[ale] ALE booth at LISA

[Mike Murphy]

To be intellectually honest: they aren't charging $30 because they are 
union. They are charging $30 because that's what's specified in their 
collective bargaining agreement. They have a CBA because they are 
organized.

I know that seems like an immaterial distinction, but the alternative is 
this: without the CBA between GWCC and whichever union it is (I'm 
guessing United Service Workers of America, which is affiliated with the 
Teamsters, but I could be wrong), there would be little to stop GWCC 
from employing a bunch of dudes, with greencards or US citizenship, of 
course (wink-nod), willing to do it for minimum wage. IMHO, that's 
little different that offshoring a call center; a practice that has 
generated much indignation on this list in the past.

Why can't you wheel it in yourself you ask? Well, because you might be 
just a private individual wheeling your own stuff in, or you could be 
part of a concerted effort on the part of the management to break the 
union (in violation of federal law).

At any rate, I'm not trying to pick a fight about whether not unions 
have their place or not in today's society (so lets not start a flame 
war here), but I know that if the educational oppurtunity lottery had 
worked out differently, and I made my living carrying heavy stuff for 
someone else, I know I'd enjoy the protections of a CBA like the one in 
place at GWCC.

At any rate, I'll be at LISA on my employer's tab Wednesday, Thursday 
and Friday. I'll try to stop by the ALE booth, and maybe bring along 
some of my Linux minded co-workers.

Mike




Geoffrey wrote:
> Jerald Sheets wrote:
> 
>> Am I to understand it will cost us $30 just to bring our laptop with
>> us?
> 
> 
> No, if you carry it in yourself, there's no charge.  The way it works 
> is, you can't bring anything in on wheels, thus you either carry it in 
> yourself (for free) or you pay the union folks $30 per box.  I didn't 
> bother to check into the prices of anything else.  To me, that's just 
> bloody robbery.
> 
> I plan to carry in my laptop, a 20" monitor, a box of cables and another 
> computer.  Obviously it will take me more than one trip.
> 


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Mike Murphy
781 Inman Mews Drive Atlanta GA 30307
Landline: 404-653-1070
Mobile: 404-545-6234
Email: mike at tyderia.net
AIM: mmichael453
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