Teamsters, SEIU Decide to Bolt AFL-CIO (biggest schism since the 1930s)

Yahoo News ^ | 7/24/05 | RON FOURNIER

[Libloather]

...the decades-long decline in union membership.

More bad news for the RATS...

[Army Air Corps]

I noticed that they blame everything BUT their leadership and uber-left polictics. If unions had moved towards political neutrality and stuck to negotiating contracts, and not playing games with dues, they might have fared better.

[byteback]

hmmmm.....anyone else see a chance to get their votes by protecting the border and therefore their jobs?

[Gondring]

hmmmm.....anyone else see a chance to get their votes by protecting the border and therefore their jobs?

Yeah...Hillary. </sarc> :-(

[AzaleaCity5691]

If the Unions had followed the advice of Daley then chances are, the Democrats would still be the majority.

The reason we are the majority today is because of liberalism, it's all about the culture wars, or as I like to put it, the normal people vs the liberal whackos

[byteback]

On second thought most of the SEIU protests are in spanish.

[Sgt_Schultze]

HAhahahahaha! Look at the irony -

..."It's a shame for working people that before the first vote has been cast, four unions have decided that if they can't win, they won't show up for the game," Sweeney said.

Sound exactly like a STRIKE to me! And Sweeny doesn't like it

Hahahahahahahaha!

[bobo1]

You are very correct.

Blessings, Bobo

[Sthitch]

Divide and concur! My grandfather was put out of business by a wildcat Teamsters strike, nothing would make me happier than the see that union, and their thug comrades broken.

[Army Air Corps]

"...the normal people vs the liberal whackos"

That has to be the most succint description that I have heard in a long time. It is accurate AND descriptive.

[xzins]

These old unions are corrupt and all the leaders want is their own access to accounts.

[FlingWingFlyer]

A divided labor movement worries Democratic leaders who rely on the AFL-CIO's money and manpower on Election Day.

There is some stuff going on with the Buddhist monks too. Not "lookin' good" for the rich, white boys down at the DNC.

[Army Air Corps]

Well, I have never been a union member, but I have known a lot of folks who have been in them. All but a few have griped about them and loathe working under them. The oly folks who I have met who had ggod things to say about them worked for a carpenter's union. They liked the union because it focused on getting work contracts for its members and that was it.

[Army Air Corps]

"There is some stuff going on with the Buddhist monks too."

Again?! What has happened this time? Let me guess, more PRC donations funneled through "generous donors."

[bobo1]

I was with the Teamster's Union years back. I resented their politics, alas, I had to pay dues to keep my job. I wasn't the only one.

Blessings, Bobo

[mmercier]

>> Sweeney's allies are primarily industrial unions whose workers are facing the brunt of global economic shifts.

Sweeney's "allies" (read "controllers") are the public employee unions.

They could give a chit about working people, they intend to tax employers into penury. Why should they care in the end, they work for the "public" sector.

America must eventually acknowledge the existence of a political party that is solely dedicated to, and responsible for, the growth of governing structures; growth to the point where all else is subservient and all else is financially held accountable to their payrolls.

That structure will be born of the surviving rats and what remains of the AFL-CIO. We will likely get there from here with the vast majority still bitching about the evil rich people.

Wont they be surprised when they find out they are the "rich people"....

[RightDemocrat]

Labor might actually benefit from this. The Teamsters have long been willing to work with both parties and good track record of getting higher wages for their members. Unions can still be effective but the AFL-CIO has been using World War II era tactics. Labor would have been better off spending more on organizing efforts and less on political campaigns. And unions like the AFL-CIO have let workers down on issues like immigration.

[Southack]

Two big things are going on with this split. The first is that the AFL-CIO has put all of its eggs into the Democratic Party basket for decades...locking itself completely out of Power today.

The second is that carpenters (among others) have nothing in common with the left-wing, Che T-shirt-wearing anarchists who burn down homes and torch SUV's, or with the Greens who want government to ban all new home construction as evil "urban sprawl." In other words, the Private unions (all 5 million members) are breaking away from the nutcase Public unions (8 million members).

[Hank Rearden]

(clearing throat) Ahem.

Unions must die. Die, unions, die. Die, Die, Die!

Corrupt, lazy, worthless, parasitic thugs.

[Army Air Corps]

That is the same story that I have heard time and again. I worked with an older gent who was in the merchant marine. He left the MM to enter the Coast Guard. His explanation for the leaving the MM was the union. He said the meetings were a joke (they did not like it when anyone questioned the decisions of the leadership), threats from union reps, and dues that increased for no explicable reason.