Dockworkers Take May Day Off, Idling All West Coast Ports
Thousands of dockworkers at all 29 West Coast ports, including Los Angeles and Long Beach, took the day off work today in what their union called a protest of the war in Iraq, effectively shutting down operations at the busy complexes.
The action came two months before the contract expires between the dockworkers, represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, and the Pacific Maritime Assn., which represents port operators and large shippers, many of them foreign-owned.
“We are supporting the troops and telling politicians in Washington that it’s time to end the war in Iraq,” said union President Bob McEllrath.
McEllrath, whose comments came in a press release handed out by union officials in the Port of Los Angeles area, said rank-and-file members decided in early January to stand down on May 1.
The dockworkers’ action also affected ports in Oakland, Seattle and San Diego, and was expected to last between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. The dockworkers do virtually all the work involved in loading and unloading freight between ships and the port, handling containers brimming with toys, clothing, computers and automobiles.
As a result, big rig operators were being turned away at terminal gates. Among them was Santo Calderon, 48, who was turned away at the TraPac terminal in San Pedro.
He was greeted by a security guard who simply said, “We’re closed.”
Before climbing back into his truck cab and leaving, Calderon shook his head and said, “I’m going to call my dispatcher and see if there is some other place open. If not, I’ll go back to the yard and rest the whole day. There is nothing else to do.”
Asked to explain why he was turning trucks away, a TraPac security guard, with a wave of his hand, simply said, “What you see behind me is all I can say about what’s going on.”
He was referring to the rare sight of 400-foot cranes standing still and harbor roads devoid of truck traffic, empty parking lots and an eerie quiet on the waterfront.
The Pacific Maritime Assn. had complained about the union’s planned action with an arbitrator, which had ordered the union to go to work today. The maritime association said the union’s activity was a violation of its contract obligation.
A dispute between the maritime association and the dockworkers paralyzed West Coast ports for 10 days in 2002.
Two years ago today, activity at the ports was crippled when thousands of truckers stayed away from work in protest of U.S. immigration policy. The port truck drivers — predominantly Latinos — acted individually in participating in the “Day Without Immigrants,” which also shuttered thousands of Latino-owned businesses throughout the region and country.
At the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the nation’s busiest, as few as 10% of the truckers showed up to haul freight that day. Longshore workers, however, continued loading and unloading ships.
Times staff writer Ron-Gong Lin II contributed to this report.
© 2008 The Los Angeles Times
What our nation now needs is a date for every long haul trucker to pull off the side of the road for at least 6 hours.
Happy May Day! Three cheers for the unions for taking a principled antiwar stand!
Who knows. If a nationwide targeted effort involving lots of other unions and nonunion workers could be coordinated along the same lines, such a show of support (even if only of one-day duration) could really help bring an end to the continued occupation of Iraq by showing the politicians it’s time to either lead, or get the hell out of the way.
Bill from Saginaw
I’m at home today, now taking a break from chores. I told my boss that I was taking the day off because it is May 1. I’ve a good boss - he understands.
For this to have any real and lasting effect, the 70% of Americans who disagree with the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq need to do the same.
This is awesome.. a step in the right direction.
ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE NOW!
Stop working for destruction, what an idea. Needs to happen every day.
A friend of mine forwarded this in an email. It is a statement by Iraqi dockworkers. To me, this is what hope might look like:
May Day Message from the Port Workers in Iraq to West
Coast dock workers in the U.S.
General Union of Port Workers of Iraq April 29th, 2008
U.S. Labor Against the War is pleased to be able to
share with you a statement of solidarity from the
General Union of Port Workers in Iraq to the
members of the International Longshore and
Warehouse Union (ILWU) in support of the decision
by ILWU members to shut down all the ports on the
West Coast on May Day 2008 as a demonstration of
their opposition to the war and occupation of Iraq.
In solidarity with the ILWU, the General Union of Port
Workers in Iraq will stop work for one hour on May Day
in the ports of Umm Qasr and Khor Al Zubair.
Dear Brothers and Sisters of ILWU in California
The courageous decision you made to carry out a strike
on May Day to protest against the war and occupation of
Iraq advances our struggle against occupation to bring
a better future for us and for the rest of the world as
well.
We are certain that a better world will only be created
by the workers and what you are doing is an example and
proof of what we say. The labor movement is the only
element in the society that is able to change the
political equations for the benefit of mankind. We in
Iraq are looking up to you and support you until the
victory over the US administration’s barbarism is
achieved.
Over the past five years the sectarian gangs who are
the product of the occupation, have been trying to
transfer their conflicts into our ranks. Targeting
workers, including their residential and shopping
areas, indiscriminately using all sorts of explosive
devices, mortar shells, and random shooting, were part
of a bigger scheme that was aiming to tear up the
society but they miserably failed to achieve their
hellish goal. We are struggling today to defeat both
the occupation and sectarian militias’ agenda.
The pro-occupation government has been attempting to
intervene into the workers affairs by imposing a single
government-certified labor union. Furthermore it has
been promoting privatization and an oil and gas law to
use the occupation against the interests of the
workers.
We the port workers view that our interests are
inseparable from the interests of workers in Iraq and
the world; therefore we are determined to continue our
struggle to improve the living conditions of the
workers and overpower all plots of the occupation, its
economic and political projects.
Let us hold hands for the victory of our struggle.
Long live the port workers in California!
Long live May Day!
Long live International solidarity!
The General Union of Port Workers in Iraq An Affiliate
Union with General Federation of Workers Councils and
Unions in Iraq (GFWCUI)
Holy crap! Somebody is actually doing something about the ongoing genocide for profit brought to you by Fool & the Gang. More power to them and the truckers. Too bad the majority of Americans are too selfish and hypocritical to do what needs to be done. I expect to be dead or under martial law come 2009.
These are people fighting for our freedom. We need to join them. These is what fighting for freedom looks like not unloading a weapon into some 3rd world individual. Thank you guys!! You got my support!
Good for the ILWU in California!
But what about the ILWU elsewhere, or the SEIU, Teamsters, AFSCME, NEA, UAW, USWA, UMWA (what few are left), AFGE, etc, etc…
Please don’t get suckered by the ILWU, because it is a arrogant, overpaid, nepotistic, management friendly union that does not always support other unions or progressive causes …….. and likely the real reason for their token action has little if anything to do with stopping the Iraq Occupation.
Whatever one may think about the ILWU, this is a step in the right direction and it should be congratulated for setting the example we should all follow.
