Inflatable Rats aren’t just for pranks anymore…(long and mildly political) (713 hits)
Category: GeneralRating: 1.86 on 9 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by JulsInsane <julsinsane.at.hotmail.com> (View user info) at 2005-05-13 16:27:51 EDT
There is a 20 foot tall rat outside a job I am doing at the moment. Standing next to that rat are several able bodied men on cell phones, reading the paper, drinking coffee and generally shooting the shit. They lay in wait... They lay in wait for what you ask? For me! Little old me, has forced men to stand next to an inflatable rat for several days. They aren't even utilizing the rat in a way that would be beneficial for mankind...obligatory man humps rat pictures, letting small children scale the inflatable rat, and making the rat dance. But alas they have no vision for their rat. They just choose to stand by it and wait for me or one of the guys on the job to walk out and berate us. They actually only berate me and they just tell the guys to stop working.
They are local union workers (at least that's who they say they are, I can't remember the last time I saw a guy in construction with both a shiny new manicure and a pinky ring) and they have decided that since there are union workers in the building (not a closed shop) that all the jobs in the building should be union. Well to them I say SUCK A BIG COCK MOTHERFUCKER! You want to win a bid on a job, fucking do it for less, work later than 3pm, work weekends, in general work! Now the guys that work for me are all covered by worker's comp, get paid market wages, and in general are in a safe environment. That's what OSHA is for. They make sure these guys are working under safe conditions, so go fuck yourselves.
Their own websites state:
"At the turn of the 19th Century, it was not uncommon for people to work 12-, to 14-hour daily shifts in unsafe conditions for little pay. Child labor also was rampant. Although protests were attempted, the law favored the industrialists and labor was repeatedly put down, sometimes by government military action.
In 1914, amidst a groundswell of public outrage, the Federal Government passed the Clayton Act which specified, "the labor of a human being is not a commodity or article of commerce." This key legal definition, which reaffirmed our Founding Fathers' vision of America, opened the way for today's Unions."
Great! I don't have children working for me, no one works more than 10 hours a day, and the guys are getting paid better than I am. I have no problem with people wanting to be paid for their work, being protected from exploitation, and in general being taken care of, but go fuck a goat if you think that I should not exist because you think that unions are the only way that a worker can be adequately protected. Its not just the rats; which by the way will keep anyone who is part of a union from delivering anything more than a pizza to your job, stop doormen from showing up, and make sure the maintenance guys from letting you use a freight elevator, it's the threat of violence. Unions will show up to jobs with bats, aggressively follow the guys when they are off the job, and in general make mayhem.
This just brings out the berserker in me, so here I am on the job in full berserker mode wondering if a Stanley knife is long enough to cut a hole in the rat outside and if I can take down some of the Guido's outside before I get arrested.
*not the actual guys
User Reviews
Submitted by badassmofo (user info) at 2005-05-15 15:01:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
We deal with this shit all the time.
Those guys are in the union but they are professional picketters that's why they look so nice.
Dependant on what state you are in law says there should be 2 gates if there is to be a union pickett and one of them they aren't allowed to pickett.
Just because I am going about it my way doesn't mean I shouldn't have the same opportunity for work as anyone else.
Submitted by Rawrg (user info) at 2005-05-13 20:37:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
There have been 2 guys standing outside holding a sign like clockwork each day from a Union for a business for the last 2 months. What a waste of time.
Submitted by Sassmasterr (user info) at 2005-05-13 18:32:14 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
i had to work security at the Cleveland NBC affiliate (WKYC - hehe i said KY).
some people protested outside with a giant rat thingy. i just hung out with them and laughed.
good times
Submitted by Spuds002 (user info) at 2005-05-13 18:03:34 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
there was a time when having long in the title ment it was actually long.
Submitted by JulsInsane (user info) at 2005-05-13 17:48:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Tim-
Are you siding with "THEM"?
Submitted by Lets_B_Friends (user info) at 2005-05-13 17:12:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2005-05-13 16:50:35 (#)
Ranking: 2
That's just what WE need here at Uber - a UNION!
FREE THE IHAKF FIVE! LET SPIRAL POST! COUNT DEGREESLESS AGAIN! FREE CHRIS EVANS!
-Brought to you by the IBOCSGM! (International Brotherhood of Cock-Smoking Ghey Menz)
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speaking of unbanning people....
Submitted by MyNameIsTim (user info) at 2005-05-13 16:57:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
NOW LETS HEAR THEIR SIDE OF THE STORY.
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2005-05-13 16:50:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
That's just what WE need here at Uber - a UNION!
FREE THE IHAKF FIVE! LET SPIRAL POST! COUNT DEGREESLESS AGAIN! FREE CHRIS EVANS!
-Brought to you by the IBOCSGM! (International Brotherhood of Cock-Smoking Ghey Menz)
Submitted by Jeanneee (user info) at 2005-05-13 16:35:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
One of the funniest things I ever saw was a short comic sketch called "Strikebreakers."
It was about a bunch of union-hating strikebreakers sitting around complaining about their job, how it's dangerous, the hours are bad, etc. etc.
They talk it over and decide that the best solution for their job woes is to form a union.