Fox News Says Workers Who Don’t Like Michigan’s Anti-Union Bill ‘Can Get A Job Elsewhere’

Well, it just passed by Republicans. -- On Tuesday, Fox News threw its weight behind Michigan’s effort to allow union members to opt out of paying union dues, while benefiting from union contracts through so-called “right-to-work” legislation. The House and Senate are expected to pass the measures in light of overwhelming protests and union opposition and Gov. Rick Snyder (R-MI) pledged to sign it. Following a segment with State Sen. Arlan Meekhof (R), a supporter of the effort, anchor Gregg Jarrett joined in supporting “right-to-work” and suggested that union members who don’t feel comfortable working alongside employees who take advantage of union wages and benefits, but don’t pay into the organization, should quit and look for work elsewhere. Co-anchor Martha McCallum agreed, saying that unions could simply do a better job of attracting workers: McCALLUM: One woman, in a soundbite we had earlier, said ‘I don’t want to work somebody who doesn’t have to pay what I have to pay.’ That is part of the outrage there. JARRETT: I mean, if she doesn’t like that, she can go get a job elsewhere, I suppose. But the point here is, it seems anathema to democracy to force somebody to join a union, to force somebody as a condition of having a job to join a union. McCALLUM: And if they are doing a great job for people, then people will want to be part of it and they have that option as well. Watch it at link.

http%3A//thinkprogress.org/media/2012/12/11/1315561/fox-news-endorses-michigans-anti-union-bill-anchor-says-workers-who-dont-like-it-can-get-a-job-elsewhere/%3Fmobile%3Dnc



• 24th state to destroy unions.

• One has to wonder, how much longer the people that run the cameras and sound boards in their broadcast centers will put up with this stuff? They are all in a union as well.

• [quote]One has to wonder, how much longer the people that run the cameras and sound boards in their broadcast centers will put up with this stuff? They are all in a union as well. They have a closed shop mentality -- as long as they and their friends get theirs, nothing is wrong.

• They hate unions because unions back Democrats.

• The war continues.

• I'd like a clear answer on the following: One article I read stated that the unions would have to represent workers via collective bargaining even if they were not members and did not pay dues. Another article stated that if a member opts out of the union, once the existing contract is up, then they do not benefit from collective bargaining. TIA

• FoxNews is moving even farther to the right wing.

• [quote]FoxNews is moving even farther to the right wing. Oh, dear x2.

• 40 hour work weeks and weekend's off are because of unions.

• R6 The way I understand it, unrepresented employees get the same pay and benefits, but the union does not support them otherwise (discipline, grievances etc.)

• Hilarious when closed-shop SAG-AFTRA members with great pay, benefits, and defined pensions bash union workers. Sickies!

• I hope this comes back to bite the Rethugs. Many of the union members in the Midwest are white males. Who exactly is going to be left to vote Rethug when young people,gays, minorities, women and white male Union members all vote Democrat. RIP Rethuglican party. And take Fox news with you.

• Fox News reporter pounded by union protesters.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Ffeature%3Dplayer_embedded%26v%3Du_F3oev06i0

• Well, it's now law. Unionizing is a right in the United States. The Right likes to think it's some sort of privilege.

• Very Rich Very Old white man here. Union busting is very bad for our country. Unions have made this country great. There is huge value to our country to have strong, vibrant unions. America will rue the day they did this.

• R11, SAG-AFTRA is not even close to a closed shop.

• "Who exactly is going to be left to vote Rethug when young people,gays, minorities, women and white male Union members all vote Democrat." A better question is which party these people will blame after no more Republicans get elected.

• R15, Can you lend me $50k?

• We are in a recession. Why should people be forced to pay union dues for dubious benefits? All this bill does is allow more people to get back to work.

• R19 You think health insurance, sick days, and vacation time are dubious benefits?

• "All this bill does is allow more people to get back to work." You for got to add for less pay, with fewer protections and no leverage. That's the door this bill opened and you know it. So just stop. It's insulting to pretend that this is anything but a retaliatory play by the party that got trounced in the elections. It's their big "Oh, yeah? Well fuck you watch this." I'm still wondering why the middle class siege continues without any focus on the real villains: the c-suite and wall street.