I wish all union members were “arrogant” enough to stand up against the Iraq situation and “overpaid” because they organize like the dickens. Better than humble and underpaid.
Right On!!! I applaud the dock workers for their stand against this awful illegal war and occupation. All other issues are separate. And because the ports were shut down, IT MADE THE HEADLINES!! HELLO!! This is how the message gets listned to — shut down the ports with the nations goods, and that will get attention for sure!! I’d like to see all the ports shut down, if that’s what it takes to get Congress to act properly!
All:
Please circulate this as broadly as possible.
Also, please send thanks and Solidarity to the ILWU at: info@ilwu.org and the General Union of Port Workers of Iraq c/o US Labor Against the War (USLAW) at: info@uslaboragainstwar.org.
Finally, let’s all show some real SOLIDARITY and send whatever bucks we can to USLAW. Almost alone organizationally, they have been the strongest voice against the occupations w/in what is left of the US labor movement.
Si Se Puede! IN SOLIDARITY, THERE IS HOPE.
What our nation now needs is for every long haul trucker to pull off the side of the road until all the potholes are repared after the Clinton/McBush fuel tax vacation.
This is absurdly long overdue, but better late than never.
NOW: This same awareness needs to spread to other unions and the general public — not only against the war but also directly against US government officials who have illegally and fradulently perpetrated this and many other outrages in the name of the The People.
Agree with other posters above: All of us should send emails/letters of support to this labor union, and invite other unions to take up opposition too.
I am very sad that the UNION has taken this very sensible action to shut down the criminal aggression of the USA. The Union should not do this because if they did not then the HAPPY LITTLE WAR IN IRAQ WILL CONTINUE indefinitely; and we wish it so.
This little war in Iraq will definitely bankrupt the USA for good; HOW NICE !
Workers of the World unite! Real power rests with the daily worker. Somehow, we don’t get the message. The “masters” make the message and we accept it. Stopping work, works. Without labor the cash flow stops. The “masters” understand cash flow. It is all in the story and what we carry around in our heads. Let’s change the story.
Thanks folks for following through! Here it is 1530 CDST and still CNN has nothing on this! Gee…wouldn’t this be newsworthy?
Let’s hope this can revitalize the anti-war movement.
This union and particularly its leadership are in for trouble. The potential for arrest as supporters of terrorists (according to Bush and Republican definition) is quite real. This is what the KBR construction of prisons was meant for.
“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak for me.”
We are not there yet. If we stand up together NOW, we can prevent that path. I think that may be the reason that Cheney is hellbent to attack Iran. He figures, and might be right, that the country will wax patriotic and support war again. It has worked before.
This is just fantastic !
YES! This is such an important step! I am so thrilled, I almost feel like it is all going to be okay…
and then I search the corporate media for a even a flicker of this story and find that the #1 story is about the suicide of a former D.C. madame…
back to “reality,” I guess.
Still, this is wonderful! I just wish I could find some coverage of it out there in the world…
This is wonderful - I had no idea this was coming, and I am very very proud of the dockworkers. Urthsong’s post is so appropriate - each one of us must stand up and speak out, regardless of our personal affiliations, our political status and our connections. Peace has to begin with me.
We all need to take a day off and shut down the whole country, to remind our executive & legislative branch’s who really run’s this country, if that don’t work, take a week off.
I judge organizations by actions. And from the start of the war, the ILWU is one of the few groups I’ve seen willing to take an action to oppose it. I don’t care what others say about them, from what I can see, I like these people.
Good job people!
Cheers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“We all need to take a day off and shut down the whole country, to remind our executive & legislative branch’s who really run’s this country, if that don’t work, take a week off.”
The last phrase is key. If its just one day, they’ll ride it out. They’ll know everything will be back to normal the next day. What needs to happen is to create uncertainty that things will ever get back to normal as long as the war continues.
That’s one reason why the protest are ineffective. Everyone important knows everyone will go back home after their day in the streets. If they couldn’t be sure of that, it would be different.
We know who really runs the country. If business leaders saw actions that were affecting their bottom line and had the certainty of continuing to do so in the future, they’d be calling up their bought-off politicians and demanding action.
We are with you brothers and sisters. Ed Pell, Rhinebeck, New York.
Longshoremen you are the future of our world.
Long may you reign!!
End the war on Iraq.
End he rule of the rich!
power to the people!
Its starting. Its beginning to feel like 1968. (Except we didn’t know about global warming then.)
What will Hannity say tonight? A liberal/criminal conspiracy to turn over the world to the Islamofascists?
The Dockworkers are very brave to be the first to organize such a large protest.
Unfortunately, I am retired and take every day off but if we have a nation wide strike I’ll be there. If the French and the Philippines can do it , why can’t we?
Hats off to the ILWU, fighting for our freedom and for Iraq’s.
jclientelle May 1st, 2008 2:55 pm that is very encouraging. Iraqi and U.S. dock workers working together for peace. This is what we need - global resistance, global communication. I’m very encouraged.
TO Vice President Cheney: You recently asked a question, “So?” Well, here is your answer.
I was first uplifted today by the letter Joe Andrew wrote to his fellow superdelegates in favor of Obama, politely but emphatically turning his back to political bullshit. And now this? Wonderful!
It’s like living in bizarro-world for a day! I’m loving it!
To all my brothers and sisters around the world who Work for a living: Happy May Day!
WTF: 70% of Americans are not against the occupation of Iraq. The disapproval is for the performance, not the purpose. If it were going well they would be very in favor. Stop dreaming, this country loves war but hates losing even more. It was a mistake because it didn’t work out, not because it is wrong. McCain will fix it, he will be the next president.
lizard -
‘fix it’? Were you being sarcastic? Hard to tell, given that the rest of your message seemed sincere enough.
bbr-001 and gdebs:
I’m with you, I feel it under my skin and I listen to what people are saying and I pay attention and read as you all do and write letter after letter, sign petitions and have the tail end of my car covered in bumper stickers.
Very rarely do I come acoss people that don’t feel as we all do. They all agree and I see the communication between all of us and communication between diverse groups of people, all agreeing. So why is it so hard to gather the country for one, maybe two days to shut everything down?
We have so much power together. Honestly, what are we waiting for?
I wonder if this will make the TV news? If a tree falls . . . .
I watched the national news - Charles Gibson - not a word.
Not one sentence about the longshoreman today on the NBC evening news with Brian Williams.
Lizard at 6:07pm has written truthfully. The role of the military industrial complex is only criticized when they aren’t winners. Otherwise the American public romanticizes the whole notion of military strength. Fear has replaced reason and people think the protection of Big Brother is now a necessity.
