Labor/Economics

[gounion]

Here's the funny thing. According to all the right, Obama was the most liberal Presidential candidate ever. Yet when he got into office, he put very conservative Dems into his administration. But Glenn could never bring himself to admit this. To him, Obama was a crazy liberal bent on destroying America.

[carmenjonze]

Here's the funny thing. According to all the right, Obama was the most liberal Presidential candidate ever. Yet when he got into office, he put very conservative Dems into his administration. But Glenn could never bring himself to admit this. To him, Obama was a crazy liberal bent on destroying America.

You have to be circus clowns like Jesse Lee Peterson or Diamond and Silk. Otherwise, these conservative whites will call you communismsocialism in a hot second.

[gounion]

You have to be circus clowns like Jesse Lee Peterson or Diamond and Silk. Otherwise, these conservative whites will call you communismsocialism in a hot second.

And Sowell.

[ProfX]

Back to the Labor part of this subforum --

Msr. Bezos: want to return from space and deal with this?

Amazon driver was warned she’d be fired for returning with packages during a tornado
‘It won’t be viewed as for your own safety’
https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/17/228 ... estruction

An Amazon delivery driver in Illinois was told to keep delivering packages after she reported hearing tornado sirens, with the dispatcher saying that the sirens were “just a warning.” According to a report by Bloomberg, which includes screenshots of the conversation, the driver was told that returning to the warehouse would be viewed as a route refusal, “which [would] ultimately end with you not having a job come tomorrow morning.”

The conversation reportedly happened on Friday evening, around an hour and a half before a tornado hit an Amazon facility around 30 miles away from the driver. After being told twice to “just keep delivering,” the driver was eventually instructed to shelter in place “for 15-20 minutes, then continue as normal.” (The instructions to shelter in place were repeated several more times after.) The driver, expressing that a delivery van wouldn’t provide much safety, said she wanted to return to base.

[snip][end]

They were forced to stay at work as a tornado bore down. Would a union have saved them?
Those who died in an Amazon warehouse in Illinois and a Kentucky candle factory were sacrificed on the altar of profit
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... rkers-died

Why did eight workers at a Kentucky candle factory and six workers at an Illinois Amazon warehouse die this week? They were killed when a powerful tornado destroyed their workplaces, but it wasn’t really the storm that killed them, any more than a sailor forced to walk the plank is killed only by the waves. They were not random victims. They were sacrificed. We here in the most advanced nation on earth offered them up to the gods that we actually worship.

Why did they die? They died because they were inside their workplaces in the path of the storm. They died because they did not leave work before disaster struck. And they did not leave work because they were allegedly ordered not to, by their bosses. The factory workers in Kentucky say that managers threatened to fire them if they left. Amazon workers say that they were told not to leave in advance of the storm. They also say that lack of adequate safety procedures is par for the course at Amazon, where the employee handbook notifies workers that they can be fired for leaving without “permission”.

[snip][end]

Fuck tornado safety, there are people waiting on that Turbo Man doll being shipped before Xmas.

[gounion]

Back to the Labor part of this subforum --

Msr. Bezos: want to return from space and deal with this?

Amazon driver was warned she’d be fired for returning with packages during a tornado
‘It won’t be viewed as for your own safety’
https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/17/228 ... estruction

An Amazon delivery driver in Illinois was told to keep delivering packages after she reported hearing tornado sirens, with the dispatcher saying that the sirens were “just a warning.” According to a report by Bloomberg, which includes screenshots of the conversation, the driver was told that returning to the warehouse would be viewed as a route refusal, “which [would] ultimately end with you not having a job come tomorrow morning.”

The conversation reportedly happened on Friday evening, around an hour and a half before a tornado hit an Amazon facility around 30 miles away from the driver. After being told twice to “just keep delivering,” the driver was eventually instructed to shelter in place “for 15-20 minutes, then continue as normal.” (The instructions to shelter in place were repeated several more times after.) The driver, expressing that a delivery van wouldn’t provide much safety, said she wanted to return to base.

[snip][end]

They were forced to stay at work as a tornado bore down. Would a union have saved them?
Those who died in an Amazon warehouse in Illinois and a Kentucky candle factory were sacrificed on the altar of profit
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... rkers-died

Why did eight workers at a Kentucky candle factory and six workers at an Illinois Amazon warehouse die this week? They were killed when a powerful tornado destroyed their workplaces, but it wasn’t really the storm that killed them, any more than a sailor forced to walk the plank is killed only by the waves. They were not random victims. They were sacrificed. We here in the most advanced nation on earth offered them up to the gods that we actually worship.

