Worked for Walmart for a decade and my husband works for Walgreens. Retail workers DESPERATELY need a union in this country. They are treated like shit.
I remember when walmart tried to get into the EU market by opening 95 stores in Germany in 1997 ... and instantly run into troubles with german unions and worker protection laws ... they left 9 years later with a pretty bloody nose ... and never tried to enter the EU market again
I think that in order to get a high school diploma everyone has to work 45 days in retail (on the floor with customers, not management trainee or that sort of crap); and another 45 days in restaurant work (not as skilled chef, prep chef or anything but as wait staff, bus staff, dishwasher, or hostess). People have to learn that being a Tik Tok or UA-cam influencer is not sustainable or contributes to the overall good of the economy. Leeja not included here because her contribution is worth far more than what revenue she receives as a UA-cam content creator. What she offers us is far greater than what she is paid. We need more Leejas!
It's so weird that huge corporations tell everyone they can't pay their workers a higher wage just a few days before they post record profits and huge dividends for their shareholders. And weirdly, there always seems to be enough money to pay the CEO just a few million more...
This is the result of a shift in economic theory (the Chicago School lead by Milton Friedman) which argued that the first and last responsibility of companies was not to their employees or even customers, but to their shareholders. This created the entire myth of the 'Hardworking Rich Person' so prevalent in the US today. This has also resulted in the view by corporations that the profit margin is sacrosanct. Add in a saturated market where share is not increasible (again due to a lack of interest in supporting customers by creating better products), labor is the only real component left for corporations to loot in order to increase the all-holy profit margin. The only industries that have truly benefitted from this trend are: Law Practice (gotta protect that profit from the people you're seizing your wealth from), Advertising (have to convince the customers that the latest pile of feces to be produced is "New and Improved"), and Politics (an offshoot of advertising to be honest).
I used to work for Home Depot and they are HILARIOUSLY anti-union. They have an annual training course you're required to take that instructs you to "say no to unions"
Yes. I commented about this separately but just said corporations because it happened at more than one place I worked. I only worked at Home Depot a couple of months because I refused to pressure people into getting their credit card and my supervisors kept riding my azz about it so I quit. The training videos were hilarious because you never used the anti-theft training and the union videos were so obvious with their talk to your company and not unions because your company cares about you and knows what's best plus if you sign anything the union owns you and you can never escape.
When I became a supervisor at Home Depot I had to watch a different training video that encouraged me to discourage associates from unionizing by offering "facts" and my opinions lol. Crazy.
Like a family? Absolutely. They expect you to work for the company's benefit while being poorly compensated. Same deal if you're helping your family member move across town or fix their sink. You're not going to be paid like professional paid help. Your company exists to make the people at the top of it wealthy. The purpose of your job isn't making widgets or fixing whatsits. It's to make a few specific people money. Try to keep that in mind when you're at work and stressing out about the minutia of your day to day.
Well said! It is jaw-dropping how many people lack the intelligence to understand that everyday workers need to stick together and support one another instead of "trusting" that employers have employees' best interest in mind. Say it, Sister!
LOLZ nah. Screw that. If I was your coworker and I heard you crying and talking about going on strikes, I'd tell you to not talk to me and that you're on your own!
@@POCKET-SAND Unions don't destroy your "state's economy" unless there's a damn good reason for them to do so. I think the fact they did so to your state is pretty telling. Now what do you prioritize, the well-being of the people or the well-being of the state?
The part that's always kinda driven me nuts is the way people refer to unions as some external third party. It's us. It's the workers. WE're the union! Ask "What's the union ever done for me?" NO! Ask "What can we do now that we're united?"
Show me one union that has been able to last without driving the company out of business or to cut jobs. Unions add to costs, and if those costs can't be passed on to consumers then jobs are lost, one way or another.
My mom was in a union. She was able to have four kids, take care of a husband with MS, buy a new house, learn to drive and buy a new car. On her one paycheck. That was decades ago, when unions membership was more common, but it shows what is possible.
true, but from 1945 until 1973, America had no global competition. American corporations competed with each other, similar energy costs, labor costs, and taxation rates far higher than today. and workers didn't have to deal with automation--for example, many will swipe a card to pay for gas, which used to employ a high school graduate at one time. meanwhile, let's look at what it meant, materially, to be middle class in America. watch the black and white TV shows if you don't believe me--you see a small house, one bedroom for the kids, one bath for everyone, one telephone for everyone, one TV on a rolling table to be taken from living room to dining room with 3 free channels on it, no internet to pay for. would you be considered middle class if you lived like that today? so it wasn't just unionization, it was an entire economy we'll never have again.
@@albertgaspar627which is why laws should be made to combat the job loss. Yea you can't prevent the loss, but you can make a system where that profit goes somewhere other than the company's pockets.
@@Lobsterwithinternet true, after the Great Depression, efforts were made to stabilize the banking industry. and again, as global competition caught up, the big windfall profits weren't found so easily, so you get investment firms d'ing around with options/derivitives nonsense that pulled AIG down and set the subprime mortgage crisis going, and even before that with the savings and loan crisis under the first bush. people who aren't satisfied with single digit gains play games, and then teach the PIGS countries to balance their books with games, which leads to a euro crisis (and the reason eu nations weren't paying into NATO, Mr. Trump. once they got that cleared, they went back to paying their share, it wasn't your deal making. if anything, your failed trade war with china did more to hurt the american farmer...but that's a story for another time)
Lately I’ve been wondering why unions aren’t the norm anymore, and why they’re not as powerful compared to the past. Thank you so so much for sharing how we can help get the PRO Act passed!!
Unions are not good for the worker, the boss, or the company. Unions steal money unethically with mandatory fines on members. Do not be fooled by pro union propaganda. They only look to enrich themselves.
It is due to a shortage of Labor workers having the willpowers in necessities to form a Union Strike. It may be easier said than done due to full process of demotivating employees and a rise of American pessimism among our ‘Great Established Democracy”. 💔
It isn't the last thing; as we've clearly seen in France. Violence is always on the table, we've all just forgotten about it. I guess times aren't difficult enough yet. But if things continue to get worse and these greedy subhumans continue to exploit workers, the environment, developing nations, and the naivety of consumers, things are going to get fucking ugly.
@Antonio-Gransci Imagine being so privileged that you can sneer at people who go into the military as it in a very real sense is one of the few methods of upwards mobility. Criticize the military as an institution all you want. But to look down at people who either have different values and beliefs as you, or in many cases come from extremely underprivileged and exploited socio-economic situations just screams privilege.
Working as a theme park employee at Universal in Florida, we always joked about how Disney's union was also our union, because the unions that represent Disney employees would get the wage raised every so often, then the other parks would follow suit in order to compete for employees.
I loathe that man and his bullshit 'legacy' so much that I still actively celebrate the anniversary of day he died every year. It was the single halfway decent thing he ever did.
Ronald "might as well reference monument mythos and elect james dean" reagan A spoiler is that dean (in that universe) is basically a demon that is really just a nice guy, then shit happens and people hated him outside of one anti-dean group and... just look up the monument mythos man, its easier to watch than reading a comment
@@RainbowGod666It gets that complicated? See, I'm super interested in analog horror and such, but I have been holding off, because my partner is super interested as well, but our schedules just never sync up these days... But, I went ahead and watched the first bit of the first video Wendigoon made about it, and I'm really looking forward to getting into the series! I'm kinda glad it gets really complicated haha
@@gsp49 bruh... If you actually need to be told I do not understand how you can be so ignorant. Although to humour you: Amazon, entirety of Hollywood, Ubisoft, Activision Blizzard, Shien, Nestlé, so many places in Japan & Korea that they have a bloody term for it (Black Company) and the list can go on.
@@elizabethbrown5537 oh, sounds like you have some unwarranted hate of big business, you can always shop and mom and pop stores. Vote with your dollars, don't give them your business if you hate them.
I helped start the Walker Worker Union in 2020! I will never forget what the Director, Mary Ceruti, said to the gallery guards in a zoom meeting letting us know the new minimum wage is $15 at the museum. She said that economists have determined that there is no livable wage. I couldn’t believe she said that to a group of part-time minimum wage workers. I had coworkers who had to choose, whether or not to pay rent or eat. I literally think you are so awesome and smart!!! Hope I run into you in public someday!! I also am in MPLS, cedar riverside.
What is a Living Wage lady ??? I like eating Stake and Pate everyday ! See everyone is different ! You Confusing Minimum Wage a Living wage ???..... You are trying to Protect all Those Millions of Single Mothers who made bad Chooses in Life we know ! Stay Single get an Education and save some money and Find a Good Partner ! then you make Chidden right ! Common Sense in America is Completely missing ??? That's why your Cities look like a Ghettoes ! Single Mothers are just Take and Take and Take ! Not Sustainable !
My union enabled me to retire at age 55 with a good pension and 100% paid medical benefits. Labor unions and union dues are a well worth investment and worth every penny. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
General Morors ran into that problem--they offered "20 and out" to workers who left after 20 years and outlived health predictions--sometimes another 2 decades, with zero contribution to the corporation's bottom line. GM got the handle, "a health insurance company that makes cars on the side" as a result. then they ran into global competition (Their response was the Saturn division) and the 2008 subprime crisis made them "government motors" just to survive.
I used to work at a non profit mental health program in NYC. We tried unionizing and once management learned about it they immediately started union busting. We were told they "didn't think a union was necessary." People who never were in trouble were all of a sudden getting written up and fired. We were able to file an unfair labor practice charge against them. They hired one of the biggest anti union law firms in the country, they ended up settling pre-arbitration and paid staff to not come back. Only bad leadership is threatened by unions.
@eryalmario5299 I don't work there anymore, thank god. After all my friends were fired I couldn't deal with the toxic work environment anymore. I work at another non profit though now, and I'm a supervisor but I'm still hinting at my team to start a union lol The work environment is great but the pay needs to be better.
Here in Cambridge MA of all places, a beloved local coffeehouse chain (they had three locations) went out of business last fall because their employees tried to unionize. I’m still pissed off about it. I gave them so much money over the years and in the end they were just as vindictive as Starbucks. We need unions. We all need unions. I hope you’re right that unions will save us.
For those of you already in a union, I am glad to see you guys fighting back and making a difference against an unjust economic system. Don’t stop! We can win this against these greedy corporations and maybe start to heal this country for the better.
"Greedy corporations"? Man, how YOUNG are you? Five years old? That's the bs that children talk about! I'm sure you're not aware of what the GOVERNMENT is doing! Government taxes you, imposes laws on you and imposes regulations on you. Private businesses cannot do that, my guy. Please just learn something new!
maybe, but we’d also need complete governmental reform. governments are supported by their military, so how do we get the most powerful military in the world to turn on its government? this isn’t a rhetorical question, i want to know your thoughts
@@wren_. I'm a European, and here's my thoughts: You can't force them to change, but you can make it more beneficial for them to change. America is a country whose economy relies completely on worker productivity. If the American people refuse to work, the government loses power, and the military doesn't get its share of money anymore. This is what makes the US government vulnerable to unions. The workers have enough power to threaten the top of the pyramid, by simply refusing to work. A country like Saudi Arabia doesn't care about the citizens and has no rush to satisfy them, because their money comes from oil and minerals. Of course work is still important, but not for the government to maintain its power. The US on the other hand _desperately needs Americans to keep working, and wants them to be paid at a bare minimum, so that they spend most of the money from citizens on their power_ The only reason any democratic country does "good" stuff is to increase productivity. Schools are built for more workers, not for education. Hospitals are built so that workers can stay healthy, not so that the population stays healthy. Highways (Although they're really poorly designed in the US) are built for workers to work inbetween states, not because they "bring the American people closer". And this is why there are no politics taught in American schools, unless you specifically go to a school that teaches law and politics. Because if they did teach actual politics, then the workers would know how to weaponise their position against the government.
