http://www.okidentt.com/media/spiegel.html
English translation?06.6.28
The song of his life
Why a Japanese man sings since 1981 in front of the
factory gate.
Nobody is paying attention to Tetsuro Tanaka. The
guards of the technology company Oki are barely
looking up, when he parks his grey motor scooter in
front of the gate. The school children running past
are ignoring him, when he puts his cowboy hat on his
shoulder length hair, installs a microphone stand and
hangs his guitar around his neck. The workers surging
through the gate are looking embarrassedly to the
side, when he starts to sing. It is shortly before 8am
in Hachioji, a university town in the Tokyo
metropolitan area. Tetsuro Tanaka, 58, has been
standing here at the same time for half an hour every
day. Since he got laid off 25 years ago.
Tetsuro Tanaka sings with a high voice, passionately,
like an Asian Bob Dylan. They are peace songs, written
by himself, in English, so the world can understand
him. "Isn't it bad to discriminate", Tanaka sings,
"isn't it bad to exclude?'
Tanaka feels he has been discriminated against and
excluded by Oki, one of Japan's biggest technology
corporations, which produces printer and
telecommunication devices. Tanaka's fight against Oki
started in 1978, when the company laid off 1300
employees.
At that time Tanaka worked as an engineer at Oki. He
assembled integrated semiconductor circuits, for 9
years, since completion of college. Tanaka wasn't one
of the laid off workers, and he actually was not a
fighter, he was interested in arts and led the
company's mandoline club.
But he couldn't understand that the union didn't
protest against the layoffs, after all, the fired
workers were young fathers, like himself. When the
company demanded shortly after, that the employees
prove their loyalty with group morning exercises,
Tanaka refused and stayed at his desk. He was the only
one.
He who doesn't exercise with us, is against us, the
company management said. And he who meets with
traitors is one himself.
Tanaka got less and less work, he only was allowed to
assist, and his salary was reduced. One after another
the mandoline players left Tanaka's club, and nobody
answered when he wished them a good morning. " I would
like to invite you to my wedding", a coworker friend
said, "but you know". When Tanaka ran as a candidate
for the company union, he knew he had no chance. Of
course the favorites of the management won.
Tetsuro Tanaka received his pink slip on June 29th,
1981. The company just turned 100 years old and Tanaka
33. He refused to go when he was transferred to
another company branch - in his view a punishment for
his rebelliousness. The next morning he stood in front
of the gate and sang for the first time.
Tanaka already reckoned that Oki would fire him and he
had prepared and saved money. His sons were just two
and four years old, and his wife didn't earn enough
money as a preschool teacher to feed the family all
alone. In case of necessity he would have had to sell
his condominium. In the afternoon Tanaka gave guitar
lessons to finance his singing in the morning. After a
while so many students came to his classes, that he
didn't really need the job at Oki any more. And he
actually didn't want it any longer.
Tanaka planned to keep singing for about three years
nevertheless, as a protest. Maybe some day Oki would
apologize to him and admit that they intimidated and
harassed the employees.
The apology didn't come after three years, not after
20 years either. It didn't come at all, and Tetsuro
Tanaka kept singing. At the same time he filed
lawsuits, as far up as the supreme court, but he lost
all of them. His candidacy for the Japanese upper
house was unsuccessful, too.
But after all, Tanaka's songs outlasted 12 Japanese
prime ministers, 4 Oki CEO's and one Japanese emperor.
Once a year he gives a flaming speech against
discrimination at Oki's shareholder's general meeting.
They are required to let him in, since he bought a few
shares of the company.
Every third Friday he sings in front of the Oki
headquarters in Tokyo.
And every 29th of the month he celebrates his "Firing
Day". Then he is not alone in front of the factory,
but with his supporters. They are retired Oki
employees, who don't need to worry about their job any
more. On Firing Day they put up colorful umbrellas and
camping chairs and sing for five hours, "don't turn
your head away from what you see".
Meanwhile Tetsuro Tanaka has spent almost 9000 hours
in front of the company gate. His victory is that
after him no Oki employee ever was transferred as
punishment again. They don't want to risk acquiring a
second Tanaka, he thinks.
