The Worker Thread

[O Really]

"pre-labor"
Funny thing is, my spell-check still thinks it's Canadian, and it had marked that, but I just thought it was because I didn't write "labour" and ignored it. Anyway, I've reconsidered - NLRB probably is "little-known" by many of those who would benefit most by it if it were doing its job.

[Vrede too]

"pre-labor"
Funny thing is, my spell-check still thinks it's Canadian, and it had marked that, but I just thought it was because I didn't write "labour" and ignored it. Anyway, I've reconsidered - NLRB probably is "little-known" by many of those who would benefit most by it if it were doing its job.

Probably just as well since the point of the article and report is that they won't benefit from this NLRB. Why get anyone's hopes up?

[O Really]

At least in part due to the constant barrage of right-wing propaganda, unions are not seen as a positive means to worker improvement. A union can't guarantee higher wages or benefits, although historically unionized companies do have higher pay on average than non-union companies. But what the union can guarantee is a grievance process that provides some protection against unreasonable discipline, adverse employment decisions and adds somewhat to job security. Now if you work of one of the big boxes and get treated like crap, what is there about that that you wouldn't want? The propaganda has hammered on about how expensive union membership is, and how you have to go on strike, and how crooked the leaders are, yada. And the unions haven't been doing much lately to neutralize that. Remember "Look for the Union Label"?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO7VUklDlQw

The message was that of regular people - you neighbors - working hard to earn a living making things you need, and doing it in the US. And even from 1980ish jobs were headed out of country. What has SEIU run lately?

Two of the four headline pics say "Strike" https://www.seiu.org/

[Vrede too]

... Remember "Look for the Union Label"?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO7VUklDlQw ...

Michigan, Illinois set to usher in recreational pot sales


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2CU1cdTlQE

[Vrede too]

Amazon Sells Clothes From Factories Other Retailers Blacklist
After a deadly 2013 factory collapse, most big U.S. apparel companies agreed to steer clear of dangerous plants in Bangladesh. Not Amazon.

AOC and the people of the Bronx were correct.

[Vrede too]

Tell Amazon: Stop putting lives in danger and commit to garment factory safety

[Vrede too]

Tell Hershey, Nestlé and Mars: Stop using child labor

[Vrede too]

... Anyway, I've reconsidered - NLRB probably is "little-known" by many of those who would benefit most by it if it were doing its job.

Three Republican-appointed white men are now deciding whether you have rights on the job

"two lawyers who represented corporations before coming to the NLRB, and one former Republican congressional staffer."

However, the Trump administration has not yet acted to nominate McFerran for a second term, nor has it nominated a Democrat to fill the other vacant Democratic seat that has been open since August 2018.

That's a weird arrangement. Opposite party candidates should be nominated by the highest ranking congressperson from that party.

[neoplacebo]

My human clone was forced out at Boeing today. Those ungrateful bastards. It's a goddamn witch hunt; do I look like a witch? What's wrong with these silly fucksticks? Don't they know it's Christmas? It's a disgrace, a hoax, a sh sh sh sh sham. I should put a Max curse on the rest of their stupid planes.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/boeing-ceo-r ... 46477.html

[Vrede too]

My human clone was forced out at Boeing today. Those ungrateful bastards. It's a goddamn witch hunt; do I look like a witch? What's wrong with these silly fucksticks? Don't they know it's Christmas? It's a disgrace, a hoax, a sh sh sh sh sham. I should put a Max curse on the rest of their stupid planes.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/boeing-ceo-r ... 46477.html

Maybe you should have taught him how to make a $460 million spaceship that can read a clock as well as a 1st grader can.

NASA says a clock error sent Boeing's new astronaut spaceship veering wildly off course during its maiden voyage

[Vrede too]

More:

Top charts of 2019
Thirteen charts that clarify what our economic priorities need to be in 2020

[neoplacebo]

My human clone was forced out at Boeing today. Those ungrateful bastards. It's a goddamn witch hunt; do I look like a witch? What's wrong with these silly fucksticks? Don't they know it's Christmas? It's a disgrace, a hoax, a sh sh sh sh sham. I should put a Max curse on the rest of their stupid planes.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/boeing-ceo-r ... 46477.html

Maybe you should have taught him how to make a $460 million spaceship that can read a clock as well as a 1st grader can.

NASA says a clock error sent Boeing's new astronaut spaceship veering wildly off course during its maiden voyage

Yeah, I read about Boeing's other faux pas the other day. They tried to put a good face on it and touted what a "successful" landing the timeless flight achieved. I thought to myself "bu bu bu bu bullshit." Those boys need me to go out there and fix their foul and rancid system. But in spite of it all, my clone guy got a forty million "thanks for the fuckups" gift on his way out. He's still grinning like someone on the cusp of a psychedelic journey.

[Vrede too]

Yeah, I read about Boeing's other faux pas the other day. They tried to put a good face on it and touted what a "successful" landing the timeless flight achieved. I thought to myself "bu bu bu bu bullshit." Those boys need me to go out there and fix their foul and rancid system. But in spite of it all, my clone guy got a forty million "thanks for the fuckups" gift on his way out. He's still grinning like someone on the cusp of a psychedelic journey.

That sucks. The transfer of American wealth to the fat cats happens even when they're screw ups.


These 21 states are raising their minimum wage for 2020

[O Really]

So two WA minimum wage workers pooling their resources could afford a decent one-bedroom apartment in Spokane, Yakima, Tri-Cities, Bellingham, and over on the Peninsula like Port Townsend, but still wouldn't be able to get a studio in the greater Seattle area. Actually, one person at minimum wage could get a one-bedroom in Spokane in some shabby areas.

