"Shame On" the "Shame On" people.
I've always viewed these people with a bit of annoyed amusement, if you will.
Since the first time I tried to talk with them and was handed a business card, to last Saturday night at the San Joaquin Community Hospital "Evening with Amy Grant".
Now, they're simply pathetic.
Let me set the stage for you. The "Shame On" people, here after referred to as SOP, were set up outside a big tent for the VIP dinner before the event.
The SOP had their usual sign, that most people I know simply drive by and ignore, but were also armed with flyer's and a video camera.
Video camera?
Oh, right, like some kind of demented paparazzi, right?!
Nope, they were video taping everyone who paid money to attend the event.
Not that anyone who attended really cared, but seriously, what do you plan to do with the tape or memory card?!
Figure out who these people are and picket them, too?!
Ever person who showed up for the dinner you protested, actually ponied up a little extra dough so the hospital can buy new equipment that will go into the facility's new burn care center.
What did they do to you, SOP?!
The event had nothing to do with whatever the hospital did that DIDN'T include union labor.
The facility is the first of it's kind between LA and Fresno that will allow burn patients to be treated right here instead of being shipped out of town.
The SOP have run their course and have become, quite frankly, pathetic.
Most of the people I talked to, who were protested by the SOP in the past, tell me the bid for union labor was so much higher than the non-union counterparts that it wasn't cost effective to use them.
Most time, there wasn't enough union laborers to do the job and had to be brought in from out of the area at an even higher cost.
Even the protesters are from out of the area.
Still, even without a union crew, these jobs manage to pass city and county code compliance.
And Saturday night, they had SIX SOP at the San Joaquin dinner.
I pray none of them, or anyone in their family or union, ever needs the services of San Joaquin hospital or any of the other medical offices they've shown up at in the past.
Maybe the next time they need care, they can lay on a gurney out on the sidewalk with a banner draped over them.
But not that anyone would notice them.
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8 comments:
The shame-on signs are annoying. Whenever I pass one, it's one of those uncomfortably embarrassing unsaid moments...
There's no flare to the signs. There's no pizzazz. They're cookie cut-outs of each other as if the same poorly manicured generic finger is waggling. Boring.
I've never understood the "Shame-on" picketing campaigns. They make it appear as if the business is involved in illegal practices when all they are quilty of is hiring non-union workers.
I say Shame on the "Shame-on" protestors for painting an unfair picture of businesses.
agreed. when I lived in Bakersfield, I would see the SOP ALL over town. I'm what you could call a union supporter, and these people still annoy me.
Seems there are many more people these days who are much more deserving of a good "shaming on" than businesses who are hiring non-union workers. Which makes me think...I might get me one of those "shame on" banners and park my lawn chair in front of the white house. thanks for the revolutionary idea, SOP.
Those signs are annoying. Have you ever stopped to ask why they're saying "Shame On..."? I have to the few that were in front of CBCC not too long ago. The guy replied with, "Um, I don't know. I just need to get paid."
I just laughed with him. Can't blame a guy to want to earn some money. Guess whoever employs them has great quality screening.
This is exactly what's wrong with the modern union. Once created to protect the working joe/joeleen, they've now literally become a bunch of sops. When they're sending out their paying-dues members to point the finger at well-intentioned citizens, something is wrong in Whoville. The guys from "On the Waterfront" would rip out those memory cards and crunch them betwixt and between their big incisors -- and then they'd go back to work....
Here's the thing...these picketers are not even union members! They are just day laborers who that group chooses to employ for a few hours! Its a complete oxymoron! Why doesn't anyone expose that part of their deception? I am a union member (the company I work for is a union shop...I don't really have a choice in the matter) these "Shame On" picketers make me sick! They don't even see the irony in what they are doing! Exploiting people is their business, yet they are trying to "shame" others for doing exactly the same thing?! What is up with that?!?
I know a lot of people think there is no place for a union these days. I disagree...in some environments a union is necessary, but not in EVERY situation. If it protects the worker then a union serves a purpose. If the unions primary function is to guarantee a higher wage for work that can be done just as safely and for less...well then I completely disagree! If a company is treating workers unfairly, providing an unsafe work environment, or intimidating workers to do illegal things (like work overtime without pay,etc.) then I believe a union can do some good. These "Shame on" people are pathetic and the fact that they don't even know why they are there speaks volumes about the people who are paying them minimum wage to represent them. They should get no publicity good or bad!
Basic economics 51: workers and anministrative classes are in a war. You don't shame one side in a war. If you're pro-union ask who took power away form unions. Not the means of production but government,i.e., lawmakers, exectuve power and judicial decidions. Some of the very laws aimed to curb anti-trust were used to bust unions. So in the class warfare between lobor and management you go after the powers that weakened Unions, and it wasn't management. It was a government acting on management behalf. Sad but true. The SOP sign wielders should be standing outside the supreme court.
I am the anonymout poster above.
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