The guards in their blue uniforms have never tried to
send him away. They wouldn't dare. They are much
younger than him. Tanaka was there before them.
By Kristina Allgoewer
Full Version: We Are The Union
The Toledo Blade (Toledo Ohio, about 1 hour south of Detroit) has locked out five of their six unions, including members of my union, International Typographers Union. Here's the story:
http://www.stoptheblade.com/
http://www.stoptheblade.com/
Thanks, BtP. I have this horrible fear when I get to work tonight I'll be asked to process Toledo Blade ads, and I don't know if I can turn it down.
Whoo hoo hoo! We win one!
Florida group successfully forms first pizza drivers union
9/22/2006, 1:48 p.m. ET
By MELISSA NELSON
The Associated Press
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — Domino's Pizza delivery driver Jim Pohle could have quit when he saw a competitor offering an extra 25 cents an hour in wages and his bosses wouldn't match it. But he decided instead to stand up and form the nation's only pizza drivers union to successfully organize workers.
Now he represents 11 drivers as president of the American Union of Pizza Delivery Drivers Inc. at the franchise where he has worked off and on for more than a dozen years. Experts say he has created a model for fast food workers wanting to organize in other locations.
"When they declared us tipped employees and refused to pay us the Florida minimum wage of $6.40, I was kind of angry. I came home that night and I told my buddy, I said 'We are forming a union,'" he said.
Pohle said his friend, a fellow ex-Marine, "thought I was venting steam." But the 37-year-old, who delivers pizzas because he likes to sleep late, smoke on the job and listen to the radio, got on the Internet and found St. Louis labor attorney Mark Potashnick.
Potashnick worked on failed organizing efforts by pizza workers in Ohio, Michigan and St. Louis, including those of The Association of Pizza Delivery Drivers, an earlier, failed attempt to unionize delivery drivers in Ohio and Nebraska. He coached Pohle on submitting a petition to the National Labor Relations Board, which recognized the union this summer.
Rodney Johnson, a regional director for the board, said the case appears to be the first of its kind. He has a petition pending from Pensacola-area pizza makers wanting to join Pohle's union.
Tim McIntyre, a spokesman for Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Domino's Pizza Inc., said that while the Pensacola franchise was independently owned and operated, the company was disappointed by the union vote.
"We do not believe it is necessary in our industry, and are surprised that the individual employees in that store voted to turn over their ability to represent themselves to their supervisor to someone else," he said in a statement.
Pohle's union and the franchise owner haven't agreed on wages and working conditions, he said. Apart from wages, many pizza delivery drivers nationally have discussed forming unions because they are often the victims of robbers and a union might give them more leverage to deal with police, provide training and take other measures.
In the meantime, the franchise owners have raised the pay of some drivers at their six nonunion stores, Pohle said.
Attorney Keith Pyburn, who is representing the franchise owner, said the formation of Pohle's union did not surprise his clients.
"Their company is complying with its legal obligation to bargain with the union and that process is ongoing," said Pyburn, who would not discuss employee pay.
The union could open doors for other fast food workers, said Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of labor education research at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
She pointed to recent organizing efforts by Starbucks employees in New York and Chicago. The Industrial Workers of the World has members at seven Starbucks Corp. stores.
Food service workers are different from the government, auto, steel and blue-collar workers that represented the bedrock of union membership in decades past but whose union numbers are dwindling, she said. "Employers can fight very hard" with food workers because they are easily replaceable, she said.
But Mark Damron, spokesman for Industrial Workers of the World, said that is changing because older workers are taking service industry jobs that were traditionally held by younger workers.
"As these people move into those jobs, they have higher expectations," he said. "You are going to see more agitation and expectations among middle-aged men who have been downsized and are now working as baristas or short-order cooks."
___
Associated Press Writer David Fischer in Miami contributed to this report.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
© 2006 Michigan Live. All Rights Reserved.
