And perhaps a hint about why so much scorn is directed at the soi-disant “mainstream media.” In union elections yesterday, Boeing workers in South Carolina rejected union representation, and not by a small margin, either. Now, for me, I’d want to know what really happened, what were the actual issues and motivations. This apparently is not to be had. Reading the New York Times, there’s barely a clue. One might infer from hints buried deep in the article that there was some resentment that the union had opposed their plant in the first place for the benefit of workers in the high-wage (and this higher union dues rake-off) area of Seattle, but that’s hard to divine.
Worse yet is the coverage at ABC, who attribute the loss to dumb hick Southerners.
But this most recent test of Southern acceptance of collective bargaining movements was an uphill battle for the union and its backers… Southern states for decades have recruited manufacturers by promising freedom from the influences of labor unions, which except for some textile mills have been historically rejected by workers as collective action culturally foreign to a South built around family farms, said Jeffrey Hirsch, a law professor who specializes in labor relations at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Translation: These rubes are just too dumb to know what’s best for them.
So what was really the thing which caused the union to be soundly rejected, which is only possible when the State declines to interfere with free transactions of labor and management? Well, I guess we’ll never know.
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19 responses to “Don’t Look For The Union Label”
Of tangential note, the other day I watched a documentary on Netflix called “The Witness” and was surprised* to find that my understanding of the Kitty Genovese story was wrong; that the purveyors of the ‘apathetic witness’ narrative had lied / were themselves apathetic about finding the truth / were duped by The New York Times, which fabricated the story. Plus ça change … qu’est-ce qui a changé ?
I’m glad the mass media is graduating toward its comeuppance.
*(it’s surprising that I was surprised, in retrospect)
/puts The Witness in the queue.
Merci!
(((Old Man))), I was told to shoot you an e-mail in the event that I would submit a piece for contribution; alas, I don’t have your e-mail. Might I have your address?
I *think* there’s a contact us and submissions something something on the upper menu bar. That’s the most reliable way- I’m shitty with reading my email.
I missed those before – maybe I wasn’t logged in then? – anyway, thanks!
No, they’re new. Our crack team put them in last night.
I really have to get her to give up crack.
*Tebows toward SP*
What feels like a lifetime ago, I worked at a FedEx facility in the Mid-West. It was a great place to find part time work while going to school (or full time for that matter) for someone with minimal marketable skills who didn’t want to wear a name tag. The UPS facility that was relatively close was unionized and, one afternoon, I’d asked a shift supervisor why how FedEx hadn’t done the same. He told me that the owner had already to pledged to shut down and pack up if that particular conversation ever got started in any meaningful way.
The thing is, they kept the pay and benefits reasonably competetive-especially for the positions that required committment or longevity. In other words, they didn’t NEED a union to ensure wokers weren’t exploited. I suppose some could arugue that FedEx employees benefitted from the existence of the nearby UPS union, and those are probably the same people who can’t understand why anyone would rather not take part in a collective bargaining organization. I saw it as the market working.
P.s. To the Internet Wizards In Charge: I had a larger point but a third of my comment just got eaten and I can’t be bothered to type it again. Maybe it shows up and none of this makes sense when I post.
“To the Internet Wizards In Charge”
They’re on break.
(just a little humor, ha ha)
they didn’t NEED a union to ensure wokers weren’t exploited
If you can’t exploit the woke snowflakes, why have them around at all?
The one time I had to join a union I was in high school. I unpacked clothing for a local chain retail store. The work consisted of moving boxes, opening boxes, and hanging clothes on racks that were then shipped out.
The pay was only a dollar or so above minimum wage, but once you took out the union dues, I was making waaay less. And since I driving there in a beat up 1968 Firebird (400 with a 2-speed powerglide -yikes!), most of my take home consisted of filling up the tank so I could get back and forth to the job.
At least there were some cute girls working there – and a drug dealer who always had excellent weed.
Was the cuteness of the girls apparently before you smoked the weed, or only afterward?
Yes. Weed is a multiplier for me, so they only got cuter. Of course it was the 80s. I’m not sure if the big hair and jeans that go up to the armpits would do it for me anymore.
“Weed is a force multiplier”
/USA C&GSOC
Girl, gimmie that 80’s butt!
Hypnotic…and at least now we know you’re the *real* HM.
The ol’ Slip-n-Slide?
Looking at my last paycheck…. about 60$ went to the union in January. I was paid minimum wage, not even doing 40hr a week (long story short, playing around with a trade I had no skill at all, was interesting.) Still got fired. In my experience, I was always paid more and better treated when I wasn’t unionized than when I was.