Lets Give Stelco 1 billion dollars

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

why do men have nipples? I have no idea.

Oh, c'mon, there are at least half a dozen decent answers to that question.

[deranger]

but really, why do guys have nipples? will evolution ever slice them from our chests? And no, tweaking a male nipple doesn't count as a reason for having them.

[bradm]

Cecil Adams' answer is here.

Aloha,

Brad

[Alexis]

does marco make me laugh, yes he does.

do i talk to myself a lot...no i'm talking to my dog

was i an only child? yes

dos that answer your questions as to my asking questions and answering them? it should.

[Lazlo]

I really sympathise with you Steve. I'd be really bitter too if I spent all that time and money going to school to learn how to use a calculator. Get over yourself. You're nothing but a glorified secretary.

[Lazlo]

And men have nipples so they can practice for the big game.

[backbacon]

I agree with TimmyB and his stance on unions and also find it rather irritating and narrow minded the way "a bunch of "hippies" knock Unions."

There is nothing wrong (theoretically) with workers being able to stick up for themselves as opposed to getting bullied by a company who cares not a bit for the health and well-being of the folks who make the company work. That is not to say union workers could, in some cases, see a union as ultimate protection and an opportunity to take advantage of the company thorugh sub-standard performance, etc. I think I understand both sides of that argument. It seems anti-union folk only see one side.

As I understand it, when a union is introduced into a company, there is an agreement decided upon though negotiations with union and company. It is not a case of the union members deciding they will be paid $35/ hr and the company having to accept it. Large companies make a lot of money... to work on a line, etc. in an unhealthy environment takes it toll on the well-being of a human both physically and mentally. Not everyone can do it but everyone has the opportunity.

If someone is upset about someone else earning $35/ hr doing what they see to be a mindless job that deserves to be earning $5, then quit the cushy office job and sign up for the big bucks! Not surprising, folks don't leave the comfy chair... they are more happy looking down on the line worker and complaing about how greedy they are and how they are running the factory out of the country. Bottom line is, some people are willing to take the trade off of a soul-sucking job to make decent pay... others choose not to.

The company I work for just had a union brought in. The first thing brought about was the treatment of temporary workers. After 480 hrs service temps are basically supposed to be hired or fired, based on their performance. This practise did not take place... more often than not, very competent temp workers would be let go months after their 480 hours, only to have a new batch of temps brought in within a week. It is the company who is being greedy, saving $5/hr/employee by cycling through temps. About 20% of the workforce at the company I work for (could be off on that percentage) were temps who had far surpassed their 'probabtion' period, many over six months past their required hours. The newly introduced union got these good workers hired. This is just one small example of the advantage of a union. Workers need representation or else they will be ruthlessly walked all over.

About a year ago I made the move to the office side of things. I no longer feel like a zombie when I leave work. My quality of life has improved greatly. I took a considerable cut in pay but I don't regret it a bit. I now drive to work in the daylight and home in the daylight instead of the dark both ways. I look out a panoramic window now instead of not seeing outside for twelve straight hours. I don't resent the union workers (like 95% of management does) for wanting to be compensated for the hard work and long hours they put in day after day. They deserve every penny.

In a perfect world there would be no need for unions because there would be present a certain level of respect by the company for the workers. Honestly, in the 5 or so unionized factories I have worked at over the years, 95% of the union members are honest hard workers... just like the non-union companies I worked for.

[MamaPink]

my dad works at stelco.

I think the shittiest part about the whole situation is that he could lose his pension. He's been working there for over 20 years now.

[hamilton]

One of the reasons that Dofasco has managed to avoid a union forming in thier plant after all these years is because they were always generous with their workers. When Stelco would go on strike and get a 50-cent raise out of it, Dofasco would voluntarily give their workers a 45-cent raise. Once you subtract the money that unionized workers had to pay out in union dues, people are making the same money (without needing to strike in order to get it).

[Booche]

Hey, what happened to Tubes [color:purple]brilliant response where he says he applied to 5 industrial jobs?

