Mott’s, Dr Pepper Snapple and Margaritaville controversy?

[ph4ever]

Obviously Don and I are on completely opposite ends of the issue. Hmmmmmmmm

[SMLCHNG]

Love ya Don, but I'm with Connie on this. IMHO, unions had their time and place, and it doesn't exist anymore. I remember when my father worked for Illinois Bell. They went on strike. He found some work so he could support his family of 5 kids, and he was harassed. I'll never forget it.

[ph4ever]

nanna nanna boo boo Gammie loves me

BTW I'm letting Don know the general gist of this thread as I post.

[SMLCHNG]

Yes, Gammie does.

[ph4ever]

Yes, Gammie does.

SPEW!!!

[Glorfindel7]

I remember working for a grocery store, having to pay 20 dollars every paycheck for union dues (when I worked 18-24 hours a week at about 3.50 an hour...)

I remember asking the local union "boss" once what they could do for me and his answer was "you get to keep your job..." (because my level of employment was "entry level" I got no actual benefits from being in the union but because it was a union shop I still had to pay dues... I got a nice newsletter though about how much other people benefited from union involvement...) However I saw quite a few slackers (one guy actually spent 1/2 his shift in the break room instead of working...) that because of union rules couldn't be let go without a valid "grievance" or they could get their job back easily.

[msu#1]

wow its not easy at all to pick out the people who are from "red states" like texas in this thread. those evil unemployed people need to stop looking for replacement jobs and cashing unemployment checks and take those 10k jobs and lose their homes just like the 50k job they lost. when your neighbors house loses value due to yours being foreclosed dont complain cause at least your neighbor is earning money now. hopefully you wont need a job or will not be forced to take a paycut when your company decides it just needs to do that even though they are making a tonbut just because everyone should give back in this climate. cant waait for the claims to start rolling in from the gulf states when bp drops employees an pay to help pay for the cleanup.

its a good thing the tea party and republicans are there to protect us from the defeceit that they couldnt care less about when texas good ole boy cut taxes for the top 5% and reversed the tread and started the defeceit increasing again.

[Wildh2oskier]

For those of you who are anti Union I would ask you to read the following.

America cannot be a successful low-wage consumer society.
The Bush administration tried to make up for stagnant wages with consumer debt—
a choice that has proven disastrous. Our country needs more money to go to America’s
workers and less to Wall Street speculators and CEOs. That is why a key element of our
nation’s economic recovery must be to restore workers’ freedom to form unions, speak
for themselves and negotiate a fair share of the wealth they create. Rising income,
not more debt, is the only way out of the economic crisis.

The whole article can be found here....
http://www.aflcio.org/joinaunion/voicea ... _union.pdf

+1 on this. For those of you who are anti-union, go to your company's owner and tell him you want a better wage, insurance and a guaranteed retirement. He'll laugh you out of his office and tell you to hit the bricks. But let all his workforce make those same request and you will get his attention. United we stand, divided we fall.
Also as for the "conservative" and tea party comments I have read in this thread, I would like to point out that as a resident of a very conservative state (Alabama) it is quite obvious that the members of this political splinter group are for the most part made up with angry white people who can't get over an uppity *black man* (insert correct racist term) daring to hold the highest office in the land.

[Joetown Parrothead]

I make a pretty good Bloody Mary...

[SMLCHNG]

I make a pretty good Bloody Mary...

Yes, you do.


And lets keep the nasty comments at bay here, folks. It's not really necessary.

[Elrod]

I make a pretty good Bloody Mary...

(I don't even like vodka, but) I have to agree!

[phjrsaunt]

wildh20skier-
There are no guarantees in life. I want a lot of things in life, including better wages. But I suspect that even if I did belong to a union and went to the appriate person and told them "I want better wages" I wouldn't necessarily get them.

Regarding my political or racial orientation, they have nothing to do with my opinion. My opinion comes from having a grandfather who worked in a coal mine most of his life, and a union was there to (hopefully) look out for his safety. My opinion also comes from having grown up in a family who did whatever honest work there was in order to pay bills (teach, work construction, join the military) and send three kids through college, and from the (admidtedly limited) post-graduate education I have in Human Resources.

[ph4ever]

For those of you who are anti Union I would ask you to read the following.

