November 12, 2007
Boycott all Unions!
By Stan Dyer
In a recent Denver Post Editorial, the nameless, faceless, "Denver Post Editorial Committee", lambasted Governor Bill Ritter's recent executive action seen as a "pro-Union" measure. Many business leaders, readers, and just plain folks came out in protest claiming the "sky is falling". Well, I am inclined to agree and think everyone should join in the boycott I am forming.
It is my belief that we have stood for this Union "stuff" long enough and we should all make a stand right now. For starters, we should all give up our eight-hour days, our 40-hour weeks and weekends off. Instead, we'll work seven days a week and 12 hours a day the way the Non-Union Steel Workers did for Andrew Carnegie. Speaking of Andrew Carnegie, we should all give back our recent raises and decent wages, pledging to work for $9.00 a week or less the way pre-labor workers did. We'll show the country we don't need the Unions and those silly benefits! We will not stop there.
We can all give up our vacations too. Hey, people never got vacations before Unions, why should now be any different? Besides, we don't want to fly on any Union jets, piloted by Union pilots and maintained by Union Mechanics. That goes for buses, taxis, trains and even our cars. We will just walk where we need to go in our Chinese-made shoes, (be careful of lead contamination). Along with our vacations, we will also give up any sick time, comp time and personal time since those are all Union-inspired benefits. We will show the country that we do not have to put up with this gubernatorial outrage.
We can take our boycott to the market place too. We can refuse to support those commie Union members of the National Football League Players Association and other pro sports. We do not want to watch those Union Broncos, Rockies or Nuggets, do we? We certainly do not want to wear their jerseys as if we would support a Union.! While we are at it, we can stop going to movies, stop buying and listening to music, stop going to the see plays at the theatre and just stay out of those dens of organized labor. Beside, many of them are in buildings designed by Union architects and Union engineers. There might even have been a few Union Construction Workers, Electricians, Plumbers and Finishers involved as well. How can we support that!
Follow me in my boycott as I stay away from the Union hospitals with Union Doctors and Nurses. I do not need health care that badly, and, if I do, I can always go to the Emergency Room like non-Union workers do, or just do without. We'll start a trend and call it, "The New America". Businesses will flock to Colorado the way Cotton Farmers flocked to the Pre-Civil War Plantations. We can live as many people without Union benefits did in the 1860's, content in our boycott staring up at the "Big House". The whole country will marvel at the example we set.
If this sounds silly and outrageous to you, then consider how I feel when I hear people come out against Unions with unfounded arguments. The truth is that so many things we all love about this country and that we all take for granted were won through collective bargaining and represent the effects of many Union people working together. We all benefit whether we belong to a Union or not. If you believe Unions are obsolete and there are already laws in place to protect workers, pay attention to the news. People, including people who own companies, still disobey the law, elected officials still disobey the law, and slavery still exists in this country despite the law. Laws are not enough to protect us. Laws are tools, but we all need people to help us use those tools. Even more so, we all need to stick together for the benefit of the group. That is what Unions really do. Unions help us come together to use the tools to build a better, more productive society and the greatest country in the world. If you don't believe me, try out the Boycott for a while and see if you don't come to realize the importance of Brotherhood and Collective Bargaining. Call it a club if you will, but it's a club that treats all equally and fairly, and there aren't many of those around. On second thought, you join the Boycott, I'm joining the Union!