Florida group successfully forms first pizza drivers union
9/22/2006, 1:48 p.m. ET
By MELISSA NELSON
The Associated Press
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — Domino's Pizza delivery driver Jim Pohle could have quit when he saw a competitor offering an extra 25 cents an hour in wages and his bosses wouldn't match it. But he decided instead to stand up and form the nation's only pizza drivers union to successfully organize workers.
Now he represents 11 drivers as president of the American Union of Pizza Delivery Drivers Inc. at the franchise where he has worked off and on for more than a dozen years. Experts say he has created a model for fast food workers wanting to organize in other locations.
"When they declared us tipped employees and refused to pay us the Florida minimum wage of $6.40, I was kind of angry. I came home that night and I told my buddy, I said 'We are forming a union,'" he said.
Pohle said his friend, a fellow ex-Marine, "thought I was venting steam." But the 37-year-old, who delivers pizzas because he likes to sleep late, smoke on the job and listen to the radio, got on the Internet and found St. Louis labor attorney Mark Potashnick.
Potashnick worked on failed organizing efforts by pizza workers in Ohio, Michigan and St. Louis, including those of The Association of Pizza Delivery Drivers, an earlier, failed attempt to unionize delivery drivers in Ohio and Nebraska. He coached Pohle on submitting a petition to the National Labor Relations Board, which recognized the union this summer.
Rodney Johnson, a regional director for the board, said the case appears to be the first of its kind. He has a petition pending from Pensacola-area pizza makers wanting to join Pohle's union.
Tim McIntyre, a spokesman for Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Domino's Pizza Inc., said that while the Pensacola franchise was independently owned and operated, the company was disappointed by the union vote.
"We do not believe it is necessary in our industry, and are surprised that the individual employees in that store voted to turn over their ability to represent themselves to their supervisor to someone else," he said in a statement.
Pohle's union and the franchise owner haven't agreed on wages and working conditions, he said. Apart from wages, many pizza delivery drivers nationally have discussed forming unions because they are often the victims of robbers and a union might give them more leverage to deal with police, provide training and take other measures.
In the meantime, the franchise owners have raised the pay of some drivers at their six nonunion stores, Pohle said.
Attorney Keith Pyburn, who is representing the franchise owner, said the formation of Pohle's union did not surprise his clients.
"Their company is complying with its legal obligation to bargain with the union and that process is ongoing," said Pyburn, who would not discuss employee pay.
The union could open doors for other fast food workers, said Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of labor education research at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
She pointed to recent organizing efforts by Starbucks employees in New York and Chicago. The Industrial Workers of the World has members at seven Starbucks Corp. stores.
Food service workers are different from the government, auto, steel and blue-collar workers that represented the bedrock of union membership in decades past but whose union numbers are dwindling, she said. "Employers can fight very hard" with food workers because they are easily replaceable, she said.
But Mark Damron, spokesman for Industrial Workers of the World, said that is changing because older workers are taking service industry jobs that were traditionally held by younger workers.
"As these people move into those jobs, they have higher expectations," he said. "You are going to see more agitation and expectations among middle-aged men who have been downsized and are now working as baristas or short-order cooks."
___
Associated Press Writer David Fischer in Miami contributed to this report.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
© 2006 Michigan Live. All Rights Reserved.
Coming up...
Saturday, February 17, 2007
the Wobbly Kitchen presents Valentine’s Day Weekend
Spaghetti Dinner/Movie Fundraiser
to benefit the workers of UAW 364 of Elkhart, Indiana
Hear speakers from UAW 364 tell their story of the 9-month strike at Conn-Selmer
Followed by the Detroit-area premiere of
Mother Jones —The Most Dangerous Woman In America
A documentary by labor historian and videographer Rose Feurer. (30 min.)
$10.00 Suggested donation, unless you’re a striking worker; in that case welcome for free!
Saturday, February 17, 2007 at 5:30 pm.
UAW “West Side Local 174, Home Local of Walter P. Reuther”,
29841 Van Born Road, Romulus, 734-728-7600
(between Middlebelt and Merriman)
http://www.local174.com/home1.html
Thanks to Local 174 for their generous hospitality
Members of local 364 have been on strike since April at the Conn-Selmer musical instrument factory in Elkhart. 230 highly skilled makers of trumpets, trombones and other instruments went out after bosses demanded more than $8/hr in concessions. Unskilled “replacement workers” are making the expensive instruments.