America cannot be a successful low-wage consumer society.
The Bush administration tried to make up for stagnant wages with consumer debt—
a choice that has proven disastrous. Our country needs more money to go to America’s
workers and less to Wall Street speculators and CEOs. That is why a key element of our
nation’s economic recovery must be to restore workers’ freedom to form unions, speak
for themselves and negotiate a fair share of the wealth they create. Rising income,
not more debt, is the only way out of the economic crisis.

The whole article can be found here....
http://www.aflcio.org/joinaunion/voicea ... _union.pdf

+1 on this. For those of you who are anti-union, go to your company's owner and tell him you want a better wage, insurance and a guaranteed retirement. He'll laugh you out of his office and tell you to hit the bricks. But let all his workforce make those same request and you will get his attention. United we stand, divided we fall.
Also as for the "conservative" and tea party comments I have read in this thread, I would like to point out that as a resident of a very conservative state (Alabama) it is quite obvious that the members of this political splinter group are for the most part made up with angry white people who can't get over an uppity *black man* (insert correct racist term) daring to hold the highest office in the land.

WTF????? You clearly are ill informed about the people here. You obviously don't know what you are talking about. My hometown has been in the midst of racial controversy for several years now and that comment ranks right up there with some of the most absurd things I've heard. While I realize that there are some people around you that think that way, this is one of the LAST freaking places you'd find with that type of backwoods thinking. The people here that hate the President, hate him because he's totally screwing up. Not because of his skin. Good Gawd Almighty..............

[pietaster]

wow its not easy at all to pick out the people who are from "red states" like texas in this thread. those evil unemployed people need to stop looking for replacement jobs and cashing unemployment checks and take those 10k jobs and lose their homes just like the 50k job they lost. when your neighbors house loses value due to yours being foreclosed dont complain cause at least your neighbor is earning money now. hopefully you wont need a job or will not be forced to take a paycut when your company decides it just needs to do that even though they are making a tonbut just because everyone should give back in this climate. cant waait for the claims to start rolling in from the gulf states when bp drops employees an pay to help pay for the cleanup.

its a good thing the tea party and republicans are there to protect us from the defeceit (the word is "deficit") that they couldnt care less about when texas good ole boy cut taxes for the top 5% and reversed the tread (what "tread" was reversed?) and started the defeceit (again, it's deficit) increasing again.

I wonder how many of your teachers belonged to a union and were able to keep their jobs no matter how incompetent they (obviously) were?

I assume from your screen name and avatar, you're from Michigan. Unions have been a big help for your state's economy, haven't they?

[Wildh2oskier]

WTF????? You clearly are ill informed about the people here. You obviously don't know what you are talking about. My hometown has been in the midst of racial controversy for several years now and that comment ranks right up there with some of the most absurd things I've heard. While I realize that there are some people around you that think that way, this is one of the LAST freaking places you'd find with that type of backwoods thinking. The people here that hate the President, hate him because he's totally screwing up. Not because of his skin. Good Gawd Almighty..............

Look where I'm from ph4, I am a white middle aged man in the south. I walk amongst many other white people, people who admit that they cannot stand the President because they cannot stand the thought of a non white leader. I'm not in the Pacific northwest so I cannot comment on what you see and say. I can only speak from that which I see day in and day out.
My Dad died back in Oct. His doctor told me that he needed a pacemaker but that his insurance would not pay for it till it was going to be too late. Sure enough he finally got it and it was too late. But as the doctor said that was the his insurance carriers plan. If they didn't let him get it at an earlier point then they would have had to pay for it then. By making him wait there were possible options that could have happened (1) God could have intervened and fixed his heart, no cost to the insurance carrier. (2) He could have died at no cost to the insurance company. Or (3) they put it in and had to pay the money. My Dad was sentenced to die by an insurance company for profit. Or as I like to call them an "Insurance Agency Death Panel". So I am behind the Prez on the Healthcare legislation.
If he did step in and tell BP to stand aside guess where BP is heading next? Right to court to get out from having to pay any more for their act of criminal negligence. And we (American taxpayers) would get stuck holding the bag.
Is this President screwing up? I don't think so. The conservatives can't stand him, the liberals can't stand him. If your making both sides that angry then you must be doing something right.
I do not like when a forum takes on any political discussion. No good ever comes from it. So we need to move on because I can so easily show the lies and two facetiousness in political arguments from both the right and the left.
I would rather talk about boat drinks and warm summer breezes that last from March till November. And concerts and boobies!