Flyer from a 'protestor'

[rammstein]

So there's a group of protestors near my office. I ran out just now to get a sandwich, and this guy hands me a flyer. The flyer begins by stating that some big bank (can't remember what it was called) refused to pay fair wages as defined by area standards. Whatever that means.

The next line is what got me- it said that the company had 1.34 Trillion Dollars in assets. That made me nuts for 2 reasons-
1) What difference does it make how much money the company has- wages are wages. If they had no assets, should they pay you next to nothing?

and the bigger
2) ASSETS!!!! Assets are offset by liabilities. No mention of their liabilities- what if they have 2 trillion in liabilities?

Rather than mention on this flyer what their wages were vs. the area standard, they simply said they weren't getting enough and that their company had over a trillion dollars in assets. Because I am supposed to say THAT'S NOT FAIR!!!

They are so ingrained in their feelings of entitlement that they can't even make a valid case for themselves- heck, they MIGHT be right, but they sure didn't do a good job of selling me.

ALSO- how does going on strike work? I've always felt lost on this- I have hated jobs that I had, and felt underpaid. So I went out and found another job. These guys are contruction workers. There is no shortage of construction work down here, and it will be a few years until there is. I guess I should learn a bit about the history of labor disputes, because I am missing something.

[sammyg2]

+ a gazillion.

I despise lazy greedy people who think the world owes them a living and think that they deserve more just because someone else (or in this case a corporation) has more than them.

That guy sums up why I also am anti-union. Gimme gimme gimme but I won't work hard or produce to earn it. If you stop giving into all our outlandish demands we'll go on strike and use extortion to get what we want! You have to give us anything we ask for because we can hold your company hostage and the liberal government is on our side!

I'd tell him to pack sand.

[Hugh R]

They sound like union workers and the construction is being done non-union. They don't even work there I'll bet.

[Rick Lee]

I used to see these strikes all the time in DC. Usually they hauled out some giant inflatable rat and then marched around in a circle in front of whatever business they were protesting for hiring non-union labor. I just don't get it. If I did that in any job, I'd be fired. And if I thought I was underpaid (which I do), I surely wouldn't waste my time protesting in front of a building when I could use that time to find another job or do sidework. If I see folks on strike in front of a storefront business, I make it a point to go in a buy something.

[Jeff Higgins]

Maybe Supe can help them out with their union flyers.

[Racerbvd]

Well, if the loser put as much effort into working as he does protesting, he might earn a good wage I hope you put your foot in his ass!!!

[Gogar]

There's some kind of union-protest out in front of a "senior living" complex a few blocks from where I'm working. A huge sign: "SHAME ON xxxxxxxx CONSTRUCTION, non-union laborers, etc."

There's always about 2-3 folks out there with the sign, and some umbrellas and a cooler.

Oh, and did I mention the building has been finished for a few months?

[rammstein]

I don't need to put my foot in any asses- besides their obnoxious chanting anf noise pollution, they don't really affect me. I am just shocked that they did such a poor job with articulating their position on a flyer.

[rammstein]

I don't need to put my foot in any asses- besides their obnoxious chanting anf noise pollution, they don't really affect me. I am just shocked that they did such a poor job with articulating their position on a flyer.

[cstreit]

Sense of entitlement is spot on.

They are using the "redistribution of wealth" logic here. Well YOU have more money than me, that's not fair!

I seem to recall this story about an industrious ant and a grasshopper when I was a young lad, Aesops fables if I recall. Perhaps you should print that story on a flyer and hand it to them.

[cstreit]

Aesop version:


IN a field one summer’s day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart’s content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.

“Why not come and chat with me,” said the Grasshopper, “instead of toiling and moiling in that way?”

“I am helping to lay up food for the winter,” said the Ant, “and recommend you to do the same.”

“Why bother about winter?” said the Grasshopper; “we have got plenty of food at present.” But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil. When the winter came the Grasshopper had no food, and found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing every day corn and grain from the stores they had collected in the summer. Then the Grasshopper knew: “IT IS BEST TO PREPARE FOR THE DAYS OF NECESSITY.”