For more on the strike, visit http://www.uaw.org/solidarity/index.cfm
Watch the Elkhart strike video! http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3386674426389672298
Saturday, February 17, 2007
the Wobbly Kitchen presents Valentine’s Day Weekend
Spaghetti Dinner/Movie Fundraiser
to benefit the workers of UAW 364 of Elkhart, Indiana
Hear speakers from UAW 364 tell their story of the 9-month strike at Conn-Selmer
Followed by the Detroit-area premiere of
Mother Jones —The Most Dangerous Woman In America
A documentary by labor historian and videographer Rose Feurer. (30 min.)
$10.00 Suggested donation, unless you’re a striking worker; in that case welcome for free!
Saturday, February 17, 2007 at 5:30 pm.
UAW “West Side Local 174, Home Local of Walter P. Reuther”,
29841 Van Born Road, Romulus, 734-728-7600
(between Middlebelt and Merriman)
http://www.local174.com/home1.html
Thanks to Local 174 for their generous hospitality
Members of local 364 have been on strike since April at the Conn-Selmer musical instrument factory in Elkhart. 230 highly skilled makers of trumpets, trombones and other instruments went out after bosses demanded more than $8/hr in concessions. Unskilled “replacement workers” are making the expensive instruments.
For more on the strike, visit http://www.uaw.org/solidarity/index.cfm
Watch the Elkhart strike video! http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3386674426389672298
We are trying to get this mural restored, years of cigarette smoke and neglect has nearly done it in. It will take a hundred thousand dollars to get this as beautiful as when it went up, in the UAW that was Walter Reuther's home local.
i really hope you get that restored
i love labour murals and still haven't forgiven the tuc for losing the ones from the education centre.
i love labour murals and still haven't forgiven the tuc for losing the ones from the education centre.
I have always joined the union and been a shop steward twice, I think unions still do a great job representing people in personel cases and at employment tribunals. They are in my opinion the soul of the Labour party here in Britain.
BUT here in GB with 70%+ home owners or mortgaged up to the hilt people like me centre left but with bills and mortgages to pay it is very hard to support strike action when every penny I earn is spent.
Nobody has all out strikes since the 1980's only one day strikes which the employer can sit out waiting for the union members to go back to work the next day. Is the strike weapon still useful or is it a tactic of the 19th/20th century?
Is striking almost impossible due to the stucture of 21st century capitalism here in the UK?
Billy's union songs are great passionate and we should always remember our history is much more than kings and queens but are some of the things he sings about out of date. Is politics today more about single issue campaigns than industrial action?
Also If I support Labour should I support ultra lefts (Crow/Serwotka) whose agenda is anti Labour?
I used to be very hard left now I'm older and wiser and still I hope just about centre left, can I work with people like Respect/SWP in my union when I totally reject their politics?
I'm at a crossroads, I hate the Tories and BNP style politics, Is that the only thing keeping me involved?
Any suggestions or helpful comments folks?
BUT here in GB with 70%+ home owners or mortgaged up to the hilt people like me centre left but with bills and mortgages to pay it is very hard to support strike action when every penny I earn is spent.
Nobody has all out strikes since the 1980's only one day strikes which the employer can sit out waiting for the union members to go back to work the next day. Is the strike weapon still useful or is it a tactic of the 19th/20th century?
Is striking almost impossible due to the stucture of 21st century capitalism here in the UK?
Billy's union songs are great passionate and we should always remember our history is much more than kings and queens but are some of the things he sings about out of date. Is politics today more about single issue campaigns than industrial action?
Also If I support Labour should I support ultra lefts (Crow/Serwotka) whose agenda is anti Labour?
I used to be very hard left now I'm older and wiser and still I hope just about centre left, can I work with people like Respect/SWP in my union when I totally reject their politics?
I'm at a crossroads, I hate the Tories and BNP style politics, Is that the only thing keeping me involved?
Any suggestions or helpful comments folks?
