Arkansas Blog

Hell yes. Keep those sawmill workers going with broken protection rails, keep a wal-mart employee trying to survive with a crushed foot while the company thumbs its nose at court-ordered workman's comp liability payments. Keep a nurse on her feet an additional 3 hours after she put in 12 hours often missing breaks.

Make sure the union boz have New Jersey accents, dark clothes, and the guy behind the desk looks like your friendly neighborhood insurance agent.

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What is that quote?

No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American voter.

Don't assume any corrupt or misleading message will be not believed.

I was astounded to find out I had relatives which voted for Bush the second time even after they agreed he was an idiot. Small concelation, they admitted they never should have voted for him even if Kerry was the other option.

Everyone that is a Republican or Conservative gets up in the morning and looks in the mirror thinking, 'I have them really fooled' or 'I am not the idiot I really am'.

Ok making Richard Berman, the lobbyist-ad man, a villian is simple enough. Who is paying Berman?

I saw that last night and laughed out loud when the boss and worker were agreed on 5%. I'm not sure what planet these dishonest bastards are from but the last 5% raise I got was when Clinton was pres.

And BTW, don't these scumbags have to prominently display the name of their organization at the end of the ad? Of course it's some meaningless claptrap like Committee for American Security and Prosperity and Mom and Apple Pie and Chevro...(uh, nvm) and God and Jesus and ...

Pretty unbelievable, although I don't know why anyone should be surprised. These folks put up the racist ads against Harold Ford, openly called Pres. Obama a Muslim in an attempt to cause fear, and routinely call all gays/lesbians pedophiles. So offending union workers and Italians is small potatoes.

By the by, does this ad even remotely address the issue? Of course not

Unions can be very corrupt, and they have a history of using questionable techniques to get what they want. Unions also have a history of using violence and threats to intimidate. There are consequences when someone crosses a picket line to work, and there are consequences if you don't do what the union boss wants you to do.

We have seen in the Little Rock School system that incompetent teachers have hidden behind their unions to avoid being fired. We have seen unions bankrupt the American car industry. However, since unions are in bed with the Democratic party leadership, it's no surprise that Democrats want to make it easier force workers to join unions. Democrats pass a law to increase union dues collections, and in turn unions send political contributions to the democrats.

>>Unions also have a history of using violence and threats to intimidate.<<

Guess who set the model? Lest your memory is shorter than your penis it was
big bidness and their skull cracking squads of strike breakers. Sidewalks ran red
with worker blood until they learned to fight back.

Back then it was the Irish/Italians who were the scum to be beaten to a pulp.

Next time around will be Mexicans-Hispanics doing the street fighting. It's not far
off.

'd love to think that there might be some light between our two Senators and their corporate masters, but given their voting records I'm not gonna get my hopes up. The sheer volume of anti-union, anti-universal healthcare, anti-everything Democratic ads that have been on TV recently is remarkable, however (lots of em). Guess even long-time corporate stooges, like Mark/Blanche, have to appear like there's a real danger that they might actually side with their constituents...thus the ads/Blanche's constant emails claiming she's actually thinking about doing the right thing, healthcare wise.

Again...I hope I get to apologize to Blanche/Mark for thinking that it'll be a cold day in hell before they do something Democratic/progressive like give their constituents the universal healthcare thy desire.

Once again, severus, you demonstrate that you've never bothered much with history...else you'd know that, like elwood said, corporations have a much bloodier history than unions do. Sure, unions have their flaws and their fair share of corruption; but they are the ONLY hope that the average working person has against corporations that measure the value of a human life in dollars (more likely yen). Time and time again (Ford Pinto ring a bell?), corporations have demonstrated that threatening their bottom line is the ONLY incentive they respect. They're not gonna spend millions to fix a flaw that they'll never be held accountable for...even if that flaw cost lives. They will, however, get moving if the cost of punishment is more than the cost of fixing their flaws.

Jesus! Everything plus smoke breaks! I think they aimed this commercial at dimwits like Mark W. Pryor. He showed Bill Maher that his IQ is pretty low, so he might be one of the few people dumb enough to be persuaded by this silly commercial....there's no hope.....

A Republican like Sev will always trot out his special version of history to muddy the water. My god Sev, there is a history of violence and wrongdoing in every category of human you can name. Catholic priests quickly come to mind. But if you'll study your history, you'll find that it's always been David vs Goliath when it comes to management vs labor. Workers have been slaughtered by the dump truck load throughout our history. Not counting workers who died in unsafe workplaces. I was reading the other day about the 3 Grilk brothers who died in one mine accident outside of Greenwood, Arkansas in the 40s. An entire generation of one family GONE. What's the death score for management?

I'm not giving up, but the way things are moving like mud these days, the workers better have Plan B, because our bought off Congress will never bite the rich white hands who feed them. Pryor & Lincoln are locked onto the Big Business tit like newborn twins. Once again....our 2 Senators are a hurt, not a help to American workers. They work hard representing someone....it just ain't us.

