesn't really cut it in these situations.

Whatever the opinions - and I really do want to hear them all - I would hope that both sides of the aisle can appreciate the action of first saying, "Something should be done", and then taking the responsibility to actually do it.

Public employees should not be permitted to unionize. No exceptions. The bus drivers should be shit-canned, blacklisted for life, and the union should be eradicated. The union leadership should be criminally charged with terrorism under the PATRIOT act.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Unions today are run by socialists. Greedy socialists. Ask a striking employee at Boeing or a teacher what they make and what the bennies are and they won't tell you. Unless you are doing very well, it's more than you rake in and they know it.

Teachers do strike the same way here. If they are going to do it, they do it after summer vacation and a week before school. That creates massive problems for people with work and child care, etc. and they know it, it's why they do it.

It's also illegal but that doesn't mean shit because Democrat thugs run the state. We have turned into a government ruling class and unions are mostly public sector these days since they put private sector businesses under.

Good luck though, hope it does some good, there must be a lot of peed off people there (sounds a lot like something in Italy or Greece).

Let me put it this way. The strike ended Wednesday night. On Thursday, when the regular drivers went back to work, at least three buses I know of had people board and then shit all over the floor at the back of the bus. They had to call out replacements to finish the route while the driver had to try to clean up the mess.

The sane people are pissed, too. The Teamsters made no friends here.

The people that shit on the bus should be locked up forever as terrorists...LWOP in solitary confinement, never seeing another human being again..

 

[Jarlaxle]

the Company had proven to have no concern for us or our customers.

of course if true you'd all find better jobs and you're customers would find better suppliers.

He's a whining pussy with no work ethic...the only reason he hasn't been shit-canned for being a lazy fuck is the union.

 

[Manonthestreet]

They do realize their job will disappear with a self driving bus....they have what maybe decade to formulate some plan to keep their job and pissing off the public wont help.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

They do realize their job will disappear with a self driving bus....they have what maybe decade to formulate some plan to keep their job and pissing off the public wont help.

you don't want to keep your job when it it is becoming increasingly obsolete, you want to get a different job.

Do you understand?

 

[Manonthestreet]

When your fity or sixty...not really,,,,,most the time a new job starts at lower wage.......not real helpful closing in on retirement........

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

When your fity or sixty...not really,,,,,most the time a new job starts at lower wage.......not real helpful closing in on retirement........

dear a new job is very helpful compared to starving. Do you understand?

 

[Cecilie1200]

There is no RIGHT to public transportation. At least not in any State Constitution or City Charter I've ever seen. So youve got an uphill battle in front of you.

Who said anything about "rights"? Christ, what IS it with you people?

On every level of government, it has been accepted practice to bar certain jobs and industries from strikes in the interests of overall public good. As I believe I pointed out in my OP, this is the case with air traffic controllers, despite there being no "right" to air travel. It is the case with dockworkers, despite there being no "right" to having goods unloaded from ships. It is the case with postal workers, despite there being no "right" to daily mail delivery.

All of these jobs still have strong union representation, they still bargain collectively through their unions, and they all have excellent pay and benefits through those contracts. What they DON'T have is the legal ability to disrupt the orderly functioning of the the community in order to strongarm people out of more money.

 

[Cecilie1200]

the whole concept of using govt connections to demand higher wages that other workers must pay for through higher prices is anti-America and should be made illegal again.

What government connections are you talking about. This is an issue between the workers and their employer.

Nobody is forced to use the busses. If you want a service you have to pay for it.

Higher pay and the protections of a Union Contract are sometimes the only way to get people to work for a lousy employer. I can tell you that from experience.

Hon, their employer - indirectly, at least - IS the government. The city of Tucson owns the transit system, and the federal government subsidizes public transit. So we DO pay for it via both taxes AND bus fares.

Furthermore, they have excellent pay and benefits that even direct government employees don't have. So much so, in fact, that the Tucson Police Department is now protesting the city's expenditure of extra funds to cave in to their demands.

All of this was addressed in the OP, excepting the settlement and subsequent TPD protest. Did you read it before you started shooting off your mouth?

 

[Cecilie1200]

What government connections are you talking about. This is an issue between the workers and their employer.

sorry, but liberals passed laws to violently force businesses to recognize and bargain with unions. Otherwise, a business would just hire new workers when the old ones went on strike. Make sense now??

The leftists union-lovers have us so boxed in with laws and regulations now that the people of the city are virtually helpless to protect themselves against strikes and transport stoppages every single time the contract comes up for renegotiation. In fact, the Teamsters have already proudly announced that they fully intend to re-enact this travesty two years from now, when the current contract expires.

Funny thing is, these assholes actually wonder why some of their more unhinged passengers assault them. Go figure.

 

[Rotagilla]

There is no RIGHT to public transportation. At least not in any State Constitution or City Charter I've ever seen. So youve got an uphill battle in front of you.

there is also no "right" to be saved by an EMT in a medical emergency...it's not mentioned anywhere in any state constitution or charter...nevertheless it's a necessary service...

 

[Cecilie1200]

sorry, but liberals passed laws to violently force businesses to recognize and bargain with unions. Otherwise, a business would just hire new workers when the old ones went on strike. Make sense now??

