& don't forget that the BOC has their own "VIP Lane".

Again, it's a shame that this is a kid-friendly forum, as I've got numerous explanations of "VIP".

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& don't forget that the BOC has their own "VIP Lane".

Again, it's a shame that this is a kid-friendly forum, as I've got numerous explanations of "VIP".

These Olympics are an enforcement upon people against their will. It's occasions
like this that expose just what the elitist in high office truly think
about us mere mortals below...,."your there to be used".
And guess who else works on this philosophy?.... You've got it, "The union Barons"

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The Kite Fliers

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Kite fliers: An imaginary club of solo members, those who don't yet
belong to a formal team so "fly their own kites" - as the saying goes.

These Olympics are an enforcement upon people against their will.

That is a bit of a broad brush statement there. Some people are not in favour of the Olympics, but I think you will find that the majority of people are. Pernaaly I'm not into sports, I haven't applied for any tickets, and in any case I would get a better view on the TV. OK its not the same as the atmosphere of actually being there, but I have volunteered to marshall the Torch and cycling races when they come through my town, so I am playing my part in it.

I think that being chosen to host the Olympics is quite a feather in one's hat.
And, whether some are not in favor of it or not, it does pump a ton of money into their regional economy.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

These Olympics are an enforcement upon people against their will.

That is a bit of a broad brush statement there. Some people are not in favour of the Olympics, but I think you will find that the majority of people are. Pernaaly I'm not into sports, I haven't applied for any tickets, and in any case I would get a better view on the TV. OK its not the same as the atmosphere of actually being there, but I have volunteered to marshall the Torch and cycling races when they come through my town, so I am playing my part in it.

I think that being chosen to host the Olympics is quite a feather in one's hat.
And, whether some are not in favor of it or not, it does pump a ton of money into their regional economy.

Not sure Montreal would agree. 1976 Summer Olympics Legacy

I hope not. If this festers long enough, I can foresee another "Winter of Discontent" & those "Union Muppets" will then see even tighter legal restrictions which will not benefit their members, in fact, it could be the cause of reducing union membership even further.

They already realised this from the past by merging - carry on the way they're headed & merging won't help them at all.

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Tell that one to the Unions, where financial responsibility and business survivability is a low priority ...

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It's good to be back amongst friends and colleagues

Christ, I hope not. Don't want to go through all that crap & picket lines....didn't do it back then, but now, wouldn't hesitate...get in the way of me in a 44 tonner...

.....Ooops, sorry officer, my brakes failed!

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A goodly number of us remember the Union/Labour Government cosying "Beer and sandwich" sessions, and the total irresponsible Union activities during the whole of the 1970s.

I am sure we do not want a repeat of that, especially as it was the first shot Labour had, and succeeded, in wrecking the UK economy. In 2008/09 they succeeded again under that dour Chancellor then rubbish Prime Minister.

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It's good to be back amongst friends and colleagues

Are you talking about all unions or just the unions that if they go on a national strike it will cripple transportaion. Like trains, buses, taxi's and Airports, Dockyards and such?

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[/quote]

Old James

All unions at the time (1970s)

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It's good to be back amongst friends and colleagues

Ah to be a union head....

...definitely got to be the life of riley....

Scargill not done yet

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Ah to be a union head....

...definitely got to be the life of riley....

Scargill not done yet

A greedy example of the worst TU boss, and still not come to terms with his disastrous fight with the Government

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It's good to be back amongst friends and colleagues

My dad was a Conservative(UAW)Union member(oxymoron was lost on him)for 34 years. He loved the union but hated that members saw the rules as opportunities to screw off at work. He went to work and did a good days work every day.

interlude... He went to work one day and decided to do just as much work as the others were doing. He was met with a tongue lashing by the foreman. It seems the others were relying on his dilligence to cover their laziness. They counted the work in total not by the laborer. He made a point.

back to the action.
I see the unions job not to protect lazy workers but the positions the lazy workers hold. If you have a good for nothing laborer he should be shown the door not given raises for doing nothing more than showing up for work.