Why did they die? They died because they were inside their workplaces in the path of the storm. They died because they did not leave work before disaster struck. And they did not leave work because they were allegedly ordered not to, by their bosses. The factory workers in Kentucky say that managers threatened to fire them if they left. Amazon workers say that they were told not to leave in advance of the storm. They also say that lack of adequate safety procedures is par for the course at Amazon, where the employee handbook notifies workers that they can be fired for leaving without “permission”.

[snip][end]

Fuck tornado safety, there are people waiting on that Turbo Man doll being shipped before Xmas.

Two things about union workplaces:

Now, the unionized factories in Kansas are in tornado alley, where it's very dangerous. They do have designated storm shelter areas that are heavily re-inforced and can hold everyone. Second, you aren't warned or threatened about leaving. In other words, you're treated like an American adult with rights, not as a serf who is owned by the corporation.

I think the workers and the families have grounds for big lawsuits against the company. It just shows how little the corporations cares about the lives of those they employ.

Not saying the unionized companies care any more when it comes right down to it, but union negotiations keeps them honest.

Say the union, during the contract negotiations, tried to negotiate storm protection for workers, and the company refused, that shows the company KNEW of the dangers, and refused to do anything. That would loom large in a lawsuit.

That's one reason union workplaces are safer - if a union safety person files paperwork about a safety problem, and the company refuses to do anything about it, then someone is hurt because of the issue, then they have strong grounds for a lawsuit. The company can't pretend they didn't know of the problem ahead of time.

[carmenjonze]

And Sowell.

So we’ll, Owens, Walter Williams, Larry Elder, Mark Burns, Darryl Scott, Katrina Pierson, there’s a little clicque of them. But good luck to them finding many more.

Conservative whites refer to this tiny number of mindless propagandists the only “blacks” who “think for themselves.”

[Motor City]

Back to the Labor part of this subforum --

Msr. Bezos: want to return from space and deal with this?

Amazon driver was warned she’d be fired for returning with packages during a tornado
‘It won’t be viewed as for your own safety’
https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/17/228 ... estruction

An Amazon delivery driver in Illinois was told to keep delivering packages after she reported hearing tornado sirens, with the dispatcher saying that the sirens were “just a warning.” According to a report by Bloomberg, which includes screenshots of the conversation, the driver was told that returning to the warehouse would be viewed as a route refusal, “which [would] ultimately end with you not having a job come tomorrow morning.”

The conversation reportedly happened on Friday evening, around an hour and a half before a tornado hit an Amazon facility around 30 miles away from the driver. After being told twice to “just keep delivering,” the driver was eventually instructed to shelter in place “for 15-20 minutes, then continue as normal.” (The instructions to shelter in place were repeated several more times after.) The driver, expressing that a delivery van wouldn’t provide much safety, said she wanted to return to base.

[snip][end]

They were forced to stay at work as a tornado bore down. Would a union have saved them?
Those who died in an Amazon warehouse in Illinois and a Kentucky candle factory were sacrificed on the altar of profit
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... rkers-died

Why did eight workers at a Kentucky candle factory and six workers at an Illinois Amazon warehouse die this week? They were killed when a powerful tornado destroyed their workplaces, but it wasn’t really the storm that killed them, any more than a sailor forced to walk the plank is killed only by the waves. They were not random victims. They were sacrificed. We here in the most advanced nation on earth offered them up to the gods that we actually worship.

Why did they die? They died because they were inside their workplaces in the path of the storm. They died because they did not leave work before disaster struck. And they did not leave work because they were allegedly ordered not to, by their bosses. The factory workers in Kentucky say that managers threatened to fire them if they left. Amazon workers say that they were told not to leave in advance of the storm. They also say that lack of adequate safety procedures is par for the course at Amazon, where the employee handbook notifies workers that they can be fired for leaving without “permission”.

[snip][end]

Fuck tornado safety, there are people waiting on that Turbo Man doll being shipped before Xmas.

It looks like if people had the choice they would never ever go in those kind of places to be tormented and coerced out of their health and safety and made poor and made to stay poor. from this we can see its much larger and much worse than the rosy picture the news media makes it sound like. America has a serious sweatshop culture crisis.

[Motor City]

So the bus driver could drive the kids to school then get off the bus and teach the kids and as they are taking the test the bus driver teacher can clean the bathroom then drive the kids home and go back to the lot and change the oil in the bus and ........

