Wednesday - March 28, 2012
out of gas
Mad dash to doc office, pick up Rx for wife .... medicate etc.
Not a fun day.
And surely not fun for the folks trying to buy petrol. Or gas to us yanks.
Reminder of the oil thing with the Arabs in the 70s.
Well, this time the Arabs are us as was put so well in a movie from many yrs ago. Was it Gorky Park? Might have been.
Anyway, the Arabs here are ..... wait for it cos it’ll be a huge surprise.
Is this the sign of things to come? First petrol stations close as Cabinet minister urges drivers to fill up any spare jerry cans
· Fire Brigade Union said this advice is wrong and would be a fire risk
· The AA says motorists should not change their petrol buying habits
· Motorists seen queuing at pumps in Bristol, Liverpool and Kent
· Minister Francis Maude says a strike would put lives at risk
· Labour accuses Downing Street of fuelling mass rush to the pumpsBy JAMES CHAPMAN, GERRI PEEV and EMILY ALLEN
Forecourts across Britain have started to run dry this morning as motorists rush to the pumps ahead of a possible driver tanker strike.
It comes as a Government minister today suggested people should prepare for a fuel shortage by filling up any spare jerry cans - even though the strike hasn’t been called yet.
Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude also condemned the industrial action warning that lives would be at stake if the strike goes ahead.
Queues at the pumps came despite strong warnings from motoring organisations not to panic buy fuel. Drivers were pictured filling their cars up at petrol stations in Liverpool, Preston and Kent, while pumps ran dry at a petrol station in Wilmslow, Cheshire.
Posted by peiper
on 03/28/2012 at 12:03 PM
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Permalink • Sunday - March 04, 2012
really ignorant wankers ….. raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacist
I suppose it could get even more politically correct and dumber. That’s why I’m not asking, does it get any dumber then this? Cos of course it could.
I am not one who supports unions but here’s a case of ppl I generally despise who actually have done no wrong. In fact, I’m their side in this ONE example of our loony tune world.
How could anyone with a brain link this ancient thing to race? And of all the dumb things to do, why did anyone think it necessary to say sorry if offense was caused. Only a total idiot, a brainless twit with no idea could have come up with a racial slant. But hold on.
The person or persons who thought it was racist obviously also thought the three wise monkeys looked like guess who? And are they saying at the same time that those same ppl aren’t able to spout any wisdom? Now that smacks of raaaaaaaaaacism. Granted, I’ve seen many who .... nah. Won’t go there.
Workers in FOUR YEAR legal battle costing £200,000 ($316,670) finally cleared of racism over innocent Three Wise Monkeys leaflet
· Unison branded cartoon ‘offensive’ as the committee criticised contained a single black member
· They mounted full-scale investigation and banned group from holding office
· Pamphlet producer says the racist slur was a ‘pretext’ for kicking them out
· Unison is considering another appeal which could costs tens of thousands
By EMILY ALLEN
A group of union activists have been cleared of racism for producing a leaflet with an image of the Three Wise Monkeys proverb - after a £200,000 legal battle.
The Unison branch members chose the picture of the ‘hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil’ monkeys to mock their leadership for failing to tackle issues.
The ancient Japanese saying is a gentle insult routinely applied to those who deliberately ignore an unwelcome truth and the four thought it would make an effective satirical point.
The Unison branch members chose the picture (pictured) of the ‘hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil’ monkeys to mock their leadership for failing to tackle issues
But bosses of Britain’s biggest public sector union branded the cartoon ‘offensive and racist’ - because the 15-strong committee criticised contained a single black member.
And the chairman of its National Black Members Committee said the pamphlet ‘belonged in the past with Bernard Manning’.
Officials mounted a full scale investigation and banned the group from holding office in the union, which represents over 1.3 million workers.
The so-called Unison Four, who had already apologised for any offence caused, claimed they were victims of a witch hunt and sued the union.
But it took a four-and-a-half legal battle costing up to £200,000 for justice to be done.
One of the pamphlet producers, Glenn Kelly, 50, accused the union of a ‘scandalous waste of money’.
The four were all hard-left members of the Socialist Party seen as rebels by the New Labour loyalist leadership and Mr Kelly said the racist slur was a ‘pretext’ for kicking them out.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal ruled that the four were unjustifiably disciplined under the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act.
It upheld the findings of an earlier tribunal that the four were ‘committed anti-racists and have fought against racism’.
It accepted that the cartoon was intended to suggest the leadership was ‘closing its mind to and ignoring issues that concerned the membership’.
