Apparently the strikers were blocking access to the facility. So how do you expect employees to get through? If they drive slowly, you know the strikers will kick their cars, inflicting expensive damage, or break their windshields, endangering their eyes with broken glass, etc. If I were an employee, I'd honk and then drive through at a normal rate of speed.

People have a right to strike, but not to stop other people from working.

If the police were there the police should force a gap for the car to drive through, and arrest anybody who is damaging the car.

"I'd honk and then drive through at a normal rate of speed."

And what do you think driving thru a crowd of people at say even 20 miles and hour would do to their bodies? 20 miles an hour is most people's top prolonged running speed. Do you want even a person to run into you at that speed, let alone a 2000-3000 pound vehicle? An old guy at a festival did it by accident near me and he cause 10 injuries including broken bones. Do you really feel risking vehicular assault is the appropriate response to being impeded by pedestrians?

Why not just call the police? Or would you just ignore the police trying to stop you like the driver did in this news story?

another person w a vehicle is considered par 4 the course.

pretty much what they do in a strike

you can't get through because you don't have the right to run over them to get through, regardless of your speed. If you do hit someone and keep going, you've just committed a felony and will deservedly go to jail. So, people have a right to strike. You do not have a right to run over them so you can get to work.

No, you do not have the right to drive through a crowd at normal speed.

Look, the guy who ran those people over ignored police orders to stop. End of story.

Rather provocative post for someone's third day on DU.

Kinda like protecting the life of the fetus is more important than worrying about it after it is born and making sure that child has enough food, decent home and education. You know - Stuff Happens.

Good democrats shouldnt cross picket lines.

and just want to work.

own opinion.
Maybe they think their union is wrong.
Maybe they think it's corrupt.
Maybe they think the union demands are outrageous and stupid.
Maybe they can't afford to feed their families on strike pay (if there is any).
Who know why they are crossing. Everyone has to decide for themselves what they would do in this situation. I know I'd cross the picket line with a huge smile on my face, and I'd be at my desk ready to work at the start of my shift. And anyone that touches me or tries to stop me, I'd have them arrested for assault.

... running them over with your car, maybe not so fine. But as long as you bash through the line with a huge smile on your face, I guess that makes it ok.

Have you ever walked a picket line?

non-union workers or they live in "right to work" for nothing states. Or even worse they own the company.

" I know I'd cross the picket line with a huge----".
Rats will find any reason to cross.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scab
b (1) : a worker who refuses to join a labor union (2) : a union member who refuses to strike or returns to work before a strike has ended (3) : a worker who accepts employment or replaces a union worker during a strike (4) : one who works for less than union wages or on nonunion terms

they also have a right to what they have earned. If your actions have earned you the scorn of your Union Brethren they have the right to express it. So a strike may be hard for you, do you really think it's easy for anyone?

Yes, "everyone has to decide for themselves..." whether they are willing to work together or suffer alone.

If you disagree with your Union, work to change it.

According to police, when officers told a driver attempting to cross a picket line in front of the Dietz and Watson plant on Tacony Street to enter another way, he allegedly did the opposite.

because it was a requirement to get or keep the job, they might not personally back it, and would skip out on the strike.

Otherwise, you're just freeloading on the backs of your union brothers.

that not everyone agrees with you. Some of us just want to work without another employee breathing down our necks, wanting to charge us money for representation we do not want.
I'd never think badly and insult someone for wanting to be in a union. You're doing what you think is right for you and your family, as am I.
But the best way to get me to resent something and work against it is to try to force me to do it.

That would be the thing to do, since it is "representation we do not want." Why don't you just have your employer pay you whatever he feels like under the working conditions he alone sets?

In my opinion, if you're working in a unionized shop or industry and accepting all the benefits won by your union, but you don't want to support the union, you're just a selfish SOB. You may disagree, but that won't change my opinion of such people.

My job pays us well because they know we have a hard job. They have good benefits, free cable and Internet services (which saves me about $200+ per month), and they work hard to promote us. I don't owe anything I have to a union. Everything I have, I owe to my own hard work and skill.

And there are people in my industry that are union. I'm a tech support rep for a cable company, so that would fall under the CWA. Thankfully, they can't force us to become members, because I live in Texas.