If the longshoremen or any other group thinks they are going to make inroads against the Empire they are going to have to stop supporting it when it is convenient for their own purposes. One day boycotting work in opposition is hardly the change the world needs to bring this war to a close.
Each of us needs to radically change a selfish, narcissistic lifestyle. Each of us have been busy usurping finite resources at a rapid clip and trampling over others in an attempt to justify our luxurious lifestyle.
The ports may seem like a good place to protest the war but they too are part of the problem and must become part of the solution. This is bigger than a one day protest.
I’m not saying it’s not a boost to the cause. I’m just saying that one day of boycotting and then going back to business as usual by contributing to the problem is not the prescription for radical change. It’s going to have to be a lot more serious commitment.
I made sure to get home in time for the ABC Evening News. Guess what. Its a non-event. They did briefly show a protest banner in DC, but nothing on the dockworkers.
santafebearclaw: I’m losing that 1968 feeling fast.
Many of my friends and family may not support the war, but they support the status quo. ABC decided to not report the story. It wasn’t big enough? Too much bad news already? Are they afraid of somehing?
Darius q Paquette May 1st, 2008 5:18 pm
“We all need to take a day off and shut down the whole country, to remind our executive & legislative branch’s who really run’s this country, if that don’t work, take a week off.”
A week off would destroy the corporate whores on Wall Street along with the economy. Perhaps that’s what we need to get this country on a path of integrity and fair play.
’tis 1984. Or “V for Vendetta”. We are here blogging our little hearts out. But most of America can’t wait to tune in to “American Idol” or some other mindless nonsense. It’s no wonder our ignorant masses still believe the latest “reason” to be in Iraq, still believe Saddam Hussein was integrally involved in 9/11/01, still believe we have the best health care in the world, still believe whatever comes out of the network news tube each night is a full and accurate representation of what happened today. Flat earth-centered universe — I think they would believe that, too, if it were announced on the “news.”
This is a great start, but where’s the rest of America? We need to ALL go on strike and just shut this country down until the politicians start listening to and caring about the people!! The list is long of things that need to be changed, but nothing will ever happen as long as we just let them continue with business as usual.
May Day resurrected in the USA. Hooray!
*
About time the USA aligned with the rest of the world (again) this way. This from Wikipedia:
In many countries, May Day is synonymous with International Workers’ Day, or Labour Day, which celebrates the social and economic achievements of the labor movement. As a day of celebration the holiday has ancient origins, and it can relate to many customs that have survived into modern times. Many of these customs are due to May Day being a cross-quarter day, meaning that it falls approximately halfway between an equinox and a solstice.
International Workers’ Day.
May Day can refer to various labour celebrations conducted on May 1 that commemorate the fight for the eight hour day. May Day in this regard is called International Workers’ Day, or Labour Day. The choice of May 1st was a commemoration by the Second International for the people involved in the 1886 Haymarket affair. The Haymarket incident occured during the course of a three-day general strike in Chicago, Illinois that involved common laborers, artisans, merchants, and immigrants.[4] Following an incident in which police opened fire on strikers at the McCormick Harvesting Machine Co. plant, a rally was called by strikers for the following day at Haymarket Square. Towards the end of this event, an unknown assailant threw a bomb into a crowd of police. The bomb and resulting police riot left at least a dozen people dead, including seven policemen.[5] A sensational show trial lead to the eventual public hanging of four anarchists.[6] The Haymarket incident was a source of outrage from people around the globe. In the following years, memory of the “Haymarket martyrs” was remembered with various May Day job actions and demonstrations.[7]
As such, May Day has become an international celebration of the social and economic achievements of the labour movement. Although May Day received its inspiration from the United States, the U.S. Congress designated May 1 as Loyalty Day in 1958 due to the day’s appropriation by the Soviet Union.[8] Alternatively Labor Day traditionally occurs sometime in September in the United States. Some view this as an effort to isolate American workers from the worldwide community.[9] People often use May Day as a day for political protest, such as the million people who demonstrated against far-right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen in France, or as a day for protest against government actions, such as pro-immigrant rallies across the United States.
There are a couple of things I would like to add:
1) I want to thank all the people that did not go to work today in solidarity with the dock workers. And they were many!
2) This was NOT a union action. The union told the dock workers that they were putting their contract negotiations in jeoperdy by their planned action today. Further, these dock workers were told that they were breaking the rules of their existing contract. These dock workers today came together as American workers, not as unionists. That makes them true patriots. Today they stood tall for all workers in America and across the world.
3) When I went to Google News earlier today, this story was at the top. It WAS reported on many local TV stations and in MANY newspapers. So the message did get out to the American workers. Yeah!!!
4) I want to personnally thank our own Peaceman for having worked tirelessly here on CD for the past week to let us know this was coming and to spread the word. He took the day off and participated in the protests at the docks in San Francisco along with Cindy Sheehan and McKinney (Green Party).
5) Like many of you, I am heartened by this action today. It feels like we have turned a corner of some kind. What happened today is just the beginning. We now know that we can be heard and can join together in solidarity. Now we just have to figure out HOW to organize more events like this.
Another demonstration that–THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED.
One god damn day to protest the attrocities of the last eight years. What a
fucking joke. In other countries, where they still value courage, people strike,
and close down intersections, and cities……. until they get what they god damn
want. One day is a token effort. Why bother? If you’re not going to go all out
by not showing up for work until you get what you want, however long it might
take, you might as well join the ranks of the other sheeple and learn how to say
baaaaaahhhh.
It is just a matter of time before union President Bob McEllrath is exposed as an Al Quida sympathizer and driven out on a rail.
All of you interested in why we need to stand up to the current fascist
bullies, please check out the folllowing utube video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7KHUbuhgpQ
I don’t think we can turn this country around unless we shut it down!
Listening to Ralph Nader today on Air America reminding us this is our country — there are a handful of them and zillions of us who can take back our country.
Thank you UNIONS/LONGSHOREMEN — !!!
Truckers not on the side of the road but on the roads like they did in Canada a few years ago. 2 days of blocked main roads got the message across.
three cheers indeed.
fantastic to see this kind of solidarity.
This is great!! I’d love to see a scene where that useless, conniving puke Hannity walks up to a bunch of Longshoremen and accuse them of being unpatriotic liberal wimps!
To the few doubters in the posts, the issue is not whether or not this will have an immediate effect. The issue is whether it will snowball and, at some point, will have a very real effect. Bushco has power only because they’ve been allowed to steal it.
WHAT A JOKE.