It also concluded of the four: ‘It is obvious to anyone looking at the cartoon that it is meant to represent the well-known image of the three wise monkeys who see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil.
‘It never occurred to them that anyone would take it out of context and consider it to be racially offensive because one member of the committee, the chairman, was a black man.’
The EAT panel also ruled: ‘The right to freedom of expression entitles a union member to reasonably express his opinions on internal union matters generally and the right to freedom of association must entitle members of the union to influence the policies and actions of their union.
‘The disciplinary measures that were imposed on them preventing them from holding any office in their union plainly had a serious effect on the exercise of their freedom of expression and their freedom of association and that of their members who voted for them.’
Posted by peiper
on 03/04/2012 at 11:05 AM
Filed Under: • Commies • CULTURE IN DECLINE • Daily Life • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Stoopid-People • UK • Unions-Labor •
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Permalink • Thursday - December 01, 2011
clarkson advises shoot the strikers, union wants him investigated. screw the unions.
Jeremy Clarkson is known to be very outspoken. Sometimes his sense of humor causes distress among the left. And that’s a good thing.
Well, this time he suggested on national TV that the union strikers should all be shot. In front of their families.
Naturally it’s on BBC video.
Hey ... sometimes the guy is funny and anyway, serious or not, he says what ppl are thinking anyway. But the thought police in the unions aren’t pleased and are
demanding a police investigation. WTF? Investigate what? He said it, on TV. So what is there to probe?
Typical bone head unions.
Anyway ... I second Clarkson’s motion with reservation about the family, and restrict it to the fat cat union bosses who organize the strikes. Most of the comments that follow the article seem to support JC, as he’s often referred to.
I would have had them all SHOT! Clarkson’s rant at strikers branded silly by Cameron (and now union demands a police probe)
Unison taking legal advice about ‘appalling’ comments
David Cameron tells the Top Gear presenter it was a ‘silly thing to say’
Ed Miliband says the comments are ‘disgraceful and disgusting’
By JOHN STEVENS and ROB COOPER
Jeremy Clarkson could face a police investigation after he said that those striking should be shot.
Speaking on the BBC’s One Show he said that government workers refusing to work should be killed in front of their families.
Today Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said they were seeking ‘urgent legal advice’ about whether his comments had been referred to police.
A spokesman for Scotland Yard said they had not yet received a complaint.
Ed Miliband says the comments are ‘disgraceful and disgusting’
Yeah well, Comrade Miliband is highly disgusting to look at. You must be in favor of anything Miliband is against. And against anything the comrade is for.
catch the link above for short clip.
Posted by peiper
on 12/01/2011 at 09:06 AM
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Permalink • UNIONS STRIKE AND MERCHANTS CASH IN.
I saw a somewhat large union gathering on the green in Southampton yesterday. Complete with the usual flags and signs etc. But not quite as large as I’d expected. And it’s true the streets were as crowded and packed as this photo portrays. While this shot is not Southampton, it was no different there.
If I hadn’t been there, and I’d seen this photo today, I would have cynically thought it was one of those photos famous for showing a large crowd where only a small one was the reality. But no. A friend goes into Southampton every few months for odds and ends, and I enjoy tagging along as I like Maplin, an electronic store with all sorts of gadgets and toys and good batteries I stock up on. High tech and a staff that actually knows what they are talking about and are helpful. And blessing of blessings. They didn’t have any music on. Relief.
We had a number of stops to make, or rather my friend did and the walk was good for me as I don’t do much of that. So as I was saying, the crowds were unbelievable and I had not seen that many in the past. I was forgetting about the one day nation wide strike by the comrades.
They weren’t in evidence anywhere on the high street as there was nothing to picket.
I didn’t see them until we left and were outbound for Winchester. That was when I saw them on the green outside the city center. It’s my understanding by reading our local paper this morning, that Winchester’s high street merchants enjoyed the boon because so many were off work or out of school.
As we were making our way back to his car, parked it felt like miles away, we were going through side streets and an alley or two when I saw the remains of the ancient wall. Oh good grief. Was I carrying a camera with me as I’d been lectured years ago by a pro? Of course not. So I borrowed the phone camera from said friend and did a few snaps, which included me climbing an old fire escape on an old bldg., one rail of which had come away from it’s wall mountings. There was so much more before the war, that anything was left is a miracle. He’s going to load the pix on his pc and email me. Soon as he does I’ll share.
On the day of the big strike, picket lines are quiet, but shopping centres are packedBy JAMES CHAPMAN and BECKY BARROW
Militant union leaders failed in their campaign to bring Britain to its knees yesterday.
