posted on September 16, 2001 01:38:50 PM new
DeSquirrel,
One would have thought that the information that you conveyed would be obvious. Exactly the same things happened with the OKC bombing, though no one attempted to use that situation for political advantage.
posted on September 16, 2001 01:40:37 PM new
The next time one of your friends loses a job because s/he is closing in on 55 and the company knows the medical or pension is going to start costing them.... The next time you know someone who works 40-60 hours a week and is part of "the working poor"....
Comfort yourself by telling yourself that unions have outlived their usefulness. The unions aren't perfect, but I have yet to work for a company whose management was perfect either.
All this anti-union sentiment started years ago when some newspaper or some such reported that only the UAW workers could afford the very cars they were building.
The unions could use some cleaning up, or they will lose what small support they still have. But to leave the fate of the average employee up to management, and leave the worker with no bargaining power is one more step toward toward a two-class economy I'd just as soon not see happen.
There was a thread around a week or so ago about hospital care getting worse. Don't you think this has something to do with the fact that the nurses unions aren't strong enough to keep the kinds of jobs they should be doing restricted to people with the right type of training?
posted on September 16, 2001 01:50:59 PM new
Pardon me for my slowness today, but I read this thread twice, looking for an answer to my question, and I didnt see it. Let me rephrase.
If people are in a disaster, and other people come out to help dig them out, shovel them out, etc, they are doing it as a volunteer, because they want to help. Whether it be filling sand bags, or digging trenches, or hauling off rubble, they were not hired...they just came to help. Now, why does one have to belong to this or that to give free labor to HELP? I dont get it.
posted on September 16, 2001 01:59:26 PM new
Hundreds of my aquaintances (heavy equipment operators, construction workers, national guard, fireman, EMT) are all in NY. They do not belong to NY unions, they are not being paid. Beforwe you believe something, a good rule of thumb is to first figure out if it even makes sense.
posted on September 16, 2001 02:01:17 PM new
On the previous page, DeSquirrel posted the following info about help.
"Let me try and explain something to those who have a rough time figuring simple things out. Within hours of the tragedy, all of the surplus fire, first aid, police, EMT and heavy equipment from 5 states was in Manhattan. It is now being turned away because they don't need people standing on each others shoulders. If you are not needed DO NOT COME HERE and be part of the problem!
Another thing is that this is a crime scene and most of the people standing on each other shoulders are FBI, police, army, and Fireman going over debris with SHOVELS. They do not need good old Joe from NC with his torch."
''''''''
Sometimes help just gets in the way and impedes progress.
posted on September 16, 2001 02:04:49 PM new
DeSquirrel, if I were buried under that rubble, I would want Joe from NC digging with the rest of them to get my ass outta there, and I dont give a rats patootie whether they belong to the union or if they are just a farmer with a hoe.
posted on September 16, 2001 02:05:13 PM new
First get things right no one is turning the help totally away they are bring in help in shift by the truck load.
What these people are being told are they need no more help today come back later on and they are being thanked for showing up today but they have all the help they can use for this day.
posted on September 16, 2001 03:28:52 PM new
I think most of you are missing the point. Joe North Carolina Guy means well but he got here yesterday.
They don't need him. He's the extra cook who's gonna spoil the broth. His heart is in the right plce, of course. This has nothing to do with unions, politics or accents. They're at saturation point with rescue workers (a testament to the giving spirit of people).
If Joe would like to help he can give blood. He can volunteer in a soup kitchen. He can help out in other ways. It has nothing to do with union cards and politics that Joe who arrived here yesterday, heart in the right place, has found that his volunteer services at the site are not needed now.
