Labor Unions are Now Filing Grievances against Goats

[Origanalist]

The union claims the goats have stolen jobs from its dues-paying members.

Brittany Hunter | July 13, 2017




A major union is rallying its supporters to battle the latest job-stealing enemy: goats.

The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the University of Michigan have had a well-established working relationship with each other for years. But this is largely because the labor union holds a contract with the school, barring it from hiring non-AFSCME members for various positions. Landscaping is among the many career fields supported by the union and is actually at the center of this latest controversy.

While the university has traditionally employed AFSCME landscapers to tend to the school’s outdoor grass-trimming needs during the summer, the school has —albeit on accident— gone a different route this season and union members are anything but pleased.

Blame It on the Livestock

Tasked with clearing poisonous brush and overgrown vegetation that is both extremely difficult for humans to remove and all the more plentiful in the summer months, the university decided to utilize goats to get the job done. Renting a team of 20 goats from local residents, the livestock were expected to complete the 15-acre clearing job before students returned to campus in the fall.


But the goats exceeded all expectations and instead of completing the job by the end of the summer, they fulfilled their task in a matter of weeks. Since the goats had been rented for the season and were still in the care of the university, they were allowed to graze on campus property after they had finished clearing the overgrowth. While this was not the campus’ original intent, this grazing allowed the goats to feed themselves while the university received a cost-effective lawn mowing service on campus. But not all parties saw this cheap labor as a win/win for the campus community.



Read more at: http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/a...-against-goats © IntellectualTakeout.org

[shakey1]

Release the komodo dragons.

[Zippyjuan]

[agitator]

Won't they still need laborers to clean up all the poop?

[Zippyjuan]

Won't they still need laborers to clean up all the poop?

Not necessarily. Plus it is organic fertilizer!

[tod evans]

Won't they still need laborers to clean up all the poop?

That's racist...


Seattle Councilman Objects to Hosing Excrement-Covered Sidewalks Because It’s Racist

https://heatst.com/culture-wars/seat...se-its-racist/

A Seattle councilman has come out against an effort to hose sidewalks to wash excrement off outside local courthouse, claiming it’s racist.

The area around the local Seattle courthouse, King County Superior Court, is known to include a shelter for homeless people and other social-services for the underprivileged people in the town.

But it also contributed towards creating an “unsanitary and potentially frightening” neighborhood “that reeks of urine and excrement”, The Seattle Times reported.

“When they come to this courthouse they’re afraid to come in,” said the county’s Sheriff John Urquhart after two jurors were assaulted near the courthouse. “They’re afraid to walk down Third Avenue because what they see.”

“There is public urination, defecation. That’s a crime,” he added when testifying on the courthouse safety on Tuesday. “There is smoking marijuana in public. That’s a crime.”

Two of the court’s judges are urging the local government to fix the environment in the area, asking the city to provide power-wash the excrement-covered sidewalks.

But one councilman objected to the proposal, suggesting washing sidewalks with water is a form of microaggression.

Councilmember Larry Gossett objected to the idea of power-washing the sidewalks in the troubled area because it brings back the images of police using hoses against civil-rights activists.

[Suzanimal]

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — A union has filed a grievance in response to Western Michigan University's hiring of goats to clear 15 acres (6.07 hectares) of woodland on campus.

Kathi Babbit is the chief steward of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees local union. Babbit wrote in a July newsletter that the grievance had been filed in relation to subcontracting and the unreported use of goats, the Kalamazoo Gazette (http://bit.ly/2vh1jhY ) reported.

The university hired the team of goats after a half-acre trial run last year. Officials of goat rental company Munchers on Hooves said the animal consumes 3 to 5 pounds (1.36 to 2.27 kilograms) of vegetation per day and leaves behind natural fertilizer.

University spokeswoman Cheryl Roland said she can't make a detailed comment about the union's decision because the university has a process underway for addressing the grievance. But she said that no school workers have been laid off by the goat project.

"This stuff is so thick," said Munchers co-owner Gina Fickle of the woodland. She said that human laborers can always come in to finish the work after the goats clear up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) above the ground.

"Goats aren't there taking work away from anybody, they're making it safer for people," Fickle said.

Roland said that the goats are a chemical-free option to clear areas that are problems for humans to remove. She also said the goats are a cost-effective way to get rid of poison ivy and invasive species.

University Horticulturist Nicholas Gooch said that the school hasn't received any complaints about the goats other than the union.

...

https://www.yahoo.com/news/grievance...200731372.html

[Natural Citizen]

Unreported use of goats. It figures it'd be something like that.

[Dr.3D]

Those goats have sure caused a lot of trouble.
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...-against-Goats

[Krugminator2]

Ron Paul's most notable donor had a similar idea to let goats roam in Detroit. The Detroit City Council preferred Detroit be a mess. https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/06...goats-packing/

[Origanalist]

Those goats have sure caused a lot of trouble.
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...-against-Goats

Muh goats. Suz copies me all the time.

[Origanalist]

That's racist...


Seattle Councilman Objects to Hosing Excrement-Covered Sidewalks Because It’s Racist

https://heatst.com/culture-wars/seat...se-its-racist/

A Seattle councilman has come out against an effort to hose sidewalks to wash excrement off outside local courthouse, claiming it’s racist.

The area around the local Seattle courthouse, King County Superior Court, is known to include a shelter for homeless people and other social-services for the underprivileged people in the town.

But it also contributed towards creating an “unsanitary and potentially frightening” neighborhood “that reeks of urine and excrement”, The Seattle Times reported.

“When they come to this courthouse they’re afraid to come in,” said the county’s Sheriff John Urquhart after two jurors were assaulted near the courthouse. “They’re afraid to walk down Third Avenue because what they see.”

“There is public urination, defecation. That’s a crime,” he added when testifying on the courthouse safety on Tuesday. “There is smoking marijuana in public. That’s a crime.”

Two of the court’s judges are urging the local government to fix the environment in the area, asking the city to provide power-wash the excrement-covered sidewalks.

But one councilman objected to the proposal, suggesting washing sidewalks with water is a form of microaggression.

Councilmember Larry Gossett objected to the idea of power-washing the sidewalks in the troubled area because it brings back the images of police using hoses against civil-rights activists.

I could have used that power washer last time I did a job in Sicattled. Stepped right in a pile of it getting out of my truck then had a crackhead smoking away ten feet from where I parked at 5:45 am. Lovely place that Sicattled. I make them pay a pretty high premium to get me into that $#@! hole.

[oyarde]

Only 15 acres . If the university of michigan is using any tax dollars then the students should be mowing it unpaid .

[Suzanimal]

Those goats have sure caused a lot of trouble.
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...-against-Goats

Muh goats. Suz copies me all the time.

[tod evans]

Only 15 acres . If the university of michigan is using any tax dollars then the students should be mowing it unpaid .

Das rasiss.

[Schifference]

Labor unions should require all work performed to be done only by the use of manual labor. No machines.

[Dr.3D]

[Brian4Liberty]

The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)

Public sector unions should not exist.

[Suzanimal]