Look(ing) for the union label
#51
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Originally Posted by Savas
The advancements of Unions are high prices for everyone. It feeds itself in a way. You need more money to pay for the goods you are paying more for as a result of union extravagance and unrealistic economics - of the type that put companies they work for out of business. To give you a hint of where Unions are heading. In certain geographical areas, Unions are looking to bring the illegal alien workers into their fold with the promise of benefits and higher wages. Only thing is, the illegals are dubious about joining the Unions. The illegals want to work continuously and at whatever job comes there way.
Or we can all pay very low prices, but be working 2 jobs and 16 hour days for so little money that when we finally do get a day off all we can do is buy a few groceries at the company store.
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I don't know about their wage scale, but Showerspass clothing which is made in Northern California sells top-notch rain jackets for the same price as Chinese made stuff of famous brands. I do know that the Showerspass has very little in the way of parasitic management and marketing structures.
#53
Dubito ergo sum.
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Originally Posted by Roody
All you union haters: Please surrender your 40 hour weeks, your health benefits, your paid vacations, your high wages, and all the other benefits that union members fought and even died for. If you like seeing the good jobs go overseas, bust the unions and line up for a job at Walmart.
I have many, many times however been told one of the following at the end of a contract:
"I'de love to keep you, but the union says I have to promote from within."
or"I'de love to keep you, but if you are here any longer the collective agreement says I must hire you full time, and I can't afford to do that."
Or variations on the above.
Originally Posted by Roody
I know offhand that Ray-o-vac batteries are union made and are usually chaper than the batteries made overseas by Duracell and Eveready. How do you union haters suppose that happened?
#54
Dubito ergo sum.
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Originally Posted by sbhikes
Disparage the unions all you want, but realize that all the rights and benefits they won in the past are being eroded. How else can we workers be heard politically if we don't group together somehow?
#55
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[QUOTE=patc]I'll be 34 on Wednesday. I have NEVER in my life had any benefits, not even paid sick days, from an employer. My 40-hour work week, medical care, and other needs are provided by the government. Yes, I am sure unions had a great deal to do with this in the past, but in Canada today these things are pretty much enshrined as the norm, and I doubt even the strongest lobby groups would get a government to significantly change them. Certainly unions have little to do with it today.
I have many, many times however been told one of the following at the end of a contract:
Here in the U.S., they are trying to get rid of all those benefits you list.
It sounds like you've been continuously hired as a "temp".
I have many, many times however been told one of the following at the end of a contract:
"I'de love to keep you, but the union says I have to promote from within."
or"I'de love to keep you, but if you are here any longer the collective agreement says I must hire you full time, and I can't afford to do that."
Or variations on the above. Here in the U.S., they are trying to get rid of all those benefits you list.
It sounds like you've been continuously hired as a "temp".
#56
a77impala
[QUOTE=patc]I'll be 34 on Wednesday. I have NEVER in my life had any benefits, not even paid sick days, from an employer. My 40-hour work week, medical care, and other needs are provided by the government.
Believe it or not the government is the people who pay the taxes required for you to get your medical care and other needs provided by the government. What you are describing is socialism, now that may be fine for Canada but nothing is free someone has to pay for it.
It just may be your employer because he is being taxed to provide your so called government benefits.
Taxes are,after all just a redistribution of wealth.
Believe it or not the government is the people who pay the taxes required for you to get your medical care and other needs provided by the government. What you are describing is socialism, now that may be fine for Canada but nothing is free someone has to pay for it.
It just may be your employer because he is being taxed to provide your so called government benefits.
Taxes are,after all just a redistribution of wealth.
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I'd be interested in hearing the theory behind the notion that workers are in a stronger bargaining position as individuals than they are collectively.
I'd also be interested in hearing the theory behind the notion that 15% of the workforce should carry all the weight of negotiating for 100% of the workforce.
I'd also be interested in hearing the theory behind the notion that 15% of the workforce should carry all the weight of negotiating for 100% of the workforce.
#58
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Originally Posted by FurflyOne
buy Cannondale!!! it's still American-made as far as I know... just for that fact, I try to buy it when I can... seems to be higher-quality as well, but that may be just me...
(China is the worst, btw. The worst.)