There are people who actually think that not showing up to work is a “protest”.
Those who didn’t go to work, they organized and attended rallies, right?
They took to the streets?
They held signs, and marched?
They were available to the press and media, all day long and in some public venue, to talk about Iraq, and express their frustration with the Bush administration, and to generally say (in public, to the press and media and American People) “we’re mad as hell, and we’re not going to take it anymore!”
Those were the politically active things done today, by the ILWU in Los Angeles/Long Beach area, right?
They “protested”, didn’t they?
Or did they simply take the day off… slept in… watched television… went shopping… had a cook-out… caught up on errands… hung out with friends… and played with the wife and kids, and the dog?
WHAT A JOKE, that this is the 21st Century American form of “protest” and political activity: Not Showing Up For Work….
…as if that were “protesting”, or being politically active, or being or doing anything “actively” at all, political or otherwise.
PASSIVE PROTESTING, by sleeping in.
WHAT A JOKE.
This could not have happened.
I looked at CNN and MSNBC two or three times today, and I did not see any mention of this.
(It might have been reported when I wasn’t looking- which was most of the day. But if it wasn’t on the news, it couldn’t have happened.)
Hip Hip Hurrray for the common ordinary working people of this world-It’s time to show the mother fuckers with the big bucks that we are in charge and they should not forget it!!!
This is so inspiring. Eventually, the people WILL rule!!!
Dem 02020: Fuck you and your elitist attitudes. Just what thel hell did you do, or have you done??? Where were you???
Randolfski: Same to you!!!
Yes, it happened.
I went down to Pier 66 in Seattle for a rally - and the ILWU, local 19, local 52 and at least some from the Tacoma local were all there. All the speakers were anti-war, and many also spoke in support of the immigrant rights march also happening today. The labor chorus sang, and then folks went to the Labor Temple for snacks and more music. There was a bus that took some of us to the immigrant rights march.
To Demo 02020: Even if they didn’t rally, it would still have been important. This action by the union cost the ports, the shipping companies, the rest of corporate US that depends on the deliveries a helluva lot of cash - certainly millions.
The system requires our cooperation to work. Sometimes, when speeches don’t work, when voting doesn’t work, sometimes all that we can do is withdraw our cooperation. We don’t let the system work.
That’s power that can’t be ignored. The system doesn’t work unless we do.
Congratulations to our union brothers on the coast!
The smallest action dwarfs the grandest intention. Gandhi said the British first laughed at him, then ignored him, then began to fight him, at which point they started to lose. There is a linear path to incremental change. Revolutions are typically accompanied with a lot of violence, so you might see a surprising amount of sympathy from police and government workers to peaceful protest. The Sept. 15th protest march (see pics on my blog, right side for link) was largely non-violent, the word got out. More can be done, yes, the antiwar movement needs to accelerate the frequency of these actions. We need a Sept. 15th every month. Doing nothing is unacceptable but intensifying protests might alienate sympathetic parties.
I wouldn’t expect cuddles and flowers, but even the cops know the longer we stay in Iraq, the harder things will get around here. Of course there are casualties in any important protest movement, but messages can and are sent through worker actions and boycotts. With the China Olympics coming up, companies have made themselves vulnerable, like Coca Cola whose Indian operations have been atrocious. In Colombia–a candidate for free trade status–union organizers were murdered on the factory floor. We can do more to follow the Longshoremen’s example.
It’s late in the thread, but Military or Market-Driven Empire Building: 1950-2008 must be read.
Other than not showing up for work, they did zero, they did nothing… that’s not called protesting, and it’s the antithesis of political activity… it’s a leap of the imagination to think that there’s anything politically active about staying home, sleeping in, maybe going shopping, or just watching television…
I bet you it was television that those people watched, when they eventually woke up this morning after deciding not to go work…
Because I believe it is staring at television so much, from childhood through adulthood (literally from the cradle to the grave!), that has rendered people’s minds so dull and passive, that they actually think doing nothing is doing something…
So brainless passive, that they think not going to work is protesting, and that staying home is some kind of political activity…
It’s not. Doing nothing is not doing something.
Television has scrambled people’s brains, if they can’t see that.
And the proof of the nothingness they did, by simply staying at home, that proof is in the pudding… as you will see, that beginning tomorrow, absolutely nothing, ZERO, will have come of this.
ZERO.
We are inspired. Thank you, dockworkers for showing some courage!
Hey Dem02020,
When was the last time you joined with thousands of other folks for one cause, gave up several hundred dollars for your effort, and cost the powers that be $50-60 MILLION?
The last time the West Coast ports were shut down in 2002, the cost was $580 million for 10 days. Sure, this was one day. But you can be sure it was noticed, even if it didn’t hit the news.
That is what happens when people that do real work (not sure what you do… but) withdraw their cooperation.
The system needs people to work or it does not function. Perhaps society wouldn’t notice if you didn’t work, but corporations depending upon the flow of traffic through the entire freaking west coast noticed this.
There is hope again for the world! Someone in America has finally had the courage to stand up to their Masters. Perhaps it might be catching! One can only hope!
Well done, Unionists.
emaho,
I don’t waste my energy responding to misguided people like Dem02020, These are the Bush faithful who drank the Kool-Aid. Better to ignore them rather than give them their 15 minutes of fame.
The “longies” were successful today and had a lot of support around the world, as more “advanced” countries han ours celebtated May Day, the real Labor Holliday for working people. I’ll write more about it in the morning.
It was great!!!!
Many individuals came and showed support for the ILWU workers - not just other groups with their different agendas.
Many other unions from the area also attended in a show of union solidarity - including an only(I think) in S.F. organization - the Exotic Dancers Union.
Anyone who missed attending, missed a chance to be part of history - the first time the ports have been shut down to protest a war (really an illegal occupation).
The ILWU is great!!!!!
Their slogan adopted for their action today:
NO PEACE - NO WORK
needs to be taken to heart - and acted on by ALL workers in this country.
The turnout was large considering most main street media refused to carry an pre-event stories about the shutdown.
I am amazed that almost no coverage includes one of the main themes - International Labor Solidarity with the rest of the world on May 1 as International Labor Day, not our puny September wannabe. The Unites States origin of the significance of May 1 was emphasized in the speeches and signs.
McKinney gave a firebrand speech - many recorded it but I have seen no media space given to it.
For those of you who did not attend, you also missed the feeling of supporting a dedicated group of people who actually stood up and jeopardized their future to show what people of conscience need to do to reverse the course that the right-wing fascists have taken us on.