[Jaimoe]

I like unions and I admire anyone who has the mental capability to do an assembly-line job. I'd last one day doing the same thing over and over on a line.

$35/hr isn't enough money for Stelco, Ford etc... workers as far as I'm concerned - especially given the health problems that go hand-in-hand with these jobs.

[MamaPink]

Secondtube - Do you honestly think it's an easy thing to work on a line? $35/hour may seem like a lot - but an hour feels like a DAY when you're doing that type of work.

Backbacon said it best... if you don't like it, do something about it. I'm getting so sick of people going to school and complaining about it. For crap sake, you chose that field... deal with it. It's really NOT that hard to get a factory job. It took me 2 weeks to get one through a temp agency. I worked my ass off there for a few months and they hired me on and eventually I was making really good cash.

Personally I am much happier now, making less money but doing something that I LOVE!

[secondtube]

MP and Booche, you have PM's.

[PalacePrincess]

why p/ms? this seems to be a lively discussion. why not keep it public. it's very interesting to see all these different viewpoints.

and saying "you have p/ms" in the heart of a public discussion is like standing on speakers corner with a megaphone yelling "I HAVE A SECRET, NAH NAH NAH NAH BOO BOO!"

men have nipples in case they turned out to be girls. the baby's sex isn't determined instantly (or something like that) so we all have the genetic material to eventually develop into either sex.

[secondtube]

PP, the thread was turning in a different direction, one that wasn't related to Stelco...so, rather than fuck up this thread, we kept er personal.

and i'm glad it was kept lively, i had to leave just after i posted it, and didn't read any of the responses until today...

[MamaPink]

why p/ms? this seems to be a lively discussion. why not keep it public. it's very interesting to see all these different viewpoints.

and saying "you have p/ms" in the heart of a public discussion is like standing on speakers corner with a megaphone yelling "I HAVE A SECRET, NAH NAH NAH NAH BOO BOO!"

men have nipples in case they turned out to be girls. the baby's sex isn't determined instantly (or something like that) so we all have the genetic material to eventually develop into either sex.

exactly my thought PP. Why the PMs? This is a discussion board. If you're not prepared to hear other people's opinions, then don't post your own thoughts.

And as for the nipples... that's pretty much it PP. We actually all start out as females!

[bradm]

PP, the thread was turning in a different direction, one that wasn't related to Stelco...so, rather than fuck up this thread, we kept er personal.

Another simple option would be to start a new (non-private) topic; indicating (in the topic's subject, or the first post) that it came from another topic is nice, but not necssary.

Aloha,

Brad

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

My $.02, fwiw:

There is a huge problem with a culture that vaunts higher education while there's an education industry whose primary concern is pulling in students and their (exorbitant) tuition just to spit them out on the other side. It would be hoped that the path would get a little easier in following advanced degrees, but the truth is that in a lot of fields there's an enormous glut of people with PhDs and no income, or income falling totally short of need or expectation. But then again, people go into life with all sorts of expectations that are likely to get spoiled by factors unforeseen, and the world is, after all, only getting weirder.

Having worked in both factories and classrooms, I see obvious appeal in both. I never used to wake up in a panic in the middle of the night thinking how I needed to tend to a punch press whose bursary deadline was coming due and whose midterm I needed to remark by 9 the next morning; I've wondered for a long time what life would be like if I didn't have a job that I could never put down outside of the "official workday" (I'll still be marking makeup exams from a course I ostensibly finished with back in August until the end of December, and I ain't getting a penny for it).

As for the union business, as a TA and a sessional instructor, I belonged to CUPE, and they worked hard to keep wages commensurate with what the best universities in Canada had to offer (not very well, but they did try), but when you work out the hours actually worked and not just what departmental guidelines had to say, the salary comes out looking pretty much like minimum wage. It was worse, by all accounts, before the union came along.

Damn good thing I do love the work, I figure.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

And I think we all start out as guppies.

[Lazlo]

And as for the nipples... that's pretty much it PP. We actually all start out as females!

Well, that explains why I lactate. Would anybody like cream?