Why the unions hate the netroots

So I've done some crack reporting and figured out why it's so damn hard to plug in a computer here at YearlyKos. The problem is these nefarious unions. The McCormick Convention Center is, unsurprisingly, operated by a series of labor groups who, working hand in hand, rip apart the building and put it back together to fit the needs of whichever group happens to be renting space here. So for YearlyKos, the teamsters, and the plumbers, and the electricians all come in to haul partitions, and divert piping, and... lay wiring. One catch is, of course, that the more wiring you need, the more you have to pay. The other, less obvious catch, is that any wiring you try to do yourself--running extension chords and power strips across the room--might well violate your contract and cost you a big fine. So the result is a lot of dead laptop batteries. At a frickin' blogger convention. The netroots may be big and powerful, but they're not that big and powerful. So here's my counterintuitive scoop for the day: unions are single-handedly destroying the communicative power of the very people who are here to help unions have a stronger voice in politics.

Comments

[kristy sammis]

Hi Brian,

I'm the Conference organizer for BlogHer. Our 800+ blogger event happened just last weekend at the Navy Pier in Chicago.

We had the same issue.

Hard to create social change with a dead battery.

Thanks for sharing.

[kristy sammis]

Hi Brian,

I'm the Conference organizer for BlogHer. Our 800+ blogger event happened just last weekend at the Navy Pier in Chicago.

We had the same issue.

Hard to create social change with a dead battery.

Thanks for sharing.

[kristy sammis]

Hi Brian,

I'm the Conference organizer for BlogHer. Our 800+ blogger event happened just last weekend at the Navy Pier in Chicago.

We had the same issue.

Hard to create social change with a dead battery.

Thanks for sharing.

[kristy sammis]

...um, and I don't normally comment in triplicate. Sorry!

[Peter Pocock]

Brian --
The folks who run McCormick Center would love to have you pull your own cable. Then they could eliminate another well-paid electrician, who would no longer have time or money to support progressive candidates.

Unions don't hate the netroots; from the tone of your post, your part of the netroots has a problem with unions, or at least with understanding them. Those union electricians are trying to keep their jobs from being swept away in the race to the bottom -- and by lopsided majorities they're supporting progressive candidates who will help preserve and create good jobs.

Your beef really ought to be with the organizers who cut corners on wiring to save money. Yes, some of the money would disappear into the maw of corporate America, but some of it will get to the people doing the work. And they, in turn, can afford at least some small chunk of the American dream, because they have pooled their strength in a union.

[Aaron Erickson]

Um, Peter, don't you think this is a wee bit rediculous? I mean, this particular union rule at McCormick is one of the main anecdotes about how unions go to far. And given a lot of people have experience with this kind of thing - it makes that union look really, really, silly.

Plugging your own computer in isn't "running cable" any more than me putting up a poster in my house is "laying wallpaper". Give it up man!

[toddk]

Hey Pete I need a union plumber to come by my house and flush my toilet.

Who do I call?

Do I get a bulk discount if I'm eating Mexican?

[Tom]

I'm not sure I see how the union is to blame, here. Do they determine how many outlets are needed and where those outlets should be placed? I would expect that this would be primarily the job of the McCormick Place's convention coordinator. It sounds to me like the coordinated decided to cut corners in order to save money, or just didn't bother to determine their customer's needs.

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