NO PEACE ! NO WORK!
This is fantastic. I know that one day of dock strikes will be felt at the White House. The ten day strike in 2002 had effects lasting much more than 10 days… there where boats anchored in a waiting line to unload for the entire summer, much like airlines trying to play catch-up with too many bookings, not enough flights.
Wouldn’t it be great if we had a way to amplify a worth while strike.. even if you’re not a dockworker? It could be a networking organization that let’s you do something like pledge one day of your salary… in order to pay a striker for an additional day of striking. Can you imagine, if there are ten people in support of every one striking dock worker… those ten people could support his strike for 10 additional days. And everyone would only be giving up one day of pay. That way we can spread out the cost of fighting this rich corporate backed war machine. The people of this country could then firmly have their foot on the gas pedal of this economy. It would wreak havoc in the corporate accountants accounting books. It would be like a ‘Strikers Social Security’ funded by a Moveon type crowd.
If I had known about this strike six months in advance, and there was a mechanism for me to pledge my salary in support, I would pledge my entire paycheck.
Where’s the Democratic Party during this great mass action?
Down on all fours, as usual, looking for some corporate ass to kiss.
curmudgeon99,
Excellent commentary, brother! I’m too tired to write at the moment but I’ll add my comments in the AM. I took the Caltrain up and wrote “curmudgeon” on the bottom of the newspaper, and planned to hold it up looking for you like company reps do at the airport, but getting to Beach and Mason by 10:15, there were so many folks there already, that wasn’t the thing to do. I was tickled pink. In fact, I helped the ladies of CODEPINK carry their silk billboard. All the speeches were great, C99. The vibes were high! Real comraderie! Driving to the train station, I listened to Clarence on The Morning Show on www.kpfa.org and as always, Mr. Thomas was on the mark.
For all of you supporting the “longies” who support all working men and women who oppose the Bush Republicrat Regimes war on humanity, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart and so do the other Longshore Union members up and down the West Coast. Whether you took off from work today, whether you stayed home and talked to your neighbors about returning our government to We The People like Rebel Farmer said yesterday, or whether you refrained from shopping today-it all counts as part of the total picture in order to show these politicians they work for us and not for Bush or Cheney.
Ullern,
Thank you very much for sharing the May Day history lesson with us. For those of you interested, a very good book is the classic, ‘Labor’s Untold Story’ by Richard O. Boyer and Herbert M. Morais, published in 1955, but still an excellent history of American labor unions from the 19th Century through the first half of the 20th.
Remember the Magical Seven Words…”Take To The Streets, Withhold Your Labor.” (peacefully)
Ladies and Gentlemen, or as we trade unionists say, Brothers and Sisters, if the “magic seven” progresses nationwide, this lying, deceitful, sadistic, anti-American group of war-mongering (not their children) despots could go toppling downward quicker than Humpty Dumpty, and all the kings horses and all the kings men, including Blackwater, couldn’t put the coward-in-chief and his 5 time vice-coward together again.
Spread the word folks! Peace, Harmony and Solidarity. Workers of the World, Unite!
Now if it can be only done once every week, and also for all major production industries that can be safely halted, and shutdown consumer and office transportation as well, and get everyone out to walk and talk locally, then we might reduce yearly greenhouse gas production, and wartime military hardware production by 20 per cent.
September 15th we shut down the country! It is time as others have said that “WE THE PEOPLE” send the message to the politcians to lead or get out of the way! OUT OF IRAQ!
Of, by and for the PEOPLE.
Ever heard of that, BushCo? McSubsidiary?
Did you do your part on May 1. I hope you didn’t purchase anything. That is how this action is leveraged.
Let’s begin a SHOW of solidarity everyday by joining the bandana revolution.
Two thousand years ago a Roman senator suggested that all slaves wear white armbands to better identify them. “No”, said a wiser senator. “If they see how many of them there are , they may revolt.”
A bandana is a simple easy symbol that can represent solidarity for Earth community and be used as a visible signal that you reject Empire.
Take a bandana and
Tie it on your car, your briefcase or your bag.
Wear it on your head, your neck or your arm.
Hang it in your house window, tie it to your mailbox
I think it is way past time that we show Empire where we stand. As the Roman senator most astutely recognized……. they really don’t want each of us to know how many of us there are and I say the sooner we show them the better.
Also…..One day, the last day of every month, don’t buy a thing. No gas, No food, No movies, No nothing. One day, the last day of every month until we see some honest to goodness changes. Not a hardship for us but certainly will make our point. Make them understand we mean business. Our business, not theirs.
Psssssst……………..do something!!!!!! Pass it on………………It’s time……….
It’s amazing how many American’s see Unions as the enemy! When someone mentions union they instantly think they are people who are overpaid, don’t do a good job and are useless slobs who won’t do a days work. Most of this nonsense comes from ignorance and propaganda the right wing Republican’s put out! Because they hate unions and anything that cuts into their corporate profits Why would you work your butt off daily for almost half less than a union member makes????? When with a little effort you could make a decent wage. This doesn’t make a gram of sense to me! Where unions aren’t prefect and have been known for corruption (the same kind that’s infesting our government today and big business)they are also the least of the evils out there. My husband worked union for 45 years of his working career. He has health insurance, retired at 60, retired with a nice pension and didn’t have to put up with a lot of the s… non-union workers have to put up with! As long as the Republican’s can convince people that unions are bad. They win in the war against middle class America! It just means more profits for big business when they don’t have to pay a decent wage or provide health insurance. It’s time for the average American to wake up to the real screwing they are getting from big business and Republican’s! When you vote Republican you vote against your own interests and slit your throat!
“‘We are supporting the troops and telling politicians in Washington that it’s time to end the war in Iraq,’ said union President Bob McEllrath.”
-
I downloaded a PDF file from the ILWU Web site about the strike.
Bob McElrath says, “Longshore workers are standing-down on the job and standing up for America. We’re supporting the troops…We’re loyal to America, and we won’t stand by while our country, our troops, and our economy are destroyed by a war that’s bankrupting us to the tune of 3 trillion dollars. It’s time to stand up, and we’re doing our part today.”
No mention of the suffering of the Iraqi people, or the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis that are now dead thanks to America.
ILWU is not standing up for Iraq, or the Iraqi people - just for AMERICA!
Bush’s approval rating when he invaded Iraq was over 70%. Americans are unhappy now because AMERICA is suffering.
America invaded Iraq; Iraqis did not attack - or threaten to attack - America. It was, therefore, a war of choice. I think Americans should be putting the Iraqi people first in any statement they make about the war, not America.
