This isn’t because Burger King is nicer in Denmark. It’s the law, and the US is actually the only so-called “developed” country that doesn’t mandate jobs provide a minimum amount of paid vacation, sick leave, or both.
kinda debunks that claim that they can’t afford to pay their workers those sort of wages and still make a profit
Its corporate greed, plain and simple.
It is the same in Sweden. It is so funny every time an american company opens up offices here and then tries to do it the american way and all the unions go “I don’t think so”.
They refused to sign on to the union deals that govern such things as pay/pension and vacation in Sweden. Most of our rights are not mandated by law (we don’t have a minimum wage for example) but are made in voluntary agreements between the unions and the companies.
But they refused, saying that they had never negotiated with any unions anywhere else in the world and weren’t planning to do it in Sweden either.
Of course a lot of people thought it was useless fighting against an international giant, but Handels (the store worker’s union) said that they could not budge, because that might mean that the whole Swedish model might crumble. So they went on strike in the three stores that the company had opened so far.
Cue a shitstorm from the press, and from right wing politicians. But the members were all for it, and other unions started doing sympathy actions. The teamsters refused to deliver goods to their stores, the financial unions blockaded all economical transactions regarding Toys ‘r Us and the strike got strong international support as well, especially in the US.
In the end, Toys ‘r Us caved in, signed the union deal, and thus their employees got the same treatment as Swedish store workers everywhere.
The right to be treated as bloody human beings and not disposable cogs in a machine.
and that story right there? is exactly why Republicans in the US work so hard to bust unions. it’s because unionizing WORKS and they’re terrified of workers actually having some power.
Please help raise awareness about a serious illness that hides in plain sight
My name is Ang. If you’ve been following my story then I’m sure you’ve heard about this, but I’ve come down with a chronic illness. I have severe-spectrum MECFS. Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, or cruelly called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which downplays how much of a devastating, horribly disabling and terrifying disease this is.
It is an illness that affects millions, leaving a good portion of us housebound or bedbound, some so sick they are paralyzed and need to be tubefed and others die from the illness or complications.
I’ve been bedbound almost 3 months now since my illness has been progressing (which is nothing compared to how quickly it can become years), so sick some days I cant lift a spoon to feed myself, talk, or tolerate light and sound. I can’t draw anymore which was my passion in life as an artist, let alone take care of myself. I can’t even tolerate watching TV or play games most days to distract myself from the trauma caused by being confined to a bed in this sort of agony.
I got ill like this after getting the flu in January, and it’s been downhill from there as I started having bizarre neurological symptoms and collapsing episodes where I was unable to move, the energy draining from my body as the days went on until I needed a cane to walk, then a walker, then I was housebound with a wheelchair, and now I am bedbound and the severity steadily worsens with no let up so far despite doing everything I can to stop or slow the progression.
It is a level of sickness that is overwhelming me and my life is uncertain, but it’s looking grim from this point. I’m in severe pain constantly, on top of having horrible dysfunction in every other part of my body. I’ve only been steadily declining.
I lost my entire life right as it felt like it was starting. I was an artist working my dream job at Cartoon Network, and now I may never be able to return to the animation industry or live out my dreams of telling the stories I wanted.
The worst part is this illness could have been treatable by now! But it’s not, due to a deliberate choice of abuse and neglect by medical institutions. Most doctors aren’t trained to treat or diagnose M.E. and it gets practically no funding. Most sufferers are told it’s all in our heads (wrongfully diagnosed with conversion disorder or functional neurological disorder) even with evidence coming out that it’s a physical neurological disease and the only treatment we are given is get told to take anti-depressants, see a therapist, and exercise (despite exertion intolerance being the hallmark symptom and dangerous).
So the only way people like me have any hope of getting better is if we get a surge in awareness and understanding, and hope it leads to more funding and research. With decades of neglect and lives lost, this can’t go on.
At first I asked for donations when I was trying to figure out what was happening to my body as I threw money at doctors appointments begging for help only to get turned away and given no help, dwindling away my savings from when I used to work. And while donations were loved and helped significantly in my financial situation, it will not give me access to effective treatments if they don’t exist.
That is why I am asking you to help spread awareness. Please educate yourselves and donate if you can to organizations that research M.E.
People like me are suffering with a monster illness as debilitating as late-stage AIDS or cancer, hopelessly sick and dying with little help and living in severe medical neglect. I can’t even get a caregiver which I need now because my family can’t care for me longterm, all because my illness isn’t taken seriously by health insurance companies!
