Unite protest outside City Academy Construction Site

[SWP's back]

Just got home after being trapped in traffic for fifteen minutes outside the Academy construction site on the New Road. Members of the Unite union made a picket line that spanned the entire road and were using banners to stop traffic. There was a huge backlog of traffic.

I was towards the front going towards Droylsden and saw a car trying to force their way through the picket line. Two blokes actually jumped on the bloke's bonnet as he drove through them, got to just before Alan Turing Way when he hit the brakes and the two protesters were flung off, one was quite an elderly bloke and lay prone on the floor as the car sped off without even checking if he was okay.

Does anybody know what this was about as I was in too much of a rush to pull up and find out/read the banners?

His own fault.

Totally agree the pleb.

 

[ElanJo]

I understand your frustration , mate.
That is unacceptable behaviour from your Union, but let's be careful about generalising too much from one case.

no doubt there are union hacks who are lazy and on the take, but try to imagine how the workers in this country (or any other ) would have done without the unions

TBH
we have most of what we have because of them

leave it to the market and you'll be thrown out of work as the company moves operations to unregulated countries in the developing worl with no H&S culture at all.....

cue massive the Bhopal gas emissions (1980's)
South american miners lost in landslides (1990's)

Cue
Bangladeshi textile mill building collapse last week

Welcome to the Past......

Like Joni Mitchell said,

you don't know what you'vr got 'til it's gone...

Speaking from 'Merica, I can say Unions were necessary in the past. Unfortunately they became as corrupt as the govt they were protecting workers from. Not sure about your laws, but, now there are so many laws protecting employees unions are not necessary.

Oh look the dumbest thing i've read all day. Where were these laws protecting workers when that fertilizer plant blew up a few weeks ago? Why not compare pay in the trades in Texas to places unions still have some say?Seems like iron workers are making less than half in Dallas than they are in Chicago. Unions especially in America are as necessary now as they ever were and I'm not sure why you're even speaking on a situation 5000 miles away just so you can put down organised labor in America.

And unemployment? As long we get more money, fuckk the unemployed.

It's funny, people moaning about blacklisting and yet LUs, in effect, are blacklisters, especially when you look at PLAs and other attempts to monopolise work.

Fuck em and fuck Unite for lying in that email. Bellends

 

[TCIB]

 

[kippax81]

The thing is does anyone know anything about the driver?

What I mean is it could have been a little old lady/gent driving that car and they would have shit themselves to see protesters jumping on their bonnet.Chances are that a Ford Ka probably isn't being driven by a big burly bloke, in fact it could have been a young lass on her own or somebody of a very fragile disposition.

Fact remains that jumping on somebody's car is a fucking stupid thing to do,whatever the circumstances.

 

[totallywired]

Speaking from 'Merica, I can say Unions were necessary in the past. Unfortunately they became as corrupt as the govt they were protecting workers from. Not sure about your laws, but, now there are so many laws protecting employees unions are not necessary.

Oh look the dumbest thing i've read all day. Where were these laws protecting workers when that fertilizer plant blew up a few weeks ago? Why not compare pay in the trades in Texas to places unions still have some say?Seems like iron workers are making less than half in Dallas than they are in Chicago. Unions especially in America are as necessary now as they ever were and I'm not sure why you're even speaking on a situation 5000 miles away just so you can put down organised labor in America.

And unemployment? As long we get more money, fuckk the unemployed.

It's funny, people moaning about blacklisting and yet LUs, in effect, are blacklisters, especially when you look at PLAs and other attempts to monopolise work.

Fuck em and fuck Unite for lying in that email. Bellends

I cannot believe that somebody has so much hatred towards unemployed people. Any forum member or anybody you know who is unemployed, this is what this `person` thinks of you. Selfish doesn`t decribe him.
The 64 year old peson who was injured, has had both legs broken as well as one of his kneecaps. A much bigger series of demonstrations are now being organised at the site, against `b.a.m.` Construction. This will not be good publicity for our club.

 

[Challenger1978]

I cannot believe that somebody has so much hatred towards unemployed people. Any forum member or anybody you know who is unemployed, this is what this `person` thinks of you. Selfish doesn`t decribe him.
The 64 year old peson who was injured, has had both legs broken as well as one of his kneecaps. A much bigger series of demonstrations are now being organised at the site, against `b.a.m.` Construction. This will not be good publicity for our club.

I hope they get a good hiding then.

 

[lancs blue]

Oh look the dumbest thing i've read all day. Where were these laws protecting workers when that fertilizer plant blew up a few weeks ago? Why not compare pay in the trades in Texas to places unions still have some say?Seems like iron workers are making less than half in Dallas than they are in Chicago. Unions especially in America are as necessary now as they ever were and I'm not sure why you're even speaking on a situation 5000 miles away just so you can put down organised labor in America.

And unemployment? As long we get more money, fuckk the unemployed.

It's funny, people moaning about blacklisting and yet LUs, in effect, are blacklisters, especially when you look at PLAs and other attempts to monopolise work.

Fuck em and fuck Unite for lying in that email. Bellends

I cannot believe that somebody has so much hatred towards unemployed people. Any forum member or anybody you know who is unemployed, this is what this `person` thinks of you. Selfish doesn`t decribe him.
The 64 year old peson who was injured, has had both legs broken as well as one of his kneecaps. A much bigger series of demonstrations are now being organised at the site, against `b.a.m.` Construction. This will not be good publicity for our club.

Do Unite have any evidence that workers have been specifically blacklisted from working at the Academy site or are they just using that site because of the publicity they can get? All I've read is that some workers were blacklisted by BAM at the Crossrail project in London, why arent they launching a big demo there?

 

[I'm With Stupid]

But, playing devil's advocate for just one moment... What about known trouble makers - and I have known a few. Is it not reasonable for companies to want to avoid hiring them?

Define "known trouble-makers" though. Anyone could be branded a "trouble-maker" for any reason. Unless they've actually done something to merit sacking, then I don't see how anyone has the right to ruin their future job prospects.

 

[dom]

But, playing devil's advocate for just one moment... What about known trouble makers - and I have known a few. Is it not reasonable for companies to want to avoid hiring them?

Define "known trouble-makers" though. Anyone could be branded a "trouble-maker" for any reason. Unless they've actually done something to merit sacking, then I don't see how anyone has the right to ruin their future job prospects.

This ^^^^

 

[Ubiquitous]

Would surprise me if United fans had a hand in raising "awareness" about this.