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    Vox PopulistHamilton Nolan
    5/31/16 10:33am

    About a quarter of the jobs are still unionized here in Germany, compared to just 7 % in the US. That massive difference in the political power and economic leverage of unions results in the following benefits guaranteed by law:

    - Paid parental leave of 14 months compared to zero parental leave
    - Paid maternity leave of 3 months compared to zero maternity leave
    - 30 paid sick days per year compared to zero paid sick days
    - 24 paid vacation days compared to zero paid vacation days
    - Universal health care for every citizen
    - University and trade school education free of tuition
    - Job protection compared to “right to work”
    - 0.5 occupational fatalities (killed on the job) per 100.000 citizens compared to 1.5 per 100.000 citizens

    Everyone benefits from strong unions, that includes a majority of workers and employees that aren’t part of a union themselves. Greater job security, better benefits, stronger safety regulations. An occupational fatality rate like in Germany alone would save over 3.000 lives in the US ever year.

    Shitty working conditions kill more Americans in a year than terrorists do in a decade, so that should give anyone pause to think about the value of unions and who benefits from demonizing them. Hint: It’s not the guy risking his life working on an oil rig, but the guy who owns that rig and enjoys reading his quarterly reports at his mansion in the Hamptons.

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      Richard CardenasVox Populist
      5/31/16 11:03am

      You also only spend 1.1% of GDP on your military, whereas the U.S. spends 3.3% of our GDP on military including 38 active military installations in Germany. You are welcome.

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      Michael ZaiteVox Populist
      5/31/16 11:09am

      Yea but Germans actually like setting up and following rules because that’s how you actually make things work.

      Americans relish in ignoring rules and being an individualistic fucking cowboy.

      Also “Right to Work” here doesn’t mean you have a right to a job. It’s a bullshit term that means you can get a job at a union shop without being compelled to join the union. Just a means of weakening unions with colorful lies idiots will vote for.

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    Peter ThielHamilton Nolan
    5/31/16 10:10am

    I'm sure Verizon customers agree wholeheartedly.

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      Netflix and ShillPeter Thiel
      5/31/16 10:13am

      A strike isn’t about the customers.

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      toothpetardPeter Thiel
      5/31/16 10:15am

      I demand my phone entertainment be provided by the lowest paid people possible. And also we need to give the CEO a bonus for talent/merit.

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    BobbySeriousHamilton Nolan
    5/31/16 10:17am

    Why is it that the same people who clearly understand the critical importance of having separate but equal branches of government to serve as a check on power......can’t wrap their heads around the fact that without that same check on power in the free market, i.e. labor -vs- corporate interests, you’ll end up with one side destructively abusing its power?

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      XrdsAlumBobbySerious
      5/31/16 10:34am

      Those people are either already at the top of the corporate pyramid or expect, secretly or openly, that they’ll be there Real Soon Now(tm). The would-be exploiters are embarrassing on a number of levels.

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      IskaralPustBobbySerious
      5/31/16 10:39am

      The separation of powers in political government is between legislative, executive, and judicial. The separation of powers in corporate government is between shareholders, directors and management. In neither case is any important branch designed to be composed, in whole or part, of poor working people. The system functions as intended; the failure is not of understanding but of caring.

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    festivusaziliHamilton Nolan
    5/31/16 10:21am

    The right wing has done a great job of convincing workers that unions (and strikes, by extension) put companies out of business. Strikes work. People are just afraid they might work too well.

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      Miniatureamericanflagsforothersfestivusazili
      5/31/16 10:25am

      It’s the trolliest of concern trolling.

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      festivusaziliMiniatureamericanflagsforothers
      5/31/16 10:27am

      “If I paid you more, I wouldn’t be able to pay you at all.” Yup, description checks out.

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    Misteaks were madeHamilton Nolan
    5/31/16 10:24am

    Strikes Still Work

    Unless you have a weak local that drags out that stupid inflatable rat and the only ones picketing are the elected officials from the union hall.

