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NyxOrTreat t1_ir5resp wrote

Sysco is my partner’s supplier. He told me on Monday they flew a bunch of their drivers up from the South to work as scabs. Fuck Sysco.

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schoolbusserman t1_ir61pro wrote

I have never understood the use of the term scabs in this situation. I know its a common derogatory term for people who fill in for striking union workers. But when you have a wound a scab is necessary for healing. It just make no sense for union workers to call them scabs.

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Jfinn2 t1_ir6d3kt wrote

When the term came in to fashion, people weren't too interested in the beneficial healing properties of scabs. They were ugly and unclean, and closely associated with sores and diseases like Syphillis. Scab as an insult was more broad until the turn of the 18th century labor movement. Stephanie Smith put it well: "Just as a scab is a physical lesion, the strikebreaking scab disfigures the social body of labor—both the solidarity of workers and the dignity of work."

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[deleted] t1_ir6gp6q wrote

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asuds t1_irfz8ir wrote

Great! All the people complaining about the strike are making a strong argument for increased immigration! Good on you!

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[deleted] t1_irg0lz3 wrote

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asuds t1_irg5xkk wrote

I can tell that you think you are making a point. It’s cute!

However your point is a pro-union, not anti-immigration point. Guess you can’t see that.

“When it came to how the union was run and its immigration stands, no American union or labor leader embraced undocumented immigrants and immigration reform earlier and more consistency than the UFW and Cesar Chavez. “

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[deleted] t1_irgalog wrote

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asuds t1_irgbumc wrote

Yes, as companies were bringing in undocumented workers with no market power who they could abuse. Aint capitalism grand!

Glad to see you are backing this strike 100%! That’s a refreshing change from you!

“Like every legitimate union and labor leader, the United Farm Workers and Cesar Chavez strongly opposed strikebreaking by anyone, no matter who they were or where they were from. Farm worker walkouts would have quickly been won in the fields if growers hadn’t recruited strikebreakers (or scabs) from outside their companies—and increasingly undocumented workers from outside the country—to take the jobs of striking field workers, forcing the UFW into bitter and protracted strikes and boycotts.”

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5nd t1_ir609iw wrote

It's fair for everybody to walk off the job but it's not fair for them to hire new people.

Ok got it.

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NyxOrTreat t1_ir65bsy wrote

Sysco didn’t hire new people; they flew already-contracted workers from a different part of the country. Sure, they have the right to do so, and it’s great for them because the wages for those workers are lower than the wages of the ones striking. The service is still shit, but so is the service from pretty much everyone, and it’s what we as a country allow corporations to get away with in the name of their profits over our livelihoods. Corporate oligarchy is ruining this country. You can think that’s ok; I can think it’s a system rigged to keep employees from being able to successfully fight for better benefits. Something we used to be able to do, and amazingly we had a large middle class and significantly smaller income discrepancies between the poorest and the wealthiest. Best of luck to the strikers. Hope they succeed despite Sysco’s efforts.

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AKBigDaddy t1_ir61b01 wrote

This is honestly where the union issues start to lose me. Like I support collective bargaining and the right of the workers to strike- putting more power in the hands of the workers is undeniably a good thing. BUT those workers don't have an inalienable right to that job. If they all collectively walk off, it might make business sense to come back to the negotiating table and work something out, but maybe it makes sense to let them all go and start over. I don't agree with forcing the business to retain them.

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lendluke t1_ir671xg wrote

100%. Also unions really aren't needed much these days in the US. Just look at food service workers wages going up like crazy given the labor shortage, no union required.

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AKBigDaddy t1_ir6fcyr wrote

I disagree about not being needed, I think they absolutely still have their place, as it's not just about wages.

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asuds t1_irfzlls wrote

The lack of unions is the reason that real wages have materially underperformed real productivity over the last 40 years.

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Waythorwa t1_ir62j6n wrote

What do you mean? Isn't that what's taking place?

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asuds t1_irfzeqa wrote

I guess you have no concept of labor relations or any knowledge of American industrial history. But please let us know what you think…

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[deleted] t1_ira2s8j wrote

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NyxOrTreat t1_iralep9 wrote

My partner’s a mid-level manager for a multi-state company and makes less than $50k a year. He hates Sysco but has no say in their supplier. His CEO, who bought a new Porsche a month into the pandemic, is definitely profiting off it though.

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