David Cameron dismissed as a ‘damp squib’ a strike billed as the biggest for a generation.
With picket lines sparsely populated, only a quarter of civil servants took action, the NHS suffered minimal disruption and Britain’s borders operated more smoothly than normal. JobCentres remained open, courts were sitting, rubbish was collected and driving tests went ahead.
SEE THE PHOTOS HERE, THEY TELL A BETTER STORY
Posted by peiper
on 12/01/2011 at 05:57 AM
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Permalink • Tuesday - June 21, 2011
Explicit admission
NJ Assembly panel advances health benefits bill
TRENTON, N.J. – The move to stabilize New Jersey’s underfunded pension and health care systems by requiring public workers to pay sharply more for the benefits while suspending bargaining over health care was fast-tracked through the Legislature Monday, after Democrats joined with Republicans to buck the powerful public employee unions.
The Senate passed the bill 24-15 as a gallery full of raucous union members looked on; eight Democrats aligned with all 15 Republicans to pass the bill. An Assembly budget panel advanced the measure hours later, also without the majority party’s support.
A vote by the full Assembly is set for Thursday. Gov. Chris Christie has already indicated his support.
“The time for political calculations is over,” said Senate President Stephen Sweeney, a Democrat and member of the ironworkers’ union, who sponsored the bill. “The time for passing the buck to someone else is over.”
The Assembly Budget Committee approved the bill 7-5 after an eight-hour hearing that began with an impassioned plea from Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver. Three Democrats paired with four Republicans; five Democrats voted ‘no.’
“This is the correct legislation for this moment,” Oliver said. “This bill will ensure a strong future for our state.”
The Republican governor, a driving force behind the landmark legislation, praised the Senate for its action.
“This is a watershed moment for New Jersey, proving that the stakes are too high and the consequences all too real to stand by and do nothing,” he said in a written statement. “As a result of Democrats and Republicans coming together to confront the tough issues, we are providing a sustainable future for our pension and health benefit system, saving New Jersey taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars and securing a fiscally responsible future for our state.”
NAACP: Making NJ public workers pay more for health care is racist!!
National NAACP head Ben Jealous weighed in against the pension and health benefit bill moving through the Legislature today, saying black New Jerseyans would be disproportionately hurt by the changes.
“We see this same pattern in many states and cities across the nation. Public sector jobs are critical in communities of color and attacks on bargaining rights and health care disproportionately affect our communities,” said Jealous in a prepared statement.
The statement was accompanied by a new report by Rutgers labor relations professor Jeffrey Keefe that argues public sector employment is a “a special bulwark for the Black middle class” because it “provides stable full-time employment with middle income earnings and employer provided health insurance, among other benefits.”
“New Jersey’s public sector has provided stable full-time employment with middle income earnings and employer-provided health insurance for more than 15 percent of black workers, all of which is now under attack as New Jersey leaders threaten to sharply reduce public workers’ pay and benefits,” wrote Keefe. “Because of the particular importance of public sector employment to the black community, black workers will suffer disproportionately if the attacks on public worker benefits prevail.”
Oh how I would love to see the real raw numbers. Because 25 and 40 percent are also “more than 15 percent”. Mr. Jealous has come right out and spoken the one truth that must never be mentioned: government employment is a jobs program for black people. I’m fairly certain he’s aiming quite low. If you were to combine local, state and federal numbers, my guess is that the real percentage of the black community working for the government - any kind or level of government - is considerably higher than 15 percent. Like 25 percent. Perhaps more. 15 percent is probably only the part that works for the state government.
I would not like to then be able to look up the actual size of the working age black population, and I certainly would not want to add in the number of black people who are in prison or receiving multiple forms of government assistance (welfare & food stamps) etc. Because the total number you’d get would show you just how large a slice of their population is being supported either fully or majorly (>50%) by government. And people would get upset if that number was something like 80%. They’d come to the wrong conclusions and start getting terrible ideas about demographic sponging. And that would be racist!
Posted by Drew458
on 06/21/2011 at 02:17 PM
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Permalink • Thursday - May 12, 2011
union holds london to ransom … guess who wins?
Typical, innit?
Just another reason to hate unions. I have heard this Crow fellow on the radio, and he’s more left then Marx and all that crowd.
For me, even though he doesn’t always look like this, this is the face of ALL unions as far as I’m concerned.
