Union workers take their contract seriously as they should. When workers state a union action in picketing their employers is important, it is usually because the employer has either disengaged from negotiations or never sincerely participated at all.
The negotiations for a new contract began two months before the past contract ended. The employers are suppose to engage these negotiations with the purpose of signing a new contract. At the end of the contract union members were not obligated to work past that day, but, they did. They worked without a contract for more than half a year. That is disingenuous of any employer.
The only method of getting an employer to take a contract as seriously as the worker is a strike. It is the one action empowering the Middle Class in the USA. Peaceful demonstrations are important and bring a message about the state of our society in relation to private industry. The Middle Class doesn't hate employers, they depend on them, but when workers are scoffed at as unimportant it is time to end a deadlock and walk out.
There is no union worker that likes the idea of walking off a job and picketing to move contract negotiations along. They want to work. It is there way of supporting their families. It is a serious decision.
The USA Middle Class needs to support those that have been patient in waiting for a contract to be settled. And on a rare occasion insist on their own job action to support those ignored and aggrieved by an employer.
It is a national shame to focus on breaking up unions to benefit profits. The conversation about income inequality begins with the demand to break up unions and remove the dignity of the Middle Class as the world's best labor force. The Middle Class in the USA has to reclaim the Middle Class by raising their standard of living and continue to maintain a living wage. A living wage has to carry with it the understanding retirement is a need in saving for a home, children's education and the future.
Wall Street benefits from a strong Middle Class in stability of the markets and a healthy consumer base. When the Middle Class saves for the future banks and lending institutions benefit directly. The unions make a great deal possible in a healthy economy, they should not be attacked as trouble makers. There is no shame for unions in supporting workers. There is a great deal of shame by employers when workers face a strike after working longer than six months without one.
February 20, 2015
Shipping companies and dockworkers (click here) reached a tentative deal late Friday on a new labor contract, avoiding a shutdown of 29 ports that would have choked off trade through the West Coast.
The agreement, which still needs approval from union members and individual employers, should start easing severe congestion that’s been building for months at the nation’s busiest ports, in Los Angeles and Long Beach, along with other major gateways.
Details of the proposed five-year contract for about 20,000 West Coast dockworkers were not released. The dockworkers have been without a contract since July. The two sides had been negotiating since May.
The dispute caused businesses across the nation to lose money because imports were trapped on boats and exports trapped on land....
The negotiations for a new contract began two months before the past contract ended. The employers are suppose to engage these negotiations with the purpose of signing a new contract. At the end of the contract union members were not obligated to work past that day, but, they did. They worked without a contract for more than half a year. That is disingenuous of any employer.
The only method of getting an employer to take a contract as seriously as the worker is a strike. It is the one action empowering the Middle Class in the USA. Peaceful demonstrations are important and bring a message about the state of our society in relation to private industry. The Middle Class doesn't hate employers, they depend on them, but when workers are scoffed at as unimportant it is time to end a deadlock and walk out.
There is no union worker that likes the idea of walking off a job and picketing to move contract negotiations along. They want to work. It is there way of supporting their families. It is a serious decision.
The USA Middle Class needs to support those that have been patient in waiting for a contract to be settled. And on a rare occasion insist on their own job action to support those ignored and aggrieved by an employer.
It is a national shame to focus on breaking up unions to benefit profits. The conversation about income inequality begins with the demand to break up unions and remove the dignity of the Middle Class as the world's best labor force. The Middle Class in the USA has to reclaim the Middle Class by raising their standard of living and continue to maintain a living wage. A living wage has to carry with it the understanding retirement is a need in saving for a home, children's education and the future.
Wall Street benefits from a strong Middle Class in stability of the markets and a healthy consumer base. When the Middle Class saves for the future banks and lending institutions benefit directly. The unions make a great deal possible in a healthy economy, they should not be attacked as trouble makers. There is no shame for unions in supporting workers. There is a great deal of shame by employers when workers face a strike after working longer than six months without one.
February 20, 2015
Shipping companies and dockworkers (click here) reached a tentative deal late Friday on a new labor contract, avoiding a shutdown of 29 ports that would have choked off trade through the West Coast.
The agreement, which still needs approval from union members and individual employers, should start easing severe congestion that’s been building for months at the nation’s busiest ports, in Los Angeles and Long Beach, along with other major gateways.
Details of the proposed five-year contract for about 20,000 West Coast dockworkers were not released. The dockworkers have been without a contract since July. The two sides had been negotiating since May.
The dispute caused businesses across the nation to lose money because imports were trapped on boats and exports trapped on land....
