Closing Bell: Inflatable Rat Makes Rare Slope Appearance
The union rat was parked outside of the 5th Avenue branch of Neergaard Pharmacy yesterday afternoon. According to the union guys, they were protesting the sign company Neergaard is employing. GMAP
The union rat was parked outside of the 5th Avenue branch of Neergaard Pharmacy yesterday afternoon. According to the union guys, they were protesting the sign company Neergaard is employing. GMAP
anybody know if there has ever been an inflatable rat slashing? i’ve considered it several times and I’m fairly certain there’s no way any of those guys in construction boots can catch me.
Why are the taxpayers subsidizing the unions payroll and pensions in non government unions? What industry that has a union workforce can prove to be a successful business model without these subsidies?
I work for a labor union and I’m a PhD candidate in industrial relations. The primary dispute is with the sign company, not the pharmacy. There are probably many Union sign companies, but the Union will follow the non-Union ones around town to pressure them to sign on to the master agreement for sign companies. Its easy to say the sign company doesn’t want to do this because they don’t want to pay more for lazy Union workers, but in reality this is not typically the case. What really sets costs apart between non-union and union in this industry is that using Union workers will force the company to make sure the payroll taxes are paid, unemployment, FICA, city and state. A non-union company can easily find a day laborer (sometimes documented, sometimes not) and pay them in cash. By doing that, they cheat all of us, not just the worker. Another thing that sets costs apart is that the non-Union company is more apt to shirk the regulatory framework, licensing, insurance etc. The Union often has health and safety committees to check up on this stuff. Its harder to can a Union whistle blower than it is to can a day laborer. Considering a worker died on a building on 4th ave, not too far from here earlier in the year, I think we can all agree that working conditions are important. People have this misconception that Union labor costs so much more (and that the building trades are somehow extortionists) but in reality its the added costs that the employer is trying to avoid, like taxes and fees. Often on a straight pay rate basis, the day laborer will make more than the Union worker in cash and the employer will still have a lower overhead.
Employers complain to me all the time how they can find an immigrant workforce, move to some unknown d/b/a address, pay them more but avoid IRS, OSHA, ICE etc. and they’d be able to cut prices in the long run. But its not good when the taxpayer gets cheated and its not good when industrial accidents kill workers or innocent bystanders. I’m just asking you to think about that next time you see the Union rat.
It’s official, another idiot named “Joe”!
Say it ain’t so Joe the Rat.
Posted by: CookieCutterBrownstone at December 16, 2009 7:55 PM
I’ll let the well thought out statement above speak for itself.
Look forward to meeting you at the next outing!
I do not know of any labor union that leans right. Pay attention to what is going on locally and nationally with the labor unions. Think MTA, UAW, and if your really smart – start looking at the merger of the steel, rubber and auto workers.
yeh, blowfish, maybe you should speak to some of these guys who protest out front. I have spoken with other union dudes at other rat infested sites and it is like talking to a right wing republican who gets their talking points from Fox News and RedState – they don’t know what the f— they are sputtering, in some cases they are completely slanderous and then don’t represent themselves as being from any affiliation, because “their lawyers don’t recommend it” as I have been told. They are just cogs – like the rest of us.
It’s official, another idiot named “Joe”!
Say it ain’t so Joe the Rat.
Whatever, blowfish.
It’s about the company they are using to erect the sign, NO MORE, NO LESS.
etson, we can’t help it if we have real plumbing here 🙂
A lot of autoworkers built their own houses, land and buildings in the midwest are incredibly cheap. And anyway why shouldn’t a working man have a house and a boat?