    Then the salaried employees laugh our asses off as our union workers drive past the picket line and are on the assembly line at on time at 7AM. In essence the strike doesn’t even exist.

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      DavidPuddyMisteaks were made
      5/31/16 10:29am

      You sound like a really swell guy. Would love to be your colleague.

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      Misteaks were madeDavidPuddy
      5/31/16 10:51am

      Dude, it’s a fucking pathetic situation. All I know is that our workers get dues stolen for absolutely no representation at all. The local is a piece of shit. They show up every 3 years, sign the contract the company presents and disappear again. I have never seen or heard of a local official inside of our factory in my 12 years here. At previous jobs, the local was always present in some form or another. I knew who the committeemen were and the factory workers that held positions within the local.

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    thechurchofbillhicksHamilton Nolan
    5/31/16 10:14am

    Slightly off topic - On the subject of wages still being flat, does anyone remember a political cartoon with either factory or coal workers covered in grime, and one of them point up at the corporate offices, saying “Imagine how hard they must be working up there”? I’d really appreciate the help, I’ve tried googling and apparently I’m off on the phrasing.

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      Vox Populistthechurchofbillhicks
      5/31/16 10:17am

      I’m sure the coal workers of America appreciate your efforts. All three of them.

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      thechurchofbillhicksVox Populist
      5/31/16 10:33am

      Calm down, champ. At no point in my post am I defending the coal industry. Switch to decaf, brush up on your reading comprehension and get back to me if you have something useful to contribute.

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    Sluicer's ghostHamilton Nolan
    5/31/16 10:29am

    HamNo.... do not worry, after the election when you are included in the first wave of mass arrests you will have a lot of time to worry. But not now.

    Now you can talk about “strikes” and think that Amerika wants a discussion of how organized labor can promote the greater good. You have dreams, and they are good dreams too.

    In the prison cell where you will rot for years you can think about how Amerika was so close, just a whisker away from bringing justice to its people. To the world too. That will console you, but eventually, perhaps after a guard has beaten you a little harder than usual, or you spent too many months in isolation, you might not be believing, not consoled.

    This is fine and normal and it is good that you will eventually see through it all. Freedom. Equality. Systems of balanced reciprocity between classes. All of it a lie as big as the ones that got President Trump, our Maximum Leader elected.

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      ZukkaSluicer's ghost
      5/31/16 10:35am
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      Sluicer's ghostZukka
      5/31/16 10:51am

      In Trump's Amerika we will all aspire to be this person.

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    CleverUsernameHamilton Nolan
    5/31/16 10:26am

    Businesses: “Keep government out of our business. We’re here to make money!”

    Organized Labor: “We’re also here to make money!”

    Businesses: “We need to bring in the government.”

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      MizJenkinsHamilton Nolan
      5/31/16 11:23am

      This CWA strike was so lit. I walked passed it every day on the way to work for the past few months. By the end of week two some folks had brought drums from home and got the beat going on the picket line. All those Black and Latin folks! I was like damn, we really will make anything a party. I’m sometimes torn on unions, but I couldn’t help but feel a little pride and solidarity.

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        Sid and FinancyMizJenkins
        5/31/16 11:51am

        Drums have been counterproductive to every movement since Altamont.

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      ReburnsABurningReturnsHamilton Nolan
      5/31/16 10:27am

      That’s one way to read what happened.

      Another way to read what happened is that Verizon is pretty unhappy with that whole segment of their business and is planning on getting out of it soon. The most important thing to them was to keep things operating smoothly, not necessarily at the most efficiently negotiated cost.

      That’s not to say it isn’t a great deal for these people, but the real question is what is going to happen when they are negotiating against either a Verizon that is recommitted to their line of business or against a new company, both of which will be much more interested in setting a long term deal they are happy with than Verizon was this time around.

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