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Jan. 6 shattered her family. Now they’re trying to forgive. — The Washington Post

Peyton Reffitt watched her family come apart after Jan. 6. More than two years after Guy Reffitt was turned in by his son, she and her family are trying to pick up the pieces.
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This is not something I have thought much about until reading this article. But I can totally see it. Families being ripped apart, division and this side and that side and betrayal.

Politics brutal.
 
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Speaking of polls. I recently heard one about unions.

The past year has been full of high profile strikes or near strikes that have been national news.

With that said, in the recent poll I saw, only a little over 1/3 of Americans support unions.

57% said they hurt the economy more than they do any good.

The majority of Americans feel that they are archaic and no longer serve a purpose.
 
RenegadeMonster said:
Speaking of polls. I recently heard one about unions.

The past year has been full of high profile strikes or near strikes that have been national news.

With that said, in the recent poll I saw, only a little over 1/3 of Americans support unions.

57% said they hurt the economy more than they do any good.

The majority of Americans feel that they are archaic and no longer serve a purpose.
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Well there are lies, damn lies and statistics.


Tl;dr Americans strongly support workers getting a voice in their work and believe employers have too much power. They also do not equate unions with worker voice. There is huge support for policies that would amplify workers voices and organization. There is also strong support for workers collectives.
 
nolalady said:
Well there are lies, damn lies and statistics.


Tl;dr Americans strongly support workers getting a voice in their work and believe employers have too much power. They also do not equate unions with worker voice. There is huge support for policies that would amplify workers voices and organization. There is also strong support for workers collectives.
Click to expand...
The campaign to demonize unions since the 80s has done real damage. Some of that blame is on the unions who sided too much with employers and acted as just another arm of corporations. But Regan was a real asshole in dismantling the work of unions for labor rights. Meanwhile those in unions express fast more satisfaction than those who aren't. It's total bull shit and I don't know how it's legal, but as a state employee in Georgia we're banned from unionizing even though it's pretty standard for most universities.
 
Year's of anti union rhetoric is likely to blame. People have been brain washed into believing unions are bad. That they are not there for workers rights but rather in enrich themselves.

My step father works in construction and is very antiunion. He could have much much better healthcare and retirement plan. But he rather trade all that for not having to pay union dues. He is very against unions taking his hard earned money. He works for a family run outfit that's not union. His regular wages are also no where near as good as those people who work in the union, but that is a moot point because he's lucky enough to work mostly on state jobs which are prevailing wage. Everyone gets paid the same rate, and my step father ends up making more than people in unions because he doesn't have to pay dues. My step father used to bitch about Unions not allowing non-union sub-contractors to work on job sites where the main or other contractors are unionized. But that's really not an issue anymore. There are a lot of small state jobs in rural western Massachusetts right now that the larger unionized outfits don't want to touch. The job is either too small or too remote.

Unions are what people need. And I have not doubt the weakening of unions has helped played a role wage stagnation over the last 40 years as well as the rise in cost sharing when it comes to healthcare. Unions could solve this. But people have it ingrained that unions are bad and not the answer.
 
RenegadeMonster said:
Year's of anti union rhetoric is likely to blame. People have been brain washed into believing unions are bad. That they are not there for workers rights but rather in enrich themselves.

My step father works in construction and is very antiunion. He could have much much better healthcare and retirement plan. But he rather trade all that for not having to pay union dues. He is very against unions taking his hard earned money. He works for a family run outfit that's not union. His regular wages are also no where near as good as those people who work in the union, but that is a moot point because he's lucky enough to work mostly on state jobs which are prevailing wage. Everyone gets paid the same rate, and my step father ends up making more than people in unions because he doesn't have to pay dues. My step father used to bitch about Unions not allowing non-union sub-contractors to work on job sites where the main or other contractors are unionized. But that's really not an issue anymore. There are a lot of small state jobs in rural western Massachusetts right now that the larger unionized outfits don't want to touch. The job is either too small or too remote.

Unions are what people need. And I have not doubt the weakening of unions has helped played a role wage stagnation over the last 40 years as well as the rise in cost sharing when it comes to healthcare. Unions could solve this. But people have it ingrained that unions are bad and not the answer.
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I was pretty shocked when I talked to my sister about their health insurance. My BiL works for a union and with my sister and their four kids, they pay $80 a month for insurance with an annual family deductable of $500. I'd never heard of insurance being that good through an employer. Collective bargaining gets shit done!
 
Hemotep said:
I was pretty shocked when I talked to my sister about their health insurance. My BiL works for a union and with my sister and their four kids, they pay $80 a month for insurance with an annual family deductable of $500. I'd never heard of insurance being that good through an employer. Collective bargaining gets shit done!
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Meanwhile corporations push back stating that the demands unions make are completely unreasonable.

Look at the pending automakers union strike. The major automakers are all saying that the unions demands are completely unreasonable and will never happen. Both in their requests for raises and healthcare. And a strike is likely because the major auto corporation will not allow these demands to be met.

Yes they are asking for significant raises. But in reality, wages have been stagnant in their industry for years. And overall, even with their demands, their wage increase requests have not kept up with inflation if you look back to when they last had any kind of meaningful wage increases.

Edit: Also, I believe I remember hearing stories about how each generation of auto makers has had to make concessions when it comes to benefits and maybe pay. And part of their benefits demands is to return of what they had 30 years ago. Is that really all that unreasonable of a demand?
 
avecigrec said:
This is damn near exactly how I felt at my last job.
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Yeah the grouping of civil service unions as whole does a great job on pay negotiations. Mine as one of the smaller is not at the forefront of that but equally are involved. In terms of the knowledge of their staff, their willingness to get involved in local disputes, their utter toadying to local management and their inability to to what is right for those of us with special skills because we’re only a small proportion and they have to look after their majority? Yeah the less said about that the better.
 
avecigrec said:
This is damn near exactly how I felt at my last job.
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Also they’re often the kind of 80s Labour Party member who call each other “comrade” whilst holidaying the Maldives and having investment properties. I wish old socialists would see the damage they’re doing to the possibility of progress for the current generation and just fuck off. They failed in the 80s. Failed badly. Their time has passed.
 
I've never been in a union any place I have worked. But every place I have worked has been very antiunion. Constant trainings and information awareness about how unions would only hurt us, and not be beneficial. That we have good wages and very generous benefits already *cough* bull shit.
 
Hemotep said:
I was pretty shocked when I talked to my sister about their health insurance. My BiL works for a union and with my sister and their four kids, they pay $80 a month for insurance with an annual family deductable of $500. I'd never heard of insurance being that good through an employer. Collective bargaining gets shit done!
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Yea I pay about $300 and haven’t payed anything others than that orbiter than small copays. I’m a union member. I also just got a 20% raise because of union negotiations.
 
Dtknuckles said:
Yea I pay about $300 and haven’t payed anything others than that orbiter than small copays. I’m a union member. I also just got a 20% raise because of union negotiations.
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That right there is another benefit of unions that is not as obvious. 20% raise is very very hard to get get outside of unions in corporate America.

Even with a promotion, many companies have a cap on raises. Whether it be 10% or something like that for a promotion and 3% for cost of living adjustments.

Thus, if you stick with one company you fall behind others who move around. As moving around is really the only real way to securing those raises.
 
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