Outsourcing "outrage"
A union, outraged over the fact that non-union workers were being used in the construction of a Washington office building decided to protest and picket.
But, uh, it was just too hard or too much of a hassle to have real union people do it, so they hired some non-union unemployed at minimum wage instead:
"For a lot of our members, it’s really difficult to have them come out, either because of parking or something else," explains Vincente Garcia, a union representative who is supervising the picketing.
So instead, the union hires unemployed people at the minimum wage—$8.25 an hour—to walk picket lines.
Which I’m sure has the developer and non-union workers in the building just quaking in their boots.
The article goes on to say that a lot of protest groups and advocacy groups have hit a bonanza with the unemployed. They can hire them for peanuts (min. wage) and swell their groups and pad their numbers in public.
For the unemployed? Well, I’m sure any little bit does help, of course. And it sure beats standing on street corners waving “we buy gold” signs – I guess.
But keep that in mind the next time numbers are quoted at a protest or rally for something.
~McQ