Nice to know that all that matters to Americans is the American troops, the American economy, and everything else that’s AMERICAN.
This is a sad day for the world. We look at America and we see a self-absorbed, ill-informed, uncaring, violent nation whose only concern is AMERICA.
I know it will be on the front page of the NYT this morning. I know it, I know it, I know it…..
Wait! It’s not.
As a matter of fact there’s no news at all on the front page. Just filler.
The first people to walk off the job should have been the “journalists,” but I guess all those were replaced long ago.
Tumbleweed,
Perfect commentary! You said it very well. Give my regards to your hubby.
Golly Gee,
You’re absolutely right! Kudos to you.
Golly Gee !
San Jose Mercury News - story was buried in short column in section B page 5.
Peaceman -
I was looking around also. Nobody was there at 10:00, then the crowds came. I ended up helping carry one of the ILWU banners and considered it a rare privelege.
P.S.
I’m also willing to bet all attendees were photographed and, today, someone is running the pictures through data banks getting identities.
There were just too many folks only interested in closeup shots of everyone and paid no attention to speakers or program.
Maybe I’m just paranoid….who knows?
While the dockworkers show the vision, courage, and solidarity to actually take ‘action’ to stop this illegal and immoral Iraq oil-war, and the ‘corporatist Empire’ behind it, the gutless and/or complicit Democrats just muse:
“House and Senate Democrats disagree over how much to add to Bush’s $108 billion war request in the face of a White House veto threat.
House Democrats, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey of Wisconsin are pushing to avoid a veto, while Senate Democrats continue to press add-ons.
“We would rather just save time and get it over with right from the start,” Pelosi told reporters Thursday.”
Hey, arseholes, how about actually trying to stop this friggin imperialist war instead of just piggy-backing on the war’s ‘money trough’?
It’s now clear that the actual ‘working-class’ of Americans have the vision and courage to stop this immoral war of imperialist oil exploitation —- since the entire corporatist Empire’s ruling-class and their paid ‘political-class’ is either gutless or actively complicit in funding and keeping this war crime bleeding the workers of our country and Iraq.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/may2008/dock-m02.shtml
Hopefully, the gen**** strikes of all working class citizens will begin soon as we see that the coming defaults of supposed FED ‘loans’ to unregulated investment banks will loot our commonwealth of another trillion dollars on top of the trillion dollars that Bush’s Iraq oil-war has given to oil and weapons corporations.
tumbleweed wrote: It’s amazing how many American’s see Unions as the enemy!
They shouldn’t; unionism in the US is emasculated compared with unionism elsewhere in the world. Unionism in the US is based on skill types, rather than industry. So when the longshoremen go out on strike, the truckers cannot support them (unless it too is a part of a broader national strike).
It came to pass like this because of xenophobia and racism within the US. When US unions first formed, the elitist white workers were intent on keeping less-skilled black workers out of the unions, and the only way this could occur was if the unions were based on skills, and not industry as elsewhere in the world. This also helped to prevent less-skilled migrants from joining the unions.
I’m a union man (Painters and Dockers in Australia) from way back, and see the union movement in the US as pandering to the owners.
Nevertheless, it warms my heart to see workers flexing their muscle.
Curmudgeon99,
The reason I got there at 10;15 instead of earlier (we could have linked up) was due to my “argumentative” nature, and I missed the Gilroy Caltrain and had to drive to San Jose to catch a later one.
I stopped at the supermarket to buy a couple of cans of cat food for my feline friends and to “insist” that a cashier come to the checkout counter to facilitate the transaction. The clerk said why don’t I use the “self-service machine” as others were doing, while he looked at the three cans. (I go through this routine several times a week) I went back to the pet food isle, replacing all but one can on the shelf and proceeded to the checkout counter waiting for a “human” worker. By then, an elderly woman and a middle-aged man with shopping carts half-filled with groceries were in line behind me. I yelled out for a checker, giving the clerk who monitors the self-service section a stern hard glance (hasn’t been the first time) and he called out for a clerk to work the register. The lady behind me said she doesn’t use those machines either. Most of the clerks are cool, but some of the younger ones have to be taught why we are trying to save their jobs. Some agree, some shrug their shoulders, and some might be thinking of American Idol. I don’t know. And they’re union! UFCW. I prefer Safeway, but then there goes the carbon footprint thing and more air pollution from my little four-banger.
True story, but may all who read it understand this is part of the “downsizing” philosophy of insatiable capitalism.
C99, The only SF march I missed since 03 was the third one on a Saturday when we had to vote on our collective bargaining contract. Myself and millions of others, here and abroad have been photographed dozens of times by who knows who. Sometimes I tip my hat to them, usually giving them the peace sign. Evil genius Admiral Poindexter probably has shots of my mug in his dungeon. Wish I was better lookin’.
By the time I finished talking to the (real) Honorable Cynthia McKinney, and exchanging info with my new friends from the AFSCME union, the march had started and I helped CODEPINK carry their billboard size banner. And like yourself, did banner relief around the lecture stand. Good vibrations all around. Finally met the wonderful Cindy Sheehan and she and Cynthia have a radiance within their souls which emanates in their outer beauty. What an honor to meet them! We Greens will bring them down in my neck of the woods for a lecture and fund-raising drive.
And again, my personal thanks to all of you at home and abroad for anything you did and are doing to put an end to this reckless course of death and destruction, misery and suffering, all needlessly perpetuated by the coward-in-chief- the five-time vice-coward-in-chief and the Republican Crime Family and their Democratic partners in crime.
Like the “decider says, “fool me once, shame on…(pause) how’d that go, Dick?
Working People United for an Egalitarian Society. Peace On Earth, Goodwill To All!
Did this really happen? I didn’t see any coverage on the TV news.
Golly Gee and Curmudgeon99,
The San Francisco Chronicle covered the story in the Business and Bay Area Sections, but not on the front page.
Quality Time: It probably depends on the state you live in.
WTF,
Wrong on the truckers, brother. I’m a Teamster, and when the longies are on strike, or the railroad or airline workers, or any legitimate strike action takes place, we support them and DON’T cross the picket line. It’s in the contract language too.
Peaceman - thanks for your story - it really is a blessing to have you among us.
The SF Chronicle was the only paper that carried ANY of the stories before as well as those mentioned.
I understand your checkout ‘issue’ and ‘argumentative’ nature. My curmudgeon label does not come from a ‘willing to let things go’ nature as you might imagine.
peace, peaceman.
I so agree with your take on McKinney. We lost a voice when she got railroaded out of Congress.