Militant rail staff’s 10% pay rise as ‘ransom payment’ to prevent strikes during Olympics
By JASON GROVES and BECKY BARROWMilitant transport workers were last night handed a 10 per cent pay rise as part of a ‘ransom payment’ to prevent strikes during next year’s Olympics.
Network Rail agreed the astonishing rise amid fears that industrial action could wreck the London Games.
But MPs accused the firm of caving in to hardliner Bob Crow, the head of the Rail Maritime Transport union, who has led a series of crippling strikes in recent years.
The deal, which has the private backing of ministers, will see 10,000 signallers, engineers, customer service staff and other employees across the country receive a 5.2 per cent pay rise this year, backdated to January, and a further rise of inflation plus 0.5 per cent from next January.
On top of that, staff involved in the Olympics will enjoy a £3.50 an hour bonus for each shift they work during the Games. Overall that will be worth about £500 a head, said Mr Crow.
Network Rail has also signed away any right to dismiss a worker during the Olympics – whatever they do wrong.
The extraordinary arrangement was condemned by Tory MPs, who accused Network Rail and ministers of giving in to blackmail.
Dominic Raab, who is pressing for new strike laws, said: ‘The British public is being blackmailed. There’s no justification for giving rail staff a 10 per cent pay increase plus bonus, whilst pay is frozen across the public sector.
‘Yet again, the RMT has held the public to ransom – this time under the threat of disrupting the Olympics.’
Too bad the powers that be wouldn’t stand up to the union and let em do their worst. So let em wreck the Olympics. It might just wreck the union too, and that would be more then worth the trouble and monies spent.
Oh wait ... we might then miss that awe inspiring sport of endurance and strategy ... Curling. Gak.
Posted by peiper
on 05/12/2011 at 07:18 AM
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Permalink • Wednesday - February 23, 2011
Wisconsin - an excellent analysis
James Taranto hits the nail on the head in The Means of Coercion over at the WSJ. Read it!
To make sense of what’s going on in Wisconsin, it helps to understand that the left in America lives in an ideological fantasy world. The dispute between the state government and the unions representing its employees is “about power,” Paul Krugman of the New York Times observes accurately, before going off the rails:
What [Gov. Scott] Walker and his backers are trying to do is to make Wisconsin--and eventually, America--less of a functioning democracy and more of a third-world-style oligarchy. And that’s why anyone who believes that we need some counterweight to the political power of big money should be on the demonstrators’ side.
In any case, it seems to have escaped Krugman’s and Drum’s notice that the Wisconsin dispute has nothing to do with corporations. The unions’ antagonist is the state government. “Industrial unions are organized against the might and greed of ownership,” writes Time’s Joe Klein, a liberal who understands the crucial distinction. “Public employees unions are organized against the might and greed . . . of the public?”
The “labor movement” in America has increasingly come to consist of people who work for government, not private companies. As the BLS notes, the union-participation rate for public-sector workers in 2010 was 36.2%, vs. just 6.9% for private-sector workers.
There is a fundamental difference between private- and public-sector workers. A private-sector labor dispute is a clear clash of competing interests, with management representing shareholders and unions representing workers. In the public sector, as George Will notes, taxpayers--whose position is analogous to that of shareholders--are usually denied a seat at the table
...
Collective bargaining in the public sector thus is less a negotiation than a conspiracy to steal money from taxpayers. The notion that this is “in the economic interests of the middle class” for government employees in Wisconsin and elsewhere to get above-market wages and extremely lavish benefits is just laughable.
There is lots more at the link, but that bolded line is the real gist of it.
It’s quite striking the way almost every lie the left ever told about the Tea Party has turned out to be true of the government unionists in Wisconsin and their supporters
UPDATE: ... and if you think that’s messed up, give this one a read: Republicans in the Wisconsin legislature are crying that they can’t get bills passed because they don’t have a quorum because the Democrats are hiding out in Illinois ( they’re probably at the party for Rahmn Emanuel’s unexpected victory in the Chicago Mayor’s race ) BUT those same Dems are listening in on conference calls and voting on stuff by fax and telephone! And phone voting has been OK in that state for years! So, “quorum” doesn’t have much meaning does it? Too bad these folks didn’t update their definitions when they allowed this slack-ass approach to governing.
Can I venture an opinion on that one? Just say NO to phone voting. Being in the statehouse is your job. Do it. Maybe you have to lodge your vote in advance if you’ll be out of town, but that’s it. Hey, I’m all for balance: for regular citizens, unless you’re in the military, a nursing home, or a hospital, I’m not in favor of absentee ballots either. Get your ass to the polls and vote. Not that I have anything against secure polls being open for 3 weeks prior to Election Day Vote Counting Day. The population is simply too big these days to pack everyone in to the polling stations in one day without appointments. And the cost of creating tens of thousands of new polling stations would be prohibitive. So let people vote for extended times, but make them make the effort to do so physically. It’s their quorum, and it’s their civic duty to attend.
