Well poo. I came straight home after class with the intentions of eating lunch (as opposed to staying on campus and buying it), getting right to work on my homework, eating dinner, and going to the Little Wings show. But nooooo, I forgot the scaffolding was going up today because all the windows in our building need to be replaced. I walked in the door, and they are on my balcony. They're yelling and banging away, and sound travels wonderfully in our place. Lovely. It seems to have quieted down now, perhaps they have moved on. In my long-winded update I forgot something really important. Maybe. I don't remember. I forgot if I forgot. Well, Albertsons, Ralphs, Vons, etc., workers are on strike. Which means my dad and my brother are on strike. I feel so bad for my mom and dad. There's nothing they can do, but that means they are losing half of their income. In theory, I am all for labor unions, but it's different to see the effects of a strike from a personal point of view. The union is of course representing the needs of the workers, and fights for that. But when the union has to go so far to achieve their demands as striking, what good are they for the workers? Now, my dad and brother are immediately out of a job. There are plenty of people willing to be scabs, hell I would be if I needed a job that bad, and they are still getting paid very well. They aren't paying the scabs minimum wage or anything close to it. Finding scabs is easy, especially in this economic climate. So many people are out of jjobs (thank you Mr. Bush), I have to wonder if it even effects the companies. There were over 150 people that applied for the jobs at my dad's store alone. I do realize that the situation is very complex, as both sides need to retain their bargaining power, but like I said, from a personal point of view it becomes very simple. My dad is going to apply for unemployment if it goes on for an appreciable amount of time. All is quiet, time to go work. |