@@kiwenmanisunoWell said, glad my European education has me understanding this concept. The ignorance enforced by US on its citizens on politics is so painful to watch.
@@kiwenmanisunoI agree completely. The reason the government needs the workers to work is not about tax revenue but about corporate profits. Our government is so corrupt, it is beholden to and owned by giant Wallstreet corporations and billionaires who are huge stock holders. We are not a representative democracy. It is an illusion. Yet if workers can unite, we can shut down corporate production and therefore profit which is really powerful.
Thank you for making this, and for making it actionable. It’s easy to feel defeated about the state of things, but feeling defeated doesn’t exactly spur us to change things! So I appreciate your particular brand of information served with a side of ‘here’s what you can do to help make it better’.
It's terrible when CEOs and their allies engage in union busting but it's even worse when other workers bash and mock unions under the hypnosis of the "rugged individualism" corporate tune.
yes! I helped organize the company i worked for from 2019-2023 and it was very surprising to hear the rugged individualism talking points from people my age or younger. it’s truly propaganda.
The best way to fix this would be Right to work laws. If i am not forced to be a Union member and support them with fees than I would not care whether my coworkers unionize
This is why we must call for Direct Digital Democracy without parties or politicians. Citizen initiated referendums with thresholds and a social contract means Communities can vote their own laws. As well as a Public Authority to audit police and prosecute bad actors in our own courts. Thorium energy renders their global energy monopoly obsolete
@@boyar1978I wish you would stop spreading this misinformation, no one is forced to join a union. You cannot have your wages stolen by a union, that's not how it works.
I worked for Staples, and I saw one one of their training videos for management and it dealt with keeping surveillance on employees by having managers drive within the vicinity of the store to check if employees are congregating at nearby coffeehouses or fast food restaurants. I doubt if Staples is the only corporation that engages in this type of behavior.
I work for my aunt and uncle and they’ll interrogate us to see if we’re talking to eachother during or after work because they do a lot of illegal things and don’t want us telling eachother about it
I was disappointed when the Sbux in my neighborhood closed, ostensibly for safety concerns. I was much more disappointed - or rather, enraged - when I found the real reason was because the workers were attempting to unionize, and the company thought it was easier to just close the store.
in our lifetimes, the red states won't need to secede from the union a second time--they'll do it economically and politically. they've changed the status of abortion, they're rolling back child labor laws, and there will be more citizens' rights they reverse as they continue to gerrymander voting districts. people think it's cheaper to live in red states since they pay less in taxes (it costs money to do the right things by society) but get more Federal tax money than the blue states. however, the way climate change is biting them in the ass and how red state governors are passing laws, in their lifetime it will cost more to live in a red state than to move.
then workers such as myself must subsidize union tyranny. I hate Unions because of them forcing me to pay for something I do not want. i also hate the senority statutes they have. I worked at a supermarket and they took half my paycheck every week and when I refused to strike because i needed cash to go to school I was told I would be fined if I did so. Union violate my freedom of association and freedom of speech as they donate to the Democratic party without my approval and they strike over things that I do not care about such as pensions or healthcare. I am a college-educated worker so do not want to get the same as everyone else. I would get a better deal negotiating for myself. Unions are the reason I teach in China instead of the USA. In China I cannot be forced to join a union and the government offers better worker protection then what any Union has ever offered. This is why I firmly believe the USA and all Western European Nations need a revolution where their governments are overthrown and replaced with Communist Parties similar to what China , North Korea, and Viet Nam have
I’ve been a union member for 26 years and a union rep for 12. Thank you so much for covering this. Corporate greed is at an all time high. Inflation is being led by this greed. They are raising prices out of greed, fleecing the consumers all while lowering or freezing benefits and wages for the workers. They are also blatantly disregarding the labor contracts we have. In my industry they have hired part time workers for half the wages, no pension and little in benefits. The corporate goons are making multi millions while we have workers that can’t afford to live. We have contracts coming up this year and it’s almost certain we will have to strike. The support of the American people is without a doubt necessary to help us win fair contracts and better wages.
You lost me at "greed". That's some immature, crybaby liberal nonsense! And inflation? I bet you have no idea that the politicians are causing that. It has nothing to do with greed. Please look into John Stossel's reports!
@@chris135x Lol, John Stossel? He’s a libertarian and pushes libertarian propaganda. He’s completely full of crap and is known to be full of crap. You need to read The Peoples History of the United States by Howard Zinn. You probably don’t agree with anything about unions.
@@jamesmccormick875 Typical liberal! Call anything "propaganda" just because you dislike it. He's a legitimate journalist, kid. He was fired from three news outlets so what would you know? Just admit you choose to be ignorant.
I say this everywhere I can: The AI thing is a part of it, but a huge part of the problem is the studios have been purposefully obfuscating how much money they make from streaming for years. It's the main reason why the Scarlett Johansson/Disney lawsuit from a couple years ago would have been such a huge deal. If that lawsuit went to trial, Disney would have been forced to publicly disclose how much money they make from streaming. I don't blame ScarJo's team for accepting whatever settlement they made (it was likely in the ~30 million range), but it should tell you how much labor is getting fucked over that Disney thought that was worth it if it meant keeping their revenue a secret from labor. Previous to streaming, most things were based off of stuff like box office take and nielsen ratings, which are public information (for the most part). Streaming numbers are kept very, very private.
I just came here to say that in the midst of my own wrongful termination lawsuit against my most recent former employer, I found your channel. Primarily through your work, I've been inspired to go to law school. I watched your "What I Wish I Knew Before Law School" video, and I still want to go. I'm 35, and my BA didn't come from the same side of campus from which a law degree would've been earned. Keep inspiring! It's working.
My uncle was one of the striking air traffic controllers fired by Reagan. It was a terrible, destructive thing to do to those people. Most were WWII vets like my uncle. They all felt betrayed by their country.
Years ago I worked at Wal-Mart and i remember during the orientation they made us watch a video HEAVILY discouraging unionization. It ended with some dude saying "we won't tell you what to do, but be very careful if you attempt to unionize. It may not be what what you actually want." Or something like that. But they definitely tried to imply that unions are corrupt and bureaucratic and that walmart is your family that has your best interest at heart uwu
Also during my six month performance review the Assistant store manager, who was conducting the meeting, tried to pressure me to sign up for a Wal-Mart credit card. I eventually said no and right after that the review was over. If you get enough people to sign up for credit cards the management team gets a huge bonus and eventually, depending if your store hits a certain number, then the regular employees get some of that bonus, although it's not nearly as much as management - who btw did not have to push credit cards. They pushed us to push credit cards onto customers.
They tried to show that exact same Video in Germany too when they started there in 1997 ... They got a pretty bloody nose from their run ins with the big german regulatio train 😂
@spacemanrob96 I’ve had that experience too! The video would go on for like 5 minutes basically just telling you not to even speak to others about joining a union. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t let me have time off because my grandpa died. Thankfully I wasn’t financially dependent on that job but there are plenty that are.
I'm a UPS Teamster union member and have been for now 9 years. Every system has problems but a system where workers can curtail greed and consolidation of wealth and power is better than whatever the fuck is happening now in multiple parts of the country. And like I know many unions aren't powerful or do anything for their members (my mother is part of a teachers union). But I like to explain to people unions are not about raising the ceiling it's about raising the basement.
The basement goes nowhere for those not direct members of unions. I have personally seen more than one bussiness owner tell their staff that they are not legally obligated to give breaks, even to use the bathroom. Labor laws are fought, tooth and nail, by unions and bussiness owners in an effort to maintain the power of the union and negotiating power of the union.The answer to taking care of workers as a whole can only be achieved by labor laws, not union contracts.
@@malachiteofmethuselah9713all employees enjoy the benefits won by the union if a workplace is unionized. If the union fights to increase pay or get better benefits, that's available to all employees. The only thing non-union employees miss out on is voting within the union and representation at meetings with the boss.
I was a manager for over thirty five years the majority of my subordinates were in a union. Managers are afraid of unions. Don’t be. I found them very helpful!
I work in the public sector and am part of a union and I'm so freaking happy about that. My dad was a labor organizer for the building trades and made a lot of enemies, but it was something he was passionate about, so he was good at it. Of course, he passed down that strong support of unions to me.
Unions are not good for the worker, the boss, or the company. Unions steal money unethically with mandatory fines on members. Do not be fooled by pro union propaganda. They only look to enrich themselves.
An an Indian, where unions are almost part and parcel of labour and where Communist Party is vibrant, seeing US getting slowly but surely unionised makes me to be optimistic about future
America is moving away from unions, and the ones we have aren't all very strong, like mine, which is pretty weak and more employer-centric than employee.
I worked at Starbucks for nearly 8 years, and at first, I absolutely loved everything about it, and the company did take very good care of us. And then, I don’t know what changed. About 2017 is when things went downhill, and I stuck it out until 2021, when they then terminated me because I couldn’t get coverage when my mom died, after having only ever been late one time in over 7 years.
Trump tried to get rid of unions. He was effective with that with Federal Employees. So my guess is the CEO saw his chance to get even richer at his employees expense.
Why is a Union organized per company? Here in The Netherlands we have unions and they are completely separate from any company. We have one for Restaurant personal, for steel workers, for shop employees. You can just contact them and join. What’s the US deal with a Union per company? I sincerely don’t understand.
Thank you. Excellent analysis. Part of the issue is that the average American has no historical understanding that the work environment (40 hour week, workers comp, overtime, etc) they take for granted were hard won, and often bloody results of unions.
I am a proud union man coming to the Twin Cities for work in 4 days. Thank you for reaffirming the validity, power, and beneficial nature of unions! Together, we can do it!
I'm not part of a union. But I still get paid more at my job versus at other companies. I also get paid per diem for every day worked, work 8 days with 6 off (or 4 on and 3 off depending on the project), plus other benefits.
Unions are not good for the worker, the boss, or the company. Unions steal money unethically with mandatory fines on members. Do not be fooled by pro union propaganda. They only look to enrich themselves.
I worked in hospitality for 20 years and saw so much rampant union busting. One of the places I worked at was Whole Foods, who force feeds anti-union propaganda to their employees constantly, while treating their employees like garbage. It's grotesque.
my first job at 18 was at 🎯. i still remember the anti-union propaganda video that was a required part of our training… although i didn’t see it for what it was at the time. imagine my shock when at my next job, everyone was openly talking about the union and the shock was if you *weren’t* part of it. i’m very proud of all workers standing up for themselves instead of swallowing the BS excuses these companies want to give. union strong 💪
I remember being young, from a Southern State, and being very---well---dumb. I used to think: "Sure, unions for policemen, firemen, miners...jobs that are dangerous. But the rest of us... come on." Then came 2009 and being laid off and it taking 2 years of working minimum wage jobs until midnight every weekend for 2 years before I could find a job as an engineer again. Now: I stand with unions. You scumbag owners would turn us into indentured servants and paupers in a heartbeat if you could. In some instances, Marx was totally correct: Workers of the world unite!
