Occupy Wall Street Movement Spreads Across the World!

Look. I'm not union. Wish I were. I work contract engineering in mostly auto plants and talked to the people. Plus my dad was a union autoworker. When he died the union was there for my mom and family. The unions created the middle class and the number of union workers decreasing is paralleled by the growth of the lower class and poor. Union jobs mean decreased poverty.

 

Only for those that are in them, and that is what you are either trying very hard to ignore, or are missing.

The person working at minimum wage can't afford to live now because the cost of living is so high... a large part of that is the selective increase in some worker positions.

The middle class? You know what? FUCK the middle class... The only time people seem to care to talk about the actual poor people, its to talk about how many of the middle class have fallen into the poor house... well guess what, there were people there before the middle class starting falling... people that society ignores and spits on and totally discounts in all their bitching about the middle class..

You know what, if you are considered middle class, then you are doing pretty fucking good for yourself, and all the talk about the rich needing the middle class to be feed off of... they also feed off the poor...

and so do the middle class...

 

On what? That's who's out there. What am I going to research? They're college kids. That's not to say they don't have a right to their opinion, but a well-organized protest involving a cross-section of the population would speak more loudly.

 

I usually have at least one livestream up from somewhere, quite often two or there... I've seen every color of person, mixes of genders, people from teenagers to senior citizens, there have been people in rags and people in suits....

In talking to the people that are at various protests, you can quickly find out there are people who are going to pretty much every level of schooling, some who still are, some who quit in order to occupy. People have quit their jobs to go join. Other go join because they can't find a job...

There are definitely things that need to be improved... but anyone thinking that it is only college kids involved, has not even tried to pay attention.

 

Just a little local news item to confirm what we 99% already know.

Report: Rich Keep Getting Richer In U.S.

October 19, 2011

MIAMI (CBSMiami.com) – If you’ve driven past the mansions on Miami Beach or in Coral Gables, the phrase the rich keep getting richer may not be a surprise.

According to a new report from the Credit Suisse Research Institute, the millionaires in the world now control 38.5 percent of global household wealth.

The percentage grew from 35.6 percent in 2010. The overall global wealth was pegged at $231 trillion, according to Credit Suisse.
As the middle class and lower class struggle to put food on the table, Credit Suisse found that the millionaires in the world saw their wealth grow by $20 trillion dollars in the last year.

The study also found that in June 2011, there were 84,700 ultra high net worth individuals, which was defined as having net assets exceeding $50 million.

The overall numbers have rapidly increased in recent years and the U.S. claimed the title for the greatest number of richest citizens, with 35,400.

Credit Suisse found that in terms of average wealth per adult, the U.S. isn’t in the top 3. According to the study, Switzerland, Australia, and Norway are the three richest nations in the world.

 

Also, if you'd like to see the "unions in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street" just do an internet search.

You can also look in particular at the various photos, youtube videos, and other articles of the Oct. 5th march to Foley Square; and from last Saturday, Oct. 15th Global Day Of Action.

All those will give you a look at who is involved.

 

Again, I'm just telling you what I've seen. Maybe it's different in other cities.

 

Where are you "seeing" what you're seeing Donna?

 

So were the Viet Nam protestors. So what? As far as unions go ,I have withdrawal slips from 5 or 6 unions and I have worked some non-union jobs and have seen what happens with non union workers. They can be dismissed at will and often are, to fascillitate wholesale firing to hire new workers at cheaper prices. Of course management never likes workers to organize because then the workers have some job security and decent wages. Before I got into the trade I have had for 44 years,I worked on the Ford assembly line and Standard oil. I have STORIES. The management of unions are notoriously human and get eaten up with greed like management usually is. The way to fix that is to let rank and file bring up and vote in,a union law that management makes no more than the workers they represent. Anyone that wants to know what unions are about should go back to when unions were beginning to form against the outrageous conduct of management , including murder by the cops(surprise-surprise!) and the Pinkertons. Suggestion=check out the history of Stevens versus NLRB.

