In some states, you can collect unemployment (due to your wisdom in having elected representatives who have your best interests, the working class's interests, in mind).
In some Union Locals, you have a strike fund (again, due to your wisdom in electing officials with your best interests in mind).
And, sometimes, 401k-wise, there's more than simply a loan that you can avail yourself to during tough patches. See if your needs can be accommodated through talking with your 401k administrator. For instance, there's sometimes the option of rolling post-taxed 401k savings into an IRA, freeing up some of those funds with a zero tax liability implication. Set up an appointment with your fund administrator to see the full array of options that are available and at your disposal.
Also, there's always the opportunity of picking up other work to tide you over until this ends.
Whatever it takes, do it.
We've been through this before.
It's nothing new.
And we've always come out on the other side okay.
There's NEVER EVER been any compelling need for a union member to cross, and to undermine their brothers and sisters, their fellow Americans.
Don't believe the naysayers.
Don't believe the false hype.
It's the very same propaganda each and every strike, so why believe it now?
Stop buying into, and foolishly falling for, the BS propaganda that the minions, the shills, are inundating social media with.
They think that, by virtue of the same guy or gal typing something over and over again, it's going to somehow eventually gain traction, that it will somehow be lent some sort of legitimacy.
Ain't gonna happen!
Continue to do the right thing by those brothers and sisters expecting nothing less.
Hold the line.
Stand up for yourselves.
If you fail to do so now, when will the opportunity to do so ever present itself so readily again, and with the hope of doing any better in the future?
People thought the lowly colonists were crazy in bucking the overwhelming might of British imperialistic rule in the 1770's, when the boot of that English imperialism was placed firmly upon their collective necks.
Did they believe the hype then?
Did they cower?
HECK NO!!!
They threw the tea into the sea, and cast off the shackles of oppression, despite their supposed military superiority.
Some of us are the descendants of those very people, and possess that same fighting spirit.
We know when we're being hoodwinked, and taken advantage of.
There is an attempt afoot to once again push the working class into an unfair and subservient role by powerful monied forces (i.e., The Koch Brothers - quite reminiscent of the Duke Brothers in Trading Places :lol: ).
We deserve better.
We built this place, and a great deal of the profits derived from within it, through a lifetime's worth of toil, in all sorts of weather, in all hours of the day and night.
Promises were made when we were young. They told us, while we were never going to get rich at this job, there would nonetheless be light at the end of our difficult journey, once we put in our 30 years.
Now, when we've lived up to our end of the bargain and, now, when our bodies are spent due to our dedication and, now, when it's too late to change course and start over from scratch, some greedy interests suddenly want to pull the protection of our hard earned nest egg out from under us?
Come on!
And, for what? To feather ones own nest, sew a golden parachute, or to add a few pennies to a quarterly report so that we please our Wall Street handlers?
I have no problem whatsoever with investors being rewarded, but lets remember how those profits were derived - off of our backs, through years of sweat equity, and over the span of a lifetime's worth of toiling. Same goes for all further up the food chain. I don't begrudge them a thing, and wish they felt the same of my lengthy contribution.
Let's, for a change, take a moment to be fair and open.
The company makes a very tidy and comfortable profit, so why is it so ludicrous to expect, to have a reasonable expectation, that this pie be divvied up more equitably?
Why is it so outlandish to believe that this pie, the pie that's been baked via the fruits of our collective efforts,
that this pie which has been cooking over the course of our spent youths,
and throughout the span of immeasurable hours away from our families and from the good things in life, missed moments that can never be recaptured,
that this pie cannot be shared?
Why do we find ourselves, the chefs, the producers of this pie, left with merely the crumbs, while others gluttonously gobble up more than their fair share at our expense?
And why is it presented, spun, as being so ludicrous that we should feel, after all these years, that we're owed some small measure of equitable and fair treatment?
After all, that is just.
That is moral.
That's the way it should be.
We all spent our entire adult lives erecting the foundation that built this juggernaut. There was a time I lived comfortably enough and life was good. I worked hard and, in return, I didn't have to worry about bills and making ends meet. I was able to enjoy a family vacation once a year to unwind. Life was fun. We weren't rich, but we were okay. However, for years now, the squeeze has been on. Bills have mounted, and a lot of expenses have been heaped upon me. Nothing's changed in terms of a new house or car. I still live in the same old house, and the car's on its last leg. The spouse still works. It's just harder to afford stuff now. Everything's outpacing my salary and raises not only have not kept up, increased expenses have further negated any plusses. It's now drudgery with little upside. It seems important we do our best to change this and get back on course. Life is supposed to get easier economically as time went on, not worse. Now, at this point, life's little pleasures are becoming out of reach, and necessities are coming on borrowed money.
So, if you happen to find yourself down in the dumps and having doubts after having been bombarded with endless false propaganda designed to undercut your self worth and dignity, please, please stand up for yourselves and realize your worth.
Maintain your dignity in the face of the naysayers, the uninformed that take jabs at you, attempt to undermine you, to crucify you.
Don't cross this, or any, picket line.
To do so is to sell out those brothers and sisters who are doing the right thing, fighting the good fight, standing firm in continuing to fight for you and against our collective demise, the annihilation of the middle class, and for our children's future.
Hold your head high, follow your conscious, and do what you know to be right, for you, your kids, and the future of America.
Last edited by banshee on Wed May 11, 2016 6:29 am, edited 3 times in total.
banshee
CEO