So, because China doesnt have unions, public sector workers in Winsconsin shouldnt have them either? Does that mean they'll consider sending schoolchildren to China to be educated there, if chinese non-union teachers makes a better offer?

I'd say we offer Beck,Limbaugh and O'reilly's jobs up to ousted, non-union dictators like Gaddafi, they seem to have a much firmer grasp on reality.

Funny, I was watching that and all I could think about was; I wonder how Anna got her job

/runs /hides

In '99, I used to be a PA on a show called Battledome, and I was asked to be an extra twice, and I needed the extra pay so always obliged. Though when they asked if I wanted to do it a third time, they said I'd have to join AFTRA. No exceptions.

My choices? Either don't do it and not get the extra $100 bucks that day, or do it but then be forced to join AFTRA and pay their initiation fee of $1600 plus yearly dues around $60 bucks.

Not trying to defend Beck or O'Reilly, but you're forced into unions in that industry. There's no way around it, and that, to me, is what makes unions so particularly indefensible. The whole thing is dripping with nepotism and protectionism, and it just feels like a legitimized form of mafia to me.

Not trying to defend them either but I was gonna say about the same thing...in fact Cenk even states that because they are in radio they "basically have to be in AFTRA". Because they are at the top of the pyramid the union probably does very little to protect their rights since they are in the position to negotiate their own contracts that guarantee them money and benefits that no union could ever get for them.

I love how he just makes shit up. It's true that China does not have independent trade unions, but India does.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_unions_in_India

Well, this is one of those "Tragedy of the Commons" scenarios, where, sure it'd be nice if the one guy with one sheep could graze for free, while the people with 10 or more sheep would have to pay some sort of maintenance fee, but it doesn't work like that. This is precisely the same argument as why universal health care must force some people who'd like to press their luck to buy insurance. Pretty soon a whole lot of guys with 'one' sheep are grazing for free, and one of the owners of the larger herds are whistling away in the corner, with seemingly zero sheep. Should the number of 'comped' appearances one can have before having to join AFTRA be raised? I dunno. I'm sure that number didn't come out of someone's ass. While it might not seem so, AFTRA is indeed looking out for you, as it does anyone who works in the industry. You might not appreciate it as a lowly peon, but you would if you found yourself being 'requested' to be an extra, over and over, for less and less pay each time. Remember what Chris Rock said about minimum wage ("If I _could_ pay you less, I would")? The same premise holds for any exchange between an impersonal employer and a faceless employee. AFTRA's trying to give you a face.

I'm in a public sector union, and a co-worker's spouse has a job with an employer where most of the staff are union, and he's not, and no one knows that he's not. He gets a lot of work on the side, but he also gets a lot of crap jobs that no one wants, and he can't turn them down, because they'll find someone else who WILL do them, for a cheaper rate. She complains to me all the time about how the boss treats him, and, quietly, I'll ask her if the boss treats the union guys the same way. "No," she'll reply, thinking. In truth, she thinks he should join, but they've gone so far down this road that to admit that he'd never been a member would cause real problems in the workplace. I never told her, but I think that if he went to the shop steward and said, "I now know why unions exist, and I'd like to join," they'd have him in a heartbeat.