Organized Labor is Organized Crime
45 comments
Organized crime is organized labour, but the other way around only applies when organized crime takes control of a labour union. But unfortunately that does not automatically mean 2x organized labour and double efficience. Maybe if two organized crime organizations shared a labour union, but I think they would fight eachother and then the union would be only half as organized. Maybe organized crime needs something like a union to settle disputes so they can more effectively run the labour union, but the oversight would mean the union would be kept in check by the other union, so it would only be as efficient as the overseeing union. Maybe that crime union needs twice as many crime organizations in it to double production and lift the brakes on the slave union.
Capitalism is indeed organised crime, and we are all its victims.
Dennis Lyxzen is better than you, Alex.
Then unorganized labor is unorganized crime, and all labor is a crime of some kind, so down tools, folks, and let's head for The Big Rock Candy Mountain!
Yeah, look at all the criminal stuff they've done, like making a 40 hour work week the standard, doing away with child labor, ensuring that people get paid overtime for working longer hours, ensuring proper breaks during the workday, making it illegal to fire someone for medical reasons, etc.
Organized Labor is Organized Crime
The sad part is that "Alex" is probably someone who benefits from the presence and influence of organized labor, either directly or indirectly, like almost all of the workforce.
image
Government is organized crime.
Officer: Do you know why I pulled you over?
Motorist: Because this is a speed trap, and you have a quota?
"Stand and deliver!"
(Challenge of highway robbers in old England, not the math movie.)
"Organized Labor is Organized Crime"
...says Alex, typing away in his decrepit old trailer, waiting for his next welfare cheque, seeing as he's probably never worked a day in his life, to know the difference between the protections that unions represent, and being in constant fear of receiving that dreaded pink slip, as one of Romney's serfs.
I've already heard that there's ripples of redundancy rumours going around the branches of Staples here in the UK. After all, Mittens spent $800 million on his campaign, and to a billionaire such as him, even that amount is hurting him; that chunk o' change is no mean shortfall, and he's gotta claw it back somehow.
Ergo, unions . Q.E. and D., Alex.
I work as a independent home health care provider. Before the union that represents me came into play, I was making minimum wage, no vacation pay and no option to buy into affordable health insurance. If I got hurt on the job, I was out of luck and had to pay for any medical attention on my own. Grant it, they've pulled some bonehead moves where I'm like "What the hell?", but in general, I'm better off with what they've done.
So please Alex explain to me again why my union is a bad thing.
Well it can be. But so can pretty much ANYTHING. Including, say, businesses, churches, gov'ments...
You're always going to have crime, it might as well be organized crime.
Seriously, unions are there to balance out the power differential between the employer and employee. Being run by people, it is subject to the same problems as any organization. That's why they tend to be open and democratic.
So I guess you think your 40 hour work week is too short? Oh, you don't then thank a union.
So you think you should make less than $7 per hour? Oh, you don't then thank a union.
I see you don't enjoy your company's health plan, with dental and vision coverage that makes it possible for you to live a healtiher and longer life. Oh, you don't then thank a union.
So, you think your kids need to be out in the workplace earning their keep right in a dirty factory right? Oh, you don't then thank a union.
So you think that your workplace is too safe, too many fire exits right? Oh, you don't then thank a union.
The OP was the first commenter on a piece written by a Michelle Malkin, a journalist known for writing “Culture of Corruption: Obama and his Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks and Cronies.” Reading of her at Wikipedia, she appears to have had a privileged upbringing and seems to be fairly well remunerated for her labour, so I doubt (but am not sure of) she has a full grasp of what it is like to earn less than the national average wage or salary. However, I am fairly sure she would run a mile in under 4 minutes if she was ever forced to break into a sweat or get dirt under her fingernails in order to put food on her table.
I would wish her and the OP the chance of living in their extreme right-wing utopia. A nearly retired Boilermaker said to me some 35 years ago all we had to do to get rid of this type of thinking is to say to the elite, “OK, let’s try your way from now on. It’s every one for themselves now, let the Market rule with no constraints, no Unions, no safety laws, no liability to employers no matter what etc.” Ms Malkin and the OP would very quickly realise they are nowhere near the true elite level, that they would be put to work for subsistence wages and heavily taxed on what little they had left. They would have no rights along with the rest of the plebs. They would have to wait for the all boats rising’ and the trickle-down effect’ along with the rest of us. I’m absolutely sure Ms Malkin and those like her would very quickly become at least left of centre.
And big business isn't?
Really?
Oh, I'm sure some unions have mob ties, here and abroad. Criminals have this habit of following the money, after all. And of course some union leaders are corrupt, and some are dishonest, and some are just plain dumb. They are, after all, human.
But I think Alex No-Last-Name-Given was aiming for a catchy slogan that would equate unions with regular crime, which is rather silly. They're just practicing their rights in the free market system. They have a product they wish to sell - labor - and rather than compete wastefully, they've decided to do the civilized thing, sit down, and establish a monopoly on the market.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
To post a comment, you'll need to Sign in or Register . Making an account also allows you to claim credit for submitting quotes, and to vote on quotes and comments. You don't even need to give us your email address.
