36 Reasons to Thank Unions
bigcorporationusa.blogspot.comEmployers and Corporations did not feel generous and decide to give you two days off every week to have a social/personal life. (We now call them weekends). Corporations did not just feel like being nice one day and give their employees paid vacations. CEOs didn’t get together in a board room and say “Let’s give our employees more rights at work” or “Maybe there should be laws to limit our power over an employee”.
Virtually ALL the benefits you have at work, whether you work in the public or private sector, all of the benefits and rights you enjoy everyday are there because unions fought hard and long for them against big business who did everything they could to prevent giving you your rights. Many union leaders and members even lost their lives for things we take for granted today…Corporations use to work employees 80+ hours a week, offer no breaks, hire children, offer horrid, unsanitary work conditions, paid literally next to nothing, and even murder. Not murder with a pen like they do today, but actual murder. They basically did whatever they wanted.
This is what they were like before unions. Don’t take my word for it, look it up. (Links at bottom of page). If we rid the world of unions tomorrow, who is to say that they won’t go right back to the way they were merely 70 years ago? The GOP governor of Maine signed a bill to repeal child labor laws this year, maybe they are going back to their roots whether we have unions or not…Sources and Information:
- Weekends
- All Breaks at Work, including your Lunch Breaks
- Paid Vacation
- FMLA
- Sick Leave
- Social Security
- Minimum Wage
- Civil Rights Act/Title VII (Prohibits Employer Discrimination)
- 8-Hour Work Day
- Overtime Pay
- Child Labor Laws
- Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA)
- 40 Hour Work Week
- Worker’s Compensation (Worker’s Comp)
- Unemployment Insurance
- Pensions
- Workplace Safety Standards and Regulations
- Employer Health Care Insurance
- Collective Bargaining Rights for Employees
- Wrongful Termination Laws
- Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
- Whistleblower Protection Laws
- Employee Polygraph Protect Act (Prohibits Employer from using a lie detector test on an employee)
- Veteran’s Employment and Training Services (VETS)
- Compensation increases and Evaluations (Raises)
- Sexual Harassment Laws
- Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
- Holiday Pay
- Employer Dental, Life, and Vision Insurance
- Privacy Rights
- Pregnancy and Parental Leave
- Military Leave
- The Right to Strike
- Public Education for Children
- Equal Pay Acts of 1963 & 2011 (Requires employers pay men and women equally for the same amount of work)
- Laws Ending Sweatshops in the United States
AFSCME
Dept of Labor
Timeline
Wikipedia.org
Child Labor Public Education Project
AFL-CIO
SEIU
Remember everything organized labor, unions and collective bargaining have done for you the next time you hear someone pretending that unionization is a drain on the American economy: I’m sure we’d have a higher GDP if corporations were allowed to work their employees 80+ hours per week.
“The beginning was absolutely the worst because to the hard-line owners of that day unionism was treason, there's no other way to describe it. ... For very wealthy people who owned franchises, baseball was a respite of the tensions and problems elsewhere; here you could control everything: no unions, a reserve clause that made the players prisoners, no grievance procedure, no salary arbitration, no nothing.”
—Marvin Miller, the economist and labor leader who turned the Major League Players Association into one of the most effective labor unions in the country, in an interview with Chris Hayes from his book, Twilight of the Elites. Miller died Tuesday at the age of 95.
Child Labor NOW!!!
huffingtonpost.comNewt Gingrich is a douche.
I taught Charlie to raise his little fist in solidarity
He was looking at pictures of Walmart workers with me and asking questions. I’m indoctrinating my nephew — one opportunity at a time.
Why? Because I’m the best aunt ever:
Charlie: “What’s that?”
Me: ”People getting ready to strike.”
Charlie: “What’s that?”
Me: ”What happens when bosses are mean.”
Charlie: “Oh.”
Me: “Should bosses be mean?”
Charlie: “No!”
Me: “Do you stand in solidarity?”
Charlie: “Okay!”
Me: *raises fist* “Solidarity!”
Charlie: *raises first* “Solly-dary!”
Me: “Do you stand with workers?”
Charlie: “Okay!”
My work here is done. For now.
“TEAMSTERS REACH TENTATIVE AGREEMENT WITH COSTCO Three-Year Contract Would Provide Improved Wages, Job Protection to Thousands (WASHINGTON) – The Teamsters Union has reached a tentative agreement with Costco that keeps the warehouse club’s workers as among the highest-paid retail employees in the country with the best benefits. The tentative three-year agreement provides for an improved grievance procedure, wage increases for each year of the contract and strengthened seniority language. The ballots for the tentative agreement will be counted on Feb. 19. The current three-year contract expires on Jan. 31. “Costco employees know that being a Teamster means strong representation at the bargaining table, and this new agreement is the proof,” said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. “Costco is a good example of a thriving company that is powered by a strong union workforce, which shares in its success.” The Teamsters Union represents almost 15,000 Costco workers at 55 locations in California, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia. Costco’s average pay is more than 42 percent higher than its rival Sam’s Club, which is owned by Walmart. Costco’s unionized workforce, with strong wages and benefits, results in low turnover and higher-skilled employees at the company. “Costco Teamsters work hard to keep this retailer strong,” said Rome Aloise, Teamsters International Vice President who led negotiations with the company. “We are proud of the bargaining committee’s work in achieving this strong tentative agreement with Costco.” Teamsters at Costco are part of the Teamsters Warehouse division which, represents more than 250,000 employees at retailers and in warehouse facilities across the country.”
—International Brotherhood of TeamstersHyatt Apologizes for Using Heat Lamps on Striking Employees
chicagotribune.comHyatt apologized Friday morning for an incident in which heat lamps were turned on above workers on strike at the Park Hyatt Chicago hotel Thursday, saying a manager is responsible for the controversial move.
Hotel workers on strike were taken by surprise Thursday morning when 10 heat lamps hanging above their picket line flipped on and stayed on for what they claim was nearly an hour.
“Hyatt regrets the events that occurred at the Park Hyatt Chicago and apologizes to everyone who was impacted by them,” the company said in a statement. “After looking into the incident, we have determined that the decision to turn on the heaters was made by a manager. It was clearly a decision that was not in line with our values or with our corporate policies. We have a long history of respecting our associates’ rights and caring about their well-being and this unacceptable behavior is certainly is not illustrative of that history. We can assure you that this was an isolated incident and such a thing will not happen again.
“We appreciate the effort made by most of the associates of the hotel to cross the picket line and report to work and look forward to settling our differences with Unite Here, and securing a contract for our associates at the bargaining table.”
I can’t help but note that as sorry as they are, the manager was not fired.
“Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) have agreed to have striking workers return to work despite not having a new contract.”
—Striking Verizon Workers To Return To Work
West Chester, PA Patch
This does not look good for labor. If there is someone friendly to labor but not in a union could explain how this strengthens the hand of the CWA or IBEW, I’m all eyes.
Wanna help out with actions in support of #WalmartStrikers in Laramie?
Email me at meglanker@gmail.com, tweet me @meglanker or drop me a line in the ask box!
We’re rolling tomorrow.
