# So, I'm in an office building in NW DC and there's a union protest outside **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 17, 2007, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-in-an-office-building-in-nw-dc-and-theres-a-union-protest-outside/415929 "2007-08-17T13:02:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Captain\_Socks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a8b319/32.png) [@Captain\_Socks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Socks)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-in-an-office-building-in-nw-dc-and-theres-a-union-protest-outside/415929/1 "2007-08-17T13:02:43Z")
🆒 Yep, they’re right outside this building, even though they’re protesting the building next door. They’ve got drums, which I think are actually buckets, and this REALLY annoying bell. I’m all for unions, but PLEASE make the bell STOP!!! It actually is pretty cool, though. I’m alternating between Doping and watching them. I think it’s not actually workers, but homeless guys who are paid to do this sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Socks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a8b319/32.png) [@Captain\_Socks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Socks)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-in-an-office-building-in-nw-dc-and-theres-a-union-protest-outside/415929/2 "2007-08-17T13:31:39Z")
Now they’re also chanting and walking in a circle. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Socks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a8b319/32.png) [@Captain\_Socks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Socks)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-in-an-office-building-in-nw-dc-and-theres-a-union-protest-outside/415929/3 "2007-08-17T14:45:37Z")
They’re all gone now. ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-in-an-office-building-in-nw-dc-and-theres-a-union-protest-outside/415929/4 "2007-08-17T14:52:48Z")
Riveting! ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Socks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a8b319/32.png) [@Captain\_Socks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Socks)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-in-an-office-building-in-nw-dc-and-theres-a-union-protest-outside/415929/5 "2007-08-17T14:58:08Z")
They were chanting slogans and everything. It was pretty cool. My dad used to work for the company they were protesting. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-in-an-office-building-in-nw-dc-and-theres-a-union-protest-outside/415929/6 "2007-08-17T15:33:32Z")
Around here, the usual sonic weapons are 5-gallon plastic buckets and frying pans. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-in-an-office-building-in-nw-dc-and-theres-a-union-protest-outside/415929/7 "2007-08-17T16:18:12Z")
The picketers often these days are not union members, but homeless and transitional people recruited for temporary picketing work. For this they make $1 over minimum wage, and get no benefits. [A discussion of this practice is in this _Washington Post_ article.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/23/AR2007072302011.html) I don’t want to open this up into a broad debate, but some unions don’t like this practice (the steelworkers don’t use it, as an example) and this has caused a big debate within the labor movement on its overall justice. ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-in-an-office-building-in-nw-dc-and-theres-a-union-protest-outside/415929/8 "2007-08-17T16:27:28Z")
Apropos to nothing, were you aware, **Captain Socks** , that you left an “i” out of “plagiarize” on your sig line? (Or am I missing a subtle joke?) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Socks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a8b319/32.png) [@Captain\_Socks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Socks)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-in-an-office-building-in-nw-dc-and-theres-a-union-protest-outside/415929/9 "2007-08-17T16:46:04Z")
[QUOTE=straight man] Apropos to nothing, were you aware, **Captain Socks** , that you left an “i” out of “plagiarize” on your sig line? (Or am I missing a subtle joke?) [/QUOTE] D’oh! You’re right! I shall fix it now.