I live in Georgia and worked as a public school teacher for 10 years before quitting 2 years ago. Georgia is very clear that "collective bargaining is illegal" in this state for its teachers, hence no protection, negotiating salary, improved worker conditions, etc. What can you do about that if you can literally be arrested for union-type activity?
Of all of the problems in the country that are no longer addressable because of the unlimited money working against any solution, unions are the one thing that could really put the entire nation much closer to the right track.
This is why we must call for Direct Digital Democracy without parties or politicians. Citizen initiated referendums with thresholds and a social contract means Communities can vote their own laws. As well as a Public Authority to audit police and prosecute bad actors in our own courts. Thorium energy renders their global energy monopoly obsolete
shush now ... corporations and capitalism don't want you to know you can fight for your rights and worth, not to mention don't want you to know that socialism isn't evil
Eh. At one point your fight will shift from businesses to consumers too. Take a random example, if walmart workers wanted to unionize or strike. They will eventually inconvenience customers too cause that’s the best way to hurt the business. If walmart decides to automate everything, you will still expect the consumers to boycott and talk about morality. I’m as pressed as the rest of you in life, but you will fully expect me to sympathize and be inconvenienced and I’m not sure it will ever be reciprocated. Despite my circumstances im earning more than somebody and that’s apparently a reason not to treat me as well and automatically makes me part of the problem. I’m not attacking anyone, I hope you can at least understand why we’re bound to have different views.
I am currently an Early Childhood Educator aka daycare worker in Canada. Thanks to this video I am looking into joining the teachers union in my province.
Leeja!! Preach!! Keep it coming. My ENTIRE family are union members!! IBEW LU #558!! I never understood how regular people view unions as bad when they are there to fight for the workers. I love this video, all of your videos, but especially this one!!! ❤
We need to put out differences aside, stop working against eachother and work together. People need to realize that at the core of all our beliefs, most everyone just wants to live with free will, competent wages, and a roof over their head that doesn’t cost 50% of their monthly income. We need to take back control, the government/big business needs to be reminded how fucked they would be if all the people they take advantage of that keep their companies alive and profits coming in, weren’t there anymore. When we work together we have so much power, and there’s way more of us than there is of them 😏
What's difference is there to set aside?! I just want to live my life along with my friends and family and a lot of yall don't believe we shouldn't exist and actively kills us! Do you understand that?! These people see and treat us as subhuman and somehow I need to set my feeling based in oppression aside?! This why Moderate take is damn near as dangerous as the mayo supremacist marching down the street. What is wrong with you...
Without a union, it's every employee alone against the corporation, school district or other employer. When government takes the side against employees in "right to work" states like Florida and Texas, it's much worse. I know teachers who have been wronged by their employers whose only salvation was their union providing legal counsel.
Right To Work states are: Arizona, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Missouri, Nevada, North Dakota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
I work for a large corporation that also preaches to us about not "needing" a union 🙄 one location close to me tried to unionize. They shut the place down and fired everyone 🙃 but yeah, we DEFINITELY don't need a union 😒
That is how all businesses should operate. When a Union forms close the location and fire all the workers. Put all those workers who wanted the union on the do not rehire list.
One location can't unionize on it's own. They have to organize ALL locations. But today, companies just move their factories overseas. Globalization has killed American unions.
I'm just gonna put this out there. At my first job as a graphic designer, I was on the duty for designing billboards and insta ads for union busting a very large company. It rhymed with shmoeing. The same communications firm was successful in their union busting campaign for a different company rhyming with missan. Love that it was a progressive communications firm too. Never was told before taking the job that their main clients included the worst.
Wow two companies in the toilet. One was once a close third to Toyota/Honda now a near obscure make. And one has planes falling out of the sky. AT LEAST they saved on labor, right? Hope they enjoyed those shekels, it cost them in the end.
Unions are not good for the worker, the boss, or the company. Unions steal money unethically with mandatory fines on members. Do not be fooled by pro union propaganda. They only look to enrich themselves.
Working voice actor here! I'm non union (not as in anti union I realize that sounded bad, I'm pro union I'm just not eligible for sag) but I couldn't be more on board with those striking. AI especially is a big problem already in the voice-over field - people are just ripping our voices without our consent and feeding them into voice cloning software, and we have almost no way of keeping up with it let alone doing anything about it once we find it. Commercial and corporate voiceover is ESPECIALLY eager to get their hands on this technology.
Also, I WISH we were a bit more included in the acting discussion as far as wages go, because unless you're in a national ad or feature length film, you simply do not get any residuals in voiceover. Nor are the wages sustainable. We are all working two jobs lol. But my hope is that this will have a domino effect in all fields of acting!!
@@joshuawadsworth6417It's not simply a matter of automation. They are literally stealing our voices. I cannot express to you how creepy and violating it feels to find a video with your voice in it that you did not record, saying things you never said.
Wow, I just came across your channel. This historical look at labor unions was fantastic. Unions made this country strong and lifted the standard of living for millions. I look forward to seeing what else your channel has to offer. I’m subscribing. UNION YES!!!
I’m a SAHM and my own union. I advocate for my needs so that my bosses can’t walk all over me. I mean, they are kids, so they DO walk all over me. But at least I can maintain the pretense that I’m in charge. 😂😂😂 That said I am LOVING this progress driven by unions. Keep it up! Unionize! Fight for your rights as workers. I’m a former teacher (and hopefully future university professor) and I know how important unions are. ❤❤❤
My email is being spammed by Backstage roles and i live in a very rural area. They're trying to find new actors and content creators instead of just paying the union.
I messaged democratic reps during covid about what businesses should or shouldn't be effected and why (my place of work/job was kind of borderline) and many of them got back to me about it, thanked me for my email and let me know they will put it on their list to talk about when orders came down. I think my emails probably influenced that outcome. Zero Republicans had their emails listed on their public government contact page. But contacting representatives can and does work to some extent. Often they don't always know what is an issue unless someone brings it to them. Local reps are probably more approachable and responsive than federal level but still, calling and emailing does something. Local level action actually does a lot more than federal level and anything local/state level can eventually effect federal level stuff. Also important to go to public events, protests etc because you can often times find local representatives there and can talk to them. I got to talk to state representatives at a climate crisis protest in the Minnesota capital building and there were entire groups, including native American groups effected by oil pipelines that did sit ins at representatives offices because they were notorious for not acting and known supporters for the pipeline. It may not seem like it but this kind of civil action and protesting and especially bugging the local reps can have big impacts.
I work at starbucks and my store is the first in our area to unionize and the union busting that is still happening is insane! Thank you for this video!
It’s so frustrating listening to my friends talk down about Unions, one of them being a conservative political science degree holder. Like… do you realize what your political ideology has done and is doing to the middle class, a class that which you are a part of? These corporations you cozy up to do not care about you, lol.
As a graduated International Relations student, unfortunately that kind of mentality was common among some of my peers. What I find laughable is how the people holding these elitists views see themselves as part of the privileged minority of their ideal despotic government, when there are way more chances that they would end up being part of the oppressed majority if their dreams materialized.
@@mr.x2567 I’m doing my best to just show them that their best friend who is a socialist is not an evil boogieman every elected official say I am. I also made it clear we have two right wing parties in this country and there’s absolutely zero reason to argue with one another. They’re the same… if I gave up on them, then I’m just falling for the fabricated wedge issues and dividing us more. Leeja warns about this exact thing at the end of the video. She’s absolutely right. It’s not easy. Sometimes political conversations can get heated, but we tend to somewhat agree or even just flat out agree with one another on things more often than you’d think.
@@marcello7781 I definitely see a lot of people identify with the elites, despite being just as much as a lower middle classer as I am. It’s like they idealize them. Like, “not to worry, I’ll be one of them one day,” even though class mobility is as low as it ever has been.
Part of the reason why wages have been depressed is due to the minimum wage being stuck below 10 dollars. Companys point out that they pay well over minimum wage so no one should complain, in actuality they just pay you enough to keep you just above the poverty line which makes it so you can't save, can't quit, and are reliant on the job and not the employer reliant on the worker.
another reason wages are stagnant is unions refused to fight for increases during stagflation in the 1970's. they knew increasing wages would put workers in a higher tax bracket without the buying power. so unions fought for benefits instead. but that locked you into the company (since no universal health care, etc) and now Americans move twice as often in their lives as they used to, chasing factory closings to retain their seniority to keep their benefits.
I worked for a hotel where they told us not to talk about our pay, and I mentioned Unionizing once and was told I would be fired by another co-worker. He said he understood where I was coming from, but asked me if I could afford not to have that job. At the time I couldn't, he told me to stop talking about it because the only way it would end, would be me jobless. He was correct, and I don't blame him. Half of the housekeeping staff lived in homes provided by the hotel owner, the other half didn't speak any English. It was a zero sum game, and I had no-where else to go.
Maybe your best video yet… Thank you! As a one-time shop steward as well as a child raised by a father who was part of the Union busting industry, I know that the labor movement is one of the keys to improving life in the U.S. [I have horror stories about my father’s views-the only positive to come out of his “ideas” was that they provided me with ethical guidance… to do the opposite of what my father believed].
I was considered an "essential worker" during the pandemic and you know what I got me? DEBT... while businesses pocked millions in PPP loans that were forgiven and my community members got paid to stay home. Fun times...
There is no reason ANY of us should have been forced to show up during a pandemic, and we ALL should have been taken care of instead of the corporations that already have more than enough, but that doesn't mean we should be angry at the people who weren't forced to show up. Be angry with the people who forced us to show up through the pandemic, it wasn't your neighbor.
@@Avernacus not angry at my community members, a little bitter that as a civil servant out there keeping city functions running and responding to emergencies folks in my position were left behind. Definitely angry that greedy businesses and elected officials scammed PPP loans. But not angry at my neighbors and community, jealous probably that I put myself and family through that stress mountain that was serving the community during it all to be tossed aside and forgotten, or worse, vilified for being a civil servant
@@porthosduvallon5301around here, its popular to villianize the state workers for their bennies. i point out that all the military industrial complex offer the same package to their machinists, and we the taxpayer fund $50 hammers and $200 toilet seats to pay for it...but no one complains.
I never really knew why Sweden is such an observably happy and healthy country... then I heard that over 90% of the country work in labor unions. 5 weeks of vacation and 2 years off for mom and dad when they have a baby. All really because they are in unions....
"From time to time the workers are victorious, but only for a time. The real fruit of their battles lies not in the immediate result, but in the ever-expanding union of the workers." - Karl Marx
Cant thank you enough for speaking on this, not enough people know the true power that they hold when it comes to the one thing they are able to sell: their labor. All the power to all the people!
Absolutely correct. Just read Jason Stanley’s book, “How fascism works”, and it became clear to me that unions are probably the most powerful weapon against the rising trend of fascism. Excellent video.
Unions aren't just for your present work life, they're also pretty much the only way you'll get a pension other than a 401k, which is a gamble at best. I worked a union job for over 20 years and now I have something to show for it
I worked security at Amazon a few years ago and they literally had us block out or report anything about unionizing, I didn’t realize that was illegal until now 😮.