There are certain jobs in this world that need Union protection. Autoworkers probably are low on that list.

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In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.
Diogenes Of Sinope

Ive seen both sides of being in a union. The worlds largets air conditiong company that i worked for had a union. Im glad for that to. Management did evreything they could to twist the rules and make life miserable in the plant.

On the other hand Ive seen the union proetct a worhtless slug piece of crap worker who would take days off when they felt like it, didnt do ther job and did it badly to boot. If a guy dosnet want to work the union and the company should show his a-- to the door.

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[/quote]

Old James

Bob Crow on his soundbox again.....

Should Railways be re-nationalised?

IMV, no they shouldn't. I believe Dr Wellings has hit the nail on the head.

One cannot blame any private company for attempting to recover the high cost of the franchise with a bit of profit on top, it makes sound business sense.

Now for Bob Crow.....

"With the East Coast run efficiently and safely in public hands, and contributing hundreds of millions back to the Treasury and investing in services rather than private profits, the West Coast should be next with the rest to follow under one, single, publicly owned and integrated umbrella.

Bring back British Rail? As an alternative to the greed and chaos on our railways laid bare over the past week? You bet"

Huh? East Coast run efficiently? Really? I don't think so & secondly, stop lumping the state run East Coast Main Line as the East Coast - it is not, it's just one company using the track laid down between London Kings Cross & Edinburgh.

Since 1997 when it was privatised, we've had GNER, National Express, both lost the franchise due to financial difficulties experienced by their too high a bid for the franchise. It's now ECML & run via DfT in Whitehall.

There are several more companies that use that track which for East Anglia are FirstCaptialConnect(Gawd help me, a FirstGroup company) & Greater Anglia. Both these companies run a clean efficient & reliable service. Before them, it was National Express, who took over from WAGN (Another clean, reliable service).

Just think what good they could do for the region & indeed the country as a whole, if all the so called privatised railways were indeed privatised.

Bob Crow & his ilk already know this but are just scaremongering their members so that they can retain their perks within the unions.

So if anything like the current fiasco occurs on their watch, then & only then would a call for re-nationalisation be worth it as then, privatisation would be proven a failure.

A failure at the moment? No, that's the government throughout the railway industry still having their claws bolted securely to the tracks!

Edit: I personally haven't travelled on the WCML since British Rail days, but I'm pretty sure that something similar runs on that line.

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I would totally agree if in fact the railways were fully privatised, but they are not. The government hold the strings, while the companies are just franchisee's.

Make them fully private & then see. If the fiascos continue then re-nationalise.
I don't want to see the likes of Bob Crow, crowing his way to riches while holding the country to ransom. We had enough of that in the 60's & 70's.

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This is what happens when there are no unions. Walmart is very anti-union and will not allow them. This is the result:

Has Slave Labor Come to America?

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Reality Internet Personality

The average Walmart worker makes $8.81 an hour, $15,576 per year which is below the poverty line for a family of two or more and low enough a wage for even a household of one to qualify for public assistance and food stamps.

2010 UK National Minimum wage £6.19 hour ($9.90)
2010 UK Average wage £26,800
2010 Average weekly wage £500
2010 Average retail wage £300

But of course no-one pays the national minimum, people would stay on benefits. But retail work is traditionally badly paid as is catering. UK employment legislation says that workers may join a union if they wish and cant be sacked if they do.

They're the 2012 rates.

2011 = £6.08
2010 = £6.03

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This is what happens when there are no unions. Walmart is very anti-union and will not allow them. This is the result:

Has Slave Labor Come to America?

Who is their customer? Why does their customer like them?

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Thanks for the article Esme. Haven't shopped there in years as a protest for driving the Mom and Pop stores out of business.

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Pluto will always be a planet to me.

Seti Ambassador
Not to late to order an Anni Shirt