It seems obvious to me that the strike needs to be re-thought. Corporate America/GB has figured out that they can outlast their workers, and they seem ready to spend more money to keep a strike from succeeding. I have been there and I'm ready to tell you that I will never put myself through that again. I would never cross a picket line but if there is ever another strike in my workplace, I will wish everybody well, trash my computer hard drive and walk the fuck away.
In this country, the corporate mind has figured out that they don't even need a strike. They employ the lock out, which is basically what happened to us (although we had passed a strike vote) and what is happening right now in Toledo Ohio, where bargaining workers got to the shop one day and found it literally locked.
As far as strategy goes, we need to think long and hard about how to fight back. Inside is always better than outside. If I could do it over again, I would have chained myself to my desk and made them drag me out.
You will always find warring factions, Mick you have to keep your eyes on the prize. The prize is all workers at their jobs, bringing home the check.
In this country, the corporate mind has figured out that they don't even need a strike. They employ the lock out, which is basically what happened to us (although we had passed a strike vote) and what is happening right now in Toledo Ohio, where bargaining workers got to the shop one day and found it literally locked.
As far as strategy goes, we need to think long and hard about how to fight back. Inside is always better than outside. If I could do it over again, I would have chained myself to my desk and made them drag me out.
You will always find warring factions, Mick you have to keep your eyes on the prize. The prize is all workers at their jobs, bringing home the check.
QUOTE(Mick H @ Apr 17 2007, 04:03 PM) 
I have always joined the union and been a shop steward twice, I think unions still do a great job representing people in personel cases and at employment tribunals. They are in my opinion the soul of the Labour party here in Britain.
BUT here in GB with 70%+ home owners or mortgaged up to the hilt people like me centre left but with bills and mortgages to pay it is very hard to support strike action when every penny I earn is spent.
Nobody has all out strikes since the 1980's only one day strikes which the employer can sit out waiting for the union members to go back to work the next day. Is the strike weapon still useful or is it a tactic of the 19th/20th century?
Is striking almost impossible due to the stucture of 21st century capitalism here in the UK?
Billy's union songs are great passionate and we should always remember our history is much more than kings and queens but are some of the things he sings about out of date. Is politics today more about single issue campaigns than industrial action?
Also If I support Labour should I support ultra lefts (Crow/Serwotka) whose agenda is anti Labour?
I used to be very hard left now I'm older and wiser and still I hope just about centre left, can I work with people like Respect/SWP in my union when I totally reject their politics?
I'm at a crossroads, I hate the Tories and BNP style politics, Is that the only thing keeping me involved?
Any suggestions or helpful comments folks?
Don't let the bastards grind you down Mick. As Barb says, keep your eyes on the prize. Workers need people like you who are prepared to work on their behalf and with the experience to do so. Politics is a hard business but now in 2007 in UK it seems more difficult than ever. Keep yourself in touch with grassroots though, don't do what New (Same Old) Labour has done.
When you feel strongly about something and others are apathetic, it can bring your spirits down. But actually, I think hating Tories and BNP is a pretty good place to start. As far as people with whom you don't agree, that really is difficult. What I always try to do is to find common ground that you can act on and keep talking with them. If they too have genuine socialist and trade union values, there will be more common ground than you might think, like, for instance, hating Tories and BNP.
Keep your chin up, Mick. We're all in the same boat right now. Click to view attachment
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=The+Trap+sitruc
I think this series by the excellent film maker Adam Curtis explains so much about where we are now. A fascinating documentary and well worth watching.
I think this series by the excellent film maker Adam Curtis explains so much about where we are now. A fascinating documentary and well worth watching.
The Writers Strike drags on.
I am on record for not being able to tolerate Woody Allen. But he gets a break today. Solidarity, Woody!
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/b...bctid1334407164
I am on record for not being able to tolerate Woody Allen. But he gets a break today. Solidarity, Woody!
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/b...bctid1334407164
This pratt sent this e mail to our organisation.
Read it. Enjoy it. And pity the fool.
I would have addressed this to the National Office for ******, but in the absence of any contact information on your web site, it has to go to my local office. Two Questions .....
