finally a union discussion group.......my background

[bobbieinok]

As far as I know, no one in my family was ever in a union. In my mother's family in St Louis, men in the family worked on the streetcar rails and in school maintenance, but mom had no union stories.

Growing up in Tulsa in the 40s and 50s, I found the local newspapers constantly ran editorials attacking unions.

I was really freaked out when my good friend in high school told me her dad was a union member. I remember secretly observing him the next time I saw him, trying to see if there were any visible signs he was 'weird.'

My study of history has taught me what we all owe to unions; even in my high school American history course in Tulsa we learned some of the truth about the history and the victories of the US labor movement.

I personally would like to know how I as a retired person can support unions and help them get a more favorable image in the US public.

[jfxgillis]

1. About frickin' time

I was appalled a few months ago when I was looking for a Union story ... Wal-Mart in Quebec I think it was .... and discovered no such forum as this.

My background is a little different from yours growing up in 50s and 60s in a working-class Boston suburb. The joke I've been telling lately is this:

When I was grwing up there were three things you never did:

1. You never rooted for the New York Yankees;

2. You never ate meat on Fridays, and

3. You NEVER crossed a picket line.

[demosincebirth]

3. I also grew up in that era, in Oakland.

Every one in my family that was working belonged to a union. If you were a clerk, you beloned to the Retail Clerks Union, waitresses, bartenders, barbers and anyone you can think of belonged to a Union.

[Marie26]

2. I'd like to know also

Both of my parents are in unions, and my grandfather worked as a union head for the steelworkers. I always learned how important unions are, and I'm completely appalled by the West Virginia tragedy. Workers need unions - and as busy as Bush has been destroying the unions' power, Democrats need to be just as busy supporting them. It's great that there's finally a forum for this.

[readmoreoften]

4. It's great that you want to help unions!

I'm in the middle of a labor strike at NYU. We've been on strike for 113 days now in the cold NY winter. The Bush administration overturned a Clinton era ruling that required NYU to recognize our union. They are an absolutely disgusting employer. The levels they have sunk to have confounded me (spying on pro-union professors, attempting to rig union elections) but what has me truly baffled is the liberals on campus (including the College Democrats) who are actually lobbying against us.

The battle has been particularly brutal. I personally have been blacklisted for a year. Then they lightened up; now I'm only blacklisted until May, but they don't plan on ever rescheduling me for work. Big improvement, huh?

If you want to know more about our strike and how you can help there's tons of information at http://www.2110uaw.org/gsoc/gsoc_strike_center.htm and www.facultydemocracy.org

The long and the short of it is, we are graduate employees at the university. We do 50% of the teaching duties at the university. Before our union contract we were only paid $10,000 a year, no benefits. When they recognized our union (after the Clinton era ruling) we made $19,000 plus health benefits. They claim that we are students (it is true, we are all enrolled in post-graduate programs) and that they pay us a 'stipend' for our work. But in actually, we are the teachers, lecturers, graders and researchers who drive the university.

I'm from a union family. Granddaughter of an army cook, both parents served in the military, dad worked for the state. NYU tells me I'm a privileged student, not a worker. I'm a 35 year old working class woman busting my hump to survive in Manhattan and taking night classes to better myself. And this is what I get.

Please help us! We need all the help we can get!