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/ ... tute teach

School bus drivers and cafeteria workers soon could be in front of classrooms instead of behind steering wheels and serving counters.

Lawmakers passed a bill late Tuesday temporarily allowing school support staff to substitute teach even if they don’t have a single college credit..........



........The state Department of Education opposes the bill.

So do Democrats on the Senate Education and Career Readiness Committee, who expressed concerns that the change would diminish the quality of education and would exacerbate staffing shortages in other areas.

“It’s a staffing shell game. It also has no guarantee that the substitute will be teaching our kids the content that they’re there to learn,” Democratic Sen. Erika Geiss of Taylor said during a floor speech Tuesday evening.

“Staff members who are not educators are wonderful people,” said Geiss, a former teacher. “They are valued, hardworking members of our school communities, but for the most part, especially when we have a situation where a long-term substitute might be needed, they aren’t the ones who should be substitute teaching.”

So they never have to staff the schools humanely and in a way that people want to work there.

[Ted]

So the bus driver could drive the kids to school then get off the bus and teach the kids and as they are taking the test the bus driver teacher can clean the bathroom then drive the kids home and go back to the lot and change the oil in the bus and ........

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/ ... tute teach

So they never have to staff the schools humanely and in a way that people want to work there.

There's a labor shortage impacting almost every employment sector. Schools are not immune and the choices are to expand the eligible pool of potential substitute teachers or not have substitute teachers.

There's no easy solution to this issue because the growing age cohort in the US is at or near retirement age (65+) while the future employee age group (0-14) is declining.

Source - https://www.statista.com/statistics/270 ... ed-states/

Another reason substitute teachers are in short supply is COVID. Many substitute teachers older and don't want to expose themselves to the potential risk of contracting COVID associated with being in a classroom. Our area schools all have fewer names on the substitute teacher lists than they had two years ago and the number one reason we are losing subs is the potential health risk. This is going on across our state as well.

This is not a problem of humanely staffing schools or making them a place people want to work. There are more job openings than potential applicants right now. This is going to be an issue until the gap in those numbers closes.

[Glennfs]

Back to the Labor part of this subforum --

Msr. Bezos: want to return from space and deal with this?

Amazon driver was warned she’d be fired for returning with packages during a tornado
‘It won’t be viewed as for your own safety’
https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/17/228 ... estruction

An Amazon delivery driver in Illinois was told to keep delivering packages after she reported hearing tornado sirens, with the dispatcher saying that the sirens were “just a warning.” According to a report by Bloomberg, which includes screenshots of the conversation, the driver was told that returning to the warehouse would be viewed as a route refusal, “which [would] ultimately end with you not having a job come tomorrow morning.”

The conversation reportedly happened on Friday evening, around an hour and a half before a tornado hit an Amazon facility around 30 miles away from the driver. After being told twice to “just keep delivering,” the driver was eventually instructed to shelter in place “for 15-20 minutes, then continue as normal.” (The instructions to shelter in place were repeated several more times after.) The driver, expressing that a delivery van wouldn’t provide much safety, said she wanted to return to base.

[snip][end]

They were forced to stay at work as a tornado bore down. Would a union have saved them?
Those who died in an Amazon warehouse in Illinois and a Kentucky candle factory were sacrificed on the altar of profit
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... rkers-died

Why did eight workers at a Kentucky candle factory and six workers at an Illinois Amazon warehouse die this week? They were killed when a powerful tornado destroyed their workplaces, but it wasn’t really the storm that killed them, any more than a sailor forced to walk the plank is killed only by the waves. They were not random victims. They were sacrificed. We here in the most advanced nation on earth offered them up to the gods that we actually worship.

Why did they die? They died because they were inside their workplaces in the path of the storm. They died because they did not leave work before disaster struck. And they did not leave work because they were allegedly ordered not to, by their bosses. The factory workers in Kentucky say that managers threatened to fire them if they left. Amazon workers say that they were told not to leave in advance of the storm. They also say that lack of adequate safety procedures is par for the course at Amazon, where the employee handbook notifies workers that they can be fired for leaving without “permission”.

[snip][end]

Fuck tornado safety, there are people waiting on that Turbo Man doll being shipped before Xmas.

I am guessing the person who told her that has been fired. That would be against the policy of every company I've ever been associated with.
While I am no fan of Amazon to me that sounds like an individual dispatcher making their own policy.
Just Friday I told the company I have my equipment leased to that I wouldn't be going to New Hampshire to pick up an empty trailer for them. They never hesitated or tried to change my mind. Nor will that descion be held against me in the future.