Wasn’t it great to be on the streets supporting ‘doers’?
For those hungry for validation from the corporate media, (as I admit to being myself) here are some links to stories and one youtube video:
Los Angeles Times: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2008/05/this-just-in-th.html
Yahoo News:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080502/wl_mideast_afp/uslaboriraqstrike_080502005312
Youtube:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=VKzLEjzvtfM
Also, for those concerned that the ILWU was acting “selfishly” or in a vacuum, unions in Canada and the UK pledged solidarity, as did the Iraqi dockworkers, who staged their own strike.In addition, their motto was: An injury to one is an injury to all. Sounds like they care.
If you want more info about this event and the original statements of intention, as well as letters of solidarity from others around the world, go to:
maydayilwu.googlepages.com
@peaceman
Thanks for the correction. I thought that American workers signed a no-strike clause, which seriously restricts the ability of the members of unions to directly support each others’ struggles by walking off the job, so long as the contract is in force.
Live and learn.
Well, well! Some of of have been protesting in the streets since the Vietnam War. The MSM has been ignoring us lately. But this time the MSM HAD to cover the events, because there was actual $$$ involved! Is there a LESSON in here somewhere?
It was a really great May Day for me, thanks to the Dockworkers.
Dem02020: YOU are one of the reasons I left the Democratic Party.
The Democrats have done NOTHING to get us out of this horrible war - the opposite - they vote for more and more money to keep us in!
Do not dare to assume that everyone who did not go to work on May Day “slept in… watched television… went shopping… had a cook-out… caught up on errands… hung out with friends… and played with the wife and kids, and the dog.”
Stopping this war is no joke to us. However much the head-in-the-sand Democrats try to treat our legitimate protests like a joke.
WTF,
I learn from you, you learn from me, and we all learn from each other. I can’t speak for all union contracts in other unions, only from my own. (What’s left of us) Sad to say, more truckers in the US today are non-union. With the “friends of labor”, the Democratic/Hypocrite Party has helped keeping it that way. Now I’m not insinuating they are “sleeping” with their “gentle” friends on the other side of the isle.
You guys lost an INVALUABLE labor leader. Harry Bridges was one of the Greatest of all time! Thanks, Down Under.
Independent or owner-operators cross picket lines, but I’ve got to say in my 33 years as a unionized driver that there are those non-union drivers who wouldn’t cross the picket line once we informed them why we were on strike. Others would just about run over you, the ones that hate unions. (and I’ve had my share of confrontations)
Thanks, WTF
undercover Republican: I’ll check out the links later. Thanks!
Curmudgeon99,
The blessing is mutual! Yes, it was great to be on the streets with “doers.” I like that term, C99.
McKinney and Cindy are just adorable. Sweet souls, coupled with intelligence and compassion.
Pelosi and Rahm Emmanuel did McKinney in, and I remember when Cynthia retook her seat in the House after one term out of office,”impeachment’s off the table” Nancy wouldn’t restore her senority. Some liberal!
I put the checkout story in for a little humor as well as a teaching lesson about “getting rid of employees.” The story is true.
Are you on the San Jose Peace Center’s email list? A week from tonight, the Pete Seeger sing along fest will be in San Jose. I may go.
Thanks Peaceman for the update…What a great May day!
So glad to hear Pete is still goin strong!
What a great way to start May….
Thanks, brother Jim. We’re just getting started. “They can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but they can’t fool all of the people all of the time.” Who said those true words?
Arithmetic 101:
70%-some of the time - (We the People)
30%-all of the time - (Bush supporters)
And thank our buddy Curmudgeon99 for his input, Jimbo.
fire the overpaid ratbastard thugs,they have no right interupting anything exoressing political beliefs. do it on your own time.
I almost didn’t believe this event happened. You can’t find it on the ABC, PBS, or NPR websites. It wasn’t in the local papers where I live. I finally found it on the LA Times website.
This is obscurantism. The MSM, including public broadcasting, does not want to be held responsible for any sort of “trouble”. Are they controlled by neocon minders on a real time basis, or are their self-censors doing this?
bbr-001
“out of sight, out of mind.”
When the filming of the San Francisco event is made into a video for sale, we’ll let you know. Not expensive and a worthy investment, indeed.
Great job ILWU!
The CBC has yet to mention this historic event. They ran a May Day spot yesterday: it mentioned celebrations in Cuba and skinhead - leftist fights in Hamburg, but nothing about this.
I sent them a note asking them why there was no coverage.
Gee:
I didn’t read about the westcoast dockworker action on any of the corporate media websites.
Well, I didn’t read about the massive crowds that gathered to support President Chavez
April 15; it celebrated the anniversery of the defeat of the US-supported Venezuela coup attempt.
I do remember the US and UK corporate media continously broadcasting the orchestrated anti-constitutional-change demonstrations that were well supported by the oligarchs,the US and other privileged elements.
In fact, I didn’t read anything about the massive anti-government protest gatherings in Colombia; they were partially in response to the oligarchy’s orchestrated anti-FARC demonstrations (which I saw plastered all over the usual news outlets).
Maybe the US is the friend of the plutocrats and oligarchs of the world? The rest be damned.
Hmmmm. Isn’t that what our own homegrown oligarchs do to us.
Of course, in the US, even the lowest of the low believes he or she is better than any Third World peasant.
In other words, many of our non-elite believe in the plutocrats’ values and well distributed cultural beliefs.
Not a word in the local paper. I find that creepy, truly no different from the old USSR. I haven’t looked, but I bet this story could be found in the modern Pravda.
The answer is to NOT watch network news — and tell them you’re not watching, and why. Maybe it will take getting to sponsors of these news programs, but the incestuous nature of corporate news and their sponsorship makes it unlikely to be truly effective. The other facet is to understand that the “news” we are fed is being packaged to evoke the “proper” response in the viewers, and to always view what we’re offered with a very jaundiced eye; and to find other sources for information — non-US based ones can be especially enlightening.
A SAD DAY FOR THE WORLD!
Why is everyone congratulating themselves and the dockworkers?
Bush’s approval rating was over 70% when he invaded Iraq.
Bob McElrath says he is “standing up for America” - wasn’t it this attitude that resulted in the majority of Americans supporting the invasion of Iraq in the first place? And wasn’t it this mindless loyalty to America that led the troops to commit war crimes, that gave the world Abu Ghraib, Guantanoma Bay, and special rendition?
Now that the war has gone sour, and is costing America dearly, Americans are pretending they care.
