Posted on 11/21/2002 7:46:32 AM PST by logic101.net
LET DOWN BY THE AFL/CIO AGAIN MARK A SITY 11/21/02
I was first let down by the AFL/CIO as a member of their union. It cost me a very good paying job cutting meat for Kohls Foods (retail grocery chain). The union pushed for too much in a soft labor market. The company caved in, but in order to keep its profit margin (and its livelihood) it found it necessary to eliminate its low seniority, high pay people (i.e. me). This was many years ago, and I have since moved on to a different career. The glut of meat cutters on the market made us a dime a dozen.
Today I was let down by them again. On my way home from work this morning I heard that they would be protesting Wall Mart stores today. Well, I heard this while I was about 15 minutes from home, and about 10 minutes from the brand new Wall Mart near our house. I didn't need anything there, having just been there yesterday morning. But I was looking forward to going through a wet picket line of paid protesters. I was planning to let them know that they enticed me to stop in. I'd also planed on letting the employees know that the protest was the only reason I stopped. But alas, the cowards didn't show up in the rain (which has now turned to snow).
As anyone who has gone through my web site knows, I'm not rabidly anti-union. I greatly appreciate much of what unions have done for us. Were it not for the treat of unions I would not be making the wages I am now. Were it not for unions there wouldn't be a thriving middle class. Were it not for unions, a worker's life would be "nasty, brutish and short". I strongly support any group of worker's right to unionize.
However, as was the case with Cub Foods in Milwaukee a number of years ago, and is the case now with Wall Mart the worker's don't want a union. The protest is being done by "professional picketers" hired by the union. This is being done in an attempt to force a union on both management and labor. Retail employees that want to work under a union have that option; much of the retail industry here is unionized. Those that choose to work at Wall Mart have decided they wanted to work there; knowing full well there is no union. Many chose Wall Mart BECAUSE there was no union. With my current company, the fact that it was non-union was a selling point for me. So was the Teamster protest against them not long before I started there. Just as with Wall Mart and Cub Foods (by the way, Cub foods decided Milwaukee wasn't a good environment for them and left; partly because of the protests - these people lost their jobs because the union wouldn't let them keep them without their "protection") our company didn't want a union. Yet our competitors were protesting our operation because we weren't in their union! Yes, our competitors, along with some paid protesters! There was not one person from our company marching with the protesters.
The AFL/CIO - Wall Mart situation has been a sore spot for me for a long time. The union sees a huge chunk of cash they are just drooling to get a piece of; but it's just out of reach. There is a bill board off of I-94 in Kenosha County that for years has had a "don't shop Wall Mart" message, sponsored by the union. Should they really be trying to eliminate people's jobs, and tell me where to shop when those people with those jobs they are trying to "protect" (i.e. control) don't want them involved?
If there was a protest by Wall Mart employees to form a union; I'd support that. I won't cross picket lines of employees trying to organize. But picket lines made up of competitors and paid protesters that are an attempt to force a union on an unreceptive work force? I'll go out of my way to cross those! Too bad the cowards were afraid of a little bit of freezing rain! Although, it would be much more fun to cross one on a weekend when I'm not in uniform; I'd be free to get in their faces then!
MARK A SITY http://www.logic101.net/
PS. If I mis-spelled Wall Mart, please forgive me. They are not in the phone book in Milwaukee yet, nor are they in my spell check.
This happened to me in 1957 when the lcal auto dealers signed with the Teamsters and I was laid off to cover the cost of the package. I was from a long time democrat family and had just gotten married. I have voted a straight Republican ticket ever since.
When you are face to face with paid thugs, you
don't spend a lot of time lolly-gagging around
the facade.
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