Posted by Drew458
on 02/23/2011 at 08:56 AM
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Permalink • Tuesday - February 22, 2011
Moron Wisconsin
No, I don’t believe in unions. Thanks for asking. And the unions that I don’t believe in the most are the ones that “represent” government workers. Excuse me, you buncha tax leeches, but you work for us. All of you. Work. For all of us. And we’re a much bigger union than you are.
Hey Wisconsin: Fire them all and hire new teachers across the board, from the ranks of your state unemployed. Find anyone with a college degree and give them a 60 day course in teaching. Take the top 70% of those people and put them them to work. At half the current average pay. And a 5 year open ended contract, with performance analysis caveats. Which means the new teachers get canned if they don’t do a good job, but if they do do a good job you can negotiate to keep them after the 5 years is up. For the newly hired, it means a guarantee of 5 years of work, if they don’t mess up. What more can you ask in this economy? Raises and benes? Sure, give them family health coverage for which they contribute $200/mo. 5 tier review after 90 days, 6 months, 1 year, and each year after. 5-3-1-0% raise at annual marks. 10-7-4-2% raise at 6 month mark*.
* for those of you fortunate enough to have never been exposed to the corporate practice of “quartiling” or “quintiling”, it’s a performance review where you get rated into one of several slots along a Bell curve. The biggest raises go to the best performing people. The lowest quintile or quartile? They get fired if they’re still in that category in 90 days. The folks in the “you almost suck” category get nothing for a raise, but they still have a job. You’d want to do a new version of this horror, because the usual corporate one has massive latent history. Which means that once you’re “3rd quartile” once you’re 3rd quartile forever, no matter what. So it sucks.
In theory, a top notch unemployed person under my plan could come in, become a teacher, start out at 50% current average pay ($53,000 IIRC that current ave is $106K), go to $58,300 at 6 mo, $61215 at 1 yr, $64275 yr 2, $67489 yr 3, $70864 yr 4, and $74407 yr 5. And they’d have 5 solid years being an ace teacher at that point, which should be a very good bargaining position. And the state would have saved nearly $200,000 on that one salary in the 5 year period compared to the current union pay average. Plus the health benefit contribution of $12,000 the employee made during that time. You would have to design in a top level where the pay flatlines though. No 3rd grade teacher job on the planet is worth more than ... say $85,000. And I think that’s rather generous.
Posted by Drew458
on 02/22/2011 at 02:33 PM
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Permalink • Friday - October 29, 2010
Find The Real Boobs
Buffalo teachers left taxpayers on the hook for nearly $9 million worth of cosmetic surgery last year, according to the state-appointed authority overseeing public school finances.
The Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority found that last year’s costs for elective procedures such as chemical peels and other skin treatments were up $8 million over 2004’s $1 million tab for cosmetic surgery.
The procedures, provided under the teachers’ union contract, accounted for 9 percent of the district’s total spending on health benefits for employees and retirees, The Buffalo News reported Thursday.
About 10,000 school employees are eligible for the benefit. District officials said teachers or their dependents accounted for 90 percent of the approximately 500 people who received cosmetic surgery last year.
Barbara J. Smith, the district’s chief financial officer, said those 500 people represent less than 2 percent of those covered by health insurance through the district—a figure she estimated works out to an average of nearly $18,000 in elective procedures last year per employee who used the benefit.
The president of the Buffalo Teachers Federation said the union has agreed to give up the benefit in the next contract and said teachers may be simply rushing to use the benefit while they can.
Somebody tell me why elective cosmetic surgery was EVER in their health plan to being with. Talk about your “Cadillac care plans”! Horry clap. And this bennie was extended to all family members and retirees.
Sheesh. Your kid can’t read, but his teacher sure has a nice perky rack!
Throw them out. To hell with renegotiating a contract. Fire them all and start over. Union free. No unions for teachers, cops, firefighters, postal workers, or anyone else who works for the government.
Posted by Drew458
on 10/29/2010 at 12:00 PM
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Permalink • Tuesday - May 25, 2010
Say What?
Excuse me, WTF is the government doing here? Private sector pension funds are no business of theirs, never have been. And if the union’s pensions are in bad shape, well, gee, maybe they shouldn’t have spent so damn much money on political contributions!
