opinion of 'scabs'

[WalterMitty]

option 1 for me!

[A18]

Option 1. What great people!

[opebo]

They are self-destructive, but driven to it by desperation.

[John Dibble]

Super positive, but not because they are freedom fighters or anything like that. I have the utmost respect for anyone who is willing to work to earn their own way.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Negative

[Lunar]

It depends in the context of the situation.

[DanielX]

In general, option 2.

[Keystone Phil]

They are self-destructive, but driven to it by desperation.

No. They're clearly freedom fighters. 

[KEmperor]

Clearly positive.

[TheWildCard]

They are self-destructive, but driven to it by desperation.

No. They're clearly freedom fighters. 

Viva Le Revolution!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Joe Kakistocracy]

Generally positive.

[bullmoose88]

Positive.

I'm not ubercrazy about them just because you use them to break up strikes, but just with business, the more competition (in this case for work) is generally a good thing.

[Nym90]

Negative in general, though obviously it depends on the circumstances.

[dazzleman]

I'm not a huge fan of unions, though I think that under certain circumstances, they are a necessary evil.

Everything has a risk/reward to it, and strikes are not different.  Going on strike is a risk, and in order to maintain a balance, there has to be a potential downside, just as there is a potential upside.

I don't think it's wrong in a generic sense for a person to be a "scab."  If workers are not doing their job, companies have a right to bring in others to do it, and those people have a right to accept those job offers.

I have never belonged to a union or gone on strike, so it's hard for me to bring a personal perspective to this issue.  I imagine I wouldn't like scabs much if I were on strike and I thought the strike was fair.

[A18]

I would not allow any of my employees to be in a union.

[Nym90]

I'm not a huge fan of unions, though I think that under certain circumstances, they are a necessary evil.

Everything has a risk/reward to it, and strikes are not different. Going on strike is a risk, and in order to maintain a balance, there has to be a potential downside, just as there is a potential upside.

I don't think it's wrong in a generic sense for a person to be a "scab." If workers are not doing their job, companies have a right to bring in others to do it, and those people have a right to accept those job offers.

I have never belonged to a union or gone on strike, so it's hard for me to bring a personal perspective to this issue. I imagine I wouldn't like scabs much if I were on strike and I thought the strike was fair.

Yes, they definitely are a necessarily evil. In a perfect world, corporations would treat their employees well enough that there would be no need for unions.

But at the end of the day, workers have to have some line of defense against corporations that insist on overstepping their bounds. Workers and management need to be seen as equal partners in the functioning of any corporation, and neither should be seen as superior to or more important to the other. Both have a vital role to play. Unions are just an acknowledgement of the idea that workers have rights, and that management does not have the right to simply do whatever they want to.

So strikes are likewise a necessary evil, a last line of defense. Workers don't get paid while they are on strike, so I think there's already a pretty big potential risk there for the employees. Workers are more likely than management to be hurt personally by a strike, so it's silly to think that strikes occur on a whim, or some such, without there being something vital at stake for the workers.

[TomC]

I am a union member and have been involved in it in several ways- mainly through the local PAC, which I enjoyed because it got me involved in local politics, gave me the opportunity to vote on endorsements and donate fairly big money. On political issues, I am pretty in step with my union.

I am also my school's building rep for the rep assembly. This I pretty much do not like. Our meetings are filled with teachers who complain about mostly BS stuff that they should be able to solve themselves. They bring it up and somebody makes a motion to send it to "Professional Council" which means it will be discussed with the administration. (And everybody votes for it. Rarely do we have votes on these motions where there is dissent. Every once in a while I'd vote "no" just because the lack of dissent ticked me off. Then I stopped.) I believe administrators have a right and in fact a responsibility to take a role in the curriculum and instruction of a school.

Plus, I do not like a number of the people high up in the union's local leadership. Basically there are about 6-8 people who for the last ten or more years have just swapped leadership positions. If someone disagrees with them, they become a target of some pretty mean and dishonest crap.

Anyway, I'm for workers sticking together, but I am a dissenter who wants to be in a professional organization more than a traditional labor union. That is, I prefer we gain stature and "hand" by being hard working professionals, not whiners and bullies. Thus, I think if scabs can replace striking workers and management cannot see a discernable difference in the quality of the work, the striking union members have weakened their own position by being highly replacable. Their fault entirely.

[A18]

I am a union member

Wait until waltermitty sees this...

[Alcon]

I am apparently the only one who doesn't know what a "scab" is.

[Moooooo]

I am apparently the only one who doesn't know what a "scab" is.

Im with ya', but I didnt want to be the first ass to admit it. 

[A18]

I am apparently the only one who doesn't know what a "scab" is.

If you go on strike, and someone takes your job, you get to call him a 'scab.'

[TomC]

I am a union member

Wait until waltermitty sees this...

whatever...

A scab is a person who crosses the picket line while workers are striking...either an employee who doesn't honor the strike, or someone who is hired to replace the striking workers. Sometimes they are extremely mistreated, like bricks through car windows and crappy stuf like that.

[Nym90]

From dictionary.com--


1. A worker who refuses membership in a labor union.
2. An employee who works while others are on strike; a strikebreaker.
3. A person hired to replace a striking worker.

[A18]

I am a union member

Wait until waltermitty sees this...

whatever...

A scab is a person who crosses the picket line while workers are striking...either an employee who doesn't honor the strike, or someone who is hired to replace the striking workers. Sometimes they are extremely mistreated, like bricks through car windows and crappy stuf like that.

If I was governor of a state, I would crack down on those criminal thugs like they've never been cracked down on before. Which should be easy, as they've never been cracked down ob before.

Anyone who throws a brick gets shot. Anyone who inflicts serious physical damage upon a worker gets the death penalty by lethal injection the same day.

[TomC]

I would assume, "scab" comes from the notion that: You pick them off and it can be pretty bloody.