Monday, September 12, 2011

Union Thugs At Work

LONGVIEW, Wash. (AP) — Hundreds of Longshoremen stormed the Port of Longview early Thursday, overpowered and held security guards, damaged railroad cars, and dumped grain that is the center of a labor dispute, said Longview Police Chief Jim Duscha.

Six guards were held hostage for a couple of hours after 500 or more Longshoremen broke down gates about 4:30 a.m. and smashed windows in the guard shack, he said.

No one was hurt, and nobody has been arrested. Most of the protesters returned to their union hall after cutting brake lines and spilling grain from car at the EGT terminal, Duscha said.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union believes it has the right to work at the facility, but the company has hired a contractor that's staffing a workforce of other union laborers.
Thursday's violence was first reported by Kelso radio station KLOG.

Police from several agencies in southwest Washington, the Washington State Patrol and Burlington Northern Santa Fe responded to the violence to secure the scene that followed a demonstration Wednesday.
"We're not surprised," Duscha said. "A lot of the protesters were telling us this in only the start."
One sergeant was threatened with baseball bats and retreated, Duscha said. "One officer with hundreds of Longshoremen? He used the better part of discretion."

The train was the first grain shipment to arrive at Longview. It arrived Wednesday night after police arrested 19 demonstrators who tried to block the tracks. They were led by ILWU International President Robert McEllrath, who said they would return.

The blockade appeared to defy a federal restraining order issued last week against the union after it was accused of assaults and death threats.

EGT chief executive Larry Clarke said it was unfortunate that law enforcement needed to make arrests.


I suppose that being union members gives you the right to act like a pack of morons. And the union (Local 770) grocery clerks are threatening going out on strike if their health care demands are not met. This means that if their demands are met, our groceries are going to increase; just to cover the costs that the employers have to pay for insurance premiums. And the grocery clerks are unfriendly to non-union workers. They slash tires, break car windows and other nasty stuff, just like the union thug longshoremen.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

MORE ON LABOR UNIONS

Did you know:

a. Labor unions account for a small percentage of the workforce.

b. 82% of non-unionized workers do not want their jobs to be unionized, according to the Center for Union Facts.

c. Unions are too expensive for employers and employees.
1. Employers have to pay into unions for non-insured retirement plans.
2. Employees have to pay an initiation fee, plus monthly dues. If you're making under $14 an hour, this can be too expensive for families.

d. Employees lose their rights to talk to their supervisors or managers about wages and/or working conditions.

e. With union representation, there's no guarantee that you'll end up with more than you started with.

f. During a strike, you'll lose your right to work, costing you money.

Those are just a few things that a union brings into the work place. The main thing is that a union will not help you keep your job during a lay-off or labor dispute. If you belong to a union today, your only guarantee is that you'll lose your money as fast as a gambling casino.

A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

In December, 2009, I had a heart attack at work (a union job) and subsiquent triple by-pass operation during open heart surgery. During my recovery I tried contacting my union representatives for find out what kind of benefits I had. For months afterward, I was handed off from one idiot to another, with no knowledge of my benefits or anything. The most common answer I received was: "That's not my department. You should call such and such," who passed me on to someone else then back to the beginning. Meanwhile, my bills kept piing up even with my insurance company. In fact, just the ambulance company's charge for hauling me less than a mile to the hospital cost me $2,000.My boss wouldn't help pay part of the cost even when I told him not to call an ambulance.

In the meantime, my hospital stay, surgery, angiograms, medications and everything else cost me a $50 co-pay, with my insurance picking up the rest of the tab. The union was nowhere to be found. Today, I'm fighting two types of cancer, and the union is nowhere to be seen.

Back in the 30s, 40s and almost into the 50s, labor unions were excellent. They established minimum wages, working conditions, and child labor laws. Today they're useless. The only good thing about them is keeping an honest employer honest. A crooked employer is going to screw you even with a union present.

If a union representative comes to your workplace, just TELL THEM NO!!

Friday, February 11, 2011

Labor Unions Suck Big Time

Look for a new "Sucks" website starting up soon. I'm pissed at SEIU union and I want the world to know that labor unions suck, with SEIU in particular.

When I had my heart attack and subsiquent tripple by-pass open heart surgery, the labor union, of which I was a member, did absolutely nothing.

BTW: I now have to use hearing aids, thanks to working around jet engines while I was in the Air Force. Since I'm already a disabled veteran, the addition of this "new" disability will be added to the compensation I'm already receiving. I'm still waiting for the percentage amount that will be added; however, the two $1,000 hearing aids were provided by the Veterans Administration. Plus, they'll supply me with a lifetime of batteries.