Well, I think we need to redefine "illegal". They break the law all day and all night long, and they can "get away" with it, because the business model is "We break the law, making way more money than we otherwise would have, and we can use that extra money to pay the fines, pay off the courts, hire scabs, etc" Breaking laws is Business 101, these days, it seems.
@@EagleZtoTheGrave in their warehouses, YES! I’m actuality we didn’t actually do much outside of that. They had a loss prevention for theft etc. It was a strange job.
Here in the UK, it is traditional to close a letter to our MP (our equivalent of Representative) with the phrase “you remain my obedient servant” instead of things like “yours faithfully”. I use this when I do (even in emails) because I feel it’s a damn good thing to remind them of their relationship with their constituents. While I know that pay is at the top of the list at the moment, Unions do a lot more. As you touched on here, they organise and fight for health and safety. Some jobs are inherently dangerous, others have hidden dangers (both physical and mental), and a union will call employers out on that.
This doesn't really work well here because most representative positions aren't competitive. Representatives just need to placate the small percentage of people voting in their party primaries, not their district at large.
I'm an IBEW union electrician, working out of local 58 in Detroit, Michigan. Unions are strong up here in the north compared to the south. Here are the numbers. In 2022 my hourly wage was $48.02. I grossed $102,252 last year. This year hourly increased to $50.32/hr, and next it will go up to $53.21/hr. Our union dues are $142 every quarter, and it's well worth paying for the amount of money we make compared to non-union electricians. When I lived in Texas and worked out of the local union there our hourly pay was $29.86/hr in 2020. Their hourly pay has only increased to $30.18/hr. Their pay is generally what non-union electricians make in our industry. The unions are stronger in the north than in the south. We have better hourly pay, and better pay with our benefits which include paid health insurance, annuity, and a pension. There's also an abundance of work here for us union electricians in Michigan as well as our neighboring states in the Midwest. If you have a strong union you have better wages, because you have more negotiating power. So without a doubt, definitely support unions.
I'm also glad that with millennial and Genz the term "socialism" is not scary like we were made to believe. I would also add that the large flippant response to the Oceangate fiasco, as well as the VERY loud pushback to those people trying to appeal to a "better sense of humanity" (read: Tone Policing) should let Billionaires understand that the desire for them to get very close shaves is closer than they think.
@@Historia.Magistra.Vitae. Even as non-socialist, this is stupid argument. 1.US did its best to destroy their regime, its quite a miracle that their country was actually able to survive 2.socialism is quite rich term, many different socialis ideologies have almost nothing in common. North Korea, revolutionaries during Spanish civil war in Catalonia or democratic socialists are all socialists, yet they have almost nothing in common.
My college IUPUI is currently going through a split, and although they promise not to layoff any professors or lose tenure, the professors had to all re-interview for their jobs, and many were denied the ability to keep their same position in the equivalent department. As for us grad students, we have no idea what's to come next. We're thinking about unionizing over this.
This is pretty much an exact synopsis of every job I've ever had. I talked to my coworkers in our profession once about unionizing because of the absolute abuse and lack of compensation we suffered. We were all threatened with immediate termination just for talking about it.
if you spoke to me about that I would be talking to my store manager that you were trying to unionize the work place and I would likely tell them you stole a pen or paperclip so that they had reason to fire you.
@@danobanano2505 The U.S. is not against unions, big business is and they lobby and control governments to make laws protecting their views and business practices.
People forget that the millionaire A-List actors weren't always millionaire A-List actors. Many of them spent a significant amount of time in that 95% of SAG-AFTRA members that are broke and/or have a second job. Hilary Swank had an Oscar with her when she was living in her car is one such example. The A-listers know what it's like starting out hence why they're using their influence and/or pocketbooks to help their fellow union members. That's what you're supposed to do when you achieve fame and success; help those that come after you. One good thing about the Entertainment Industry striking is that there is far less chance of government intervention. The current administration did workers dirty by forcing railroad workers back to work under the same crap conditions. Great piece on unions, Leeja. I didn't know about any proposed legislation to help organization efforts until today.
I can't really imagine that the US will ever treat its workers well. When unions become strong enough to achieve something, the shareholders of congress will simply find a way to outlaw unions. But I surely hope that this tells more about my lack of imagination than about the actual odds of improving the situation.
Well the other solution other than doing what unions say is CEOs being murdered on the street like you would kill a deer for meat, sooooooo... Yeah the billionares are fucked.
The thing is that when workers pile on the pressure for long enough, the whole capitalist system of ownership becomes threatened. So the system will become more accommodating to workers, in order to protect itself. It has happened before in the US and all over the world. The “socialist” style policies of FDRs new deal, we’re done to stop the socialist movement and save capitalism.
I love all the work you do!!! But this episode is one of the best I have seen. Your explanation on why people vote against their own economical interests due to racism, racial and political divide, “otherism” We fail to see how they manipulate and distract us. We ALL need to wake up! Keep up the good work!
The recent Glacier ruling was yet another hit against Unions. Anyone can claim a strike hurt the business. THAT'S THE POINT OF A STRIKE. You have to make it hurt before a company will take the workers demand seriously.
Everyone should watch this video. It explains everything so clearly and succinctly. Thank you for what you do! Education is key in making the world a better place to be. Keep up the great work!
@chris135x perhaps you should take some time to learn about grammar and sentence structure. I think you meant to say "You'll learn something". Nice try, though.
@chris135x You don't have an argument. You just said I'm wrong. And considering how badly you failed at grammar right out of the gate, I'm guessing your opinion is not very carefully considered. Now if you'll excuse me, this NPC child has to get back to his repetitive tasks and looping conversations. Come see me if you need someone to assign you a quest or something 😉 😘
I really liked your video. Especially the last 5 minutes because it was inclusive for all. Black folk, White folk, Queer folk, all folks need to really understand that the system we were raised in was created to benefit just a very small few. People do have the power! Despite what our current systems of education, information access, and institutions profess. History will repeat itself- and educating ourselves of how to come to together can and will enable us to make positive change for the 99 percent. On that note.... Keep cool, 612 is too damn muggy tonight!
Dude I was just today talking about how my industry needs to unionize. We just got bought by a company that controls like 80% of the industry. We desperately need a union we’re so underpaid and are the backbone of the industry. It’s ripe for it. Great video.
Worked for Walmart for a decade and my husband works for Walgreens. Retail workers DESPERATELY need a union in this country. They are treated like shit.
absolutely!
I remember when walmart tried to get into the EU market by opening 95 stores in Germany in 1997 ... and instantly run into troubles with german unions and worker protection laws ... they left 9 years later with a pretty bloody nose ... and never tried to enter the EU market again
I think that in order to get a high school diploma everyone has to work 45 days in retail (on the floor with customers, not management trainee or that sort of crap); and another 45 days in restaurant work (not as skilled chef, prep chef or anything but as wait staff, bus staff, dishwasher, or hostess).
People have to learn that being a Tik Tok or UA-cam influencer is not sustainable or contributes to the overall good of the economy. Leeja not included here because her contribution is worth far more than what revenue she receives as a UA-cam content creator. What she offers us is far greater than what she is paid. We need more Leejas!
UFCW: United Food and Commercial Workers Union
Is there no longer a Retail and Grocery Workers Union? There was when I worked at Kroger.
It's so weird that huge corporations tell everyone they can't pay their workers a higher wage just a few days before they post record profits and huge dividends for their shareholders. And weirdly, there always seems to be enough money to pay the CEO just a few million more...
Interesting how that happens!!!
But who will think of the poor billionaires?
@@TevelDrinkwaterthey have ever such a had time...
@@TevelDrinkwater*_{THEY SHALL BLEED LIKE CATTLE}_*
This is the result of a shift in economic theory (the Chicago School lead by Milton Friedman) which argued that the first and last responsibility of companies was not to their employees or even customers, but to their shareholders. This created the entire myth of the 'Hardworking Rich Person' so prevalent in the US today. This has also resulted in the view by corporations that the profit margin is sacrosanct. Add in a saturated market where share is not increasible (again due to a lack of interest in supporting customers by creating better products), labor is the only real component left for corporations to loot in order to increase the all-holy profit margin. The only industries that have truly benefitted from this trend are: Law Practice (gotta protect that profit from the people you're seizing your wealth from), Advertising (have to convince the customers that the latest pile of feces to be produced is "New and Improved"), and Politics (an offshoot of advertising to be honest).
I used to work for Home Depot and they are HILARIOUSLY anti-union. They have an annual training course you're required to take that instructs you to "say no to unions"
Menards stores wont even hire you if you belonged to a union in the past. Even for something like a retirement job. Say Fuck you to Mr. Menard.
Yes. I commented about this separately but just said corporations because it happened at more than one place I worked. I only worked at Home Depot a couple of months because I refused to pressure people into getting their credit card and my supervisors kept riding my azz about it so I quit. The training videos were hilarious because you never used the anti-theft training and the union videos were so obvious with their talk to your company and not unions because your company cares about you and knows what's best plus if you sign anything the union owns you and you can never escape.
Home Depot is privately controlled by MAGA Trump-loving conservatives. If this bothers you you should shop elsewhere.
My warehouse job did the same thing during hiring.
When I became a supervisor at Home Depot I had to watch a different training video that encouraged me to discourage associates from unionizing by offering "facts" and my opinions lol. Crazy.
"We just don't believe a union is necessary at Starbucks" has the same energy as "It's ok you don't need a condom"!
Why and how are unions a good thing?
@@chris135xdid you not watch the video?
@@Matty002 I don't need to listen to this woman to understand that labor unions get in the way.
@@chris135xlol.
@@chris135xunions are literally they only way for workers to tell management to stop exploiting the workers
Saying that "we don't feel a union is necessary" is the absolute biggest red flag alongside "we're going to be like family here at [Company]"
Oh… I hate the we’re family thing.
My family is dysfunctional so I like it cause right away I know to run 😂 🥁
I am just glad I was smart enough to get a job where by skills demand high pay. I don't have to group together with others and extort money.
Like a family? Absolutely. They expect you to work for the company's benefit while being poorly compensated. Same deal if you're helping your family member move across town or fix their sink. You're not going to be paid like professional paid help. Your company exists to make the people at the top of it wealthy. The purpose of your job isn't making widgets or fixing whatsits. It's to make a few specific people money. Try to keep that in mind when you're at work and stressing out about the minutia of your day to day.
@@ryanwarner5006 Well, sir, I hope you get job competition like other people. So that you have to because you're selfish jerk.
Well said! It is jaw-dropping how many people lack the intelligence to understand that everyday workers need to stick together and support one another instead of "trusting" that employers have employees' best interest in mind. Say it, Sister!
I come from Pennsylvania.
It's quite hilarious seeing people have a rose-tinted view of unions, which basically destroyed my state's economy.
LOLZ nah. Screw that. If I was your coworker and I heard you crying and talking about going on strikes, I'd tell you to not talk to me and that you're on your own!
@chris135x good, you'll be the first a company lets go for working with them too long, not having balls to resist and being a sell out.
@@murk4552 Yeah, that's not how most companies operate. They like to get rid of people who aren't productive.
@@POCKET-SAND Unions don't destroy your "state's economy" unless there's a damn good reason for them to do so. I think the fact they did so to your state is pretty telling. Now what do you prioritize, the well-being of the people or the well-being of the state?