#59
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Originally Posted by Cyclepath
Clearly there is no way that US workers, unionized or not, can compete with slave & semi-slave labor elsewhere in the world. If US consumers want to subsidize evil by buying from such nations, that is their choice.
Since biking is new to me, I just don't know the answers. For basketball and running, I know that some New Balance employees make a living wage -- https://www.nbwebexpress.com/madeinusa_nb.htm
But I don't know anything about bike stuff . . . so here we are again . . .
#60
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Assos clothing is made in Switzerland I believe. It is top of the line. No union needed as the Swiss enjoy government guaranteed health care, vacation and retirement benefits.
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Originally Posted by Blue Order
I'd be interested in hearing the theory behind the notion that workers are in a stronger bargaining position as individuals than they are collectively.
GOOD workers are in a better position to succeed as individuals. Unions tend to benefit bad emplyeees more than the good. Unions are interested in what is best for the union, not the employee. Businesses are interested in what is best for the business/shareholders not the employee. At least the business is honest about their interests and they pay me instead of me paying them.
#62
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Originally Posted by Dchiefransom
It sounds like you've been continuously hired as a "temp".
#63
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Originally Posted by a77impala
Believe it or not the government is the people who pay the taxes required for you to get your medical care and other needs provided by the government.
Originally Posted by a77impala
What you are describing is socialism, now that may be fine for Canada but nothing is free someone has to pay for it. It just may be your employer because he is being taxed to provide your so called government benefits. Taxes are,after all just a redistribution of wealth.
I think this thread is going the way of bike-lane debates.
#64
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Originally Posted by patc
I think this thread is going the way of bike-lane debates.
I'd say this thread is as related to bicycling as rants about the evils of fast food or cell phones on this list.
#65
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Originally Posted by FLBandit
One might try learning a skill and being good at it.
Liquidation firms are making out just fine though.
Three more American Bicycle businesses, if not mentioned already:
Waterford Precision cycle.
Steelman cycles.
Merlin Metalworks.
These companies all produce very well made frames, for cycling enthusiasts. (I ride a Gunnar Street Dog) Most people agree that this is the future of the bicycle business in America: Small companies, producing very high quality frames and other products, for a very small part of the market. There is nothing wrong with this that I can see. Yes, I do remember when Treks were all American made.
To answer the orginal poster's question, yes, cycling clothing is very expensive in large part because it is retailed to such a small market. The same goes for clothing for Skiing, tennis, and golf. Uh, has anyone checked the price tags on ski stuff lately? Glad I don't ski. Let's not forget, cycling is also seasonal for many. (like skiing.) Those who are able to ride in winter are a hearty bunch, but very few in number.
We live in interesting times, that much is certain.
#66
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Originally Posted by ItsJustMe
J&G Cyclewear is made in the US at least.
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Originally Posted by Roody
All you union haters: Please surrender your 40 hour weeks, your health benefits, your paid vacations, your high wages, and all the other benefits that union members fought and even died for. If you like seeing the good jobs go overseas, bust the unions and line up for a job at Walmart.
To the OP: Your union education committee could help you find the source of union-made products. I know offhand that Ray-o-vac batteries are union made and are usually chaper than the batteries made overseas by Duracell and Eveready. How do you union haters suppose that happened?
To the OP: Your union education committee could help you find the source of union-made products. I know offhand that Ray-o-vac batteries are union made and are usually chaper than the batteries made overseas by Duracell and Eveready. How do you union haters suppose that happened?
#68
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Originally Posted by Feldman
I don't know about their wage scale, but Showerspass clothing which is made in Northern California sells top-notch rain jackets for the same price as Chinese made stuff of famous brands. I do know that the Showerspass has very little in the way of parasitic management and marketing structures.
OK -- NOW we are getting somewhere . . . Check this out from the Showerspass website:
We pay our suppliers and contractors fair wages. We make our products in the USA allowing us to visit contractors factories and ensure good working conditions. We try to minimize resource consumption (such as paper catalogues) and recycle or reuse shipping materials as much as possible . . .
This is what I was looking for! J&G also looks pretty good.
A note on unions: as a student rabbi, I worked for a summer with HERE (Hotel Employees/Restaurant Employees union), in an AFL-CIO/Interfaith Worker Justice program designed to bring clergy and labor together. I met amazing people: labor organizers who busted their asses organizing workers, activists earning a fraction of what they could get somewhere else, and immigrant workers who RUN OUR ECONOMY.