[gounion]

I am guessing the person who told her that has been fired. That would be against the policy of every company I've ever been associated with.
While I am no fan of Amazon to me that sounds like an individual dispatcher making their own policy.
Just Friday I told the company I have my equipment leased to that I wouldn't be going to New Hampshire to pick up an empty trailer for them. They never hesitated or tried to change my mind. Nor will that descion be held against me in the future.

A trucking company is quite different. Note that Amazon hasn't made any statement about it at all. That means the dispatcher was carrying out company policy.

[Glennfs]

A trucking company is quite different. Note that Amazon hasn't made any statement about it at all. That means the dispatcher was carrying out company policy.

It could very well be an unwritten policy but I guarantee you it isn't their formal policy.

[gounion]

It could very well be an unwritten policy but I guarantee you it isn't their formal policy.

Of course, they won't write it down. But remember under the legal concept of employment of will, they don't have to write a policy down to fire you for breaking said policy.

[Motor City]

There's a labor shortage impacting almost every employment sector. Schools are not immune and the choices are to expand the eligible pool of potential substitute teachers or not have substitute teachers.

There's no easy solution to this issue because the growing age cohort in the US is at or near retirement age (65+) while the future employee age group (0-14) is declining.

Source - https://www.statista.com/statistics/270 ... ed-states/

Another reason substitute teachers are in short supply is COVID. Many substitute teachers older and don't want to expose themselves to the potential risk of contracting COVID associated with being in a classroom. Our area schools all have fewer names on the substitute teacher lists than they had two years ago and the number one reason we are losing subs is the potential health risk. This is going on across our state as well.

This is not a problem of humanely staffing schools or making them a place people want to work. There are more job openings than potential applicants right now. This is going to be an issue until the gap in those numbers closes.

There's a surplus of workers but a shortage of safe non sweatshop managed livable wage employment to be had. Its the self fulfilling prophecy brought about by limiting so much of employment to sweatshop conditions and hours, this scheme is just more of the same and only leads to more of the same. Need to reverse the idle stinginess and restore opportunity back to workers.

[carmenjonze]

Boom!

Kellogg’s Strike Ends: BCTGM Members Ratify New Contract - Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM)

Highlights of the new five-year collective bargaining agreement:

• No take aways; No concessions
• No permanent two-tier system
• A clear path to regular full-time employment
• Plant closing moratorium: No plant shut downs through October 2026
• A significant increase in the pension multiplier
• Maintenance of cost of living raises

“Our entire Union commends and thanks Kellogg’s members. From picket line to picket line, Kellogg’s union members stood strong and undeterred in this fight, inspiring generations of workers across the globe, who were energized by their tremendous show of bravery as they stood up to fight and never once backed down.

“The BCTGM is grateful to AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler for mobilizing the AFL-CIO and its affiliates in support of our striking Kellogg’s members. Once again, President Shuler has provided highly effective leadership in support of the BCTGM and our members.

Good!

[Libertas]

Kaching!

[Glennfs]

Boom!

Kellogg’s Strike Ends: BCTGM Members Ratify New Contract - Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM)



Good!

That looks like a good settlement for all involved. One thing IMO labor should have never agreed to is a two tier system. Imagine we are doing the same job but you are getting paid more.
Another thing I really like is a clear path to permanent.employment. Over the years I've had several friends and family get jobs where there was zero chance of ever getting hired. Many of those places were getting tax abatements based on employment projections. But, as soon as you get to the magic number they drop you as a temp until you've been away long enough to start the clock over.

Now on to the plant closure clause. Many of the Kellogg plants I've been to are quite old and probably need replacing. If the company is of a mind to by 2026 they might have the new facilities ready to go. Back in the 70s there was a huge rubber workers strike that the union "won". By the time that contract was up the companies were all moving production out of Akron Ohio.

So hopefully this is a fair deal for all involved and not like the URW contract of 50 years ago. Where the company signed it Monday and started planning relocation Tuesday

[gounion]

That looks like a good settlement for all involved. One thing IMO labor should have never agreed to is a two tier system. Imagine we are doing the same job but you are getting paid more.

First, you have to realize that labor doesn't "agree" to a two-tier system. We KNOW how bad they are. Companies shove such agreements down the throat of a union when the union doesn't have any leverage, then they give them a bit of a sweetheart deal to sell it - "hey, look at the deal you're getting, why should you worry about people that haven't even been hired yet!" But they usually do it when they are weak and can't sustain a strike.