The part that's always kinda driven me nuts is the way people refer to unions as some external third party. It's us. It's the workers. WE're the union! Ask "What's the union ever done for me?" NO! Ask "What can we do now that we're united?"
Beautifully said, Justin.
Show me one union that has been able to last without driving the company out of business or to cut jobs. Unions add to costs, and if those costs can't be passed on to consumers then jobs are lost, one way or another.
@@nathanlovik1753The company can afford unions. They just don't want to lose their greed.
@@nathanlovik1753been chugging that "right to work" Kool aid
@@nathanlovik1753 Fraternal Order of Police.
My mom was in a union. She was able to have four kids, take care of a husband with MS, buy a new house, learn to drive and buy a new car. On her one paycheck. That was decades ago, when unions membership was more common, but it shows what is possible.
true, but from 1945 until 1973, America had no global competition. American corporations competed with each other, similar energy costs, labor costs, and taxation rates far higher than today. and workers didn't have to deal with automation--for example, many will swipe a card to pay for gas, which used to employ a high school graduate at one time.
meanwhile, let's look at what it meant, materially, to be middle class in America. watch the black and white TV shows if you don't believe me--you see a small house, one bedroom for the kids, one bath for everyone, one telephone for everyone, one TV on a rolling table to be taken from living room to dining room with 3 free channels on it, no internet to pay for. would you be considered middle class if you lived like that today?
so it wasn't just unionization, it was an entire economy we'll never have again.
@@albertgaspar627which is why laws should be made to combat the job loss. Yea you can't prevent the loss, but you can make a system where that profit goes somewhere other than the company's pockets.
@@albertgaspar627Not to mention the rise of Financialization and the abolishment of Glass-Stegall.
@@Lobsterwithinternet true, after the Great Depression, efforts were made to stabilize the banking industry. and again, as global competition caught up, the big windfall profits weren't found so easily, so you get investment firms d'ing around with options/derivitives nonsense that pulled AIG down and set the subprime mortgage crisis going, and even before that with the savings and loan crisis under the first bush.
people who aren't satisfied with single digit gains play games, and then teach the PIGS countries to balance their books with games, which leads to a euro crisis (and the reason eu nations weren't paying into NATO, Mr. Trump. once they got that cleared, they went back to paying their share, it wasn't your deal making. if anything, your failed trade war with china did more to hurt the american farmer...but that's a story for another time)
@@Lobsterwithinternetthat too.
Modern monetary theory props us wall street.
Lately I’ve been wondering why unions aren’t the norm anymore, and why they’re not as powerful compared to the past. Thank you so so much for sharing how we can help get the PRO Act passed!!
Unions are not good for the worker, the boss, or the company. Unions steal money unethically with mandatory fines on members. Do not be fooled by pro union propaganda. They only look to enrich themselves.
It is due to a shortage of Labor workers having the willpowers in necessities to form a Union Strike.
It may be easier said than done due to full process of demotivating employees and a rise of American pessimism among our ‘Great Established Democracy”. 💔
Decades of anti Union propaganda didn’t help
And lastly, government should NEVER interfere with contract negotiations. Striking is the last leverage workers have to get their contract signed.
agreed!!
It would be nice if they ever forced the company to conceed, but that never happens so yeah might as well just stay out of it
Reagan and Biden kinda killed that idea.
It isn't the last thing; as we've clearly seen in France. Violence is always on the table, we've all just forgotten about it. I guess times aren't difficult enough yet. But if things continue to get worse and these greedy subhumans continue to exploit workers, the environment, developing nations, and the naivety of consumers, things are going to get fucking ugly.
Workers can nothing
After I left the military I drove for Greyhound until retirement I'm definitely a union man.
yes!!
@Antonio-Gransciwe need folks with military experience on our side, you may be right, but you are being ineffective.
@Antonio-GransciWeirdo
@Antonio-Gransciwhen shit hits the fan we will need people like him on our side.
@Antonio-Gransci Imagine being so privileged that you can sneer at people who go into the military as it in a very real sense is one of the few methods of upwards mobility. Criticize the military as an institution all you want. But to look down at people who either have different values and beliefs as you, or in many cases come from extremely underprivileged and exploited socio-economic situations just screams privilege.
Working as a theme park employee at Universal in Florida, we always joked about how Disney's union was also our union, because the unions that represent Disney employees would get the wage raised every so often, then the other parks would follow suit in order to compete for employees.
Is there any reason why someone from your park couldn’t approach the Disney Union and discuss expanding it to include other parks?
Remember that Ronald "Trickle Down" Reagan was the Union Buster President.
never forget!
I loathe that man and his bullshit 'legacy' so much that I still actively celebrate the anniversary of day he died every year. It was the single halfway decent thing he ever did.
Ronald "might as well reference monument mythos and elect james dean" reagan
A spoiler is that dean (in that universe) is basically a demon that is really just a nice guy, then shit happens and people hated him outside of one anti-dean group and... just look up the monument mythos man, its easier to watch than reading a comment
@@RainbowGod666It gets that complicated? See, I'm super interested in analog horror and such, but I have been holding off, because my partner is super interested as well, but our schedules just never sync up these days...
But, I went ahead and watched the first bit of the first video Wendigoon made about it, and I'm really looking forward to getting into the series!
I'm kinda glad it gets really complicated haha
Followed by Joe
I feel like the fact that businesses are willing to spend millions of dollars busting unions is proof of just how important they are for workers.
Yeah, quite revealing reaction/action 😏
Makes you wonder if it also may just be cheaper and more effective to treat their workers fairly…
@@elizabethbrown5537 Where is this place/job that workers are treated unfairly?
@@gsp49 bruh... If you actually need to be told I do not understand how you can be so ignorant. Although to humour you: Amazon, entirety of Hollywood, Ubisoft, Activision Blizzard, Shien, Nestlé, so many places in Japan & Korea that they have a bloody term for it (Black Company) and the list can go on.
@@elizabethbrown5537 oh, sounds like you have some unwarranted hate of big business, you can always shop and mom and pop stores. Vote with your dollars, don't give them your business if you hate them.
I helped start the Walker Worker Union in 2020! I will never forget what the Director, Mary Ceruti, said to the gallery guards in a zoom meeting letting us know the new minimum wage is $15 at the museum. She said that economists have determined that there is no livable wage. I couldn’t believe she said that to a group of part-time minimum wage workers. I had coworkers who had to choose, whether or not to pay rent or eat.
I literally think you are so awesome and smart!!! Hope I run into you in public someday!! I also am in MPLS, cedar riverside.
What is a Living Wage lady ??? I like eating Stake and Pate everyday ! See everyone is different ! You Confusing Minimum Wage a Living wage ???..... You are trying to Protect all Those Millions of Single Mothers who made bad Chooses in Life we know ! Stay Single get an Education and save some money and Find a Good Partner ! then you make Chidden right ! Common Sense in America is Completely missing ??? That's why your Cities look like a Ghettoes ! Single Mothers are just Take and Take and Take ! Not Sustainable !
My union enabled me to retire at age 55 with a good pension and 100% paid medical benefits. Labor unions and union dues are a well worth investment and worth every penny. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
General Morors ran into that problem--they offered "20 and out" to workers who left after 20 years and outlived health predictions--sometimes another 2 decades, with zero contribution to the corporation's bottom line. GM got the handle, "a health insurance company that makes cars on the side" as a result. then they ran into global competition (Their response was the Saturn division) and the 2008 subprime crisis made them "government motors" just to survive.
I used to work at a non profit mental health program in NYC. We tried unionizing and once management learned about it they immediately started union busting. We were told they "didn't think a union was necessary." People who never were in trouble were all of a sudden getting written up and fired. We were able to file an unfair labor practice charge against them. They hired one of the biggest anti union law firms in the country, they ended up settling pre-arbitration and paid staff to not come back. Only bad leadership is threatened by unions.
Most organizations are run by leadershi[t].
It really baffles me how "the land of the free" is so hostile towards unions and everyone trying to form one.
As someone who has worked in nonprofit most of my career I feel you.
You should unionise, demand better work environments and more pay
@eryalmario5299 I don't work there anymore, thank god. After all my friends were fired I couldn't deal with the toxic work environment anymore. I work at another non profit though now, and I'm a supervisor but I'm still hinting at my team to start a union lol The work environment is great but the pay needs to be better.
Here in Cambridge MA of all places, a beloved local coffeehouse chain (they had three locations) went out of business last fall because their employees tried to unionize. I’m still pissed off about it. I gave them so much money over the years and in the end they were just as vindictive as Starbucks.
We need unions. We all need unions. I hope you’re right that unions will save us.
For those of you already in a union, I am glad to see you guys fighting back and making a difference against an unjust economic system. Don’t stop! We can win this against these greedy corporations and maybe start to heal this country for the better.
"Greedy corporations"? Man, how YOUNG are you? Five years old? That's the bs that children talk about! I'm sure you're not aware of what the GOVERNMENT is doing! Government taxes you, imposes laws on you and imposes regulations on you. Private businesses cannot do that, my guy. Please just learn something new!
maybe, but we’d also need complete governmental reform. governments are supported by their military, so how do we get the most powerful military in the world to turn on its government? this isn’t a rhetorical question, i want to know your thoughts
@@wren_. I'm a European, and here's my thoughts: You can't force them to change, but you can make it more beneficial for them to change.
America is a country whose economy relies completely on worker productivity. If the American people refuse to work, the government loses power, and the military doesn't get its share of money anymore.
This is what makes the US government vulnerable to unions. The workers have enough power to threaten the top of the pyramid, by simply refusing to work. A country like Saudi Arabia doesn't care about the citizens and has no rush to satisfy them, because their money comes from oil and minerals. Of course work is still important, but not for the government to maintain its power. The US on the other hand _desperately needs Americans to keep working, and wants them to be paid at a bare minimum, so that they spend most of the money from citizens on their power_
The only reason any democratic country does "good" stuff is to increase productivity. Schools are built for more workers, not for education. Hospitals are built so that workers can stay healthy, not so that the population stays healthy. Highways (Although they're really poorly designed in the US) are built for workers to work inbetween states, not because they "bring the American people closer".
And this is why there are no politics taught in American schools, unless you specifically go to a school that teaches law and politics. Because if they did teach actual politics, then the workers would know how to weaponise their position against the government.
@@kiwenmanisunoWell said, glad my European education has me understanding this concept. The ignorance enforced by US on its citizens on politics is so painful to watch.
@@kiwenmanisunoI agree completely. The reason the government needs the workers to work is not about tax revenue but about corporate profits. Our government is so corrupt, it is beholden to and owned by giant Wallstreet corporations and billionaires who are huge stock holders.
We are not a representative democracy. It is an illusion.
Yet if workers can unite, we can shut down corporate production and therefore profit which is really powerful.
I am a dues paying member of the AFA (Association of Flight Attendants), and i support this message. Union solidarity!
Thank you for making this, and for making it actionable. It’s easy to feel defeated about the state of things, but feeling defeated doesn’t exactly spur us to change things! So I appreciate your particular brand of information served with a side of ‘here’s what you can do to help make it better’.
