video says this is the year 2146. With casual google research, i cant find conclusive evidence that Star Fleet and earth ARE moneyless (there seems to be some debate over interpretation of lines) but it seems that IF it is post money, then that doesnt happen until sometime after the original Star Trek which takes place over 100 years after this point. This is referenced in the end of THIS video where he talks about a potential solution being the transition to an economy where money no longer exists and everyone's needs are met.
I'd imagine that something similar will continue to be necessary for as long as there are hierarchical organizations. Especially ones like Starfleet where some amount of danger and hardship are inevitable by design.
@@resivan6265 Leslie Fish? Who? * GOOGLE GOOGLE * She's a pro union... anarchist? WTF? What mental gymnastics is she doing to put _those_ two ideas together?
@@TonboIV Anarchy means "without hierarchy"; it does NOT mean "without governance". As a somewhat anarchist myself: the only way I have been able to balance that contradiction is to assume that the needs of society must be perfectly balanced with the needs of each individual for anarchy to work in practice. I think governance, as in some mechanism for group decision making, is more likely to help than hinder an Anarchist society.
@@jamesphillips2285 Anarchy means the abolition of unjust hierarchies. You'll still need things like doctors, who need to be trained and certified by authorities who can prevent untrained quacks from practicing medicine. Medical boards are, therefore, an example of a just heirarchy, people entrusted with power because they have expertise which others lack. The whole point of a union is to abolish inequalities between workers and bosses/owners. Revolutionary unions have sought to abolish bosses and owners entirely, and modern worker co-ops which run on this principle both exist and are extremely successful whenever capital owners don't manipulate the government into crushing them artificially. There's an argument in there about how a truly free market would likely devolve into feudal hellscapes and anarchist cooperatives simultaneously, but that's for another time. You still have supervisors in these businesses, but they're people who did the job they are supervising for years and have been entrusted by the union with the authority to train new workers, ensure corners and safety measures aren't cut, and resolve interpersonal disputes which could tear down solidarity. Point being, anarchist unions aren't a contradiction. They're half the point of anarchism. They're how you get the work you need to have a society done while maintaining worker democracy and equal dignity for all.
We in the union have tried to get members from the red shirts and the gold shirts for a long time but we never get enough members to go above the minimum limit to add it into the union plan. We are sorry for the inconvenience and we ask you to talk to your union rep to address this question so that we can discuss the issue at our next meeting. //Your union rep
@@lokelaufeyson9931 That paints a horrifying picture of certain captains and their timing of deadly missions in regards to the scheduling of the union votes. Is it Starfleet policy to punish unionization efforts with high fatality missions?
Its a security solution, if we would have pockets on the uniforms the non coms would put a pencil in them and forget to return the pencil, since this is a human mistake we cant put the responsibility on the human so we removed the pockets so that we could use the money that would be required to handle all the missing pencils into better use like better food and other recreational areas onboard the ship.
The real reason this had to be set around ENT is that you can't roll the sleeves up on a TNG era pajama top and look appropriately workmanlike. Sure O'brian manages it in DS9, but that's more a testament to his immense blue-collar power.
You CAN roll up the sleeves of a jumpsuit, but... aren't there pockets on the lower sleeve as well? Places to put stuff. Far more useful than exposing your arms.
@@k1productions87but alot more inconvenient than overheating, being able to roll up sleeves is extremely important for jumpsuits, they usually dont breathe too good and your forearms are really good for temperature regulation
This video just answered a question I’ve had rattling around in my head for years: why do starships have artificial gravity in the Jeffries tubes and cargo areas? Because initially they didn’t, and it was bad for the health/safety of personnel until a union had to step in and fix the issue. I really like that idea! This is going into my “official” personal head canon for Trek. And sadly, the bit about the gravity boots really sold it - could totally see this as a “solution” pitched by a modern company in that situation.
Oh yeah, that part totally tracks. Handing out gravity boots and making it the worker's responsibility to wear them properly would be way cheaper than actually refitting the ships. There would also be readiness implications; they'd have to take ships off the line to do the refits. Depending on when this is in the timeline, that might be a big deal. I get the feeling that Earth Starfleet was a sort of glorified Space Coast Guard before and in the early parts of Enterprise, with Vulcan treating Earth like a (particularly annoying) client state. The NX class was UE's first "blue-water" space ship, able to independently project power and conduct space foreign policy, which is why it was such a big deal both for Earth and for the Archer family
Something the union should look into though, why is there no safety feature that turns off the gravity in turboshafts when the turbolift bcar jumps its track or is otherwise damaged? I recall an incident where the Captain and a bunch of kids (it wasn't even enlisted personnel, it was the frakking CAPTAIN) were stuck in a turbolift with no power, while all the while it threatened to fall and drop them all to a horrifying death. Did you get that? Fall? In SPACE? Why should there be a threat of FALLING in SPACE? Furthermore, they all had to make a very rough climb up the turboshaft to escape. A rough, grueling climb. CLIMB... in SPACE. Did you get that? Seriously, make it a standard safety feature that when a turbolift malfunctions, there is no threat of falling to your death, or danger of a long and dangerous climb to escape. They already have variable gravity controls in cargo and shuttle bays for crying out loud, so it IS possible to implement.
I don't know if anything either confirms or contradicts this, but I would think that artificial gravity would be one ship-wide field, so having the same gravity everywhere is the default and varying it is what would require extra effort?
@@NovaSaber Based on what we see in a few episodes, the plates are separate emitters throughout the decks. The problem is that the _Enterprise-D_ is full of rounded surfaces, so there's always going to be plates on a lower deck under any section of turbolift shaft. Now that I think about it, I wonder if there's anything to the somewhat chunkier designs of post-TNG ships that's related to that disaster? "We can afford to build the ships a big denser and put in safeguards if it means we won't have the ship's captain and some crewmembers' children possibly falling to their deaths ABOARD SHIP, IN DEEP SPACE."
I could see an episode of Lower Decks built around this idea. Freeman gets, I dunno, possessed by the space ghost of an ancient capitalist tycoon and gets all tyrannical. The Lower Deckers organize in protest. Shax is on Freeman's side at first (he's basically a cop after all, even if he works for Starfleet), but gets turned when he sees the conditions the lower decks are in. Mini revolution ensues, the cetaceans demonstrate solidarity in some funny way, Freeman is temporarily overthrown while T'ana removes the possessing entity, everyone learns the value of worker organization even under an explicitly egalitarian communist institution.
Thats my Union Rep!! Got me 3 extra months when my Denobulon wives gave birth on back to back days. Thanks boss! Unions are the backbone of many interstellar nations.
@@FiXatoin Germany any child comes with around a year of wage replacement (two years half of that are also possible) and that's extended by 3 months if it's split between at least two people (Also conditional basic income and 3 years job protections to be used before the kid tuns 10 😉)
@@fionafiona1146 And by the way, money spent on making it easier and more pleasant to have children is not money lost. It's a long term investment in the prosperity of the nation. Declining birth rates are a huge problem in modern wealthy nations, and low wages and sucky working conditions are a big factor in that problem. In a lot of countries, we're raising whole generations who are just used to the idea that they'll be poorer than their parents and even owning a small apartment is unrealistic. Who's going to have children when you can barely take care of yourself?
@@TonboIV Who's going to have children when the biosphere all of us live in is burning? I got a vasectomy before ever becoming sexually active because I genuinely believe having children in any foreseeable future is wildly immoral.
@@pjlusk7774as well as being another, what, century or so in the future of this Strike Captain? Give it time. Someone from Voyager’s LD may eventually space the man. “Accidentally” of course. “Oh, I guess we need more safety regulations! Sorry.” *contrite face*
Artificial gravity is now deemed so important on starships that it remains on at all costs. In a space battle, weapons can be failing, shields can be failing, life support can be failing, but that artificial gravity remains on… and if some naive ensign suggests that maybe artificial gravity be switched off and the power be diverted to any of those other things, they will quite rightly be told to pipe down.
As a union steward for a government agency, the Postal Service, I could totally see this happening and Steve did a great job with it. I would like to point out that sadly federal unions and most government workforces that have union representation lack the ability to call for a strike, but in the future, that would certainly be one of things our union would like to do away with. Solidarity forever ✊️
I think that's only the case in the United States, and lest we forget Starfleet is a world organization. In Canada for instance there are some workers who can't strike because they're designated "essential services"--nurses and paramedics, I think firefighters, like that. But other civil servants and certainly Canada Post employees totally can. So if you want a few more rights, come to Canada! ;)
Any law that says a worker cannot withhold their labor is a law written for the bosses. In NY, we have the Taylor Law, which says that if a government union strikes, the member dues are forfeit for that month and the union leadership goes to jail for double the length of a strike. But that hasn't stopped agencies from experiencing strikes. If a strike action is necessary, it's necessary. If the law is written in a manner that protects the people causing that strike, then that law needs to be repealed.
I’ve literally had this guy as my shop steward a time or two in my career as a union carpenter. If you ever wonder “was this guy muscle for the mob?” you know you’re in good hands.
The Starfleet night shift workers who have to scramble to put back together the full shuttle complement are heroes. They see the sign out sheet, see a bridge officier has taken a shuttle for a quick scan and they know they're getting the remains of a shuttle back in a shoebox and the captain will want it back online by oh-nine hundred.
@@NorninTGK There was more than one full on emotional breakdown in Shuttlebay 3 upon learning that some irresponsible bridge crew has blown up another shuttle and now you're pulling triple shifts until next month.
The IFF-FCO (Independent Federation Freighter - Freighter Crew and Officers) which I'm a proud member of stands in solidarity with our fellow sentients in UNCO.
I feel like Steve could produce an entire show about Starfleet's low-level employees where he plays all the characters. Might be pretty good. Kind of like the Stargate SG-1 episode "The Other Guys". I would suggest the name "Lower Decks" if it wasn't already taken.
These skits are great. Loved the little “wouldn’t this be ridiculous if” digs at both the concepts in the shows and at how easy it *should* be to get behind solving problems in the here and now. Always worth the time to watch.
Star Trek tends to skip over that the most amazing thing about its future is that humanity found a way out of the millennia-long money pit of chasing money. It's not just that ending energy scarcity made it technically possible. It's also that people found the right way to think about value, measuring it in terms of time and relationships and fulfillment instead of gold (alone or pressed around latinum). Whenever Starfleet folks talk about how primitive their ancestors seem to them, with their wallets and for-profit businesses, it's the result of a hard-fought-for sea change across the world. Warp drive is just technology -- if it's possible, we'll figure out how to make it and do so. The moneyless Earth is a philosophical change across a whole world, a staggering achievement worth figuring out. Not by me, though. It was a hard-fought battle for me to just stop drinking Coca-Cola to save my health.
@@SingularityOrbitI like that even in Enterprise where money is still used but the profit motive is gone, Archer is incredulous at the Ferengi and states plainly “my people almost destroyed themselves following that philosophy”.
@@kaitlyn__L That's another really interesting point. It isn't merely that prioritizing money over real values made life bad in Trek's past, it was part of the near end of the world. The problem with money is that people learn to measure value in terms that exclude what other people actually need. The reason unions work is that they are about communication in the end -- understanding what people value and negotiating to reach a way forward where everyone gets something of real value out of their works. What that seems to mean is that we can reach a Star Trek future with money in it, but we can't reach a Star Trek future at all without communication.
Crafty, using comedy and star trek to educate us on the benefits and strength and structure of unions! 😮😂 "The longer the picket line, the shorter the strike!"
Damn Steve, that was brilliant. So amazingly on point that I unironically think it should be shown in school. By making it about Starfleet instead of an actual ongoing strike, you made it timeless and relatable for all. People are less likely to become automatically defensive and the humour helps the message
Steve, as someone who who hails from NYC during the era when unions were at their peak, your attitude, accent, language, gesticulations and even your clothing are totally spot on. Better than Starfleet lawyer (which was hilarious) ... you are the man.
I loved this and setting it as an enterprise era short was a great choice. It fits well for that "better then today but not perfect" vibe. (not that TOS or TNG+ are perfect either and I can certainly see a need for unions even post-money but the jokes and the commontery on modern problems works better here)
@@justarandomgothamite5466 but still not perfect. You could still fall to your death in a turbolift during a shipwide power failure, or down the vertical intermix shaft of the warp core. And both incidents didn't even nearly happen to enlisted personnel, it was the Chief Engineer and the frakking CAPTAIN. LOL
Unions would definitely need to exist post money. You probably get uppity ensigns that don't get that they only technically out rank the noncoms that babysit them. Also you need to make sure your hours are fair. There are tons of issues that would need arbitration.
Starfleet: "We're not a military." Klingons: "Your ships are as dangerous as ours, and we're absolutely a military! Your ships have enough firepower to glass a planet!" Starfleet: "...that's for research. Scientific deforestation."
They’re a rarity to be sure- but they’re not completely unheard of, though mostly local governments. In fact, Travis County Texas’s government employees are unionized. (I say as a recent county hire who needs to talk to her supervisor about how to join.) if it can be done in a state as red as Texas, hopefully it can spread to more locations.
The irony of the rich who hate unions and socialism being the entire reason unions are a thing and socialism is getting more and more popular encapsulated into one paragraph right at the end. Amazing
Wouldn't that be the main reason there is a First Sergeant or a Chief of the Boat? To have an enlisted serviceperson at the right hand of the Colonel or Captain who has his or her finger on the pulse of the soldiers or sailors under their command?
Now I’m envisioning another bit where the members of the union start going as spy missions for section 31. Their stories are dramatized as The Man From U.N.C.O. 😜
Speaking as a union guy, this is great. Mind you, I'm a union guy at a university so most of my local's executive don't talk like that, but we say the same actual things.
In a world without pay, there's still plenty to gripe about 😂😂😂 I love the idea that my union could last forever or at least hundreds of years. My entire life would be worse without my union. ✊
I already found something the union could demand in the 24th Century on the Galaxy-class FLAGSHIP. Variable gravity controls in the turboshafts (or emergency gravity shutoff during a shipwide power failure) so you don't risk falling to a gruesome death if the turbolift jumps its track, or make a long and dangerous climb while having to sing-along with the Captain in order to escape. Seriously... there should NEVER be a risk of FALLING... in SPACE. LOL
6:22 : "If Command does right by the non-comms..." That right there is the weakest link in our societal chain. - Do unto others as you would want done to you. - Love thy neighbor as thyself. Etc, etc...... If only the RULE we're treated like gold, instead of the GOLD making the rules...... This is brilliant, Steve!
And look what Starfleet did? They went around your Union rules and made more commissioned officers, so that by the time we get to TNG, Chief O'Brien is the only NCO we ever see on the Enterprise.
You know....I never thought about the fact that someone wouldn't put inertial dampeners in areas like that, given you need your maintenance and engineering staff perpetually performing repairs during combat in every area of the ship, which routinely requires using your warp / impulse engines to confuse and gain advantages. I can completely see them not doing that until they got hammered by the staff for turning to jelly in those instances.
I nearly lost it at “Yeah, you’re really helping out my musculoskeletal system wasting’ away while I float through this tin can.” Paramount should hire Steve and make this a series. Not that I want these to be behind a paywall, just that Steve deserves that audience and a paycheck because this was gold!
You had me at the accent, Albie, and somehow wrangled insight, labor-speak, humor and understanding into one sketch. Sometimes I think you're the only person who dignifies this hack-tattered IP, shipmate.
Great to hear that Authur Avenue is still alive and well in the 2140s. You can get anything in the Bronx, even a self-sealing stem bolt. Just make sure it's union-made.
Thanks for this, just was on strike last week as a Strike Captain, looking forward to another week on strike coming soon due to management not bargaining in good faith. I really needed this boost to psych me up for the next bout on the picket line! What are we here for? Patient care!
1) Honestly, this is fun- and should really make us think about how some sectors of media make union organizing and belonging to an union seem bad, greedy or corrupt when in fact labor rights can only be had by collective action. 2) "Bosses cause strikes, bosses have the responsibility to settle strikes" THANK YOU. 3) The absolute craziness that Chief O'Brien and Yeoman Rand had to go through? I sure hope they had union recognition and benefits!
If he already isn't already a teacher, Steve ought to be on! I once had a Social Studies teacher who did characters and I never learned with more enjoyment! 💙
This is a truly amazing skit. Such an accurate and measured explanation of the importance of labor unions, with seamless integration into the star trek universe. And god damn, you are such a talented actor! Your manners of speech, and subtle inflections and facial expressions completely sell me on the fact that you are indeed a seasoned and dedicated union rep in starfleet. I am just really impressed. I'm so glad i stumbled upon your channel via the "fuck people with garbage worldviews, they don't deserve a seat at the table" video. The star trek content was such a surprising and welcome bonus! Bravo, all around! 😁
The idea of labor laws/socialism in Star Trek is VERY important to me, so I clicked without hesitation! EDIT: Oh, if only I could like this vid more than once. It was great!
Not exactly. I did order custom patches to make the hats, and I got a crewman first class rank patch from an Etsy shop, and I got an Enterprise-era Starfleet patch for the arm, but the rest of the uniform costume is just as-is.
@@SteveShives well, this video is brilliant outside of the pockets, and I left a comment to that effect after watching the whole vid. It's actually a brilliant video. Been watching sporadically for ages, observing the evolution. You started out good and got better. Oh, and I agree that conservatives can watch, but they are...out of pocket complaining you mentioning politics is against the spirit of Star Trek
I love these labor episodes, Steve! As a former organizer and shop steward (Amalgamated Clothing and Textiles Workers- ACTWU) I really appreciate how simply you frame the simple issues. I mean, and I asked the company owner this b4 we organized, could you just not screw us over? We weren't asking for anything free. Just stop robbing from us and making us sick. All they had to do was almost nothing, just address the health stuff and leave the pay scale alone, and they wouldn't even do that. Their fault entirely.
Isn't that basically still what happened to Rom though? I mean,... there was quite a bit of situational comedy to be had between him and Leeta, and he did join the station's engineering team as a low-level workman, essentially making him a noncom (particularly when O'Brien promotes him up from the night shift)
Just now seeing this, but dang is it brilliant and way too relatable for me, since I'm currently working outside contract and my Union is in mediation talks and my shop is waiting to find out if the mediation will fall apart and go to a strike vote. All of this could be almost word for word what my own reps would say sans the Starfleet stuff. Solidarity and Union Strong!
Steve... you're always fun and even informative but this time you've taken your own normally superb work to a whole new level. I was laughing and nodding the whole time. My dad (RIP) was a union man. He never got into Star Trek but I like to think he would have LOVED this video - and maybe if he was still here I could have used this to get him into the genre. Great video and great job!
Very clever to set this skit in the 22nd century, at a time when Earth still had a monetary economy. And if that technically isn't true according to some bit of lore or other, so much the better for Steve, since it allows him to troll the more canon-fixated members of his audience :-P
It's great, I love it, the concept and the execution; it might be the best you've done compositionally and as regards message. Bravo, Steve. Beautiful. Sincerely well-woven narrative of Star Trek in-jokes & general jokes, labor & human/Vulcan rights, and character work.
Lower Decks I feels has a good run of stuff like this. Specifically the Boimler Effect, and the Strange New Worlds crossover where Mariner quotes regulations to Uhura since the regs are important to know how to get out of doing stuff.
There's something very darkly hilarious about the idea of unions still being necessary in a post-capitalist, moneyless Earth.
It's still an authority based system so it's not that weird really
Also this was based in NX-01 era, by costume, meaning that the post-capitalism idea would be less ingrained
video says this is the year 2146. With casual google research, i cant find conclusive evidence that Star Fleet and earth ARE moneyless (there seems to be some debate over interpretation of lines) but it seems that IF it is post money, then that doesnt happen until sometime after the original Star Trek which takes place over 100 years after this point. This is referenced in the end of THIS video where he talks about a potential solution being the transition to an economy where money no longer exists and everyone's needs are met.
I'd imagine that something similar will continue to be necessary for as long as there are hierarchical organizations. Especially ones like Starfleet where some amount of danger and hardship are inevitable by design.
Ya don't get me, I'm part of the Union!
He wasn't just a hero. He was a Union Man.
now if we could only get the Ferengi on board with the union thing
@@littleredpony6868 Well, Rom is Grand Negus, so anything is possible.
O'Brien Section Leader of the Locals UNCO Union follows
Poetic utterings
YOU'RE GOD-DAMNED RIGHT.
Came for a comedy skit, watched one of the best informed and researched pro-union diatribes on the interwebs. Well done Si...Chief, well done indeed.
Steve makes a much better case for a Starfleet union than Leslie Fish did.
@@resivan6265 OMG. 10 points for the unexpected Leslie Fish reference. 😆
@@resivan6265 Leslie Fish? Who?
* GOOGLE GOOGLE *
She's a pro union... anarchist? WTF? What mental gymnastics is she doing to put _those_ two ideas together?
@@TonboIV Anarchy means "without hierarchy"; it does NOT mean "without governance".
As a somewhat anarchist myself: the only way I have been able to balance that contradiction is to assume that the needs of society must be perfectly balanced with the needs of each individual for anarchy to work in practice.
I think governance, as in some mechanism for group decision making, is more likely to help than hinder an Anarchist society.
@@jamesphillips2285 Anarchy means the abolition of unjust hierarchies. You'll still need things like doctors, who need to be trained and certified by authorities who can prevent untrained quacks from practicing medicine. Medical boards are, therefore, an example of a just heirarchy, people entrusted with power because they have expertise which others lack.
The whole point of a union is to abolish inequalities between workers and bosses/owners. Revolutionary unions have sought to abolish bosses and owners entirely, and modern worker co-ops which run on this principle both exist and are extremely successful whenever capital owners don't manipulate the government into crushing them artificially. There's an argument in there about how a truly free market would likely devolve into feudal hellscapes and anarchist cooperatives simultaneously, but that's for another time. You still have supervisors in these businesses, but they're people who did the job they are supervising for years and have been entrusted by the union with the authority to train new workers, ensure corners and safety measures aren't cut, and resolve interpersonal disputes which could tear down solidarity.
Point being, anarchist unions aren't a contradiction. They're half the point of anarchism. They're how you get the work you need to have a society done while maintaining worker democracy and equal dignity for all.
23rd century red shirts and 24th century gold shirts ABSOLUTELY deserve union representation.
We in the union have tried to get members from the red shirts and the gold shirts for a long time but we never get enough members to go above the minimum limit to add it into the union plan. We are sorry for the inconvenience and we ask you to talk to your union rep to address this question so that we can discuss the issue at our next meeting. //Your union rep
#RedshirtLivesMatter.
@@lokelaufeyson9931 That paints a horrifying picture of certain captains and their timing of deadly missions in regards to the scheduling of the union votes. Is it Starfleet policy to punish unionization efforts with high fatality missions?
@@gayahithwenjesus
@@oscarguzman3017 you do get that it's a joke, right? Because these are not real people who are actually trying to unionize?
‘Uniforms without pockets’
🤣🤣🤣🤣💀
Its a security solution, if we would have pockets on the uniforms the non coms would put a pencil in them and forget to return the pencil, since this is a human mistake we cant put the responsibility on the human so we removed the pockets so that we could use the money that would be required to handle all the missing pencils into better use like better food and other recreational areas onboard the ship.
The real reason this had to be set around ENT is that you can't roll the sleeves up on a TNG era pajama top and look appropriately workmanlike.
Sure O'brian manages it in DS9, but that's more a testament to his immense blue-collar power.
You CAN roll up the sleeves of a jumpsuit, but... aren't there pockets on the lower sleeve as well? Places to put stuff. Far more useful than exposing your arms.
@@k1productions87but alot more inconvenient than overheating, being able to roll up sleeves is extremely important for jumpsuits, they usually dont breathe too good and your forearms are really good for temperature regulation
i thought it was because any era later unions would be unnescissary.
This video just answered a question I’ve had rattling around in my head for years: why do starships have artificial gravity in the Jeffries tubes and cargo areas? Because initially they didn’t, and it was bad for the health/safety of personnel until a union had to step in and fix the issue. I really like that idea! This is going into my “official” personal head canon for Trek. And sadly, the bit about the gravity boots really sold it - could totally see this as a “solution” pitched by a modern company in that situation.
Oh yeah, that part totally tracks. Handing out gravity boots and making it the worker's responsibility to wear them properly would be way cheaper than actually refitting the ships. There would also be readiness implications; they'd have to take ships off the line to do the refits. Depending on when this is in the timeline, that might be a big deal.
I get the feeling that Earth Starfleet was a sort of glorified Space Coast Guard before and in the early parts of Enterprise, with Vulcan treating Earth like a (particularly annoying) client state. The NX class was UE's first "blue-water" space ship, able to independently project power and conduct space foreign policy, which is why it was such a big deal both for Earth and for the Archer family
Something the union should look into though, why is there no safety feature that turns off the gravity in turboshafts when the turbolift bcar jumps its track or is otherwise damaged? I recall an incident where the Captain and a bunch of kids (it wasn't even enlisted personnel, it was the frakking CAPTAIN) were stuck in a turbolift with no power, while all the while it threatened to fall and drop them all to a horrifying death. Did you get that? Fall? In SPACE? Why should there be a threat of FALLING in SPACE? Furthermore, they all had to make a very rough climb up the turboshaft to escape. A rough, grueling climb. CLIMB... in SPACE. Did you get that?
Seriously, make it a standard safety feature that when a turbolift malfunctions, there is no threat of falling to your death, or danger of a long and dangerous climb to escape. They already have variable gravity controls in cargo and shuttle bays for crying out loud, so it IS possible to implement.
I don't know if anything either confirms or contradicts this, but I would think that artificial gravity would be one ship-wide field, so having the same gravity everywhere is the default and varying it is what would require extra effort?
@@NovaSaber Based on what we see in a few episodes, the plates are separate emitters throughout the decks. The problem is that the _Enterprise-D_ is full of rounded surfaces, so there's always going to be plates on a lower deck under any section of turbolift shaft. Now that I think about it, I wonder if there's anything to the somewhat chunkier designs of post-TNG ships that's related to that disaster? "We can afford to build the ships a big denser and put in safeguards if it means we won't have the ship's captain and some crewmembers' children possibly falling to their deaths ABOARD SHIP, IN DEEP SPACE."
I like how the alternate solution was just The Expanse too.
I want a Starfleet UNCO show now.
Now I'm waiting for the Even Lower Decks spinoff to Lower Decks.
@@martins.4240 The proper spinoff that could also be an UNCO show is a Lower Decks set in ENT-era
Already a book about the engineers. Might as well include the lower echelons.
It could make for an incredible tabletop rpg campaign.
I could see an episode of Lower Decks built around this idea. Freeman gets, I dunno, possessed by the space ghost of an ancient capitalist tycoon and gets all tyrannical. The Lower Deckers organize in protest. Shax is on Freeman's side at first (he's basically a cop after all, even if he works for Starfleet), but gets turned when he sees the conditions the lower decks are in. Mini revolution ensues, the cetaceans demonstrate solidarity in some funny way, Freeman is temporarily overthrown while T'ana removes the possessing entity, everyone learns the value of worker organization even under an explicitly egalitarian communist institution.
Low-key going back to Star Trek's roots: being able to talk about real-worlds social issues by setting it in "Space" in "the future".
Thats my Union Rep!! Got me 3 extra months when my Denobulon wives gave birth on back to back days. Thanks boss!
Unions are the backbone of many interstellar nations.
Meanwhile on planet Earth, in Norway, you can already have 12 *months* of parental leave, to be divided between both parents. ;)
@@FiXatoin Germany any child comes with around a year of wage replacement (two years half of that are also possible) and that's extended by 3 months if it's split between at least two people
(Also conditional basic income and 3 years job protections to be used before the kid tuns 10 😉)
@@fionafiona1146 And by the way, money spent on making it easier and more pleasant to have children is not money lost. It's a long term investment in the prosperity of the nation. Declining birth rates are a huge problem in modern wealthy nations, and low wages and sucky working conditions are a big factor in that problem. In a lot of countries, we're raising whole generations who are just used to the idea that they'll be poorer than their parents and even owning a small apartment is unrealistic. Who's going to have children when you can barely take care of yourself?
@@TonboIV Who's going to have children when the biosphere all of us live in is burning? I got a vasectomy before ever becoming sexually active because I genuinely believe having children in any foreseeable future is wildly immoral.
Only 99% voted for the strike? So, canonically, Chakotay hasn't been turfed out of Starfleet yet.
Chakotay is Voyager's XO. That's management. No way he's part of the bargaining unit.
@@pjlusk7774as well as being another, what, century or so in the future of this Strike Captain? Give it time. Someone from Voyager’s LD may eventually space the man. “Accidentally” of course. “Oh, I guess we need more safety regulations! Sorry.” *contrite face*
@@DawnDavidson It’s wild the degree to which a literal terrorist is a management stooge
Boom, roasted.
This is long before Voyager. He's wearing an Archer's Enterprise-era uniform.
Artificial gravity is now deemed so important on starships that it remains on at all costs.
In a space battle, weapons can be failing, shields can be failing, life support can be failing, but that artificial gravity remains on… and if some naive ensign suggests that maybe artificial gravity be switched off and the power be diverted to any of those other things, they will quite rightly be told to pipe down.
He wasn't just a hero
He was a union man
Aka a true hero
That Guacamole joke was fantastic.
I really enjoy your ability to make relevant topics easy to understand.
I sprayed my screen with tea at the guacamole joke. That was a classic.
I’m still chuckling at that one. 😄
What is it on an Andorian ship? Blueberry paste?
Klingon ships = Pink Sauce
@@christopherfox7146 More like "Gak", or is that reference too outdated now? I could swear the Klingon blood in Star Trek VI was just pink Gak.
Came for the jokes, stayed for the social commentary and convincing arguments.
It has been so for Star Trek since 1960!
"How would you characterize the union's relationship with the Orion Syndicate?"
"Dis interview is ovah!!"
…”like uniforms without pockets, what would be the point?” Comedy gold
As a union steward for a government agency, the Postal Service, I could totally see this happening and Steve did a great job with it. I would like to point out that sadly federal unions and most government workforces that have union representation lack the ability to call for a strike, but in the future, that would certainly be one of things our union would like to do away with. Solidarity forever ✊️
I think that's only the case in the United States, and lest we forget Starfleet is a world organization. In Canada for instance there are some workers who can't strike because they're designated "essential services"--nurses and paramedics, I think firefighters, like that. But other civil servants and certainly Canada Post employees totally can. So if you want a few more rights, come to Canada! ;)
Any law that says a worker cannot withhold their labor is a law written for the bosses. In NY, we have the Taylor Law, which says that if a government union strikes, the member dues are forfeit for that month and the union leadership goes to jail for double the length of a strike. But that hasn't stopped agencies from experiencing strikes. If a strike action is necessary, it's necessary. If the law is written in a manner that protects the people causing that strike, then that law needs to be repealed.
My personal headcanon is that Rom is watching this while doing research on workers unions.
Slight addition: O'Brien sent it to him the moment he heard about them organizing
I’ve literally had this guy as my shop steward a time or two in my career as a union carpenter. If you ever wonder “was this guy muscle for the mob?” you know you’re in good hands.
The Starfleet night shift workers who have to scramble to put back together the full shuttle complement are heroes.
They see the sign out sheet, see a bridge officier has taken a shuttle for a quick scan and they know they're getting the remains of a shuttle back in a shoebox and the captain will want it back online by oh-nine hundred.
Especially the ones on Voyager. They made it seem like the ship had a unlimited amount of those shuttles. Miracle workers the lot of them.
@@NorninTGK There was more than one full on emotional breakdown in Shuttlebay 3 upon learning that some irresponsible bridge crew has blown up another shuttle and now you're pulling triple shifts until next month.
Damn officer bah****s!
The IFF-FCO (Independent Federation Freighter - Freighter Crew and Officers) which I'm a proud member of stands in solidarity with our fellow sentients in UNCO.
I'm guessing one of the first things Janeway did in the Delta Quadrant was push the union shop steward out the nearest airlock.
Lol a world where Kim was off screen pro union. That’s why he never got promoted on her bridge 😅
@@BeerPatiodark! 😂
Yeah if only Tuvix could have joined a union. #JusticeForTuvix
@@John73John That assassination was so efficient, Janeway didn't even leave a body to be buried! And Chakotay wimped out and let her do it!
@@BeerPatio And now this is my personal head canon!
That Vulcan ship/guacamole joke killed me. Love this!
I feel like Steve could produce an entire show about Starfleet's low-level employees where he plays all the characters. Might be pretty good. Kind of like the Stargate SG-1 episode "The Other Guys". I would suggest the name "Lower Decks" if it wasn't already taken.
The hidden hands.
How about calling it The Ensign's Log?
Star Trek, enlisted
He has already done a Starfleet Lawyer and a Starfleet Janitor.
Love the thought of a Bronx tough union man dealing with the officers. Great acting! Well done 👍
"On a Vulcan ship, you've got guacamole," may be the funniest thing you've ever put in one of these.
Dude, I absolutely love that you don’t separate politics from Star Trek content. They’re inseparable!
These skits are great. Loved the little “wouldn’t this be ridiculous if” digs at both the concepts in the shows and at how easy it *should* be to get behind solving problems in the here and now. Always worth the time to watch.
Star Trek tends to skip over that the most amazing thing about its future is that humanity found a way out of the millennia-long money pit of chasing money. It's not just that ending energy scarcity made it technically possible. It's also that people found the right way to think about value, measuring it in terms of time and relationships and fulfillment instead of gold (alone or pressed around latinum). Whenever Starfleet folks talk about how primitive their ancestors seem to them, with their wallets and for-profit businesses, it's the result of a hard-fought-for sea change across the world. Warp drive is just technology -- if it's possible, we'll figure out how to make it and do so. The moneyless Earth is a philosophical change across a whole world, a staggering achievement worth figuring out. Not by me, though. It was a hard-fought battle for me to just stop drinking Coca-Cola to save my health.
@@SingularityOrbitI like that even in Enterprise where money is still used but the profit motive is gone, Archer is incredulous at the Ferengi and states plainly “my people almost destroyed themselves following that philosophy”.
@@kaitlyn__L That's another really interesting point. It isn't merely that prioritizing money over real values made life bad in Trek's past, it was part of the near end of the world. The problem with money is that people learn to measure value in terms that exclude what other people actually need. The reason unions work is that they are about communication in the end -- understanding what people value and negotiating to reach a way forward where everyone gets something of real value out of their works. What that seems to mean is that we can reach a Star Trek future with money in it, but we can't reach a Star Trek future at all without communication.
Crafty, using comedy and star trek to educate us on the benefits and strength and structure of unions! 😮😂
"The longer the picket line, the shorter the strike!"
Damn Steve, that was brilliant. So amazingly on point that I unironically think it should be shown in school.
By making it about Starfleet instead of an actual ongoing strike, you made it timeless and relatable for all. People are less likely to become automatically defensive and the humour helps the message
I second this motion.
This was perfect Steve! Anybody else with me thinking OBrien would be the union rep for the noncommissioned on DS9? Cause *absolutely* I can see it!
It already aligns so well with how he talks to Sisko and then leads the meetings with all the other enlisted engineers.
@@kaitlyn__L Exactly! If someone needed to present demands to the Captain, he would have *no* problem with that.
I'm a union rep. Immediately sent to fellow Trekkie reps.
This is brilliant. It feels like canon from pre-enterprise days. Amazing Steve. 😮
Steve, as someone who who hails from NYC during the era when unions were at their peak, your attitude, accent, language, gesticulations and even your clothing are totally spot on. Better than Starfleet lawyer (which was hilarious) ... you are the man.
I loved this and setting it as an enterprise era short was a great choice. It fits well for that "better then today but not perfect" vibe. (not that TOS or TNG+ are perfect either and I can certainly see a need for unions even post-money but the jokes and the commontery on modern problems works better here)
100% agreed
(Also TNG+ is FANTASTIC)
@@justarandomgothamite5466 but still not perfect. You could still fall to your death in a turbolift during a shipwide power failure, or down the vertical intermix shaft of the warp core. And both incidents didn't even nearly happen to enlisted personnel, it was the Chief Engineer and the frakking CAPTAIN. LOL
Bet their toilets didn't clog.
Unions would definitely need to exist post money. You probably get uppity ensigns that don't get that they only technically out rank the noncoms that babysit them. Also you need to make sure your hours are fair. There are tons of issues that would need arbitration.
I lost my shit at "guacamole". 😆
Some may ask "why does the federation need a union if they have no employment?" and to me, the answer is clear- so that this video can exist.
Starfleet: "We're not a military."
Klingons: "Your ships are as dangerous as ours, and we're absolutely a military! Your ships have enough firepower to glass a planet!"
Starfleet: "...that's for research. Scientific deforestation."
As a service member this hits close to home for me. I'd love to see a union for government employees. Alas not a thing for some weird reason.
They’re a rarity to be sure- but they’re not completely unheard of, though mostly local governments. In fact, Travis County Texas’s government employees are unionized. (I say as a recent county hire who needs to talk to her supervisor about how to join.) if it can be done in a state as red as Texas, hopefully it can spread to more locations.
There's a union for government workers. I was part of it for 14 years.
In the US it's the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
The pizza analogy was perfect and hilarious.
The irony of the rich who hate unions and socialism being the entire reason unions are a thing and socialism is getting more and more popular encapsulated into one paragraph right at the end. Amazing
As a Union member since 1981, I salute your guacamole joke. Oh yeah, the union plug, too.
Lol nice video. As a former NCO, I found a bunch of the subtle details extra humorous. Just a thought, the NCO corps is like a union in a way.
Wouldn't that be the main reason there is a First Sergeant or a Chief of the Boat? To have an enlisted serviceperson at the right hand of the Colonel or Captain who has his or her finger on the pulse of the soldiers or sailors under their command?
NPCs in video games have a union.
Hell yes, new one dropped!
These are the Very Short Treks i fukken live for.
Now I’m envisioning another bit where the members of the union start going as spy missions for section 31. Their stories are dramatized as The Man From U.N.C.O. 😜
I appreciate the implied optimism of setting this in the Enterprise era instead of any of the later ones.
One of the best articulations of why unions are necessary.
“Bolognese.” “Guacamole.” Kind of brilliant.
Star fleet childcare personnel, teachers, cargo handlers, maintenance. I need these.
Speaking as a union guy, this is great. Mind you, I'm a union guy at a university so most of my local's executive don't talk like that, but we say the same actual things.
In a world without pay, there's still plenty to gripe about 😂😂😂 I love the idea that my union could last forever or at least hundreds of years. My entire life would be worse without my union. ✊
I already found something the union could demand in the 24th Century on the Galaxy-class FLAGSHIP. Variable gravity controls in the turboshafts (or emergency gravity shutoff during a shipwide power failure) so you don't risk falling to a gruesome death if the turbolift jumps its track, or make a long and dangerous climb while having to sing-along with the Captain in order to escape. Seriously... there should NEVER be a risk of FALLING... in SPACE. LOL
Hey, _someone_ has to make sure crew get fair time in the Holodeck and not just senior officers with their latest holo-crush.
Looks like the beginning of another hilarious Star Trek themed skit series, like Starfleet Lawyer (love that!) Keep up the good work, Steve!
You're more than a hero, Albie.
6:22 : "If Command does right by the non-comms..." That right there is the weakest link in our societal chain.
- Do unto others as you would want done to you.
- Love thy neighbor as thyself.
Etc, etc......
If only the RULE we're treated like gold, instead of the GOLD making the rules......
This is brilliant, Steve!
And look what Starfleet did? They went around your Union rules and made more commissioned officers, so that by the time we get to TNG, Chief O'Brien is the only NCO we ever see on the Enterprise.
And Crewman Tarses! So that’s a whole two!
You know....I never thought about the fact that someone wouldn't put inertial dampeners in areas like that, given you need your maintenance and engineering staff perpetually performing repairs during combat in every area of the ship, which routinely requires using your warp / impulse engines to confuse and gain advantages. I can completely see them not doing that until they got hammered by the staff for turning to jelly in those instances.
Hi Steve :)
I really like this. We need a whole show with characters who think and talk this way :)
I nearly lost it at “Yeah, you’re really helping out my musculoskeletal system wasting’ away while I float through this tin can.” Paramount should hire Steve and make this a series. Not that I want these to be behind a paywall, just that Steve deserves that audience and a paycheck because this was gold!
this is a perfect example of "write what you know" - well done sir
taQ'pu eQ
great acting job, and he makes legit points
You had me at the accent, Albie, and somehow wrangled insight, labor-speak, humor and understanding into one sketch. Sometimes I think you're the only person who dignifies this hack-tattered IP, shipmate.
Great to hear that Authur Avenue is still alive and well in the 2140s. You can get anything in the Bronx, even a self-sealing stem bolt. Just make sure it's union-made.
This is hilarious keep up the good work Steve. Solidarity forever
I absolutely love these sketches - they make me laugh every time. The janitor was by far my fav though
I love this guy. After 7:49: "If it's important enough to do, then it's important enough to _pay_ us to do!"
I'm finding this educational. Even though it's a fictional example, it's teaching us why we need unions.
Thanks for this, just was on strike last week as a Strike Captain, looking forward to another week on strike coming soon due to management not bargaining in good faith.
I really needed this boost to psych me up for the next bout on the picket line!
What are we here for? Patient care!
Even in a post-money society, unions would still be necessary to make sure workers aren't overworked or exploited.
I so appreciate the creativity, talent behind this fun, clever script, performance 👍✌️
Funny that you mention worker protections and the Franklin in the same sentence. Nice little jab.
Fantastic skit Steve, both timely and hilarious.
1) Honestly, this is fun- and should really make us think about how some sectors of media make union organizing and belonging to an union seem bad, greedy or corrupt when in fact labor rights can only be had by collective action. 2) "Bosses cause strikes, bosses have the responsibility to settle strikes" THANK YOU. 3) The absolute craziness that Chief O'Brien and Yeoman Rand had to go through? I sure hope they had union recognition and benefits!
So excellent, and as a native of da Bronx, well executed colloquialisms and accent. More of this please!
If he already isn't already a teacher, Steve ought to be on! I once had a Social Studies teacher who did characters and I never learned with more enjoyment! 💙
I keep thinking that Paramount should hire you as a writer on Star Trek. I'd love to see what you and a team can come up with.
This is a truly amazing skit. Such an accurate and measured explanation of the importance of labor unions, with seamless integration into the star trek universe.
And god damn, you are such a talented actor! Your manners of speech, and subtle inflections and facial expressions completely sell me on the fact that you are indeed a seasoned and dedicated union rep in starfleet. I am just really impressed.
I'm so glad i stumbled upon your channel via the "fuck people with garbage worldviews, they don't deserve a seat at the table" video. The star trek content was such a surprising and welcome bonus!
Bravo, all around! 😁
Workers of the worlds, unite!
The idea of labor laws/socialism in Star Trek is VERY important to me, so I clicked without hesitation!
EDIT: Oh, if only I could like this vid more than once. It was great!
I think we preferred wording for Starfleet would be the military explorer branch of the federation I think
Having lived in "Da West Brawnx" I approve of this accent.
I admit, when Steve described Vulcan as guacamole after an inertia dampeners incident I would have had spit take if I were drinking something. Kudo.
This is beautiful
Well that was way more relatable than I could have expected!
As someone who's witnessed union negotiation...wow this sounds familiar
Did he get a custom made outfit just for that one joke?
Either way, I love it
Not exactly. I did order custom patches to make the hats, and I got a crewman first class rank patch from an Etsy shop, and I got an Enterprise-era Starfleet patch for the arm, but the rest of the uniform costume is just as-is.
@@SteveShives well, this video is brilliant outside of the pockets, and I left a comment to that effect after watching the whole vid. It's actually a brilliant video. Been watching sporadically for ages, observing the evolution. You started out good and got better. Oh, and I agree that conservatives can watch, but they are...out of pocket complaining you mentioning politics is against the spirit of Star Trek
I love these labor episodes, Steve! As a former organizer and shop steward (Amalgamated Clothing and Textiles Workers- ACTWU) I really appreciate how simply you frame the simple issues. I mean, and I asked the company owner this b4 we organized, could you just not screw us over? We weren't asking for anything free. Just stop robbing from us and making us sick. All they had to do was almost nothing, just address the health stuff and leave the pay scale alone, and they wouldn't even do that. Their fault entirely.
It's a shame a certain Ferengi never joined Starfleet, else we could've had a rom-com about Rom the non-comm. 😂
Isn't that basically still what happened to Rom though? I mean,... there was quite a bit of situational comedy to be had between him and Leeta, and he did join the station's engineering team as a low-level workman, essentially making him a noncom (particularly when O'Brien promotes him up from the night shift)
Just now seeing this, but dang is it brilliant and way too relatable for me, since I'm currently working outside contract and my Union is in mediation talks and my shop is waiting to find out if the mediation will fall apart and go to a strike vote. All of this could be almost word for word what my own reps would say sans the Starfleet stuff. Solidarity and Union Strong!
Steve... you're always fun and even informative but this time you've taken your own normally superb work to a whole new level. I was laughing and nodding the whole time. My dad (RIP) was a union man. He never got into Star Trek but I like to think he would have LOVED this video - and maybe if he was still here I could have used this to get him into the genre. Great video and great job!
he's right, those guys are the ones keeping things going.
we don't work, it don't work! excellent vid, Strike captain is hard work but most honorable work - thank you Steve
This video got a lot of mileage in my union office.
Very clever to set this skit in the 22nd century, at a time when Earth still had a monetary economy. And if that technically isn't true according to some bit of lore or other, so much the better for Steve, since it allows him to troll the more canon-fixated members of his audience :-P
This is incredible. You had me nodding along at the list of union demands like I was a noncomm myself!
It's great, I love it, the concept and the execution; it might be the best you've done compositionally and as regards message. Bravo, Steve. Beautiful. Sincerely well-woven narrative of Star Trek in-jokes & general jokes, labor & human/Vulcan rights, and character work.
Awesome. Love it! We all need the UNCO
As I’m in The Bronx as I am watching this video, it is gratifying to know the Bronx survives.
Lower Decks I feels has a good run of stuff like this. Specifically the Boimler Effect, and the Strange New Worlds crossover where Mariner quotes regulations to Uhura since the regs are important to know how to get out of doing stuff.
Ah, love how Babylon 5 handled union issues (and actually addressed these issues, not a common Sci Fi topic)
"You should never hand someone a gun unless you're sure where they'll point it. Your mistake."