That was the value of Jimmy Hoffa. He taught them to fight back not only against the violence used against workers but the dirty political tricks used by owners/management.

So those who support the Employee Free Choice Act are Sopranoesque Italian-American, Jersey accented, gold chain wearing mobsters? Really?

It's no secret that corporations oppose unions, always have, always will. But come on, this is a new low even for them!

This is a good law for workers.

And hey we Latino workers have already had the crap beaten out of us more times than we can count. Salt of the Earth is a movie that depicts just one of the many places that the struggles of Mexican-Americans has taken place in this country. It focuses on zinc miners in New Mexico back in the early 50's. Interestingly enough many of its production crew were members of Hollywood caught in the McCarthy blacklisting era.

Welcome to the AT blog, texmexlez.

Here's the Voice of modern labor.

"It's time to reward our friends and punish our enemies."
Samuel Gompers

Watch as Kentucky labor movement over throws Republican governor's "Right to Work for Less" laws out the window.

clicky

Look at what the UAW has done to the Automotive industry in America. Look at what it has done to our state. Countless companies assocaited with the Automotive industry in Arkansas have closed. The UAW negotiated its members right our of thier jobs. Old Clint Harris the UAW Rep for this part of the country pulls down 100K+, the union provides him with a car and expenses, he doesn't do shit and hasn't done shit for his members. In fact he has few members left in Arkansas because his members have lost thier job due to plant closures.

Hey Arkansas Times if your so pro union why aren't your workers unionized?

Indeed welcome to the blog texmexlez.

That is a good, hard-hitting movie you mentioned. I saw it years ago and like most notable films

Salt of the Earth is here in parts A-H. First parts A-C are easy to locate, then scroll on down to find the following parts.

click it on eLwood.

>>Look at what the UAW has done to the Automotive industry in America. Look at what it has done to our state.<<

I notice that union made cars sell for about the same as non-union imports. We were shopping for a
SUV last year and Ford SUVs were only $1000 more than a cheap-labor, Korean made Hyundai. Plus, Ford made more profit than a Hyundai dealer and pays their salesmen more. So, given both vehicles had the same features, all wheel, computer assisted brakes, XM, cargo space and wheel base almost identical, motors virtually the same, where's the big savings from non-union?

What's killed car sales has not been unions. It's a lack of financing. Same thing is reducing home sales. What's killed Detroit has been poor design choices, poor model choices and way too many dealerships to service.

Ford is just as unionized as Chrysler and GM yet is surviving just fine, in fact Ford is expanding.
Says something about management doesn't it.

When those HUGE behemoths are selling because
Cheney The Dick has ramrodded legislation thru to make HUGE, inefficient vehicles more affordable via rapid and BIG tax write-offs then management is pissing in the wind to think their sales are a real trend. Any model style which must be propped up via Cheney the Dick's tax policies is stupid bidness.
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Welcome texmexlez!!!!

Thank Gawd every day for our evil Union checks that show up every month in our bank.....
don't think I'd be too overjoyed living in a shack with a dirt floor, a la Huck, with nothing
but SS checks to keep us afloat, after all I'm a gal who likes the finer things in life,.. :>)

"Look at what the UAW has done to the Automotive industry in America. Look at what it has done to our state. "

It might be well to note that there are TWO signatures on every contract. The company didn't have to agree. The problem is a lack of management skill and planning in the US auto industry for years. They would look out their windows in Detroit at their parking lot and see only American cars and discount the idea that Japanese cars weren't popular. A few trip to CA would have straightened out that thinking but when managemnent begins to believe their own propanganda, thinking goes out the window.

In most local unions, the "leaders" are fellow members and they know their members and the members know them. The school teacher story which continues to make the rounds is a refection of poor district and school management skills. Every contract has ways to remove people but it takes real work and documentation which most school principals fail to do.

AlligatorGar,

Your premise stumbles because of an assumption that Severus and HD prove fallacious time and again, every time they post.

"Everyone that is a Republican or Conservative gets up in the morning and looks in the mirror thinking, 'I have them really fooled' or 'I am not the idiot I really am'."

The fallacy is "thinking." Sevrus, H.D., Liebertus, LgA**, Ameiurus nebulosus eater, etc. have yet to show any semblance of evidence of that Un-Republican, Un-conservative, and, to them Un-American trait.

DottieHolliday,

You are delusional, and you can't even write a coherent thought. Please take your psychiatric meds before you post.

I know you are challenged in following it, Severus. That was the point. Itjust requires thought.

Severus says that incompetent teachers have hidden behind the union to avoid being fired. There is not a single instance of such being reported with names by the local press. There is no instance of the school board reporting such. If there is one fault with Severus it is that he throws out accusations without any iota of proof or substantiating evidence.
That and his penchant for stooping to uncouth attacks when he can't find the evidence to win an argument fair and square. I still hold him accountable for his lies about me and his underhanded personal attacks on my character when I last tried to debate with him on an issue regarding our schools and education. Severus is more and more becoming the provider of Spam in our debates.

A true man would have apologized for casting such slurs and lies.