It's terrible when CEOs and their allies engage in union busting but it's even worse when other workers bash and mock unions under the hypnosis of the "rugged individualism" corporate tune.
yes! I helped organize the company i worked for from 2019-2023 and it was very surprising to hear the rugged individualism talking points from people my age or younger. it’s truly propaganda.
The best way to fix this would be Right to work laws. If i am not forced to be a Union member and support them with fees than I would not care whether my coworkers unionize
This is why we must call for Direct Digital Democracy without parties or politicians. Citizen initiated referendums with thresholds and a social contract means Communities can vote their own laws. As well as a Public Authority to audit police and prosecute bad actors in our own courts.
Thorium energy renders their global energy monopoly obsolete
@@boyar1978well then it wouldn’t be a “Union” then smart one
@@boyar1978I wish you would stop spreading this misinformation, no one is forced to join a union. You cannot have your wages stolen by a union, that's not how it works.
Thank you UA-cam algorithm for showing me this lady. I’ve been binge watching her videos like crazy.
yay welcome!!
same!
I worked for Staples, and I saw one one of their training videos for management and it dealt with keeping surveillance on employees by having managers drive within the vicinity of the store to check if employees are congregating at nearby coffeehouses or fast food restaurants. I doubt if Staples is the only corporation that engages in this type of behavior.
I work for my aunt and uncle and they’ll interrogate us to see if we’re talking to eachother during or after work because they do a lot of illegal things and don’t want us telling eachother about it
I was disappointed when the Sbux in my neighborhood closed, ostensibly for safety concerns. I was much more disappointed - or rather, enraged - when I found the real reason was because the workers were attempting to unionize, and the company thought it was easier to just close the store.
It’s a scare tactic to try to prevent other stores from unionizing. The other stores have to also push to unionize. The can’t close ALL the stores!!
It gives you an idea of just how fucking terrified they are of labor power.
As a European, go get it. Unionise and demand what you deserve
LOL. I live in Texas. If people try, the state will just step in and harm the strikers at the request of the employer.
We try but we get shot in the streets by police if we “step out of line”
@@sharkbite6577 I absolutely wouldn't make an exception in your case.
in our lifetimes, the red states won't need to secede from the union a second time--they'll do it economically and politically. they've changed the status of abortion, they're rolling back child labor laws, and there will be more citizens' rights they reverse as they continue to gerrymander voting districts.
people think it's cheaper to live in red states since they pay less in taxes (it costs money to do the right things by society) but get more Federal tax money than the blue states. however, the way climate change is biting them in the ass and how red state governors are passing laws, in their lifetime it will cost more to live in a red state than to move.
then workers such as myself must subsidize union tyranny. I hate Unions because of them forcing me to pay for something I do not want. i also hate the senority statutes they have. I worked at a supermarket and they took half my paycheck every week and when I refused to strike because i needed cash to go to school I was told I would be fined if I did so. Union violate my freedom of association and freedom of speech as they donate to the Democratic party without my approval and they strike over things that I do not care about such as pensions or healthcare. I am a college-educated worker so do not want to get the same as everyone else. I would get a better deal negotiating for myself. Unions are the reason I teach in China instead of the USA. In China I cannot be forced to join a union and the government offers better worker protection then what any Union has ever offered. This is why I firmly believe the USA and all Western European Nations need a revolution where their governments are overthrown and replaced with Communist Parties similar to what China , North Korea, and Viet Nam have
I’ve been a union member for 26 years and a union rep for 12. Thank you so much for covering this. Corporate greed is at an all time high. Inflation is being led by this greed. They are raising prices out of greed, fleecing the consumers all while lowering or freezing benefits and wages for the workers. They are also blatantly disregarding the labor contracts we have. In my industry they have hired part time workers for half the wages, no pension and little in benefits. The corporate goons are making multi millions while we have workers that can’t afford to live. We have contracts coming up this year and it’s almost certain we will have to strike. The support of the American people is without a doubt necessary to help us win fair contracts and better wages.
You lost me at "greed". That's some immature, crybaby liberal nonsense! And inflation? I bet you have no idea that the politicians are causing that. It has nothing to do with greed. Please look into John Stossel's reports!
@@chris135x
Lol, John Stossel? He’s a libertarian and pushes libertarian propaganda. He’s completely full of crap and is known to be full of crap. You need to read The Peoples History of the United States by Howard Zinn. You probably don’t agree with anything about unions.
@@jamesmccormick875 Typical liberal! Call anything "propaganda" just because you dislike it. He's a legitimate journalist, kid. He was fired from three news outlets so what would you know? Just admit you choose to be ignorant.
I say this everywhere I can: The AI thing is a part of it, but a huge part of the problem is the studios have been purposefully obfuscating how much money they make from streaming for years. It's the main reason why the Scarlett Johansson/Disney lawsuit from a couple years ago would have been such a huge deal. If that lawsuit went to trial, Disney would have been forced to publicly disclose how much money they make from streaming. I don't blame ScarJo's team for accepting whatever settlement they made (it was likely in the ~30 million range), but it should tell you how much labor is getting fucked over that Disney thought that was worth it if it meant keeping their revenue a secret from labor. Previous to streaming, most things were based off of stuff like box office take and nielsen ratings, which are public information (for the most part). Streaming numbers are kept very, very private.
I just came here to say that in the midst of my own wrongful termination lawsuit against my most recent former employer, I found your channel. Primarily through your work, I've been inspired to go to law school. I watched your "What I Wish I Knew Before Law School" video, and I still want to go. I'm 35, and my BA didn't come from the same side of campus from which a law degree would've been earned. Keep inspiring! It's working.
That's awesome (not the termination, but the inspiring change)! Best of luck to you!
@@liv97497 Thank you! 😊
My uncle was one of the striking air traffic controllers fired by Reagan. It was a terrible, destructive thing to do to those people. Most were WWII vets like my uncle. They all felt betrayed by their country.
Years ago I worked at Wal-Mart and i remember during the orientation they made us watch a video HEAVILY discouraging unionization. It ended with some dude saying "we won't tell you what to do, but be very careful if you attempt to unionize. It may not be what what you actually want." Or something like that. But they definitely tried to imply that unions are corrupt and bureaucratic and that walmart is your family that has your best interest at heart uwu
Also during my six month performance review the Assistant store manager, who was conducting the meeting, tried to pressure me to sign up for a Wal-Mart credit card. I eventually said no and right after that the review was over. If you get enough people to sign up for credit cards the management team gets a huge bonus and eventually, depending if your store hits a certain number, then the regular employees get some of that bonus, although it's not nearly as much as management - who btw did not have to push credit cards. They pushed us to push credit cards onto customers.
They tried to show that exact same Video in Germany too when they started there in 1997 ...
They got a pretty bloody nose from their run ins with the big german regulatio train 😂
Isn't that illegal?
@spacemanrob96 I’ve had that experience too! The video would go on for like 5 minutes basically just telling you not to even speak to others about joining a union. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t let me have time off because my grandpa died. Thankfully I wasn’t financially dependent on that job but there are plenty that are.
UwU
I'm a UPS Teamster union member and have been for now 9 years. Every system has problems but a system where workers can curtail greed and consolidation of wealth and power is better than whatever the fuck is happening now in multiple parts of the country. And like I know many unions aren't powerful or do anything for their members (my mother is part of a teachers union). But I like to explain to people unions are not about raising the ceiling it's about raising the basement.
yes!!
Really good way to put it friend! We're here to ensure the lowest earners have a chance - solidarity means solidarity
The basement goes nowhere for those not direct members of unions. I have personally seen more than one bussiness owner tell their staff that they are not legally obligated to give breaks, even to use the bathroom. Labor laws are fought, tooth and nail, by unions and bussiness owners in an effort to maintain the power of the union and negotiating power of the union.The answer to taking care of workers as a whole can only be achieved by labor laws, not union contracts.
@@malachiteofmethuselah9713all employees enjoy the benefits won by the union if a workplace is unionized. If the union fights to increase pay or get better benefits, that's available to all employees. The only thing non-union employees miss out on is voting within the union and representation at meetings with the boss.
I was a manager for over thirty five years the majority of my subordinates were in a union. Managers are afraid of unions. Don’t be. I found them very helpful!
I work in the public sector and am part of a union and I'm so freaking happy about that. My dad was a labor organizer for the building trades and made a lot of enemies, but it was something he was passionate about, so he was good at it. Of course, he passed down that strong support of unions to me.
Unions are not good for the worker, the boss, or the company. Unions steal money unethically with mandatory fines on members. Do not be fooled by pro union propaganda. They only look to enrich themselves.
Yeah. But govt unions have to fight with both hands tied behind the back. And stewards are not very well trained typically. union mgt = grifters.
Yeah, because you can shaft taxpayers with zero accountability and no consequences.
You're doing a good job yourself with bringing consciousness to the non union problems too.
thank you!
There is POWER in numbers together we stand😁👍
An an Indian, where unions are almost part and parcel of labour and where Communist Party is vibrant, seeing US getting slowly but surely unionised makes me to be optimistic about future
yes!!
Because India offers an optimistic vision of the future?
It makes the socialist and communist of the American left giddy too
@@nathanlovik1753damn why u gotta be racist
America is moving away from unions, and the ones we have aren't all very strong, like mine, which is pretty weak and more employer-centric than employee.
I worked at Starbucks for nearly 8 years, and at first, I absolutely loved everything about it, and the company did take very good care of us. And then, I don’t know what changed. About 2017 is when things went downhill, and I stuck it out until 2021, when they then terminated me because I couldn’t get coverage when my mom died, after having only ever been late one time in over 7 years.
Trump tried to get rid of unions. He was effective with that with Federal Employees. So my guess is the CEO saw his chance to get even richer at his employees expense.
@@sarasands5 GOP has quite a track record of crony capitalism and trump was quite it's loudest, most stupid public face to date.
@@sarasands5 They were bought by a megacorp in 2017.
Why is a Union organized per company?
Here in The Netherlands we have unions and they are completely separate from any company. We have one for Restaurant personal, for steel workers, for shop employees. You can just contact them and join. What’s the US deal with a Union per company? I sincerely don’t understand.
Thank you. Excellent analysis. Part of the issue is that the average American has no historical understanding that the work environment (40 hour week, workers comp, overtime, etc) they take for granted were hard won, and often bloody results of unions.
I am a proud union man coming to the Twin Cities for work in 4 days. Thank you for reaffirming the validity, power, and beneficial nature of unions! Together, we can do it!
I'm not part of a union. But I still get paid more at my job versus at other companies. I also get paid per diem for every day worked, work 8 days with 6 off (or 4 on and 3 off depending on the project), plus other benefits.
Unions are not good for the worker, the boss, or the company. Unions steal money unethically with mandatory fines on members. Do not be fooled by pro union propaganda. They only look to enrich themselves.
Sure, shakedown America to become a useless honorless bum that the taxpayer will have to bail out in due course.
Welcome to MN! May your new work see success and your new home be cozy 😊
@@Vlish and? good for you?
I worked in hospitality for 20 years and saw so much rampant union busting. One of the places I worked at was Whole Foods, who force feeds anti-union propaganda to their employees constantly, while treating their employees like garbage. It's grotesque.
Because, of course, companies are supposed to just lie down and let unions take over. It's their moral duty.