When your members received their original Job Offers, did it mention a salary ?? I will make it easy for you, Yes
Anywhere in your employees contract, does it state that they are guaranteed an annual pay increase of a certain percentage ?? Again I will make it easy for you, No
So in what world do you think that it is ok to blackmail their employers ?? Because when it comes down to it, that is what strike action is, plain and simple blackmail.
When push comes to shove, there is only so much cash in the local authorities budgets, they like your members, are struggling with the rapid rate of inflation. If they give your members more cash then something else will get less. Maybe there will be one less person on the refuse van, maybe there will be a piece of kit missing on a fire engine that could have saved someones life, maybe one less ambulance or police car.
But heh, who cares, your members will get an extra couple of quid that a few weeks later they will have completely forgotten and they will again start wingeing about low pay.
Well, I have a suggestion, do what everyone else does when they believe they are underpaid and cant get the pay rise they want with their current employer, look out to the job market and get a new job. Oh and if you cant, that may demonstrate that you are already paid what you are worth, if you can then congratulations, when your employer starts hemoraging staff maybe they will start giving out larger pay rises.
It is my belief that the British Public are already a little fed up with Unions, The Fire Brigade (deserve more money but not the right way to go about it), the Police looking for the right to strike, a few weeks ago the Fuel Tanker Drivers, demonstrating over wanting a share of Shells profits when they didnt even work for Shell and now you.
So tell your members to go get over themselves, be grateful they have jobs, do a good days work for a good days pay and if they deserve a pay rise and their employer can afford it they will get one, if they dont or the employers wont, then they should find another job where they can earn what they believe they are worth.
I dont expect a response, I suspect this will be confined to the Deleted Items folder of whoever receives it, but it made me feel better typing it and if joe public doesnt tell you how they feel then you will simply blunder on believing that you have their support.
Not an employee and no connection to a Local Authority, other than paying them £2,500 a year in Council Tax and getting only biweekly bin collections in return due to living on a new estate.
Never been a member of a union and never will
Told by my Junior School Teachers that I would never come to anything, left school with 3 O-Levels and am now Managing Director of own IT Consultancy, demonstration in itself that anyone can do anything if they apply themselves.
Read it. Enjoy it. And pity the fool.
I would have addressed this to the National Office for ******, but in the absence of any contact information on your web site, it has to go to my local office. Two Questions .....
When your members received their original Job Offers, did it mention a salary ?? I will make it easy for you, Yes
Anywhere in your employees contract, does it state that they are guaranteed an annual pay increase of a certain percentage ?? Again I will make it easy for you, No
So in what world do you think that it is ok to blackmail their employers ?? Because when it comes down to it, that is what strike action is, plain and simple blackmail.
When push comes to shove, there is only so much cash in the local authorities budgets, they like your members, are struggling with the rapid rate of inflation. If they give your members more cash then something else will get less. Maybe there will be one less person on the refuse van, maybe there will be a piece of kit missing on a fire engine that could have saved someones life, maybe one less ambulance or police car.
But heh, who cares, your members will get an extra couple of quid that a few weeks later they will have completely forgotten and they will again start wingeing about low pay.
Well, I have a suggestion, do what everyone else does when they believe they are underpaid and cant get the pay rise they want with their current employer, look out to the job market and get a new job. Oh and if you cant, that may demonstrate that you are already paid what you are worth, if you can then congratulations, when your employer starts hemoraging staff maybe they will start giving out larger pay rises.
It is my belief that the British Public are already a little fed up with Unions, The Fire Brigade (deserve more money but not the right way to go about it), the Police looking for the right to strike, a few weeks ago the Fuel Tanker Drivers, demonstrating over wanting a share of Shells profits when they didnt even work for Shell and now you.
So tell your members to go get over themselves, be grateful they have jobs, do a good days work for a good days pay and if they deserve a pay rise and their employer can afford it they will get one, if they dont or the employers wont, then they should find another job where they can earn what they believe they are worth.
I dont expect a response, I suspect this will be confined to the Deleted Items folder of whoever receives it, but it made me feel better typing it and if joe public doesnt tell you how they feel then you will simply blunder on believing that you have their support.