No intelligent individual is gonna try to go throigh a picket line to take a represented job. At keast nobody who doesn't have suicidal tendencies.

Funnily enough, Sun Tran hired quite a few workers during this time, in order to provide as much limited strike service as possible. There were also some of the regular drivers who crossed the picket line and came back to work, because THEY couldn't afford to remain on strike for two months, and because they could see the damage being done to the community.

 

[Rotagilla]

sorry, but liberals passed laws to violently force businesses to recognize and bargain with unions. Otherwise, a business would just hire new workers when the old ones went on strike. Make sense now??

No intelligent individual is gonna try to go throigh a picket line to take a represented job. At keast nobody who doesn't have suicidal tendencies.

another reason unions aren't good for anyone..... except the members.....if they don't get their way they threaten violence on people who WANT to work...

 

[Jarlaxle]

There is no RIGHT to public transportation. At least not in any State Constitution or City Charter I've ever seen. So youve got an uphill battle in front of you.

Who said anything about "rights"? Christ, what IS it with you people?

He is batshit insane and should probably be locked up.

On every level of government, it has been accepted practice to bar certain jobs and industries from strikes in the interests of overall public good. As I believe I pointed out in my OP, this is the case with air traffic controllers, despite there being no "right" to air travel. It is the case with dockworkers, despite there being no "right" to having goods unloaded from ships. It is the case with postal workers, despite there being no "right" to daily mail delivery.

All of these jobs still have strong union representation, they still bargain collectively through their unions, and they all have excellent pay and benefits through those contracts. What they DON'T have is the legal ability to disrupt the orderly functioning of the the community in order to strongarm people out of more money.

Actually, I do not think that dockworkers are barred from striking (though one could make a pretty good case that it would qualify as terrorism under the PATRIOT act).

 

[Jarlaxle]

sorry, but liberals passed laws to violently force businesses to recognize and bargain with unions. Otherwise, a business would just hire new workers when the old ones went on strike. Make sense now??

No intelligent individual is gonna try to go throigh a picket line to take a represented job. At keast nobody who doesn't have suicidal tendencies.

another reason unions aren't good for anyone..... except the members.....if they don't get their way they threaten violence on people who WANT to work...

Killing a few (thousand) of the thugs should stop that quickly enough.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

sorry, but liberals passed laws to violently force businesses to recognize and bargain with unions. Otherwise, a business would just hire new workers when the old ones went on strike. Make sense now??

No intelligent individual is gonna try to go throigh a picket line to take a represented job. At keast nobody who doesn't have suicidal tendencies.

another reason unions aren't good for anyone..... except the members.....if they don't get their way they threaten violence on people who WANT to work...

Killing a few (thousand) of the thugs should stop that quickly enough.

well, we could just make all violent union activity illegal again and unions would disappear over night with no killing.

 

[Rotagilla]

sorry, but liberals passed laws to violently force businesses to recognize and bargain with unions. Otherwise, a business would just hire new workers when the old ones went on strike. Make sense now??

No intelligent individual is gonna try to go throigh a picket line to take a represented job. At keast nobody who doesn't have suicidal tendencies.

another reason unions aren't good for anyone..... except the members.....if they don't get their way they threaten violence on people who WANT to work...

Killing a few (thousand) of the thugs should stop that quickly enough.

well it WOULD work ....but that's not the best choice...as unemployment continues to increase and with obamas illegals keeping wages down, eventually the demand and competition for jobs will overwhelm the unions....people will work for a fair wage ....and a few thousand union thugs would get swept away in the flood...

 

[Rotagilla]

There is no RIGHT to public transportation. At least not in any State Constitution or City Charter I've ever seen. So youve got an uphill battle in front of you.

Who said anything about "rights"? Christ, what IS it with you people?

He is batshit insane and should probably be locked up.

On every level of government, it has been accepted practice to bar certain jobs and industries from strikes in the interests of overall public good. As I believe I pointed out in my OP, this is the case with air traffic controllers, despite there being no "right" to air travel. It is the case with dockworkers, despite there being no "right" to having goods unloaded from ships. It is the case with postal workers, despite there being no "right" to daily mail delivery.

All of these jobs still have strong union representation, they still bargain collectively through their unions, and they all have excellent pay and benefits through those contracts. What they DON'T have is the legal ability to disrupt the orderly functioning of the the community in order to strongarm people out of more money.

Actually, I do not think that dockworkers are barred from striking (though one could make a pretty good case that it would qualify as terrorism under the PATRIOT act).

seriously think the doj will do anything to unions?...unions are obamas core supporters

 

[Anathema]

there is also no "right" to be saved by an EMT in a medical emergency...it's not mentioned anywhere in any state constitution or charter... nevertheless it's a necessary service...

Necessary to some people. Not for others.

In my town EMS is a subscription service. $50 a year gets you 1 free transport and a 50% reduction on the next 2 rides. It also gets you 50% off the "additional services" on the first ride. No subscription, you oay full boat every time you call.

I choose not to subscribe. If I'm in the back of an ambulance I'm likely already dead, or about to be, so it's really not an issue to me. My wife doesn't subscribe because her Medicare covers the costs.