Fighting Pirates: Done by Union Workers
By John Amato Friday Apr 17, 2009 4:00pmJust like with the miracle flight landing by America's No. 1 hero, Chesley B. Sullenberger, union workers helped save the day on that incredible experience, the crew of the Maersk Alabama are also proud union workers, as they describe the ordeal on the high seas.
The American crew members of the Maersk Alabama - a ship recently hijacked by Somali pirates - regained control of the ship. The seamen specifically cite their union membership as a reason for how they were able to beat the pirates.
In an interview with NBC, the ship's Third Engineer, John Cronan, said this about their efforts:
"We are American seamen. We are union members. We stuck together, we did our jobs. And that's how we did it."
Isn't it interesting how only the CNBC/FOX new crowd continually bash unions? Big business has their mouthpieces all lined up in a row -- but heaven forfend we should hear from working men and women.
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wallStreet/corporations want people to borrow to the middleclass NOT bargain. ceo/executives can make
400 times more than average tax payer but they don't want people to be empowered as a group to bargain/negotiate wages. seems capitalistic to me.
The truest American's are the American Union Workers! I can't stand when I hear people bash unions
n/t
Truest Canadians, too!
How about all of the Firefighters in the US. Alot of them are union also.
Soon to be unionized, its going to make a big difference to their lives.
Include police officers and teachers, who along with firefighters and other union workers mentioned here deserve our respect and appreciation.
Maybe we should throw some well paid CEOs on the boat and see how well they do against the Somali's. I wonder if they'd demand the taxpayer financed, socialist navy to back them up?
"Oh, you can't scare me, I'm stickin' to the Union, stickin' to the Union, stickin' to the Union..."
for the entire American workforce.
As a proud union member, I was elated to see this video. I was amazed that it was actually shown on national TV, the corporate media being what it is.
What? You imply that if they WEREN'T "union members" they wouldn't have done anything? What the hell has being in a union got to do with this anyway?
On the other hand, maybe if they had been Terrorists instead of pirates, these guys might have just said "Hey, I'm Union. My job description says I can only fight Pirates. You'll have to get somebody else who's a "Terrorist fighter" to do it. And by the way, when's coffee break?"
Perhaps you will learn to use your brain someday, although so far the evidence to the contrary is lacking.
Agreed
Not Necessary, it only adds to the debate that has no place for this incident.
Spoken like someone who enjoys working under his boss' desk.
for such a debate. The events that unfolded and how they got handled should not be placed into the limelight of being for or against unions. Period.
There are good people who work on both sides of that debate, using this incident as a peg in the argument does a disservice to our country.
You understand I was replying to him, not you, right?
His point would have been unobjectionable had he left out the "coffee-break" bullshit. Alas, he torpedoed his own argument with it, but at least I know what side of the "debate" he's on.
Now run along, Cap'n--your boss' knob ain't gonna polish itself!
Progressive site like C&L, this post has received little attention and some anti-union comments that are plainly out of touch with reality.
They are veterans when it comes to collecive struggle against their self-interests as a whole, and for the good of the middle class. They collectively reacted in differnt setting and they acknowleded that publically. Thats good enough for me, they were there, they experieced it, that's fact!
Faux noise and their ilk defend anything and all that is BAD for the Country.
Why did this event have to be turned into a another tool in the debate of for or against unions? So much for just simply enjoying a good moment for our United States.
so anti union.
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/liste...
and I'll always be proud of that. Some of the bravest men and women in our country's history were the union people who stood up to company greed. They made our lives more livable.
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