Not an employee and no connection to a Local Authority, other than paying them £2,500 a year in Council Tax and getting only biweekly bin collections in return due to living on a new estate.
Never been a member of a union and never will
Told by my Junior School Teachers that I would never come to anything, left school with 3 O-Levels and am now Managing Director of own IT Consultancy, demonstration in itself that anyone can do anything if they apply themselves.
And he's not 'political' either. He just votes Tory at election time... yadah, yadah... 
Yeah we're hoping to get back in touch with him to see if he fancies joining some of us on the picket line next month.
We need more working class heroes like him on board these days. Now, where did I put my silver spoon?
We need more working class heroes like him on board these days. Now, where did I put my silver spoon?
Nearly got run over a couple of times today by gutless scabs accelerating through the picket line like Schumacher.
Poor turnout it has to be said, didn't expect much else in truth.
Poor turnout it has to be said, didn't expect much else in truth.
QUOTE(readytoswing @ Jul 16 2008, 11:26 AM)
Nearly got run over a couple of times today by gutless scabs accelerating through the picket line like Schumacher.
Poor turnout it has to be said, didn't expect much else in truth.
I'm sorry to hear that -- both things.
Keep the faith!
i went outside to put the last of my rubbish in the bin, in alberr's dressing gown, in full view of the neighbours, not a pretty sight, for them..
and now alberr has reminded me the bin men are on strike!
at least i think they are. I have lost track of who empties our bins
i wonder if i should go out and picket my bin.. suitably dressed
unison
and now alberr has reminded me the bin men are on strike!
at least i think they are. I have lost track of who empties our bins
i wonder if i should go out and picket my bin.. suitably dressed
unison
A lot of the binmen were out working through the strike which was bloody unhelpful. They were the first to call strike in the last two day event as they were directly affected but haven't been so forthcoming this time. I blame the GMB, we needed them on board and they weren't.
QUOTE(readytoswing @ Jul 17 2008, 06:45 PM)
I blame the GMB, we needed them on board and they weren't.
oh bugger. why weren't they
my bin is still full but me and tommy billy shouted scab! at the bin men working in the next village!
I think GMB members accepted the pay offer. There was a one man picket outside a depot somewhere in the West Midlands yesterday, well done that man. Of course, our local rag being a Tory centered one was quick to example this as the true refelection of the strike action.
We spoke to a lot of UNISON members who said they supported the action but couldn't afford to strike. The irony being that supporting the action properly may have meant they would be able to afford to strike in the future should they need to.
I felt sorry for the pickets standing in the rain pushing for a better pay deal, especially seeing that those who scabbed will gladly accept a raised offer no doubt should it be so. Not right that.
We spoke to a lot of UNISON members who said they supported the action but couldn't afford to strike. The irony being that supporting the action properly may have meant they would be able to afford to strike in the future should they need to.
I felt sorry for the pickets standing in the rain pushing for a better pay deal, especially seeing that those who scabbed will gladly accept a raised offer no doubt should it be so. Not right that.
QUOTE(readytoswing @ Jul 18 2008, 09:00 AM)
We spoke to a lot of UNISON members who said they supported the action but couldn't afford to strike. The irony being that supporting the action properly may have meant they would be able to afford to strike in the future should they need to.
unison didn't give me the job i went for with them, so i banned their flag from our gazebo at tolpuddle
QUOTE(Beryl the Peril @ Jul 21 2008, 04:40 PM)
QUOTE(readytoswing @ Jul 18 2008, 09:00 AM)
We spoke to a lot of UNISON members who said they supported the action but couldn't afford to strike. The irony being that supporting the action properly may have meant they would be able to afford to strike in the future should they need to.
unison didn't give me the job i went for with them, so i banned their flag from our gazebo at tolpuddle
It took me two attempts Beryl and even then I only scraped in. Shame you didn't get in tho, I've seriously struggled to meet a fellow Braggite in the movement (or leftie for that matter).
Unison are my best friends right now.
Glad to hear that after two days of moaning from members and joe public alike on the picket.
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