Union Hired Non-Union Workers to Protest Hiring Non-Union Workers!

Need picketers to goose up your protest? You can hire picketers - yes, demonstrators-for-hire that march wherever you want them to march and chant whatever you want them to chant.

That in itself may be a smart solution, but when you're a labor union protesting the hiring of non-union workers, then that's just a whole 'nother level of irony:

Billy Raye, a 51-year-old unemployed bike courier, is looking for work.

Fortunately for him, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council of Carpenters is seeking paid demonstrators to march and chant in its current picket line outside the McPherson Building, an office complex here where the council says work is being done with nonunion labor.

"For a lot of our members, it's really difficult to have them come out, either because of parking or something else," explains Vincente Garcia, a union representative who is supervising the picketing.

So instead, the union hires unemployed people at the minimum wage—$8.25 an hour—to walk picket lines. Mr. Raye says he's grateful for the work, even though he's not sure why he's doing it. "I could care less," he says. "I am being paid to march around and sound off."

Jennifer Levitz of the Wall Street Journal reports: Link


"For a lot of our members, it’s really difficult to have them come out, either because of parking or something else," explains Vincente Garcia, a union representative who is supervising the picketing.

Is it any wonder a lot of people have a dislike for unions? If you are a union member, coming out is something you should be doing regardless of the inconvienience. I wouldn't want my union dues used to pay to a non union member because union members were to lazy to show up. Unions still have their place I just wish those in charge were smarter about some things.
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This reminds me of Rome where people would hire professional mourners for funerals. They would follow the funeral procession and cry and scream in anguish. The best mourners were the ones who could put on the best show. It got to the point to where Rome had to ban the practice. It just got too crazy.

If I were a rich man (and crazy...or crazier) I would hire protestors to march for some of the goofiest reasons. Heck. I might hire some to picket the union headquarters for not making the protesters part of the union. Spend a few thousand dollars, get some money into hands of people who need it, and make a crazy statement. That is how life ought to be.
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This only proves that the Union system is well past it's prime and is completely broken. Non-union gets it done faster and without all the idiocy that the Unions bring.
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yet another neatorama right-wing hit piece. WTF is up with this lately? I came here for neat things about science, history, nature. Not politicrap

why would there be a union for people who stand in protests for money? does that make sense?

WSJ article to boot.
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Having been in one union or another for decades, I can tell you that sometimes they are the only recourse for workplace justice available to the common worker, and at other times, they are just a bunch of crooks who steal your dues.

But in the end, I certainly would rather have a union to help keep my workplace safe and fair rather than just rely on the good will of the company.
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*Mr. Raye says he’s grateful for the work, even though he’s not sure why he’s doing it. "I could care less," he says.*

So Mr Raye does care sine 'he could care less' about what he is doing.

If anybody is out by the McPherson Building could you smack Mr Raye in the back of the head and tell him it is "I could NOT care less". Thanks
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What business does Neatorama have highlighting crude, right-wing hit pieces?

What exactly is so objectionable about unions hiring non-union picketers? Does it even make sense for picketers to unionize? Do you have any idea how unions are created, or the conditions under which unionization makes sense? Why the hell would a bunch of short term, no-skill "professional" picketers who work a few weeks out of the year need union representation?!

If Alex or the author of the WSJ article weren't reporting in bad faith, maybe they would point out that management often keeps lawyers, lobbyists, and public relation firms on retainer for the exact same reason the carpenter's union hired picketers: to manage public perception.

But somehow, when Unions do this, it's a bad thing.

This kind of shit is exactly why I will no longer visit Neatorama.
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Whenever we posted about something uncomfortable about left-wing liberal/right-wing nut, we're always accused of being a conservative/liberal shill.

Can't you see the irony of the situation: a union protesting the hiring of non-union labor by ... hiring non-union picketers!
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It would only be ironic if there were such a thing as a picketer's union, and the carpenter's union was going out of its way to avoid hiring unionized picketers.

But that isn't what's happening.

The real story is that unions, including the carpenter's union in this case, are hiring people to protest entities that don't hire unions. Nowhere is it written that picketers must be members of a union to picket on behalf of union causes.

Again, if this were a case of unions giving preference to non-union picketers over unionized picketers, THAT would be ironic. But this isn't ironic: it's a union hiring the unemployed for PR work. That's all.

The problem I have with you and the WSJ reporter is the way you've twisted this non-story to make the carpenter's union appear hypocritical and unprincipled. You call it "irony", but an honest reading of the facts does not yield such an interpretation.
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Alex I support you in the posting of this. I found it ironic and even more so given that the union is paying these people because it is too "difficult to have them come out, either because of parking or something else" to fight for work that they claim to want.
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Has Neatorama tipped to the right? Better post an article about how stupid Sarah Palin is, to appease the left.

I agree with Kalel. Unions are a blessing and a curse. Sometimes companies will screw you over without the union, though. Government unions are the worst, keeping incompetent people doing nothing in well-paying jobs, and making them feel entitled, all at the expense of people who can't afford their taxes.
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The real problem is that your big companies that generate all the jobs have shipped them overseas and there aren’t any jobs left in this country. We’re left to fight amoungst ourselves trying to place blame. It was not enough for the big business to make a good profit, they had to get greedy and try to make more by outsourcing our jobs overseas. Now what’s left? No one employed or able to buy their product and the manufacturing capabilities of the US down the tubes. Whether you are union, which I support, or non-union, the good paying jobs are just not there anymore. Our middle class has disappeared.
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