A Democratic senator is introducing legislation for a bailout of troubled union pension funds. If passed, the bill could put another $165 billion in liabilities on the shoulders of American taxpayers.
The bill, which would put the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation behind struggling pensions for union workers, is being introduced by Senator Bob Casey, (D-Pa.), who says it will save jobs and help people.
As FOX Business Network’s Gerri Willis reported Monday, these pensions are in bad shape; as of 2006, well before the market dropped and recession began, only 6% of these funds were doing well.
Although right now taxpayers could possibly be on the hook for $165 billion, the liability could essentially be unlimited because these pensions have to be paid out until the workers die.
Eff that. I’m pretty sure that both of my pensions have been lost. One from my years as a union employee working for a grocery store chain that since went out of business, and another from my years working for an IT company that since went out of business. Not that either pension was huge, but the money is gone as far as I know. Hell, right now I feel blessed that my 401K is actually worth just a little more now than it was 9 years ago. If that keeps up, maybe by the time I retire I’ll be able to live two whole years on that money.
Posted by Drew458
on 05/25/2010 at 01:51 PM
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Permalink • Wednesday - March 17, 2010
British Airways strike could go global as Unite enlists support of U.S. union Teamsters
About a week or ten days ago it was announced that the post office had caved in to postal union demands, and so the PO will work less hours but will also get a raise. It’s feared that junk mail deliveries may increase. That’s okay. We don’t get much mail anyway. Except it becomes a pain in the butt having to shred addresses and separate the trash. But never mind. This could be worse yet. The union representing airline workers, UNITE, is digging in it’s heels as the heels who head the union and fund the party in power are about to bring down England’s national airline. BA is hemorrhaging money and has been plagued for some time with reports about bad service etc. So this doesn’t help. In fact, I was considering British Airways because of an unusual flight schedule that might have suited us well. But with this going on, forget that. I won’t chance it and I can’t imagine too many folks seeing all this buying tickets in this climate.
It looks now as though the evil bastards want to include the unions in the USA. Can they enlist a foreign union in another country to screw thing up there?
EVIL BLOODSUCKING UNION BAT
* Meeting with U.S. Teamsters union today
* British tourists risk being stranded in Caribbean
* Union claims ‘fast-tracked’ volunteers risk safetyBy Tim Shipman
Unite leaders will today meet with a U.S. union as they dramatically escalate the British Airways strike.
Unite is to hold talks with Teamsters, one of the overseas unions to offer its support for their controversial walkout due to start in days.
It has also enlisted unions in Germany, Spain and Italy to an international campaign of militancy that could cause chaos at airports around the world.
Union sources say action from overseas unions could make it impossible to clean, service and refuel BA planes.
This would undermine attempts by BA to keep aircraft in the skies and lead to more misery for the public, who already face massive disruption to flights over Easter.
Teamsters, which has 1.4million members, said last night: ‘We stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters at Unite who are fighting for a fair contract at British Airways.
‘The Teamsters are an active member of the International Transport Workers Federation. ITF affiliates around the world are mobilising to support British Airways workers in their fight for passenger safety and worker respect.’
The move will raise the stakes for Gordon Brown, who yesterday failed for a fourth day to persuade Unite to abandon the strike.
A BA spokesman said: ‘It is sad to see Unite seeking backing from trade unions overseas to support its unjustified strike against an iconic British brand.
Shadow transport secretary Theresa Villiers said the union was ‘hell-bent’ on causing maximum disruption for travellers.
She said: ‘Unite should not be striking at all and trying to spread the dispute to other countries is even more irresponsible.’
Unite has also warned that BA are ‘rushing through’ volunteer staff to work as cabin crew to help break the strike.
Click evil bat for the rest of the article.
Posted by peiper
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Permalink • Friday - October 16, 2009
So I got ride to another city to drop off some mail because ….
In a world run by Labour and unions well ....
We had some papers to do with house deed that had to be mailed back to the attorney in Southampton. Got a ride from friend and hand delivered.
That city is only 13.7 miles away and about 13 minutes at 10 in the morning. What a fiddly 13 miles it is tho. A lot on freeway but still busy roads.
If the strike actually does come off, we’ll be looking at late charges from our bank in Calif. I bet.
I’m not unsympathetic to ppl who work hard and haul and sort mail while politicians who are supposed to be looking out for their constituents are fiddling the books and stuffing their own greedy pockets. But I really think the union members in this case may be deluded or easily led by their commie leadership. Holding the country to ransom not exactly a clean fight.