 

All this is right man... however, it doesnt address the issue that non-unionized workers suffer each time a union collectibvely bargains higher wages for themselves...

 

Well, non-union workers should organize. But it's dangerous. I've seen people threatened. If unions gained enough members , say 60-70 % of us nationwide,we'd have those slick bastards by their plum sacks. Obviously,owners/management don't want workers to have a say in their own destiny/safety/peace of mind, 'cuz there's not enough money-ever -for them. They do not like to share the fruits of their workers labor. Who in the hell can live comfortably on minimum wages? They always bleat like sheep when anyone brings up raising it--"it'll ruin business and the sky will fall-the sky will fall"!!! Odd. Just looked out the window and I'll be damned--it's still there. Huh. Go figure.

 

If the unions that exist were fighting for the people, we would already be fine...

They don't, they fight for their members, and that costs the rest of society...

Beyond that, union membership is not open to everyone. From personal experience I can say that people can be excluded from unions just by pissing off the local union steward, and if you don't get accepted to the union on a union job, you dont keep the job.

Unions HAD their place... And the could still have a place if they fought for everyone.

As long as they fight only for their members, they are an exclusive club that does NOT help society at large.

 

Unfortunately, electronic transactions reduce the impact of picketing financial institutions. I have never been inside a building that is owned by the company that handles my 401k. How do you picket a web site? Hacker attack, maybe.

The first companies that became big enough to have excessive government influence were railroads, in the 1800s. Then it was steel manufacturing. I need to look into exactly how those situations were resolved. Somehow, the People were able to ultimately prevail.

There were a lot of horror stories, especially in the coal mining industry, related to working conditions. Unions did great things for workers in mining and manufacturing. I'm not sure how they are going to fit into a service economy. The issues are so different.

What I have seen is just the opposite - companies raising wages to somewhere between 75% and 85% of the union pay scale for their industry, in attempts to convince their workers that they don't need to unionize.

 

You go tell that to the local gas jockey in your town... or the waitress, who is making minimum wage, and as unions members wages go up, increasing the cost of living, they suffer.

 

Well Tom,we'll have to agree to disagree. One problem which illuminates the situation exactly is the re-location of much of our industrial base to other countries ,with NO interferance from our so-called patriotic legislators. You see,that shows how much "they" care about this or any other country,for that matter. They haven't made quite enough money to suit themselves,but I guess paying foreigners a buck or two an hour will help em out. The coal companies (as Karen mentioned)are a good example of companies that don't give a shit about their workers. Remember the most recent example? The first contact with the owner(don't remember the pricks name) by a media person drew this response="taking my picture around here will get you shot"!! I saw him say it.

 

Where did I say unions shouldnt fight to keep jobs here?

I said they aren't improving things for everyone... they are only improving things for their members.

Tell me why ANYONE should make 25-35/ hour for pushing a broom all day, because they are unionized, when someone works their ass of for minimum wage?

Yes, I will 100% agree that unions are wonderful if you are in one...

If you aren't, they hurt you...

 

hahaha--well I don't know about anyone,Tom but if the guy pushing a broom for 25 an hour was ME--I'm all for it and my hatchet would soon see the bottom of a lake.

 

Yeah, let's help those waitresses by reducing the number of people who can afford to eat in a restaurant and leave a generous tip. You will never find a waitress who agrees with you on this.

It is 100% true that coal would be cheaper if we got rid of all the safety regulations that unions brought about. I'm willing to pay a little extra on my electric bill.

 

It must be nice to have the extra money to be okay paying higher prices so others can get paid 3 or 4 times what you do...

Some people, can't afford to live as it is already, they don't have the luxury of being okay with paying a bit more...

 

You know I love you peeps, but could we get this thread back on topic please?

 

Just got back from todays GA in Buffalo. We decided that we are going to start a canned food drive for our local food bank! Change starts at the bottom and this will be our first really positive step forward. Hopefully the rest of the occupations will get on board and help make sure people dont go hungry this winter.:2thumbsup: