Ta, Erik. 113 years after Triangle Shirtwaist and most Americans still don't have a clue about the high cost of cheap clothes. Previously clear streams (and even rivers) in China are now as dark as soy sauce and gallows humor about knowing next year's fashion colors by watching the effluent from the textile factories abounds. Solidarity forever.
Thought of it immediately, along with a story about a woman who used a small knitting machine and handwork to make sweaters to sell and got in trouble for not being in the ILGWU.
“And in fact, this was a strike largely led by Black women.” We see this A LOT in this country where these strong ladies never give up. We white ladies owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude.
My friend’s father and mother were, what they were called at the time, lint heads, for all the fibers floating in the air. Lung issues were a problem hardly ever discussed.
As a fun aside, I did a play in Raleigh written by a local playwright whose family were mill workers. Appropriately it was called “Lint: A Redneck Musical”. It did several things. Made me embarrassed* to put a credit on my resume but the payoff was meeting someone who became my best friend. FTR, I and another friend played dead skunks.*
Nice summary. Back in those days my in-laws were connected to the management side of the textile industry in NC. The textile industry has a history of continually searching for cheaper labor. Check out the empty, derelict mills in New England and follow them south to NC and beyond. The companies were quick to move away from any sort of labor challenge, so -- sadly -- all that struggle to unionize brought only temporary improvement, followed by unemployment. With few exceptions, management lost their jobs as well; only the owners prospered. Just another Southern Gothic tragedy.
I've just watched all I can endure of a video of some dangerously STUPID bigot who indignant tore down a GREEK flag whilst reciting a litany of vicious accusations against Israel.
On a very parochial, local level, there are a lot of pretty good decent people running for Portland City Council in district 2. 22 fucking candidates.
Neighbor Fred, who is a good man even though he will probably vote for Trump, and I are both tying to pick out the really good ones. As for mayor, we both really miss Bud Clark
I understand, but no *good* human is voting for Trump. Of course he knows TFG's a big loser in Portland. Still, there's no excuse for supporting bigotry, misogyny, and all the other othering while stripping fellow Americans of human rights.
UGH. Completely agree with you that no HUMAN, much less 'good human' is voting for Pussy Ass Bitch. I've long ago blocked the poster you were talking to LOL
But Fred seriously helped me out when I needed it. I went through 7 months of medical leave and he just mowed my lawn and brought me his homegrown produce. He just kept checking in to make sure I was okay. He is in his late 70's, and he still checks in with people when they need it.
We have been pretty open about how we disagree, but I care about him. And he cares about me.
After their offer of a 30% pay raise was rejected, Boeing came back with...
' Boeing has offered striking machinists a 35% pay rise over four years in a new contract proposal they hope will end a month-long strike. '
About 33,000 unionised workers, mostly in Seattle, will vote on Wednesday whether to accept the offer from the aviation giant.
They have been on strike since 14 September, halting production of the firm's 737 MAX and its 767 and 777 planes.
The company's bottom line has been so hurt that it announced earlier this week it was seeking an addition $35bn in funding. It also said it would need to lay off 17,000 workers - about 10% of its work force - in November.
"The future of this contract is in your hands," the union told workers on Saturday.
Looks like some of these Boeing chuckleheads ran the numbers, and realized that the annualized losses from not delivering aircraft and the possibility of losing deals entirely FAR outweighed the cost of increasing labor's contract.
Back in 1984 when Pruneface got his Federal Employee Pension Reform passed his stooges were all in with getting current employees to switch to it. And of course they endlessly lied about how improved it was going to be with $$$$ going into the Wall Street Casino. Wound up I was the only one in my office who stuck with the old system.
Ran the numbers. If I had been stupid enough to sign up for Pruneface's FERS switch my retirement income would have been $1,725 from FERS, 1,385 from Social Security and (allegedly) $995 from the Stock Market.
Instead my retirement from the old system is 2 2/3 times that.
Meanwhile The Tangerine Toot is too tired to campaign so his BFF Sleazy E is holding multiple daily town halls in Pennsylvania and Sleazy E is playing the race & anti-LGBTQ+ card for all its' worth
I lived in Roanoke Rapids from '63 to '67, from when I was five until I was nine. At the time it was a great town to grow up in. My family wasn't connected to the mill economy - my father moved us there when he took a job as an engineer installing and maintaining the SAGE system, a proto-internet series of computers that linked Air Force radar stations up and down the east coast so they could monitor air traffic up and down the east coast and keep an eye out for suspicious incoming traffic. During those years Roanoke Rapids was a prosperous little island in a very poor area of eastern North Carolina. We had a recreation center with an Olympic-sized swimming pool, a new library, an independent local newspaper, and both uptown and downtown areas with local businesses that seemed to be doing well. There were local car dealers for all of the Big Three. I was the oldest of what became four when my little sister was born not long after we moved there. There were plenty of kids in the neighborhood and the schools were full but not overfull. Particularly after my dad went to Vietnam from '65 to '67, I was a free-range kid and rode my bike all over town. During the summers I'd spend my mornings at the library and my afternoons at the pool with my friends. It was sort of like Mayberry mixed with Calvin's world. I've been back through several times and the town has almost dried up - nothing but empty storefronts and closed-down schools. The union win was a great thing but it was also the beginning of the end. Either way, the mills would have been moved to Central America and then on to Southeast Asia.
Got a call on my land line today. It was a poll call for WISCONSIN. I was a little crabby but went along with it. The usual ?s but about statewide influence. Then the caller (pollster) said something about being in the state! So I asked her where she was calling from and for who. She hemmed and gulped a little so I knew it was from out of state. It gave me an excuse to tersely replying to her push-pull tactics.
Me too. Last night Washington Week nearly sent me into a rage yam tantrum. Not just close but trump in the lead. They had 30 minutes to talk about the presidential race this last week and they never mentioned the trump dance off. That is a dereliction of duty. Also trying to convince me that there is no excitement in the race and Americans are sleepwalking right now. Every day I hear about record turnout but apparently that means nothing. It's freakish.
I agree on that. I open up Yahoo and it's "Razor thin in Michigan" while someone else is saying Florida and Texas are in play. One YouTube channel says the early voting is way ahead for Kamala while another says the polls are swing for Orangehole.
Polls are broken. The numbers they produce aren't just wrong, they're nonsense. With a sea of noise and bullshit to wade through, the media can build whatever narrative it wants.
There has been a deep lack of DEMOCRAT/HARRIS signs around my neck of the woods. Not until about two weeks were there many signs at all. I managed to send for several bumper stickers (NORTHERN SUN) that I'm proudly flaunting! (I like to flaunt) There have been a few suprising pleasant people stopping to talk to me about them. One elderly woman even called me out in the grocery store lot. She was so sweet that I gave her one of my HARRIS/WALZ pins! Smiles are easy to get!
The last job I had before I retired was at a call center here in rural Az. It was owned by an American company that had a lot of extra benefits that were meant to help with high turnover rates. When I was hired they were already completing the sale to a French company who, when they fully took over, got rid of the extra benefits. Turns out that this French company owns several call centers in the US because by law they don't have to give as much to the employees as they do in France. So to a French company, the USA is like India to an American company. Go USA!
No, but that's funny. The French company (Teleperformance) has contracts with American companies. I worked the Unitedhealthcare medicare lines. They also had contracts with Toyota, Dick's Sporting Goods, Blue Cross and others.
Ta, Erik. 113 years after Triangle Shirtwaist and most Americans still don't have a clue about the high cost of cheap clothes. Previously clear streams (and even rivers) in China are now as dark as soy sauce and gallows humor about knowing next year's fashion colors by watching the effluent from the textile factories abounds. Solidarity forever.
Serendipity. One of my sons was just mentioning the other day that he found himself humming:
Look for the union label
when you are buying that coat, dress or blouse.
Remember somewhere our union's sewing,
our wages going to feed the kids, and run the house.
We work hard, but who's complaining?
Thanks to the I.L.G. we're paying our way!
So always look for the union label,
it says we're able to make it in the U.S.A.!
In some parts of the world, women workers are no better, and probably worse off, than those who worked in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory.
Thought of it immediately, along with a story about a woman who used a small knitting machine and handwork to make sweaters to sell and got in trouble for not being in the ILGWU.
“And in fact, this was a strike largely led by Black women.” We see this A LOT in this country where these strong ladies never give up. We white ladies owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude.
My friend’s father and mother were, what they were called at the time, lint heads, for all the fibers floating in the air. Lung issues were a problem hardly ever discussed.
As a fun aside, I did a play in Raleigh written by a local playwright whose family were mill workers. Appropriately it was called “Lint: A Redneck Musical”. It did several things. Made me embarrassed* to put a credit on my resume but the payoff was meeting someone who became my best friend. FTR, I and another friend played dead skunks.*
Yep. We white everythings owe black women a huge debt of gratitude.
In the middle of the road?
Yep.
Glad you didn't play dead scabs. Skunks are noble creatures
Dad and I were all in with the JP Stevens Boycott back in the 70s. One of the few labor victories in that decade...
Nice summary. Back in those days my in-laws were connected to the management side of the textile industry in NC. The textile industry has a history of continually searching for cheaper labor. Check out the empty, derelict mills in New England and follow them south to NC and beyond. The companies were quick to move away from any sort of labor challenge, so -- sadly -- all that struggle to unionize brought only temporary improvement, followed by unemployment. With few exceptions, management lost their jobs as well; only the owners prospered. Just another Southern Gothic tragedy.
OT: [groans...again]
I've just watched all I can endure of a video of some dangerously STUPID bigot who indignant tore down a GREEK flag whilst reciting a litany of vicious accusations against Israel.
I just really cannot stand it sometimes...
On a very parochial, local level, there are a lot of pretty good decent people running for Portland City Council in district 2. 22 fucking candidates.
Neighbor Fred, who is a good man even though he will probably vote for Trump, and I are both tying to pick out the really good ones. As for mayor, we both really miss Bud Clark
I understand, but no *good* human is voting for Trump. Of course he knows TFG's a big loser in Portland. Still, there's no excuse for supporting bigotry, misogyny, and all the other othering while stripping fellow Americans of human rights.
UGH. Completely agree with you that no HUMAN, much less 'good human' is voting for Pussy Ass Bitch. I've long ago blocked the poster you were talking to LOL
Zyx, I understand your anger. And agree with it.
But Fred seriously helped me out when I needed it. I went through 7 months of medical leave and he just mowed my lawn and brought me his homegrown produce. He just kept checking in to make sure I was okay. He is in his late 70's, and he still checks in with people when they need it.
We have been pretty open about how we disagree, but I care about him. And he cares about me.
Hitler liked dogs, honey!
It's not anger, and I'm very glad that this is the good neighbor you've told us about. Hugs.
Right back at you.
I'm so lazy going to the store I'm just pulling a hoodie and pants over my PJ's COVID style.
That's been my look for decades.
I know I met you!
I usually accesorize with fuzzy slippers. For you, I wore shoes.
I also wore shoes today.
If you want to buy cheap stuff companies will do this.
OT: Oh my fuck. Idiots are saying the IRS endorsed Harris. Leave politics to smart people, please.
Which idiots?
I refused to click on that particular factcheck.
Well, they should.....
That there photo of Sally Field as Norma Rae holding up the “union” sign would make a nice tat
After their offer of a 30% pay raise was rejected, Boeing came back with...
' Boeing has offered striking machinists a 35% pay rise over four years in a new contract proposal they hope will end a month-long strike. '
About 33,000 unionised workers, mostly in Seattle, will vote on Wednesday whether to accept the offer from the aviation giant.
They have been on strike since 14 September, halting production of the firm's 737 MAX and its 767 and 777 planes.
The company's bottom line has been so hurt that it announced earlier this week it was seeking an addition $35bn in funding. It also said it would need to lay off 17,000 workers - about 10% of its work force - in November.
"The future of this contract is in your hands," the union told workers on Saturday.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn8j07jp0y9o
Looks like some of these Boeing chuckleheads ran the numbers, and realized that the annualized losses from not delivering aircraft and the possibility of losing deals entirely FAR outweighed the cost of increasing labor's contract.
The pay raise isn't going to be the sticking point.
It's going to be the pension. They want their pensions back instead of the wall street casino plan that replaced the pension
AND job security, protections from AI replacement.
Would this be akin to the Wall St casino plan that has been the wet dream of the GQP to replace Social Security with since the 1940s?
Back in 1984 when Pruneface got his Federal Employee Pension Reform passed his stooges were all in with getting current employees to switch to it. And of course they endlessly lied about how improved it was going to be with $$$$ going into the Wall Street Casino. Wound up I was the only one in my office who stuck with the old system.
Ran the numbers. If I had been stupid enough to sign up for Pruneface's FERS switch my retirement income would have been $1,725 from FERS, 1,385 from Social Security and (allegedly) $995 from the Stock Market.
Instead my retirement from the old system is 2 2/3 times that.
More akin to the 401K and it’s derivatives that people signed their pensions away for
Harris heads to Atlanta, GA for rally in three hours
https://www.youtube.com/live/rbvyoFnsz0A?si=T2VBGvRvrYXx4H8O
The woman is maintaining a brutal schedule.
More power to her.
Meanwhile The Tangerine Toot is too tired to campaign so his BFF Sleazy E is holding multiple daily town halls in Pennsylvania and Sleazy E is playing the race & anti-LGBTQ+ card for all its' worth
Sleazy E ?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?????????????????????????????????????????????
Or "mostly hiding", according to the media.
She spends eight hours a day completely out of the public's view!
[exasperated eye-roll]
Opportunity for her and our country and she is not going to let that go.
The outcome of this election is absolutely critical.
It is quite literally all or nothing on November 5.
She knows- Trust Her.
I lived in Roanoke Rapids from '63 to '67, from when I was five until I was nine. At the time it was a great town to grow up in. My family wasn't connected to the mill economy - my father moved us there when he took a job as an engineer installing and maintaining the SAGE system, a proto-internet series of computers that linked Air Force radar stations up and down the east coast so they could monitor air traffic up and down the east coast and keep an eye out for suspicious incoming traffic. During those years Roanoke Rapids was a prosperous little island in a very poor area of eastern North Carolina. We had a recreation center with an Olympic-sized swimming pool, a new library, an independent local newspaper, and both uptown and downtown areas with local businesses that seemed to be doing well. There were local car dealers for all of the Big Three. I was the oldest of what became four when my little sister was born not long after we moved there. There were plenty of kids in the neighborhood and the schools were full but not overfull. Particularly after my dad went to Vietnam from '65 to '67, I was a free-range kid and rode my bike all over town. During the summers I'd spend my mornings at the library and my afternoons at the pool with my friends. It was sort of like Mayberry mixed with Calvin's world. I've been back through several times and the town has almost dried up - nothing but empty storefronts and closed-down schools. The union win was a great thing but it was also the beginning of the end. Either way, the mills would have been moved to Central America and then on to Southeast Asia.
Gonna be a clear winner in this election. I’m so sick of the horse race coverage, phony polls and gaslighting. It’s not gonna be close.
Got a call on my land line today. It was a poll call for WISCONSIN. I was a little crabby but went along with it. The usual ?s but about statewide influence. Then the caller (pollster) said something about being in the state! So I asked her where she was calling from and for who. She hemmed and gulped a little so I knew it was from out of state. It gave me an excuse to tersely replying to her push-pull tactics.
I was worked up but thought I did right!
Agree, hoping down ballot follows suit
Me too. Last night Washington Week nearly sent me into a rage yam tantrum. Not just close but trump in the lead. They had 30 minutes to talk about the presidential race this last week and they never mentioned the trump dance off. That is a dereliction of duty. Also trying to convince me that there is no excitement in the race and Americans are sleepwalking right now. Every day I hear about record turnout but apparently that means nothing. It's freakish.
I agree on that. I open up Yahoo and it's "Razor thin in Michigan" while someone else is saying Florida and Texas are in play. One YouTube channel says the early voting is way ahead for Kamala while another says the polls are swing for Orangehole.
Speaking of Yahoo!, have you noticed the 10,000% increase in paid posters overwhelming the comment sections?
Yahoo comments have always been a squat toilet second only to YouBOOB.
How many of them are the Keyboard Kommandos in the GRU posting away from their Moscow HQ?
I'd say a good 60-70% for some articles.
Polls are broken. The numbers they produce aren't just wrong, they're nonsense. With a sea of noise and bullshit to wade through, the media can build whatever narrative it wants.
Just help GOTV by rallying your Peeps and leave the rest to MVP Harris- she has and will AMAZE us!
There has been a deep lack of DEMOCRAT/HARRIS signs around my neck of the woods. Not until about two weeks were there many signs at all. I managed to send for several bumper stickers (NORTHERN SUN) that I'm proudly flaunting! (I like to flaunt) There have been a few suprising pleasant people stopping to talk to me about them. One elderly woman even called me out in the grocery store lot. She was so sweet that I gave her one of my HARRIS/WALZ pins! Smiles are easy to get!
The last job I had before I retired was at a call center here in rural Az. It was owned by an American company that had a lot of extra benefits that were meant to help with high turnover rates. When I was hired they were already completing the sale to a French company who, when they fully took over, got rid of the extra benefits. Turns out that this French company owns several call centers in the US because by law they don't have to give as much to the employees as they do in France. So to a French company, the USA is like India to an American company. Go USA!
VOMITOUS.
This sure does make me proud :(
My niece in France had a kid in July, her paid maternity leave ends next year. Yep, you nailed it.
So, if someone in Toulon calls customer service, do they get some guy with a midwestern accent calling himself "Henri"?
No, but that's funny. The French company (Teleperformance) has contracts with American companies. I worked the Unitedhealthcare medicare lines. They also had contracts with Toyota, Dick's Sporting Goods, Blue Cross and others.