I'm thinking you people just act like children. Act like adults.
my first job at 18 was at 🎯. i still remember the anti-union propaganda video that was a required part of our training… although i didn’t see it for what it was at the time. imagine my shock when at my next job, everyone was openly talking about the union and the shock was if you *weren’t* part of it. i’m very proud of all workers standing up for themselves instead of swallowing the BS excuses these companies want to give. union strong 💪
After a while time dont need workers...most workers
And those actors in the video are union actors too.
Lovely Opening Post.
I remember being young, from a Southern State, and being very---well---dumb. I used to think: "Sure, unions for policemen, firemen, miners...jobs that are dangerous. But the rest of us... come on."
Then came 2009 and being laid off and it taking 2 years of working minimum wage jobs until midnight every weekend for 2 years before I could find a job as an engineer again.
Now: I stand with unions. You scumbag owners would turn us into indentured servants and paupers in a heartbeat if you could. In some instances, Marx was totally correct: Workers of the world unite!
absolutely!!!
Notice we don't allow the military to unionize
I live in Georgia and worked as a public school teacher for 10 years before quitting 2 years ago. Georgia is very clear that "collective bargaining is illegal" in this state for its teachers, hence no protection, negotiating salary, improved worker conditions, etc. What can you do about that if you can literally be arrested for union-type activity?
Of all of the problems in the country that are no longer addressable because of the unlimited money working against any solution, unions are the one thing that could really put the entire nation much closer to the right track.
This is why we must call for Direct Digital Democracy without parties or politicians. Citizen initiated referendums with thresholds and a social contract means Communities can vote their own laws. As well as a Public Authority to audit police and prosecute bad actors in our own courts.
Thorium energy renders their global energy monopoly obsolete
shush now ... corporations and capitalism don't want you to know you can fight for your rights and worth, not to mention don't want you to know that socialism isn't evil
WRONG!!! they will bankrupt the country and makes things more expensive. unions only help themselves.
Unions don't work if it's ran by criminals.
Eh. At one point your fight will shift from businesses to consumers too. Take a random example, if walmart workers wanted to unionize or strike. They will eventually inconvenience customers too cause that’s the best way to hurt the business. If walmart decides to automate everything, you will still expect the consumers to boycott and talk about morality. I’m as pressed as the rest of you in life, but you will fully expect me to sympathize and be inconvenienced and I’m not sure it will ever be reciprocated. Despite my circumstances im earning more than somebody and that’s apparently a reason not to treat me as well and automatically makes me part of the problem. I’m not attacking anyone, I hope you can at least understand why we’re bound to have different views.
It blows my mind that I, as an enlisted Navy man, make more than a typical SAG actor. Cause I don't make that much.
yeah hearing about their wages is shocking!!
I am currently an Early Childhood Educator aka daycare worker in Canada. Thanks to this video I am looking into joining the teachers union in my province.
Leeja!! Preach!! Keep it coming. My ENTIRE family are union members!! IBEW LU #558!! I never understood how regular people view unions as bad when they are there to fight for the workers. I love this video, all of your videos, but especially this one!!! ❤
thank you!!
We need to put out differences aside, stop working against eachother and work together. People need to realize that at the core of all our beliefs, most everyone just wants to live with free will, competent wages, and a roof over their head that doesn’t cost 50% of their monthly income. We need to take back control, the government/big business needs to be reminded how fucked they would be if all the people they take advantage of that keep their companies alive and profits coming in, weren’t there anymore.
When we work together we have so much power, and there’s way more of us than there is of them 😏
Agreed!
Numbers matter and those numbers are people not just money.
What's difference is there to set aside?! I just want to live my life along with my friends and family and a lot of yall don't believe we shouldn't exist and actively kills us! Do you understand that?! These people see and treat us as subhuman and somehow I need to set my feeling based in oppression aside?! This why Moderate take is damn near as dangerous as the mayo supremacist marching down the street. What is wrong with you...
FACTS
That's why we elected two old lying racist grifting draft dodgers in a row for President. Because we care. Lmfao
We need a union for kitchen, bar, and restaurant workers, an administrative employee union, and a retail union.
Without a union, it's every employee alone against the corporation, school district or other employer. When government takes the side against employees in "right to work" states like Florida and Texas, it's much worse. I know teachers who have been wronged by their employers whose only salvation was their union providing legal counsel.
Right To Work states are: Arizona, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Missouri, Nevada, North Dakota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
@@stevechance150Yikes! That's more than half the states in this country 😢
I work for a large corporation that also preaches to us about not "needing" a union 🙄 one location close to me tried to unionize. They shut the place down and fired everyone 🙃 but yeah, we DEFINITELY don't need a union 😒
They tell you to not unionize for your OWN good so you don't lose your job... Fucking ridiculous
That is how all businesses should operate. When a Union forms close the location and fire all the workers. Put all those workers who wanted the union on the do not rehire list.
One location can't unionize on it's own. They have to organize ALL locations. But today, companies just move their factories overseas. Globalization has killed American unions.
@@thatpandaz6094 Yeah, better not unionize, else they'll have to fire you for unionizing. Wonder why they're so scared of unions.
@@boyar1978why?
This is why I love watching your channel!!
I'm just gonna put this out there. At my first job as a graphic designer, I was on the duty for designing billboards and insta ads for union busting a very large company. It rhymed with shmoeing. The same communications firm was successful in their union busting campaign for a different company rhyming with missan. Love that it was a progressive communications firm too. Never was told before taking the job that their main clients included the worst.
Wow two companies in the toilet. One was once a close third to Toyota/Honda now a near obscure make. And one has planes falling out of the sky. AT LEAST they saved on labor, right? Hope they enjoyed those shekels, it cost them in the end.
Unions are not good for the worker, the boss, or the company. Unions steal money unethically with mandatory fines on members. Do not be fooled by pro union propaganda. They only look to enrich themselves.
As in joe schmoe?
@@alejandrorivas4585ya, shmoe ing
Working voice actor here! I'm non union (not as in anti union I realize that sounded bad, I'm pro union I'm just not eligible for sag) but I couldn't be more on board with those striking. AI especially is a big problem already in the voice-over field - people are just ripping our voices without our consent and feeding them into voice cloning software, and we have almost no way of keeping up with it let alone doing anything about it once we find it. Commercial and corporate voiceover is ESPECIALLY eager to get their hands on this technology.
Also, I WISH we were a bit more included in the acting discussion as far as wages go, because unless you're in a national ad or feature length film, you simply do not get any residuals in voiceover. Nor are the wages sustainable. We are all working two jobs lol. But my hope is that this will have a domino effect in all fields of acting!!
You should say you're "not unionized". Sounds clearer than "non union".
Technology has always replaced jobs and created new ones. Deal with it.
@@joshuawadsworth6417 Can you go lick capitalist boots somewhere else?
@@joshuawadsworth6417It's not simply a matter of automation. They are literally stealing our voices. I cannot express to you how creepy and violating it feels to find a video with your voice in it that you did not record, saying things you never said.
Wow, I just came across your channel. This historical look at labor unions was fantastic. Unions made this country strong and lifted the standard of living for millions. I look forward to seeing what else your channel has to offer.
I’m subscribing.
UNION YES!!!
I’m a SAHM and my own union. I advocate for my needs so that my bosses can’t walk all over me. I mean, they are kids, so they DO walk all over me. But at least I can maintain the pretense that I’m in charge. 😂😂😂
That said I am LOVING this progress driven by unions. Keep it up! Unionize! Fight for your rights as workers. I’m a former teacher (and hopefully future university professor) and I know how important unions are. ❤❤❤
My email is being spammed by Backstage roles and i live in a very rural area. They're trying to find new actors and content creators instead of just paying the union.
ugh I hate it!
I messaged democratic reps during covid about what businesses should or shouldn't be effected and why (my place of work/job was kind of borderline) and many of them got back to me about it, thanked me for my email and let me know they will put it on their list to talk about when orders came down. I think my emails probably influenced that outcome. Zero Republicans had their emails listed on their public government contact page. But contacting representatives can and does work to some extent. Often they don't always know what is an issue unless someone brings it to them. Local reps are probably more approachable and responsive than federal level but still, calling and emailing does something. Local level action actually does a lot more than federal level and anything local/state level can eventually effect federal level stuff.
Also important to go to public events, protests etc because you can often times find local representatives there and can talk to them. I got to talk to state representatives at a climate crisis protest in the Minnesota capital building and there were entire groups, including native American groups effected by oil pipelines that did sit ins at representatives offices because they were notorious for not acting and known supporters for the pipeline. It may not seem like it but this kind of civil action and protesting and especially bugging the local reps can have big impacts.
TL;DR
You love, praise and worship the government. Okay, buddy.
I work at starbucks and my store is the first in our area to unionize and the union busting that is still happening is insane! Thank you for this video!
A Starbucks here recently unionized and I’m DAMN glad to hear it’s happening at other stores as well! Keep on fighting the good fight! 👍🏻
It’s so frustrating listening to my friends talk down about Unions, one of them being a conservative political science degree holder. Like… do you realize what your political ideology has done and is doing to the middle class, a class that which you are a part of? These corporations you cozy up to do not care about you, lol.
CORPORATIONS DONT CARE ABOUT YOU!!! Amen
Then those people are not your friends then
As a graduated International Relations student, unfortunately that kind of mentality was common among some of my peers. What I find laughable is how the people holding these elitists views see themselves as part of the privileged minority of their ideal despotic government, when there are way more chances that they would end up being part of the oppressed majority if their dreams materialized.
@@mr.x2567 I’m doing my best to just show them that their best friend who is a socialist is not an evil boogieman every elected official say I am. I also made it clear we have two right wing parties in this country and there’s absolutely zero reason to argue with one another. They’re the same… if I gave up on them, then I’m just falling for the fabricated wedge issues and dividing us more. Leeja warns about this exact thing at the end of the video. She’s absolutely right. It’s not easy. Sometimes political conversations can get heated, but we tend to somewhat agree or even just flat out agree with one another on things more often than you’d think.
@@marcello7781 I definitely see a lot of people identify with the elites, despite being just as much as a lower middle classer as I am. It’s like they idealize them. Like, “not to worry, I’ll be one of them one day,” even though class mobility is as low as it ever has been.
It will save the world. Solidarity to ALL workers.
You can't even tell me how or why, kid.
Never been this early but just wanted to say I love your videos! Very well researched and presented!
thank you!!
Part of the reason why wages have been depressed is due to the minimum wage being stuck below 10 dollars. Companys point out that they pay well over minimum wage so no one should complain, in actuality they just pay you enough to keep you just above the poverty line which makes it so you can't save, can't quit, and are reliant on the job and not the employer reliant on the worker.
another reason wages are stagnant is unions refused to fight for increases during stagflation in the 1970's. they knew increasing wages would put workers in a higher tax bracket without the buying power. so unions fought for benefits instead. but that locked you into the company (since no universal health care, etc) and now Americans move twice as often in their lives as they used to, chasing factory closings to retain their seniority to keep their benefits.
I worked for a hotel where they told us not to talk about our pay, and I mentioned Unionizing once and was told I would be fired by another co-worker. He said he understood where I was coming from, but asked me if I could afford not to have that job. At the time I couldn't, he told me to stop talking about it because the only way it would end, would be me jobless. He was correct, and I don't blame him. Half of the housekeeping staff lived in homes provided by the hotel owner, the other half didn't speak any English. It was a zero sum game, and I had no-where else to go.
