The Northerner (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Jun-18-11 01:35 AM
Original message
Workers Reject Union at Target Store
Edited on Sat Jun-18-11 01:36 AM by The Northerner
The nation’s main union for retail workers lost a unionization vote on Friday at a Target store in Valley Stream, N.Y., in what was an effort to make it the first of Target’s 1,750 stores in the United States to be unionized.
A spokeswoman for Target said on early Saturday morning that 137 workers had voted against joining the union, the United Food and Commercial Workers, while 85 workers voted for it.
In a statement, the union’s president, Bruce W. Both, said that the workers at the Valley Stream store endured a “campaign of threats, intimidation and illegal acts by Target management,†and that the union would contest the results.
“Target did everything they could to deny these workers a chance at the American dream,†he said. “However, the workers’ pursuit of a better life and the ability to house and feed their families is proving more powerful. These workers are not backing down from this fight. They are demanding another election. They are demanding a fair election. They are demanding justice and they are prepared to fight for it.â€
In the days before the vote, union officials said a victory would be a coup that would create momentum for organizing drives at retail stores not just in New York, but in other states. Target executives repeatedly told the store’s 250 hourly employees that no union was needed and that the union would make work rules more rigid and make it harder for Target to compete.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/18/business/18target.htm...
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http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1320339pstokely Donating Member (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Jun-18-11 01:40 AM
Response to Original message
1. That crappy propaganda video must have worked
somehow
I thought you goons loved democracy. Oh wait that's only when the voice of the people are in agreement with you. if they choose what you don't like then they must be voting against their own best interests too bad they can't be forced to listen to you.
Very_Boring_Name Donating Member (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Jun-18-11 01:48 AM
Response to Reply #1
5. Likely it was the underlying threat that Target kept making that they would shut down the store
if it unionized was the reason.
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lpbk2713 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Jun-18-11 01:45 AM
Response to Original message
3. Once again people vote against their own interests.
It always amazes me.
Yeah by voting to keep their store from possibly closing really is against their own best interest.
Violet_Crumble (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Jun-18-11 01:47 AM
Response to Original message
4. Anti-union workers can stop other workers from joining a union? That's ridiculous...
As well as not being very democratic at all. I'm in a union and I work with people who aren't in the union, but we all get to choose for ourselves whether or not we'll join. What a shame the same doesn't happen in the US...
Of course if the majority had voted for it, then you would be saying democracy in action.
Very_Boring_Name Donating Member (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Jun-18-11 01:50 AM
Response to Reply #4
6. I have a question
Do the people who are not in the union still benefit from the perks of the union? i.e do they make unionized wages, etc?
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Violet_Crumble (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat Jun-18-11 01:56 AM
Response to Reply #6
8. That's a good question...
They do benefit, as the union negotiates pay and conditions with my employer on behalf of all employees, not just union members. At first glance it doesn't seem fair, but most people are aware that if everyone just went 'no need to join the union. I'll let the others join instead.' there'd be no union in the end to negotiate for us. We have a pretty strong union membership (not sure what the exact percentage is in the organisation I work for), so it's never really been an issue...
You goons have no problem if you get to enjoy the benefits of this country, and not have to pay a dime in income tax. Yet you want everyone else to pay higher taxes.
