r/LeopardsAteMyFace 17d ago

Teamsters didn't endorse Kamala Harris for not committing to keep Lina Khan as FTC Chair. Trump just announced that he is firing her for a pro-business stooge. Play stupid games win stupid prices. Trump

https://x.com/trump_repost/status/1866618936378396977
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u/powerade20089 17d ago

I think it probably depends on the union and industry? I know I felt my union was weak for grocery. I never thought they did much for me. I know the union reps liked me because I have always been pro union and grew up in a union family. I did get an office job a few years back.

My husband is with teamsters, and they are insanely strong. We joke that I make the income. He works for the insurance. His union is insanely good, and he constantly argues with coworkers who think the union does nothing.

I am always up for reading others' perspectives, so please let me know!

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u/SweInstructor 17d ago

A union is only as strong as its members.

Combine that with the fact that in some work 1 worker is worth more than 1 worker in another line of work.

1 trucker is going to do a lot more harm than 1 grocery store worker most likely.

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u/C_Madison 17d ago

Yeah. In industries where people are easily replaceable[1] the power of unions is heavily curtailed, especially since a big part of what workers could do is illegal (e.g. block all entry to shops nation-wide).

Such industries also suffer heavily under bad social security, because there will be a readily available group of people to replace union workers in case of a strike. That's one of the main reasons companies are against good social security (and public healthcare). It shifts the power dynamic in favor of workers.

[1] In comparison to other industries. I don't believe in "unskilled labor", but it's a fact that it will be easier for companies to hire non-union grocery store workers pretty fast. In specialized industries this is harder. Either it takes longer or if the industry is very specialized it may not even be possible.

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u/Cold-Park-3651 17d ago

Imagine, illegal or not, how much fucking money, say, Wal-mart, would lose if a large group of workers blocked off the stores for like.. 6 hours nationwide

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u/powerade20089 17d ago

Males total sense. I watched grocery become a job with an insane turnover rate. It also destroyed the unions power in the process.

My wages were stagnate for the last 7 to 8 years, even though minimum wage in the states I lived in were close to what I made as a journeyman.

4 years out of grocery, I make a lot more with a better chance of growth.

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u/SkyerKayJay1958 17d ago

grocery union just backed off the merger of kroger and albertsons

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u/ogbellaluna 16d ago

i liked my grocery union, but there have been a lot of changes between my grocery union as a teenager, and the grocery union presently. i got full medical and dental coverage for working 20 hours a week and paying my dues my senior year of high school - that was a big deal, even back then.

but unions have been battled against, disempowered, and bad mouthed to filth in the nearly 40 years since, because our corporate overlords don’t like workers having that level of power.

you would think that that would be enough to band the workers together, to continue seeking union jobs, and work to improve their unions; but no, they have fallen for the far right and corporate overlord talking points.

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u/powerade20089 16d ago

I had awesome benefits from my grocery union. It really is too bad they have been destroyed so much over the years.