Yesterday I was doom-scrolling Twatter and I saw this tweet about the Philadelphia sanitation union strike and it reminded me of something that happened years ago, and why I loathe unions.
It was a screenshot from TikTok of a lady who was picking up trash and taking it to the dump because the sanitation workers were not collecting due to the strike. The union hoped that there would be a huge pileup of garbage and the city would be forced to cave to their demands – they were even encouraging people to not use the dumpsters the city provided, they specifically want trash everywhere to leverage the city. Well this lady (and I believe her daughter) were collecting trash for people and a $25 fee, and the union folk don’t like that.
There were many comments calling her a “scab,” but she’s not a replacement worker hired by the city to cover for the striking workers. No, she’s an individual who saw a problem and came up with a solution that would help her financially. If people weren’t already forced into the contract with the union for waste disposal, and had free market choice about how to deal with their trash, would she still be a scab? Well, the union would probably still call her that, but they would still be wrong. In most cases, unions just enrich themselves on the backs of the workers they claim they protect.
Many years ago, a friend and I started a legal support business and while we often had lean days, we started building up a decent clientele. We had rented office space in one of those shared space buildings that was set up for lawyers, and one of those lawyers happened to represent a few of the local unions. We started mostly doing work for the local teacher’s union, but as distasteful as it was, we needed the money. They paid well but were using the legal service of process to harass a charter school that wasn’t using union teachers. There were occasions that they would pay the premium to set specific times for service that would knowingly disrupt meetings or be a spectacle for parents to see. There was nothing illegal with what they were doing, but it was certainly an example of lawfare. It got to the point where we would apologize to those we were serving because it was really becoming absurd, and even started giving them a heads up about our arrival so they could minimize the disruptions in regards to running the school.
We made a lot of money off the union, but we didn’t like how we felt about their tactics. But we were good at what we did, so we were picked up by another union for a service early in the morning. In this case, the union was actually suing one of their members, because they were pushing a work slowdown and he was doing his fucking job.
I met the local union rep early that morning with the plan to serve the guy at 5:30AM right before he was to leave on his delivery route. While waiting for the appointed hour, the rep was going on and on about how they planned to “make such an example of him, no one will cross us again,” and how they were “gonna fuck him so hard his kids will feel it.” That shit didn’t sit well with me – this was a guy who was just doing his job, and the union wanted to screw him over to use as a warning to others, and was taking malicious delight in causing him suffering. I finished the job and served him, while apologizing and telling him I thought he was doing the right thing.
On the road home, I called and woke up my business partner to chat about the situation, and after that incident we decided to drop our union clients.
In general, I don’t have a problem with individuals banding together to collectively bargain for pay and/or benefits. The initial idea of unions brought about a lot of necessary change to workplace safety and decent pay. I do not, however, support the bastardized version of unions that are prevalent today. The laws that initially protected the workers are now used by large organizations to line their own pockets. In many states, you can’t even work in a particular field unless you join the local union. People voluntarily banding together is one thing, but forced association with an organization that takes a cut of one’s paycheck is another. I’d be less opposed to unions if more states had “right-to-work” laws that prohibited compulsory membership in a union.
Circling back to what sparked this thought – many of the replies or comments about the lady in Philadelphia providing a service that the striking union members were neglecting were violent in nature. Many called for unions to become violent again, threatened her, and one in particular had a direct threat that they would contact her but have illegal waste in their trash and would then turn her in. These are the union tactics – they are about power, authority, and intimidation rather than safe working environments. They would rather cause undue suffering rather than address their own internal issues and accept their decline in relevance. Like many organizations, the leaders live like royalty while the workers they claim to represent work hard to pay for their new car or swimming pool.
And public sector unions are the worst.
Interesting Tidbits
Heavy metal: Iron Maiden celebrated on Royal Mint coins – “Commemorative coins celebrating 50 years of Iron Maiden have been launched by the Royal Mint. The heavy metal band are joining other acts in the Royal Mint’s ‘music legends’ coins series – which has also celebrated the likes of Queen, Sir Elton John and David Bowie.” I got the Royal Post stamp set, now I’m gonna have to get a few of these…
The Federal Loophole That Fuels Asset Forfeiture Nationwide – “A federal asset forfeiture program known as equitable sharing provides law enforcement agencies with a major loophole, allowing them to continue seizing property almost unabated – even when state laws seek to limit such practices.”
Lula tells Trump world does not want ’emperor’ after US threatens BRICS tariff – “Developing nations at the BRICS summit on Monday brushed away an accusation from President Donald Trump that they are ‘anti-American,’ with Brazil’s president saying the world does not need an emperor after the U.S. leader threatened extra tariffs on the bloc. Trump’s threat on Sunday night came as the U.S. government prepared to finalize dozens of trade deals with a range of countries before his July 9 deadline for the imposition of significant ‘retaliatory tariffs.'”
New footage exposes ragtag US mercenaries firing toward Gaza aid seekers – “Following an AP investigation accusing a US mercenary firm of firing on desperate Gaza aid seekers, the company has released extensive new footage in an attempt at damage control. But the video only further implicates the scandal-plagued operation.”