We need help. People with M.E. need help so bad because a lot of us are even too sick to advocate for ourselves.
If you want to know more there’s a wonderful documentary on Netflix made by M.E. sufferer, Jennifer Brea called Unrest (2017). Please give it a watch.
Please share this. I am one of the #millionsmissing and while I have not been suffering with M.E. for very long compared to others, the trauma and destruction this illness brings is great and no one should have to go through this. I would not wish this suffering upon even my enemies.
We need awareness. We need advocacy. We need understanding. We need funding. We need diagnostic markers. We need research. We need effective treatments and hopefully one day a cure.
I may never have my old life back, and I don’t want anyone else to keep suffering the way I have since I’ve gotten sick. The pain is indescribable. I want one day for someone to get sick like I and others have, only to learn they can be diagnosed and effectively treated or cured.
Please help bring our stories to light. Please help save our lives.
Thank you.
I also want to add that sites like Mayoclinic and Wikipedia do a horrible job at giving accurate, up-to-date information about M.E. Most of it doesn’t remotely cover the extent, symptoms or severity of the illness, and lists harmful and outdated treatment options.
If you want to understand M.E better I reccommend ME-pedia.
Ang is very strong and I recommend reading up on this illness and checking out the information you can. The healthcare system is treating a whole group of people like trash and it isn’t right at all, as much attention as can be brought to the matter would help immensely!
The man holding this #BlackLivesMatter sign is Richmond (CA) police chief Chris Magnus, whose department has not lost an officer or killed a citizen since 2007, the year after he took over. This is not an accident, this peacefulness is the direct result of his leadership. Police departments across the country should be looking to his department as an example to be followed.
‘Chief Magnus changed the department from one that focused on “impact teams” of officers who roamed rough neighborhoods looking to make arrests to one that required all officers to adopt a “community policing” model, which emphasizes relationship building.
“We had generations of families raised to hate and fear the Richmond police, and a lot of that was the result of our style of policing in the past. It took us a long time to turn that around, and we’re seeing the fruits of that now. There is a mutual respect now, and some mutual compassion.”’
They also do regular officer trainings with roleplay scenarios and airsoft guns to teach them how to de-escalate, how to avoid firing when fired upon, and how to deal with people with weapons in a way that doesn’t end with a shootout.
They also apparently go through the details of officer-involved shootings elsewhere, picking them apart and using them as teaching tools for what NOT to do or what the officer could have done to avoid shooting the person.
Essentially, they take a proactive approach to not shooting people and put time, money, and effort into it. Richmond isn’t a low-crime area. Other cities could follow their model and almost certainly see results.
Who’d have thought it would take so much work to learn how to just … NOT shoot people
These are the sort of police officers who deserve respect. The ones who take the time to build a relationship with the community they’re supposed to be protecting, and work to actually protect people instead of just shooting anyone who looked scary.
In before anyone tries to say that the only reason this works is because Richmond is probably like “not as bad” as other places in the US
A soulmate AU where you have a black stain where your soulmate is supposed to touch you for the first time and it turns to millions of colors once they do.
Like, so many people with their right palms all black, waiting for that one handshake.
People who have black knuckles who are scared for years that they end up punching their soulmate or something and end up coming home with their knuckles turned all shades of red and blue and purple without them noticing because sometimes your hands just brush together.
Someone having a very visible black palm on their cheek that they try to cover up because people will just know they will be slapped one day.
Just
consider the possibilities.
a handprint on your upper arm that bursts into colors during a fight you’re having with a close friend because you tried to walk away and they grabbed you–you never noticed that you never touched them until right now
twin handprints on your chest because your soulmate happens to be the paramedic who steps in to give you chest compressions that one time you almost died
a handprint on your palm but it’s not upside down like a handshake would be, you’re puzzled until you give someone a high five and the colors appear
someone you just met brushes a leaf off your shirt–RIGHT WHERE YOUR HANDPRINT IS YOU ALWAYS WONDERED WHY IT WAS ON YOUR PEC
I actually love this one a lot
Someone who is born with no mark at all–what a tragedy! But one day, a dear friend offers to braid their hair. They’re not even half done before they gasp and let it drop–their black palms and fingers are afire with color–
–and so is the half-done plait, bright against solid black hair.
rip tumblr 