Maybe your best video yet… Thank you! As a one-time shop steward as well as a child raised by a father who was part of the Union busting industry, I know that the labor movement is one of the keys to improving life in the U.S. [I have horror stories about my father’s views-the only positive to come out of his “ideas” was that they provided me with ethical guidance… to do the opposite of what my father believed].
Going into my Education playlist. Thank you, Leeja.
YES yay thank YOU for being here!
My job in high school had a union and it was very reassuring to have a union as a back up and support.
I was considered an "essential worker" during the pandemic and you know what I got me? DEBT... while businesses pocked millions in PPP loans that were forgiven and my community members got paid to stay home. Fun times...
Covid aid was used as a 2 trillion dollar lolly scramble by Trump
There is no reason ANY of us should have been forced to show up during a pandemic, and we ALL should have been taken care of instead of the corporations that already have more than enough, but that doesn't mean we should be angry at the people who weren't forced to show up. Be angry with the people who forced us to show up through the pandemic, it wasn't your neighbor.
@@Avernacus not angry at my community members, a little bitter that as a civil servant out there keeping city functions running and responding to emergencies folks in my position were left behind. Definitely angry that greedy businesses and elected officials scammed PPP loans. But not angry at my neighbors and community, jealous probably that I put myself and family through that stress mountain that was serving the community during it all to be tossed aside and forgotten, or worse, vilified for being a civil servant
@@porthosduvallon5301around here, its popular to villianize the state workers for their bennies. i point out that all the military industrial complex offer the same package to their machinists, and we the taxpayer fund $50 hammers and $200 toilet seats to pay for it...but no one complains.
You’re doing gods work!!!! POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!!!!!
I never really knew why Sweden is such an observably happy and healthy country... then I heard that over 90% of the country work in labor unions. 5 weeks of vacation and 2 years off for mom and dad when they have a baby. All really because they are in unions....
It also has one of the highest tax rates on the planet. There's a reason almost no startups come out of Sweden -- the government strangles them.
@@leobigelow7021 Their lives are considerably better and richer than ours. That's the standard you go by.
"From time to time the workers are victorious, but only for a time. The real fruit of their battles lies not in the immediate result, but in the ever-expanding union of the workers." - Karl Marx
Said the man who never paid his lifelong servant one cent in wages, got her pregnant, and beat her until she got her abortion.
Cant thank you enough for speaking on this, not enough people know the true power that they hold when it comes to the one thing they are able to sell: their labor. All the power to all the people!
Absolutely correct. Just read Jason Stanley’s book, “How fascism works”, and it became clear to me that unions are probably the most powerful weapon against the rising trend of fascism. Excellent video.
Unions aren't just for your present work life, they're also pretty much the only way you'll get a pension other than a 401k, which is a gamble at best. I worked a union job for over 20 years and now I have something to show for it
I worked security at Amazon a few years ago and they literally had us block out or report anything about unionizing, I didn’t realize that was illegal until now 😮.
Corporate Gestapo??? Thats wild 😮
Well, I think we need to redefine "illegal".
They break the law all day and all night long, and they can "get away" with it, because the business model is "We break the law, making way more money than we otherwise would have, and we can use that extra money to pay the fines, pay off the courts, hire scabs, etc"
Breaking laws is Business 101, these days, it seems.
@@EagleZtoTheGrave in their warehouses, YES! I’m actuality we didn’t actually do much outside of that. They had a loss prevention for theft etc. It was a strange job.
i would do that anyway as I do not want to work at a unionized company.
@@boyar1978okay bootlicker
❤ your wild an unhinged scheme. Proud NEA member here!
Workers of the world, unite!
✊✊✊
You have only your chains to break!
@@vanquish421 those chains get thicker as we isolate from each other, and weaken as we get closer to each other.
@@zeynepgulsu1899 Based take, comrade.
MArks also has said same words...
Here in the UK, it is traditional to close a letter to our MP (our equivalent of Representative) with the phrase “you remain my obedient servant” instead of things like “yours faithfully”. I use this when I do (even in emails) because I feel it’s a damn good thing to remind them of their relationship with their constituents.
While I know that pay is at the top of the list at the moment, Unions do a lot more. As you touched on here, they organise and fight for health and safety. Some jobs are inherently dangerous, others have hidden dangers (both physical and mental), and a union will call employers out on that.
This doesn't really work well here because most representative positions aren't competitive. Representatives just need to placate the small percentage of people voting in their party primaries, not their district at large.
PREACH!! Leeja for President!!!!
Your videos are always must watch content
thank you!!
Let's hope we can at least get back up to pre-70s numbers!
the dream!
every time you upload im just like impressed how fucking amazing you are at this, the intros are so fucking concise and well written its wild.
omg thank you!!
I'm an IBEW union electrician, working out of local 58 in Detroit, Michigan. Unions are strong up here in the north compared to the south. Here are the numbers.
In 2022 my hourly wage was $48.02. I grossed $102,252 last year. This year hourly increased to $50.32/hr, and next it will go up to $53.21/hr. Our union dues are $142 every quarter, and it's well worth paying for the amount of money we make compared to non-union electricians.
When I lived in Texas and worked out of the local union there our hourly pay was $29.86/hr in 2020. Their hourly pay has only increased to $30.18/hr. Their pay is generally what non-union electricians make in our industry.
The unions are stronger in the north than in the south. We have better hourly pay, and better pay with our benefits which include paid health insurance, annuity, and a pension. There's also an abundance of work here for us union electricians in Michigan as well as our neighboring states in the Midwest. If you have a strong union you have better wages, because you have more negotiating power. So without a doubt, definitely support unions.
I like to control my own labor, as an independent skilled laborer I make more money and I'm not a wage slave. So without a doubt...no.
How I wish that you were right. Way too much optimism about confronting capitalized people and companies
I'm also glad that with millennial and Genz the term "socialism" is not scary like we were made to believe.
I would also add that the large flippant response to the Oceangate fiasco, as well as the VERY loud pushback to those people trying to appeal to a "better sense of humanity" (read: Tone Policing) should let Billionaires understand that the desire for them to get very close shaves is closer than they think.
That is because they are ignorant. If only they would take a trip to Cuba to see how soci alism actually works...
@@Historia.Magistra.Vitae. Even as non-socialist, this is stupid argument. 1.US did its best to destroy their regime, its quite a miracle that their country was actually able to survive
2.socialism is quite rich term, many different socialis ideologies have almost nothing in common. North Korea, revolutionaries during Spanish civil war in Catalonia or democratic socialists are all socialists, yet they have almost nothing in common.
@@Historia.Magistra.Vitae. 83 comments on this channel. You must be unemployed. Let me guess. Landlord?
"Built dick-shaped rockets to yeet themselves into space for fun." ... I'm in love with this woman.
The seed of revolution akin to the French Revolution is sparking... and I'm here for it!!!
My college IUPUI is currently going through a split, and although they promise not to layoff any professors or lose tenure, the professors had to all re-interview for their jobs, and many were denied the ability to keep their same position in the equivalent department. As for us grad students, we have no idea what's to come next. We're thinking about unionizing over this.
This is pretty much an exact synopsis of every job I've ever had. I talked to my coworkers in our profession once about unionizing because of the absolute abuse and lack of compensation we suffered. We were all threatened with immediate termination just for talking about it.
if you spoke to me about that I would be talking to my store manager that you were trying to unionize the work place and I would likely tell them you stole a pen or paperclip so that they had reason to fire you.
It's such a shame the US is so hostile towards unions, protecting worker's rights.
@@boyar1978class traitor
@@danobanano2505 The U.S. is not against unions, big business is and they lobby and control governments to make laws protecting their views and business practices.
Just ask for a damn raise and quit if you don't get a raise. Just make sure you LEGIT deserve a raise!
People forget that the millionaire A-List actors weren't always millionaire A-List actors. Many of them spent a significant amount of time in that 95% of SAG-AFTRA members that are broke and/or have a second job. Hilary Swank had an Oscar with her when she was living in her car is one such example. The A-listers know what it's like starting out hence why they're using their influence and/or pocketbooks to help their fellow union members. That's what you're supposed to do when you achieve fame and success; help those that come after you.
One good thing about the Entertainment Industry striking is that there is far less chance of government intervention. The current administration did workers dirty by forcing railroad workers back to work under the same crap conditions.
Great piece on unions, Leeja. I didn't know about any proposed legislation to help organization efforts until today.
I can't really imagine that the US will ever treat its workers well.
When unions become strong enough to achieve something, the shareholders of congress will simply find a way to outlaw unions.
But I surely hope that this tells more about my lack of imagination than about the actual odds of improving the situation.
Well the other solution other than doing what unions say is CEOs being murdered on the street like you would kill a deer for meat, sooooooo...
Yeah the billionares are fucked.
The thing is that when workers pile on the pressure for long enough, the whole capitalist system of ownership becomes threatened. So the system will become more accommodating to workers, in order to protect itself.
It has happened before in the US and all over the world.
The “socialist” style policies of FDRs new deal, we’re done to stop the socialist movement and save capitalism.
Unions built the middle class.
If we want to “MAGA” the easiest way is to unionize The Union!
I love all the work you do!!! But this episode is one of the best I have seen. Your explanation on why people vote against their own economical interests due to racism, racial and political divide, “otherism” We fail to see how they manipulate and distract us. We ALL need to wake up! Keep up the good work!
The recent Glacier ruling was yet another hit against Unions. Anyone can claim a strike hurt the business.
THAT'S THE POINT OF A STRIKE. You have to make it hurt before a company will take the workers demand seriously.
Everyone should watch this video. It explains everything so clearly and succinctly. Thank you for what you do! Education is key in making the world a better place to be. Keep up the great work!
LOLZ! Wrong! Maybe listen John Stossel about unions! You'll LEGIT learn things!
@chris135x perhaps you should take some time to learn about grammar and sentence structure. I think you meant to say "You'll learn something". Nice try, though.
@@Cozmixcartoons There, it's fixed. Now try attacking my argument, kid. I know you can't. But you can try. I know you have an npc mentality.
@chris135x You don't have an argument. You just said I'm wrong. And considering how badly you failed at grammar right out of the gate, I'm guessing your opinion is not very carefully considered.
Now if you'll excuse me, this NPC child has to get back to his repetitive tasks and looping conversations. Come see me if you need someone to assign you a quest or something 😉 😘
Wow I’ve never been this early and I haven’t seen the video yet but I know it’ll be great as usual. Thank you for all the work you put in
thanks for being here!
There is also union busting happening with Activision-Blizzard employees, as well. A huge deal also in the games industry.
I really liked your video. Especially the last 5 minutes because it was inclusive for all. Black folk, White folk, Queer folk, all folks need to really understand that the system we were raised in was created to benefit just a very small few. People do have the power! Despite what our current systems of education, information access, and institutions profess. History will repeat itself- and educating ourselves of how to come to together can and will enable us to make positive change for the 99 percent. On that note.... Keep cool, 612 is too damn muggy tonight!
Dude I was just today talking about how my industry needs to unionize. We just got bought by a company that controls like 80% of the industry. We desperately need a union we’re so underpaid and are the backbone of the industry. It’s ripe for it. Great video.
Who do you work for? Name and shame!
@@cybergothstudios94 Probably one of the Railroads.