#christmas #unions

  • EmergMemeHologram@startrek.website
    120·
    10 months ago

    Sure, unions are nice, but have you tried constantly ripping each other down in a race to the bottom with the hopes a rich person might notice and give you more wealth than your coworkers?

  • IninewCrow@lemmy.caEnglish
    100·
    10 months ago

    Lol … those benefits aren’t gifts that were freely given.

    People had to fight, get beaten, lose money, lose houses, lose property and years ago even get killed to even establish those benefits and normalize them today.

    I have old elderly friends who took part in union movements in the 40s and 50s, many of whom complained of getting beaten and threatened and a few recalling friends and relatives murdered for organizing successful strike action.

    If we had left it to corporations and wealthy elites to give these benefits freely, they would withhold everything and prefer that slavery were reintroduced than to give up anything.

    Those aren’t gifts … those are hard fought rights that people literally died for.

  • Sagrotan@lemmy.world
    21·
    10 months ago

    Elon, Jeff & co, we are coming for you and there is nothing you can do about it. Merry Christmas, you greedy soulless motherfuckers hohoho

    • cowfodder@lemmy.world
      64·
      10 months ago

      One of the first unions that really stuck in the US was the International Ladies’ Garments Workers Union, which started in response to the Triangle Shirtwaist fire.

      Yes, some traditionally male lead industries were shitty towards women, but your sweeping generalization is wrong.

        • Tinidril@midwest.socialEnglish
          28·
          10 months ago

          This is the claim.

          Unions have always had issues with women.

          One strike from one union 80 years ago when cultural attitudes were entirely different has no bearing on that claim.

            • Tinidril@midwest.socialEnglish
              13·
              10 months ago

              List them all then. It won’t matter. The plural of anecdote isn’t data. The one example you gave is clearly the exception that proves the rule, otherwise you wouldn’t have to go back 80 years to when pretty much every public institution mistreated and disrespected women.

              You are not an honest actor, and I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. It sucks that assholes seem to worm their way into every corner of the Internet.

        • FIST_FILLET@lemmy.ml
          3·
          10 months ago

          they said your generalization was wrong, not the UAW thing (which i don’t know or care about since i live on the other side of earth). go for a walk

    • rockSlayer@lemmy.world
      46·
      10 months ago

      Unions have been gaining class consciousness since their inception. It took a general strike of only white people in New Orleans for unions to realize that they will never succeed unless they accept and fight for black people too. The Wilmar 8 strike was a turning point for unions accepting women. Not to mention that this is probably from the IWW, which has always accepted women.

        • YarHarSuperstar@lemmy.world
          22·
          10 months ago

          You gave one item of evidence, I would assume they’re saying it’s not enough to be able to say that about unions (that they have always had issues with women). They addressed what you said and added to it, so neither?

        • rockSlayer@lemmy.world
          17·
          10 months ago

          Neither. I’m saying that worker-led organizations are prone to the biases of the workers that make up the organization, but their reliance on class consciousness means that unions never keep their status quo bias for long. The president of the UAW today is a feminist and socialist. The CWA organizers I work with are anti racist and socialists.

            • rockSlayer@lemmy.world
              11·
              10 months ago

              ok and? I’m talking about important individuals that play a vital part in building and directing worker power. You’re discussing rando teamsters. Yes, there are shitty people in unions. Yes, at one point unions didn’t have the knowledge they have today. That history is important. I won’t deny or downplay it, there are some unions that have some very ugly history. However, unions today are not like they were in the past, because unions are solely led by the workers, and those MAGA fascists are a minority in every union in the country. But like I said before, this probably came from the IWW, which never had those problems.

    • endhits@lemmy.world
      39·
      10 months ago

      Just so everyone knows, this person is either paid or has interest in tearing down unions. Identity politics is used often to stop worker’s action.

        • SaintWacko@midwest.socialEnglish
          16·
          10 months ago

          Forgiveness is only possible once the offending behaviour is stopped. I suspect the Internet has never offered you forgiveness because you’ve never stopped your offending behaviour.

          • Syrc@lemmy.world
            1·
            10 months ago

            Well, they’re right in the sense that Internet is very unforgiving about anything that anyone ever did, no matter if they stopped or not.

            Doesn’t mean it’s a good practice and they should be justified in doing it as well, though.

          • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
            1·
            10 months ago

            Noted. The very next time I see someone bring up something that happened decades ago I will be sure to see you comment on that.

    • Bael422@lemmy.world
      22·
      10 months ago

      That’s kinda fair, but only if not looking at context. Unions represent the will/votes of the workers, and in the past women’s rights were culturally looked down on. In the present day equality is a more widespread cultural view so unions now would reflect that, at least in areas that do. So essentially unions are only as good as the current majority ethics of the workers within them.