Bob McElrath makes no mention of any of the suffering of the Iraqi people, or of standing up for Iraq. He only talks about AMERICA!:
“Longshore workers are standing-down on the job and standing up for America. We’re supporting the troops…We’re loyal to America, and we won’t stand by while our country, our troops, and our economy are destroyed by a war that’s bankrupting us to the tune of 3 trillion dollars. It’s time to stand up, and we’re doing our part today.”
The Iraq war was - and remains! - a war of choice. Americans should be putting the Iraqi people first in any statement they make about the war, not America.
It’s nice to know that all that matters to Americans is the American troops, the American economy, and everything else that’s AMERICAN!
The world looks at America and sees a self-absorbed, ill-informed, uncaring, violent, insanely patriotic nation whose only concern is AMERICA.
And this can only mean one thing: given another pretext like 9/11, America will wage further wars so that Americans can, once again, STAND UP FOR AMERICA!
The “Los Angeles Times” made no mention of the fact that the General Union of Port Workers in Iraq, out of solidarity with the ILWU, stopped work for an hour on May Day in the ports of Umm Qasr and Khor Al Zubair.
“May Day Message from the Port Workers in Iraq to West Coast dock workers in the U.S.” (pity the Iraqis didn’t realise that the dockworkers in the US were only “STANDING UP FOR AMERICA” and “SUPPORTING THE TROOPS” - see my post above):
http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?id=15827
A “May Day 2008 Statement from the Iraqi Labour Movement To the Workers and All Peace Loving People of the World”:
http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?id=15826
“Our union offices have been raided. Union property has been seized and destroyed. Our bank accounts have been frozen. Our leaders have been beaten, arrested, abducted and assassinated. Our rights as workers have been routinely violated.
“The Ba’athist legislation of 1987, which banned trade unions in the public sector and public enterprises (80% of all workers), is still in effect, enforced by Paul Bremer’s post-invasion Occupation Authority and then by all subsequent Iraqi administrations. This is an attack on our rights and basic precepts of a democratic society, and is a grim reminder of the shadow of dictatorship still stalking our country.
“…In the name of our ‘liberation,’ the invaders have destroyed our nation’s infrastructure, bombed our neighbourhoods, broken into our homes, traumatized our children, assaulted and arrested many of our family members and neighbours, permitted the looting of our national treasures, and turned nearly twenty percent of our people into refugees.”
Our hearts go out to our fellow brothers and sisters in Iraq who were oppressed under the Ba’athist legislation of 1987 and enforced under Paul Bremer’s dictatorial policies. You working people must unite and put aside religious differences and expell from your country the evil empire of the United States, and after doing so, the world labor movement will help organize your unions again.
May the Iraqi Resistance to American Imperialism be triumphant!
I was so proud when I first read that the Longshoreman were planing to take this action (sometimes not doing something, IS doing something), and even more so when the membership actually did it, going against their own powers that be.
For those of you who are belittling and negating the Longshoreman’s (and the actions of others who gave their support, i.e. truckers that wouldn’t cross the line) as being meaningless, 65% of the goods coming into this country come through that port.
It was the unions that built the middle class, that gave us the so-called benefits that the majority of workers have benefited from (and have lost or are losing), especially those workers who aren’t union members. Benefits such as minimum wage (though now a joke), paid vacation time, paid sick time, health insurance, safe working conditions, healthcare, the 8 hr. day, overtime pay, etc., etc. The term “Benefits” in this context, infuriates me as it implies that the Company is giving it to me out of the goodness of their hearts. These “benefits” are really just a part of one’s pay package. If the company didn’t pay for it, it would have to pay the workers more in order for the workers to be able to obtain it for themselves, and it is cheaper for the Company to buy it for the employee than it is for them to have to pay said worker enough to purchase it for themselves. People work, sacrificed and DIED to obtain these “benefits” for the rest of us!!!
Teddy Roosevelt said that labor has to have as much power as capital.
Though I am saddened by the fact that the mainstream media are (not is, and especially television, which is where most people get their news(?), for the most part, ignoring this; I probably would have been more surprised if they had given this the coverage that it, and we, deserves.
peaceman,
Re. your comments above, with regards to the self-checkout lanes at supermarkets and other businesses, Thank You! If only people would just stop and really think about what is the actual purpose of self-serve anything in the corporate world. It is NOT to make checking out guicker, cheaper or easier for the shopper; it IS to make it cheaper for the company, by eliminating jobs. Notice that the number of checkout lines staffed by a cashier and bagger are decreasing, while the number of self-serve checkout increase.
And then there is Wal-Mart, where workers go to get good bargains, even though Wal-Mart bears more responsibility for the destruction of the middle class by encouraging (forcing) their suppliers to outsource their work to other countries with cheaper labor costs, than does any other single entity, with the exception of our governments.
roncypert,
I thank you for your understanding of these types of business procedures. You described it well!
We tried fighting a Wal-Mart coming into my community, but the die was cast and the store’s been open about a year and a half. I still wouldn’t shop there if I had holes in my shoes (that’s what cardboard’s for) or pants, and everything they sold cost one dollar, I’d still stay away. Just a matter of principal.
Your other post is absolutely a gem! Even FDR knew something had to be done for working people during the “Depression” in the 30’s. I agree with you. Unions gave us the middle class, along with the 8 hour work day, the weekend, safe working conditions, medical benefits, retirement pensions, job protection, contracts, and equal treatment at the workplace. Are they perfect? Nothing’s perfect when humans interact with one another, but for all the wrongdoings that took place (and still do), they are a tiny speck compared to the good unions have done for working people. I repeated what you said because it is worth re-emphasing again.
Going back about 9 years ago, I helped teach Teamster History to new members in the union and others taught related subjects. Sad to say, we haven’t conducted these classes in years. Young people, not all, but most, haven’t a clue about US Labor History, nor do they care. That’s why it takes me 30 minutes to buy a quart of milk. Five minutes for the purchase and 25 talking to folks about the very issues you raised.
Thanks again, roncypert, for two solid posts!
Somebody took a day off. Yawn. That guy lost a days wages. I still got my ammo.
Take tomorrow off. Bet you I get my ammo tomorrow.
Pretty soon you will start getting hungry because you cant pay for your food.
I’ll still be shooting bad people. (male and female), and it wont matter WHO is elected president. Believe me.
Please have a GREAT DAY. REALLY.
continually amused,
Seems like you’re continually confused.
Workers of the world, untie!
–Groucho Marx
Really, everybody go out and get a blow pop. Devour a big juicy cheeseburger, lighten up and enjoy life eh?