But this case isn't about safety or working conditions at that plant. No one that was protesting was an employee at the plant. The union was demonstrating sour grapes over not getting the job.
The picketers were blocking the entrance and the employees were trying to get to work. The cops should have forced the picketers to part to allow employees to get through. They erred, and should be held accountable for not doing their jobs.

Not because "they know you have a hard job". That is naive.

So the next time you meet a CWA member in your area make sure you thank them!

CWA IS a union and they are most likely one of the factors behind your pay and benefits. I doubt you'll see too many people leaping up to praise the cable industry, unless it's one of the very few remaining smaller providers. But seriously, you think you owe nothing to a union?

Here's 36 possible reasons to reconsider that position:

http://la.aflcio.org/gnoaflcio/index.cfm?action=article&articleID=257e8c90-0ac8-43f7-b0c6-dce69756e21c


Once again, whether it's Texas, or Vermont, or any where in between, you CAN'T be forced to join a union, so I'm not sure what you are thankful for.

The whole back and forth about not wanting to be forced to join the union doesn't apply at all here since the demonstrators aren't Dietz and Watson employees. The workers were free to enter the building and based on the current reporting, no one was actually prevented from doing so...unless you think Dietz and Watson only has two employees and they refuse to carpool. Besides, as I pointed out already, the police tried to get at least one driver to use an alternate entrance which was presumably more easily accessed.

entrance? Indeed, I am entitled to my opinion of people with that view. I believe those people support violent felonies in order to quash the right to protest and use a public sidewalk. It's no wonder death squads are so prevalent in countries without union protections.

I hope the idiot that did it gets charged with a crime and pays a bunch of money in fines and goes to jail.

But I think the cops should have make the picketers move so the employees could have gotten in. The picketers weren't even employees. They were angry they hadn't been hired for the job the company's contractor wanted to do.

and the laws do allow companies being picketed to have "employee/contractor only" entrances. Which this company did. The jerk in question wanted to run people down rather than go through the correct gate. "I don't think" just doesn't cut it, the law has been specifically written and interpreted to allow companies to have non-picketable entrances, and picketable entrances. There are laws for this that have been thought out so that jerks don't run people down in picket lines. And those laws do not give the police the power to interrupt the free speech and peaceable assembly to stroke the egos of jerks who want to run people down in the picket line because they won't go to the correct gate.

You might want to read up on labor laws. You don't get to cut-off free speech and peaceable assembly just because there is an aspect of it you don't like. The law says go around the protest.

The cops don't have to stop the picket. They just have to keep the entrances open. "Don't stand here." and that'd be it.

and pedestrians have the right of way.

Here's the relevant youtube:

"Man hit by car."

by company official, who is arrested. You're just outta your depth here Donnie.

go rent the movie "Harlan County USA" then come back with your BS regarding Unions and scabs. You sir aren't too bright, I must say.....

That's the number of cars involved in incidents with the picketers. How did everyone else get to work without hitting anyone if the picketers were truly blocking entrance to the plant?

where there is no union. Scabs should not get the benefits that others are willing to fight for- bunch of god damned leaches.

Some of us just want to work without another employee breathing down our necks, wanting to charge us money for representation we do not want.

FCA US pushed down its average per worker labor cost by hiring thousands of entry level workers over the past several years at its Midwest factories as the industry rebounded following the Great Recession. Profit sharing checks also have been comparatively smaller for its workers, allowing the automaker to close the gap with Asian automakers at a much faster rate than GM or Ford.

Roughly speaking, the average hourly pay for a member of the United Auto Workers currently ranges from $28 to $38 or so for those hired before September 2007, and between $16 and $20 for workers hired afterward.

Federal law already prohibits unions from requiring membership, and right-to-work laws actually allow workers to receive union benefits without having to pay dues.

Unions are a majority rules collective. You may be familiar with this concept since all your elected officials, electoral colleges aside, depend on it. It's...what's the word...kinda democratic. Would you argue that you should be able to disregard a particular law since you disagree with it and didn't vote for the people who enacted it?

a government and a voluntary union of people. In government, the police (and their guns) enforce laws that people disagree with. If the legislature passes laws people disagree with (laws requiring voter ID, or laws against gay marriage or abortion, or against marijuana), you can work to get them changed, or you can break them as long as you are able to get away with it.
But with a collection of private individuals, there is no enforcement arm. Everything is (and should be) voluntary. They can't force you to do a darn thing.

is okay to disobey the cops and drive through a picket line are either trolls or some type of New Democrat.