• Unions are responsible for all the bullshit with airlines, and the postal service. Labor costs are killing so many industries. Most local and state governments are going nearly bankrupt due to demands from municipal labor. Finally people are saying ENOUGH ALREADY

• Unfortunately, they will. Because of the confluence of mad natural resources, world-class universities and the auto companies and attendant technology industries, some of the smartest and most talented people in the world live in the Detroit-Ann Arbor area. How many are going to be attracted to this place when both the standards of living and the pay are reduced to shit? Ever since the recessions of the 1970s we've been on our way to becoming an honorary Appalachian state, and now they've sealed the deal. Put it this way, if you had talents that were in demand and you had your choice between moving to New York, NY or Auburn Hills, Michigan, which would you choose?

• Union members are some of the worst wingnuts in the world. A lot of the people who voted for the teabaggers currently in control in Lansing were union workers. They just thought they were sticking it to the black and white trash, not to themselves. Have they got a surprise coming.

• A friend used to work at a Chrysler plant in Detroit. One day they had a wildcat strike. When a strike is called you get out of the building, NOW. A few guys tarried before leaving the building, were assumed to be less than fully cooperative with the strike, and were given a beat down by their coworkers. I think you're going to see some violence on the shop floor against people who think they can get a free ride. Some of the plants are pretty militant. President Obama actually won the tri-county Detroit area, including the normally Reagan Democrat Macomb County. Besides all the Koch stuff, this is partially payback from a lot of lame duck Republicans who lost in November. Snyder knows he's gone next election, which is why he reversed his position against the bill.

• Also, unions prevent employers from having a work force that is 90% part time in order to avoid benefits. Similarly, it prevents employers from having a workforce that is 90% independent contractors for the same reason. This is a good thing.

• "Labor costs are killing so many industries." You know what's really killing so many industries? Corporate greed by a handful of incompetent upper-tier managers who think its perfectly fine to make millions of dollars a year off the backs of workers whose wages continue to tank. That's right. Wages for the common have been stagnant for going on two decades. While executive and CEO salaries have SKYROCKETED. We are being sucked dry by a small, elite group of shortsighted sociopaths who couldn't give a flying fuck about the middle class (which is to their detriment in the big picture.) This country needs unions now more than ever.

• It's not anti-union. All it means is those who aren't happy with the union don't have to pay for it. Sure they get the benefits of a union package, but what it really does is keeps the unions from being corrupt. Overwhelmingly, people are saying their unions take money and do little for them. Monopolies are not a good thing

• r28, you're a naive asshole. That's Republican speak, ie, get rid of Roe v. Wade, and leave it up to the states. The Republicans in power in those states make abortion clinics impossible to open. Abortion then becomes illegal. This: [quote]All it means is those who aren't happy with the union don't have to pay for it. is no different. It's a smokescreen.

• [quote]Unions are responsible for all the bullshit with airlines, and the postal service. Labor costs are killing so many industries. Most local and state governments are going nearly bankrupt due to demands from municipal labor. Finally people are saying ENOUGH ALREADY F&F

• [quote]Union members are some of the worst wingnuts in the world. Spoken like a true wingnut. [quote]A friend used to work at a Chrysler plant in Detroit. One day they had a wildcat strike. When a strike is called you get out of the building, NOW. A few guys tarried before leaving the building, were assumed to be less than fully cooperative with the strike, and were given a beat down by their coworkers. And? [quote]You know what's really killing so many industries? Corporate greed by a handful of incompetent upper-tier managers who think its perfectly fine to make millions of dollars a year off the backs of workers whose wages continue to tank. This is why anyone on here bashing unions are our resident Freeper trolls. Shit on the worker, give to the rich. That's what this law is again helping to establish in the United States.

• [quote]Why should people be forced to pay union dues for dubious benefits? "dubious"???! Facepalm.

• R31 should take the dildo out if his ass and actually learn about what the fuck is really going on. Wisconson, and Michigan are just the beginning.

• R31, Perhaps I should have made it clearer, but I'm a lefty and not bashing unions. My point was that this isn't over, and there will be repercussions for people who think they can sponge off their dues-paying coworkers.

  R25

• "Unions are responsible for all the bullshit with airlines, and the postal service." Really? I didn't realize that the unions forced the USPS to pre-fund the healthcare costs of future retirees. I was under the impression Republican lawmakers did that.