"Minimum wage" employees in Seattle, though, are usually are above the legal rate, but still not enough to live anywhere around work. McD's pays on average $14.50 and a Starbucks barista gets around $16.50.

The state is never going to have a minimum wage that is "livable" in Seattle, but if it did, workers in Spokane, et. al. would actually be able to be back in some semblance of what used to be "middle class" with a decent place to live and a reliable car.

It would seem one approach would be to have state minimums regionalized, but I can only imagine the howls arising out of that proposal.

But looking at NC where the state wage mirrors the ridiculously low federal, the barista will earn $10/hr, but can't even afford half of an average priced Asheville apartment.

[O Really]

Edit above - I should have noted that the City of Seattle, like some other cities, does have its own minimum wage that is higher than the state. But the City of Seattle is not really very big (about <800,000) in relation to the entire metro area of over 3.5 million, pretty much all of which is very expensive.

[Vrede too]

My human clone was forced out at Boeing today. Those ungrateful bastards. It's a goddamn witch hunt; do I look like a witch? What's wrong with these silly fucksticks? Don't they know it's Christmas? It's a disgrace, a hoax, a sh sh sh sh sham. I should put a Max curse on the rest of their stupid planes.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/boeing-ceo-r ... 46477.html

Maybe you should have taught him how to make a $460 million spaceship that can read a clock as well as a 1st grader can.

NASA says a clock error sent Boeing's new astronaut spaceship veering wildly off course during its maiden voyage

Yeah, I read about Boeing's other faux pas the other day. They tried to put a good face on it and touted what a "successful" landing the timeless flight achieved. I thought to myself "bu bu bu bu bullshit." Those boys need me to go out there and fix their foul and rancid system. But in spite of it all, my clone guy got a forty million "thanks for the fuckups" gift on his way out. He's still grinning like someone on the cusp of a psychedelic journey.

Your clone was really a fuck up and an asshole.

Air Force warns Boeing's new CEO that it's not happy either

Hat trick!

"There’s also the company’s failure to provide a combat-ready refueling tanker, nine years after Boeing won a competition for the $44 billion project."

"nine years"!!! Almost all of our wars have been shorter than that.

[neoplacebo]

My human clone was forced out at Boeing today. Those ungrateful bastards. It's a goddamn witch hunt; do I look like a witch? What's wrong with these silly fucksticks? Don't they know it's Christmas? It's a disgrace, a hoax, a sh sh sh sh sham. I should put a Max curse on the rest of their stupid planes.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/boeing-ceo-r ... 46477.html

Maybe you should have taught him how to make a $460 million spaceship that can read a clock as well as a 1st grader can.

NASA says a clock error sent Boeing's new astronaut spaceship veering wildly off course during its maiden voyage

Yeah, I read about Boeing's other faux pas the other day. They tried to put a good face on it and touted what a "successful" landing the timeless flight achieved. I thought to myself "bu bu bu bu bullshit." Those boys need me to go out there and fix their foul and rancid system. But in spite of it all, my clone guy got a forty million "thanks for the fuckups" gift on his way out. He's still grinning like someone on the cusp of a psychedelic journey.

Your clone was really a fuck up and an asshole.

Air Force warns Boeing's new CEO that it's not happy either

Hat trick!

"There’s also the company’s failure to provide a combat-ready refueling tanker, nine years after Boeing won a competition for the $44 billion project."

"nine years"!!! Almost all of our wars have been shorter than that.

Yeah, well, he is a human; subject to monumental failure. That pile of money he got I figure softens the blow, though. And I'm not sure the idea of a "combat ready" air tanker is such a good idea. Generally, those things stay well clear of things that can shoot them down. Be interesting to audit that contract; nine years is about seven too many. Don't know about the Air Force, but the Navy only gave progress payments to Newport News Shipbuilding on submarine and aircraft carrier construction contracts. The Navy even had on site offices at the shipyard just to keep track of things.

[O Really]

Lots of whining about wages, minimum wage, time off, health benefits, abusive bosses, yammer ad infinitum, and yet..

Union membership continues to decline. ... "The US Bureau of Labor Statistics’s latest available data on annual union membership, released on Jan. 22, shows that 10.3% of American workers were in unions, down from 10.5% in 2018. For context, in 1983, the first year for which the bureau started collecting the data, the union membership rate was about 20% with 17.7 million union workers."

https://qz.com/work/1789615/union-membe ... o-decline/

Workers: "it's too hard to organize...the company fights us..." So do they think the coal mine owners made it easy or the UMW? Or the textile industry?

[neoplacebo]

Lots of whining about wages, minimum wage, time off, health benefits, abusive bosses, yammer ad infinitum, and yet..

Union membership continues to decline. ... "The US Bureau of Labor Statistics’s latest available data on annual union membership, released on Jan. 22, shows that 10.3% of American workers were in unions, down from 10.5% in 2018. For context, in 1983, the first year for which the bureau started collecting the data, the union membership rate was about 20% with 17.7 million union workers."

https://qz.com/work/1789615/union-membe ... o-decline/

Workers: "it's too hard to organize...the company fights us..." So do they think the coal mine owners made it easy or the UMW? Or the textile industry?

Republicans have had total abject fear of and rabid opposition to labor unions since the early part of the 20th century. Back then a lot of "reds" were union organizers and the guilt by association rubbed off on all union workers because of it. Even back then, Republicans were misrepresenting things and twisting facts to suit their own position. And they're still doing it.

[O Really]

Well yeah, unions take power away from those who hold it. It's not surprising there would be a lot of resistance. But why are current employees so wimpy?