Most of us on this board are activists who have been out in the streets protesting and most support the Union. That anyone thinks it is okay to run a union picketer down instead of calling the cops is surely not a democrat who supported the policies of the party for many years.

You should look into what companies did to stop Unions years ago and then get back to us about using a huge truck driving at 20 miles per hour to force their way through a picket line. History will tell you who is wrong here.

Scab is as scab does.

with Unions. And even if there were upper management they would not drive into a crowd and risk injury to the people striking.

Management gets paid during the strike. So, don't try and make it look like some poor worker that needs that pay check to take care of their family.

But where my parents worked management also got fired if they didn't show up for work during a strike.

They're not covered by the rules that protect workers' right to strike. No show, no job, unless their bosses give consent.

Where my parents worked management ran the place during strikes, esp. wildcat strikes. If they didn't, the sudden stoppage would have caused a lot of damage. You can't just turn off a blast furnace or open hearth, it takes a week or more to sideline them. You could leave a lot of the product out in the weather for a few hours--but leave it out for several days, and you get millions in production that not only can't be sold but which you have to pay to remanufacture. A work-stoppage was out of the question, and the union knew it and scheduled strikes for precisely then (across the industry--the industry-wide union had collusion and monopoly privileges deemed unseemly for management).

Mother was union; father was lowest level management possible. It made for interesting times.

That doesn't mean management gets to run over striking workers with their cars, so they can park where it is most convenient for them.

they could have processed those strikers into cold cuts or tasty snacks!

Next thing you know, the employee might deliberately ram the strikers with the intention of maiming or killing them. Are you OK with rats perpetrating violence against workers trying to better themselves by banding together?

Last edited Sat Oct 10, 2015, 05:22 PM - Edit history (1)

But neither you nor I can predict a crime before it happens. Nobody can "know" the picketers will commit all sort of criminal acts against anyone attempting to cross the picket line. Do you believe this to be a certainty because they are in a union and union critters are violent dirtbags? Anyone wishing to cross the line can do so and if anyone attacks their car, they can be arrested by the police present at the scene.

Read your history. Examine the difference between a "strike" and a "walkout."

A "walkout" is where the workers/employees of a company stop working. They may or may not form a picket or make other public statement about why they are doing so and what they want from the company.

A "strike" (which, by the way, is still LEGAL) is an action designed to bring all work at a given worksite, employer, industry, etc. to a complete halt.

Which includes non-violent efforts to block access, discourage scabs, etc.

Strikers died in the 1920s, attempting this. They put their bodies between workplace entrances and scabs, they stood up to company goons trying to escort scabs through picket lines.

What is the proper response to a strikers' picket line? If you want a better economic future, a higher quality job, respect for your work and your value as a worker and a human being?

DO NOT CROSS

That's the whole point. It's pretty simple.

wearily,
Bright

You would be arrested even though you kindly honked your horn. lol

How do you figure your slow moving car would be kicked, damaged or the windshield broke right in front of the police?

Are you frightened most of the time?

Asshole.

Last edited Sat Oct 10, 2015, 09:49 PM - Edit history (1)

we can certainly see your view of unions. are you sure you are on the correct board?

yup

Their purpose is to block the entrances to workplaces. When I participated in a strike in 2011, we very carefully planned the locations of pickets to produce maximum disruption of traffic entering the campus. We'd walk the picket lines back and forth through the cross walks for five minutes or so, then let ONE car through the intersection, then walk the pickets again. By noon the police simply put up barricades to prevent access to the feeder streets, and the road was ours.

That is how you picket.

Vehicular assault is serious shit. When something like this happened when my Dad was on strike, the Company had to get their boy out of town, and find him a new job.

In addition to my dad being a Union officer, "their boy"s daughter was a friend of my sister's - and the daughter dated a guy (after the move) who later became my boss.

and, Clamshells, old buddy - I sincerely hope you never try your suggestion. In the real world, you'd have to work with those guys again, in a week or 2. And nobody is in a better position to drop a 10 ton boiler on your ass than a millwright.

Gone

Are you certain you are on the correct website? If you are you have just started your stay here on the wrong side of most of us.

I would go back and read the article, who was it who drove into the picket line? Just other workers who just wanted to work?

Old Union member here. My father owned a company and hated the union but he did do right by his employees at the very least.