My old workplace had one shoved down our throats, when we were having massive layoffs and airplanes weren't selling. They basically told us, go on strike, you'd be doing us a favor! We could use a six-month shutdown. So we had no leverage to say no.

BUT the next contract, business was booming, and we shoved everything back down THEIR throats, and the two-tier was ended.

Another thing I really like is a clear path to permanent.employment. Over the years I've had several friends and family get jobs where there was zero chance of ever getting hired. Many of those places were getting tax abatements based on employment projections. But, as soon as you get to the magic number they drop you as a temp until you've been away long enough to start the clock over.

That's what happens when the taxpayer pays the company to hire people. They no longer want to pay for employees on their own.

Now on to the plant closure clause. Many of the Kellogg plants I've been to are quite old and probably need replacing. If the company is of a mind to by 2026 they might have the new facilities ready to go. Back in the 70s there was a huge rubber workers strike that the union "won". By the time that contract was up the companies were all moving production out of Akron Ohio.

Plants don't need replacing - they need UPDATING. I mean, some of the plants in Wichita dated back BEFORE the Great Depression! They're just big covered empty spaces. So, you update the equipment.

What the union is trying to do is to keep Kelloggs from moving more production overseas. I'm sure that is what they'll work on in the next years - try to put a contract together to develop a future.

And it's going to be a slog. Because there's going to be a LOT of anger in that plant. After all, the company threatened to replace them all. Gonna be kinda hard to ask people to give their all to the company now. Most workers will do their job, but nothing more.

This is what the bean counters that run these companies don't understand. Your employees are what makes you great, not the bean counters. You treat your employees like shit, you take a hit.

So hopefully this is a fair deal for all involved and not like the URW contract of 50 years ago. Where the company signed it Monday and started planning relocation Tuesday

It's possible, because companies just don't fucking care at all. And if they can use slave and child labor elsewhere to save money, they will.

BUT BCTGM has done a pretty good job over the years working with all kinds of companies over the years to keep production in the USA.

[ZoWie]

Boss made a dollar
I made a dime
That was a poem
From a simpler time.

Now boss makes a thousand
And gives us a cent
While he's got employees
Who can't pay the rent.

So when boss makes a million
And the workers make jack
THAT'S WHEN WE STRIKE
AND TAKE OUR LIVES BACK!

--Seen on twitter

[carmenjonze]

Boss made a dollar
I made a dime
That was a poem
From a simpler time.

Now boss makes a thousand
And gives us a cent
While he's got employees
Who can't pay the rent.

So when boss makes a million
And the workers make jack
THAT'S WHEN WE STRIKE
AND TAKE OUR LIVES BACK!

--Seen on twitter

And then all the illiterate, self-hating conservatives run and defend boss.

Freaks.

[sam lefthand]

Boss made a dollar
I made a dime
That was a poem
From a simpler time.

Now boss makes a thousand
And gives us a cent
While he's got employees
Who can't pay the rent.

So when boss makes a million
And the workers make jack
THAT'S WHEN WE STRIKE
AND TAKE OUR LIVES BACK!

--Seen on twitter

The first stanza is from a song by the River Bones Band in 2018.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZrKPTyiejg

[Number6]

And then all the illiterate, self-hating conservatives run and defend boss.

Freaks.

And don't forget they'll write their Congressman and Senators making the case for their employer to get a new tax break.

[Libertas]

https://twitter.com/AppleLaborers/statu ... 96271?s=20

No sick leave? fucking corporations

https://twitter.com/AppleLaborers/statu ... 96271?s=20

[ap215]

Despite supply issues and omicron, holiday sales rise 8.5%

Holiday sales rose at the fastest pace in 17 years, even as shoppers grappled with higher prices, product shortages and a raging new COVID-19 variant in the last few weeks of the season, according to one spending measure.

Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks all kinds of payments including cash and debit cards, reported Sunday that holiday sales had risen 8.5% from a year earlier. Mastercard SpendingPulse had expected an 8.8% increase.

https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus- ... 0de1d7b066

[ap215]

U.S. goods trade deficit hits a record in November

(Reuters) - The U.S. trade deficit in goods mushroomed to a record in November as imports surged and exports slipped.

The goods trade deficit widened last month by 17.5% to $97.8 billion from $83.2 billion in October, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday. That exceeds the previous record deficit set in September of $97 billion.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-goods- ... 42273.html