When the WTC was knocked down, so was Windows on the World, the restaurant at the top of the towers. The surviving workers and the widows were promised much in the immediate aftermath, and given nothing. The press left. The celebrities left. Mayor Ghouly Guiliani sure as **** left. And then INS threatened to deport them.
ONLY the union cared a rat's ass about these people.
And how did many/most of them get to work? By bike -- people riding not for fun, but because it was what they could afford.
I NEVER thought this would be a controversial question. Why is it so strange to be bummed about supporting human misery just to have a kick-ass time on a bike?
#69
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Found this just now from InSport
As the company grew, so did its ties with the community. InSport is dedicated to working together with its business partners in its nearby communities and nearly 95 percent of InSport's products are made in the United States.
www.insport.com/history.cfm
As the company grew, so did its ties with the community. InSport is dedicated to working together with its business partners in its nearby communities and nearly 95 percent of InSport's products are made in the United States.
www.insport.com/history.cfm
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Originally Posted by trackhub
Yes, that is important. But it is not a guarantee is it? Just come to Massachusetts and ask any of the PhD scientists, engineers, IT pros, and optical networking folks who have been laid off since all those industries took a dive five years ago. Some are just now starting to find jobs again, at lower pay than they were getting before. (and yet, housing prices continue to go up, in defiance of basic economics. Fancy that.)
.....
.....
#71
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Originally Posted by patc
Unions? I've lost many a job due to unions, not a one has helped me though. To me unions have very negative associations. As in, "oh, the bus driver's contracts are up, they'll threaten to strike again." Or, "oh, the teacher's contracts are up...."
I think what will happen in the future is, just as UNIONS went too far for a long time and alienated their support, businesses will go to far and alienate their support as well, and unionism will stage a reasonable comeback. There are folks out there who, for whatever reason, are in need of a strong advocate, who need a union to balance the needs of those workers against the demands of capital.
roughstuff
#72
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Originally Posted by Roughstuff
I think what will happen in the future is, just as UNIONS went too far for a long time and alienated their support, businesses will go to far and alienate their support as well, and unionism will stage a reasonable comeback. There are folks out there who, for whatever reason, are in need of a strong advocate, who need a union to balance the needs of those workers against the demands of capital.
#73
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Workers of the world, UNITE! Throw off the chains of oppression, and come together to rally for the rights of all workers! Bring back the wobblies!
I'm still buying made in the USA eco friendly wool Ibex clothes, that's as good as I can do with my consumer dollar, i think.
My Burley rain jacket (which might see its first wearing all season today in Seattle rain!) says
"Made in Eugene, Oregon USA"
"Burley Design Cooperative"
must be a bunch of hippies running the show or sumpin'!
I'm still buying made in the USA eco friendly wool Ibex clothes, that's as good as I can do with my consumer dollar, i think.
My Burley rain jacket (which might see its first wearing all season today in Seattle rain!) says
"Made in Eugene, Oregon USA"
"Burley Design Cooperative"
must be a bunch of hippies running the show or sumpin'!
#74
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Another update:
Hi Mike,
Yes, we make our products right here in Oregon because we believe just as you do. Thanks for taking the time to email us, and I hope you'll give our gear a try. Welcome to the world of cycling!
Thank you,
Linda
J&G Cyclewear
PO Box 1195
Marcola, OR 97454
800.452.3938
www.bicycleclothing.com
You guys have been very helpful . . . thanks!
And so . . . now that it seems that we have some choices . . . . WHATEVER you think about unions, can we start a movement to avoid slave labor-produced bike gear whenever possible? Who's in???
Hi Mike,
Yes, we make our products right here in Oregon because we believe just as you do. Thanks for taking the time to email us, and I hope you'll give our gear a try. Welcome to the world of cycling!
Thank you,
Linda
J&G Cyclewear
PO Box 1195
Marcola, OR 97454
800.452.3938
www.bicycleclothing.com
You guys have been very helpful . . . thanks!
And so . . . now that it seems that we have some choices . . . . WHATEVER you think about unions, can we start a movement to avoid slave labor-produced bike gear whenever possible? Who's in???
#75
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Originally Posted by Bekologist
I heckle all union strikers, you hosers!