I joined up. I will not say what I think of your assessment here. Perhaps a good course of study on what the unions have done for this country and it's workers over the years is a good start.

Scab is as scab does.

I will not purchase any of there products, the bottom line is there product and if they feel the results of that so be.
And as for the first two comments in this thread, they are scabs.


I can still remember Jones and Laughlin Steel when we were on the picket line and they were bringing in strike breakers in the early 70's, it was not a pretty picture, in fact it was down right ugly.

http://faculty.weber.edu/kmackay/notable_labor_strikes_of_the_gil.htm


Honk----------------for a political revolution Bernie 2016

I'm not old enough to remember the J&L strikes myself, I would've been three or four at the time, but that's my hometown, my grandfather worked in the wire mill and my aunt worked there for a time as well. I loved going to Sol's sporting goods and BF Jones library.

wanted to injure people who are fighting to make sure everyone including those idiots have decent wages and benefits.

Go figure.

a paycheck. Most likely make 100 times what hourly guys make and get paid during strikes.

Assault with a deadly weapon any way you look at it, if not attempted murder.

The two drivers are probably "management" and thus are not members of the bargaining unit. It's my understanding that most "white collar workers" are on salary and not in unions, and most "blue collar" are hourly direct labor and may or may not be unionized?

-90% Jimmy

Those benefits didn't trickle down from the owners / one percenters. They reflect the benefits that were won by union negotiation and action. At least, that's how it appeared to work in the auto industry, where I wore blue collars and white collars, at various times.

Solidarity forever.

But we have two on this thread.

Physical assault and breaking strikes - DUers are not supposed to support those things.

Did we start letting Republicans in again? When did that happen?

We find 'em, we oppose 'em.

They get too obvious/annoying, they'll be escorted out.

In the mean time, read the thread.

What is the function of anti-union trolls on a website like this?

Why, to provide a TEACHABLE MOMENT for those who understand the value of unions and labor organization to share information, history, and experience.

And don't think that's not needed-- it is. Sixty years of relentless, anti-labor propaganda, suppression, and subversion have taken us back a century or more, in terms of overall awareness.

So, THANKS, trolls!

appreciatively,
Bright

"Sixty years of relentless, anti-labor propaganda, suppression, and subversion have taken us back a century or more, in terms of overall awareness."

Sadly, this is so true.

I try to be a tolerant person, but that's not up for discussion in my book. Let them back in when they read a little labour history.

Not that I buy much in the way of industrially-produced cold cuts anyway. But in the past, I've occasionally filled in when local and/or sustainable producers haven't had what I wanted available. D&W quality was usually better than some of the Big PseudoFood makers.

But I'll do without.

firmly,
Bright

to me and let me tell you these workers have a world of reasons to strike. Our packing plants are some of the most dangerous places in the world to work.

They are a "household name" here in Philly. They make sliced/packaged and roll deli lunch meats, sausage, scrapple, bacon, hotdogs... and other meat products. Some may recall the HUGE 11-alarm fire that they had in their New Jersey distribution warehouse a couple years ago - the warehouse had been new and the entire roof was covered with solar panels -

Before -



After -



Unfortunately they had alot of meat products in the facility at the time, where some of it burned and the rest rotted after the loss of the refrigeration, causing all kinds of unfortunate odors and a health hazard in the area for some time.

I believe they moved much of the lost distribution here to Philly with the rest of their facilities.

If you read the article linked, the picketers are not Dietz & Watson strikers, but contractors protesting that a non union contractor was awarded the bid for work at the building. No one is on strike

and those people who crossed it. The two or three expressed remorse but kids and family to support and I had a certain degree of empathy with them. But the POS co-worker who crossed the line and then smirked about how he enjoyed staying in an empty building being paid for it and enjoying the raise we got for our strike, I will never forget. There are assholes no matter where you go and no matter what the cause.

The picket line was because a non union contractor got the bid to work on the building.

The picketers were not employed by Dietz & Watson nor was it a strike or walkout against Dietz & Watson; they were picketing and blocking entrance to the building to protest not getting the bid.

And that does not make it right to run them over. It is against the law to use your car to run people over. And DW allows that kind of behavior from their employers then they are still to blame.

Not condoning the action, but just trying to clarify the dozens of posts calling it a strike by D&W employees

a few other things.

now they're trolling everywhere .