I have to be careful what I say because as you know, I am so damn anti-union anyway that I’m as likely to be against them even if they voted in favor of motherhood.
Union sets dates for ‘suicidal’ nationwide post strike by 120,000By Sean Poulter
The postmen’s union yesterday revealed the dates of its first national strikes involving 120,000 workers in the row over modernisation of Royal Mail.
Drivers and mail centre staff are due to walk out next Thursday for 24 hours, then 78,000 delivery workers will strike on the Friday.
The ‘suicidal’ walkouts are forecast to send the mail backlog of 30million items - following localised industrial action - soaring to more than 100million.
And they could cost the economy an estimated £1.5billion, harming the fragile recovery.
Further national strikes are threatened for the following weeks, dealing a further blow to business confidence and threatening the Christmas plans of millions of families.
Business leaders have suggested that the Communication Workers Union has a ‘death wish’.
The announcement of strike dates is expected to be the trigger for Royal Mail to lose a number of key contracts, including Amazon and Play.com, in the crucial Christmas trading period .
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has refused to intervene and said yesterday: ‘I very much regret this decision by the CWU. Candidly, I think it is suicidal. It will only serve to drive more customers away from Royal Mail.’
Online auction and shopping website eBay said it has signed deals with courier firms to help its sellers continue to trade in the run-up to Christmas.
Microsoft has altered plans for the release of its Windows 7 programme because of the strike.
Thousands of computer enthusiasts in Britain will get copies of the new software 24 hours before the rest of the world, on October 21, to dodge the action.
The strike also threatens to increase tensions within the Labour Party.
Although ministers have refused to intervene the CWU can call on powerful support from backbench MPs.
Labour, facing a general election next year, is also dependent on financial and logistical support worth £1million from the CWU.
Strike dates were announced after Royal Mail failed to bow to a series of union demands, including guaranteed pay rises for the next three years.
Royal Mail managing director Mark Higson said the union’s decision was an ‘appalling and unjustified attack’ on customers.
He claimed the move ‘underlines the union’s opposition to simple changes, such as its members working flexibly for all of the hours they are paid and using the equipment provided to do the job’.
Just over 50 per cent of CWU members who were eligible to vote supported strike action. It is unclear, whether all its members will heed the call to stop work.
CWU deputy leader Dave Ward said the union was still prepared to explore third-party mediation.
Talks between the warring parties are due to continue today.
The union called on the Government to intervene in the dispute.
Mr Ward said: ‘This Government has recently intervened in the problems of Vauxhall and Lloyds Bank. They are the sole shareholder of Royal Mail and it is unbelievable that they continue to stand aside.’
High Street retailer John Lewis yesterday reported an early Christmas shopping rush amid suspicions that families are trying to beat the post strike.
Sales in the first full week of its Christmas goods trading were up by 14.7 per cent on last year.
When I visited this city today, I thought I was stepping into another country. I’ve been here a number of times in the past but never noticed before today. So many accents and foreign languages. All sounded like babble. Friday ... market day. Had I known I might have brought a camera.
Posted by peiper
on 10/16/2009 at 11:31 AM
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Permalink • Sunday - September 13, 2009
THE CHECK’S IN THE MAIL. NO IS ISN’T. IT’S IN THE GUTTER AS POSTAL STRIKE WORSENS.
I had not intended to run another strike story first thing in the morning but here we are.
America take note. Please!
This may be a boring story for you but there surely is a lesson here. And it’s very well expressed by Lyndon so TAKE HEED AMERICA.
Once they get their foot in the door the commies are very difficult to get out. You end up with “Conservatives” like you have in England, who are too scared to impose real conservative values because so many of the population are sucking at the government tit.
Posted by LyndonB
Your post is in the gutter: Strike-hit Post Office managers sort mail on the pavementBy Christopher Leake
Last updated at 8:07 AM on 13th September 2009Sacks of letters and parcels have been left lying in the gutter after Royal Mail chiefs secretly drafted in managers in a desperate attempt to clear a huge backlog of mail caused by postal strikes.
In a scene that evokes memories of the ‘winter of discontent’ 30 years ago – when Left-wing strikers brought the nation to a virtual standstill – a public service is yet again being reduced to chaos by militants determined to disrupt everyday life.
This was Worple Road, Wimbledon, South-West London, yesterday as volunteer postal managers – among thousands across the country – were forced to offload mail into the road because the Royal Mail delivery office 100 yards away had been shut down after a walkout by postal staff.