Modern Version:

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. CBS, NBC and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can it be that, in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

- Then a representative of the NAAGB (The National Association of Green Bugs) shows up on Nightline and charges the ant with "green bias" and claims that the grasshopper is the victim of 30 million years of greenism.
- Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when he sings "It's not easy being green."
- Bill and Hillary Clinton make a special guest appearance on the CBS Evening News to tell a concerned Dan Rather that they will do everything they can for the grasshopper who has been denied the prosperity he deserves by those who benefited unfairly during the Reagan summers, or as Bill refers to it, the "Temperatures of the 80's."
- Richard Gephardt exclaims in an interview with Peter Jennings that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and calls for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his "fair share."
- Finally, the EEOC drafts the "Economic Equity and Anti-Greenism Act," Retroactive to the beginning of the summer.

Hillary gets her old law firm to represent the grass- hopper in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal judges that Bill appointed from a list of single-parent welfare moms who can only hear cases on Thursday's between 1:30 and 3pm when there are no talk shows scheduled. The ant loses the case. The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left with which to pay these retroactive taxes, the Government confiscates his home and gives it to the Grasshopper.

As the story ends we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the ant's house crumbles around him since he doesn't bother to maintain it. The ant has disappeared in the snow. On the TV, which the grasshopper bought by selling most of the ant's furniture, they are showing Bill Clinton standing before a wildly applauding group of Democrats announcing that a new era of "fairness" has dawned in America.

[daepp]

I could be wrong, but I don't think there are any US Banks with a Trillion in assets. Hundred of billions yes, but Trillions?

[Jeff Higgins]

Maybe a few Brazillions in assets.

[Bill Douglas]

Yes, if the bank has trillions they better hang on to it as they might need it.

Plus it's a free world. A very free world here in the west, and if you don't like what you are being paid or the company you work for go to one you are happy with.

[Gogar]

How much is a Brazillion?

[Danny_Ocean]

Originally Posted by Gogar

How much is a Brazillion?

Brazillion?

I think that's anything above a 44EEE

[Porsche-O-Phile]

There are those people out there, who if freely given $500 by you or I would turn around and b1tch and complain loudly that we didn't give them $600.

These are the kinds of people who naturally gravitate towards unions.

[Superman]

Interesting. I don't see a question to answer here or at least, I don't see a real, legitimate, clarifying question. I see some fairly arrogant and uncharitable opinions combined with some sweeping generalizations, but those things do not a legitimate question make.

I will make one observation. There are hundreds of construction contractors, union and non-union, in my work world. Thousands perhaps. Some are large and some are small. The size of a company, their bonding capacity, their revenues, etc., is related to their degree of respect for organized labor. Some of the small companies simply will not achieve a medium or large size with their current attitude toward Labor. The larger companies prefer union workers. The reason? Sit down for this one, guys. The reason is because those unions guys are more productive. They get more work done.

So in other words, if you want to find someone in the construction industry who agrees with you, go find a small inefficient construction company. You guys might get along really well. But if you want to find out how a large, complex construction project is delivered on time with high quality work.....go talk to a large union company. Yeah, I know that doesn't fit into your sweeping generalization. But it does fit with reality.

I'm chuckling now. Thinking of the rebar company that is going to start this week on a project just getting underway. It is a five-story concrete structure that covers the area of nine football fields. The rebar will be handled by union Iron Workers exclusively. If any of you guys want to watch a crew work HARD, just come by any time during the next eighteen months and I will show you that crew. And in a semi-related story, a retired union Iron Worker participated in a fire fighters' exhibition here recently. He ran to the top of the Columbia Tower (76 stories) in full fire gear, stopping a few times to perform some activity that was part of the competition (changing oxygen bottles or whatever......). He made it in 25 minutes. I'd say that's pretty good for a lazy old fart (he was 55 years old) with a sense of entitlement.

[Tidybuoy]

I read this thread earlier.

When I saw "superman" as the most recent poster....I had to look. Before I could even click to read, I thought "I wonder what this liberal is lecturing this time.

Superman, you are entirely too predictable.

This post was not a bash against union workers. It was merly about a flyer that only told half the picture....The company has 1.something in assets and underpays compared to the area standard. The orig poster simply stated that it would be better if the flyer told the whole picture.

I agree with the orig poster. I cannot sympatize with the protestor unless they state some real facts (for example: the company pays minimum wage when average area wage for the area is $12.00 and the executives are earning $1mil bonuses and we get no medical benefits) Now that's something I could sympathize with. In addition, the company has 1.something in assets and only .25 debt.

Let me ask you this: If the president of Chevron was complaining that he wasn't getting paid the industry standard for oil company president slots - would you fee sorry for him? It's just not a valid argument to me and needs to be put into context for me to give a damm.

[Seric]

Light them on fire.

Sorry, post #666 so it has to be pure evil.