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Why I’m Glad I Live In The Suburbs – Part XXIV

March 31st, 2006 at 10:27 am by Cranky

From the AP:

[Philadelphia's] hoped-for bragging rights as home of America’s tallest environmentally friendly building could go down the toilet.

In a city where organized labor is a force to be reckoned with, the plumbers union has been raising a stink about a developer’s plans to install 116 waterless, no-flush urinals in what will be Philadelphia’s biggest skyscraper.

Let’s be clear here. We’re talking about builders who want to install waterless urinals and having a group of plumbers saying, “no you can’t. You must flush lest it hurt our jobs.”

The city’s licensing department, whose approval is needed for waterless urinals, has not yet rendered a decision.

<cough, cough> bribe <cough, cough>

We’re WAY beyond protecting the American worker here. I understand the need for unions and to some extent support them. But what’s this?

Just look at my proud adopted city’s track record:

For years, convention groups were canceling bookings at the Pennsylvania Convention Center because of difficulties working with six unions. New rules were established in 2003 to allow convention groups to deal instead with a middleman, a labor supplier. A few months later, the electricians union temporarily shut off power and picketed the center in a dispute with the supplier.

In 2004, the MTV reality show “The Real World” briefly pulled up stakes after union workers, in a dispute over hiring practices, picketed the house the cast was to live in. The show’s producers and labor leaders eventually negotiated a deal to bring the show back.

There you have it. Everything that’s wrong with Philly. Entrenched power brokers who are so corrupt and self-interested that they don’t care about abstract concepts such as “the greater good”, “civil service” and “running a city”. (see also San Francisco).

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3 Responses to “Why I’m Glad I Live In The Suburbs – Part XXIV”

beautifulatrocities Says:
March 31st, 2006 at 3:00 pm
OK, i get the self-flushing thing, but what’s a no-flush no-water urinal? A litterbox?
Yiddish Steel Says:
March 31st, 2006 at 9:27 pm
Big Labor is still on the decline, despite what you say, Cranky. The last vestiges of Big Labor reside in places like Boston, NYC, Philly, Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, and Las Vegas. Here on the West Coast, they put Big Labor on display in the Smithonian in D.C.; it’s gone the way of the dodo.
Jack Says:
April 1st, 2006 at 11:21 am
The no-flush urinals are pretty nifty. They’re all over Fort Huachuca, AZ, to help deal with the limited water supply in the desert. They use a chemical in a “water trap” (much like the U in a sink’s drain) to keep the smell down. The body of the pisser is made from some ultra-slick plastic so almost all of the “deposits” go down the drain. So now you know more than you ever wanted to about emerging urinal technology.

Here’s my actual comment: It’s always interesting to see two leftist blocs – in this case, eco-freaks and organized labor – pitched against one another. I wonder what can be done to foster similar in-fighting?

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