Working next to suburban flats and offices, the managers, wearing orange reflective vests, removed mail on to the pavement from the vans and 6ft-high steel sorting trolleys before delivering it to local addresses.
The scene was captured on a mobile phone camera by Brian Narborough, of nearby Raynes Park.
The 60-year-old retired golf club steward said last night: ‘As I drove past, I could hardly believe what I was seeing. These postal people were throwing the mailbags over their shoulders and into the street from the vans. It’s not what you expect in the middle of a suburban street at a weekend.
‘It’s hardly secure, either. I thought the idea of the mail was that it was delivered to you safely. No wonder it’s late arriving.
‘It really took me by surprise to see all that post in the street. It certainly explains why I’ve been waiting so long for my post when it’s strewn all over the place like that at 11 in the morning.
The postal service around here has been terrible for a couple of weeks now. We had no post at all some days last week. It is just awful that it has come to this.’
The Wimbledon delivery office in Cranbrook Road was one of 14 Royal Mail depots around Britain yesterday where managers were being used as strike-busters.
Staff sort the piles of mail in the street for deliveryThere are more than 14,000 delivery and sorting offices throughout the country, delivering over 75million letters and parcels a day.
Royal Mail bosses insist that more than 90 per cent of mail is being delivered. But a series of one-day strikes by 20,000 members of the Communication Workers Union – aimed at causing maximum disruption with minimal loss of pay – have brought chaos to the postal system in the past fortnight.
This will hugely embarrass Gordon Brown, who on Tuesday will tell the TUC conference in Liverpool that Government and leadership are about making choices ‘in the best interests of the country’. He will also admit that Britain’s road towards recovery is ‘still fragile and not automatic’.
The union claims that its series of rolling walkouts has paralysed parts of the network, causing a backlog of 20million items in London, with some families not receiving their post for ten days.
20 stone, that’s about 280 pounds.
See all the rest (photos and story) HERE
Once they get their foot in the door the commies are very difficult to get out.
Posted by peiper
on 09/13/2009 at 04:03 AM
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Permalink • Saturday - September 12, 2009
Labor Union to Prime Minister …. Turn more to the left or quit!
No. I didn’t make it up.
We didn’t get our mail today so perhaps the strike has finally hit where we are. Yesterday, our postman (is he now a postperson?) said that some mail here was a bit backed up and deliveries were running late. Then when the morning paper came, came this was a headline I saw first thing.
TURN LEFT OR QUIT, UNIONS TELL BROWN.
I guess that says a lot about what’s happening here at the moment. Gee, and I thought Maggie had destroyed the unions. Guess not.There is something here called Spanish Practices, which is an expressions that refer to irregular or restrictive practices in workers’ interests. ...
Here’s what the union is insisting on and this comes up every time they strike or even talk about striking.
There are actually 92 SPs but here are top 12.
* Two or three hour minimum daily overtime - so if 30 minutes of actual work is required and completed, then between two and three hours’ payment is demanded;* An additional allowance claimed for using particular vehicles - regardless of whether the individual has actually driven the vehicle;
* Automatic overtime if mail volumes reach a certain level - regardless of how many ordinary working hours remain that day;
* If a delivery round is finished before the end of the paid shift, the employee expects to be able to go straight home. But if it takes 10 minutes longer two to three hours’ over time is claimed;
* Set overtime level is claimed at Christmas, even if there is no need for any additional hours and no extra hours are worked;
* An additional two hour payment on Easter Saturday - regardless of whether any work required;
* No flexibility between different parts of the same sorting office - if an employee sorts letters for a particular postcode, they will not sort for the adjacent postcode, even though both activities are often in the same room;
* Signing in and out for a shift on arrival - so that no record of actual hours worked exists;
* Collection drivers expect overtime pay for doing collections outside usual route - even if it is done within usual working hours;
* Overtime to cover for an absent colleague - a full day is claimed, even if only half day needed and worked;
* Ban on any cross functional working, even of similar tasks under the same roof;
* Additional meal and grace breaks as custom and practice
Union barons have warned Gordon Brown that they will undermine his leadership unless he brings Labour to the Left.
Derek Simpson, the boss of the biggest union Unite, yesterday said the Prime Minister must stand aside unless he is prepared to steer the party back down the ‘Old Labour’ path.
Posted by peiper
on 09/12/2009 at 09:50 AM
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It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.
- Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
- Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
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- Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere
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Oh, and here's some kind of visitor flag counter thingy. Hey, all the cool blogs have one, so I should too. The Visitors Online thingy up at the top doesn't count anything, but it looks neat. It had better, since I paid actual money for it.
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