Is that a real example of a typical union picket sign (ie, “GM Unfair!” etc)? If so, it nicely encapsulates the childishness of union thinking.
Actually, yes. A new Sherwin Williams opened down the road from us and there were union picketers who had a sign that said “ROGER BLAKELY & SHERWIN WILLIAMS UNFAIR” and was held up by three men. I have no idea what he did which was “unfair” but they were upset. A couple weeks later, I saw a sign in front of Walgreen’s which stated “WALGREEN’S UNFAIR” and it was held up by the saw picketers.
Life’s not fair, Simba.
Ah, but what’s its connection to picketers?
Wait a minute - Pentagon staff were on strike? 
Don’t block my access to a building I need to enter, don’t block a road I need to travel, don’t touch me, otherwise, protest away.
"Possum by!!!"
Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog pickets, NYC circa 1969.
Hey, my right to obtain greasy food overrides your right to shout incomprehensible phrases in my ear.
Coolidge was being picketed by dictionary workers upset about the characteristic brevity of his speaking style.
“Bet I can get you to say more than two words at a time, Cal!”
“You lose.”
Ha! Probably not. I worked there for over 11 years (off and on over 20 years) and there were lots of protesters that showed up all the time. The Nixon years were a lot of fun for them.
I don’t know if union picketing is different, but I’ve been to some protests (puppy mill protests mostly) and we are quite specifically informed by the police that we are not allowed to block access points, entrances, roadways, or sidewalks.
So, we don’t.
That doesn’t stop soreheads from coming by and yelling at us for blocking access even though we aren’t. They seem to think that asserting that we’re blocking access is clever or effective, even when we’re clearly not doing it.
Similarly, they also claim we should get jobs…despite the protests taking place only on weekends.
Similarly, they also claim we should be only protesting abortion or child slavery, or whatever their idea of the worst thing in the world is, and spend no time or money on puppy mill issues until everything else is fixed. Usually they’re coming out of the wine store next door with an armload of Cabernet or a keg of beer on a cart when they stop to tell us we’re immoral for doing anything other than helping children. Sometimes I ask them if the beer is for the children.
A lot of them just yell in support of whatever we’re protesting. I had NO IDEA so many people hate puppies.
Now, union pickets may actually be allowed to block access – if so, I feel for you. If not, take it up with the police and get the way cleared.
If it turns out the police say they’re not actually blocking access, then you know you’re one of those soreheads who makes untrue claims about protesters.
How do you feel about puppies?
The police in Canada are very reluctant to do anything about such protests for fear that breaking them up may turn violent. It’s extremely frustrating to deal with.
For the last year or two, our town has been plagued by a certain group of protesters. They protest everything from small, local, family businesses to big corporations. I’ve yet to see a single unifying factor between the places they are protesting- doctors and dentists, law firms, the local ice cream shop, on and on.
The only thing that is the same are the protesters- they have big coolers and umbrellas and are laying there, sipping beverages and chatting on their phones. Always two or three per protest site and their signs are always the same. In big red letters:
SHAME ON [company]
Then, in small letters at the bottom it says, “Labor dispute.” But that’s it.
When I was drafted, our bus was stopped by some protesters who had blocked the street; it was summer, it was hot, it was a bus. Soon it was a jam.
But the peaceniks had been smart; they had filled canisters with water, some buckets with ice and three girls in bikinis carried cups on large trays to the waiting crowd. And they all cleared out before people lost their patience.
The day you are drafted isn’t exactly fun, but this episode washed away our anxiety and I think, we were the only guys who got to their destination in a jolly good mood.
That is, in fact, what the public service union is doing in Toronto; physically preventing ordinary citizens from going about their business. And the police allow it.
Insofar as I’m concerned, it’s assault, and as long as they keep doing it I have no sympathy for them. I stand on no side in the contract dispute. It’s their contract, if they want to withhold labor as a negotiating tactic then by all means do so. It’s a free country. But it being a free country, I should not by physically harrassed by people for going about my own business.
I don’t have a cite for this (probably somewhere in here), but I believe that in Canada the protesters cannot prevent you from crossing their line, but they can delay you. I recall seeing lines of cars waiting to get through a picket line who would allow a single car through every 10(?) minutes.
I am so happy not to be in Toronto right now! No pools, no clean parks, no garbage collection, no city-run daycare, and on the edge of possibly having no booze to deal with it all! The worst, it seems, are the garbage transfer stations, where the city says citizens can drop their garbage off, but picketers are physically preventing people from doing so. Then, when the people get fed up and leave their garbage outside the gates, they get tickets from the cops! It’s insane.
The only picket line I’ve ever “crossed” was the year support staff at McMaster were on strike, and I was going onto campus to meet my boyfriend, who lived in residence at the time. The picketers were allowed to block the gates for 5 minutes at a time, then let cars in for 5 minutes, etc., so it wasn’t too much of an inconvenience. The cops were taking advantage of the situation to ticket waiting cars for license plate/tag violations. One asshole started writing me a ticket when he saw I had no front-end plate; the look on his face when I told him to do his job completely before writing tickets was priceless…being from Québec, I only had the one rear plate on the car. He kind of stomped away angrily.
There’s people who have the power. There’s people who fight the power. And there’s people who suck up to the power.
I can respect the first two groups.
Coolidge was known for breaking a strike. The Boston Police Department formed a union. The Police Commissioner said police officers weren’t allowed to have a union and suspended a bunch of union members. In response, most of the rest of the police went out on strike in 1919. A lot of people felt that the police shouldn’t be allowed to strike. Coolidge, who was Governor of Massachusetts, stated “There is no right to strike against the public safety, anywhere, anytime” and supported the firing of all the strikers. This made him nationally famous and he was elected Vice President in 1920.
Picketers, strikes or boycotts may provide me with information that I can use to make *my own *decision about whether or not to patronize a business. That’s fine.
If I ultimitely decide to go in, though, and someone were to physically try to stop me – to put it as politely as possible – I would consider that stepping over the line of acceptable conduct, and would probably act accordingly.
And if I were out of work, and was offered a paycheck that would put food on my table and pay my bills, then I’d be the one to decide whether the offer was fair or not. I believe that’s called a “free market economy.” What *isn’t *fair is bullying people into feeling guilty about taking the job you walked away from.
Well, I’ll take your word for it. I was actually quoting an old Mad Magazine article about strikes that included a list of suggested phrases. “This place is unfair!” and “Pass 'em by!” were deemed outdated but effective, while “Keep Cool with Coolidge!” was highly recommended, as it suggested adverse working conditions had led you to a mental breakdown.
Picketers represent the best and worst of the freedom of speech. I have no problem crossing picket lines, whatever you’re picketing is your problem, not mine, impede my progress (on foot) and there’s a pretty good chance you’ll end up having a seat on the pavement. Despite that, I believe in the rights to a good informational picket as much as anyone else, get the ‘word’ out if you feel you must, I personally think though that picketers are just the dumbest of the bunch that the union (if it is the case) leadership riled up into “action”. Strikes don’t stop people from needing food, medicine and utilities, smart people know that and will continue to lookout for themselves first, or, y’know, go find somewhere else to work.