As i recall, Carrie Fisher didn't do much motivating in that scene...more just panicking and shrieking like a harpy.

I don't recall shrieking, but she sucks at climbing walls.

Some of recent history's more dismal economic times always seemed peppered by garbage strikes. I don't have any conclusions to draw from that, but what gives?

And I thought after the episode of "Undercover CEO" the top bannana of Waste Management had a change of heart and promised to have more empathy for his employees.

Silly me.

The whole "the company can afford to pay more" line may have some spin value, but it has zero leverage in negotiations.

I could afford to pay twice as much as I do for most consumer goods, but I don't because if a seller demanded that, I would just go to a cheaper seller. My employer could afford to pay me twice as much, but it doesn't because it could get someone else to do my job for less. You get paid as much as the next guy will do your job for, not as much as your counterparty can afford to pay. That fact and the line of scabs out the door comes down squarely on management's side in these negotiations.

So I predict that the union will cave, with perhaps some minimal concession from management to allow the union to save face. But I hope that the union strikes, gets locked out, and another public service job goes non-union, moving union penetration in the public sector inexorably closer to private sector levels.

Where is cleanscapes during all this? It would seem when you get half of the business as a trial, and the other vendor pooches it, you should have some leeway to take over the whole thing.

Any sourcing on the reduced pension benefits and reduced healthcare for retirees?

My prediction: Teamsters will cave if they know what is good for them. Waste Management would only be too happy to have a reason to hire replacement drivers at a reduced cost. If they insist on striking WM will hire the replacements, union will whine for a while and eventually all of these people will be on unemployment and unlikely to find a job that pays this well for unskilled labor ever again.

Dirty Jackass Jake, as regards scabs, when are you going to call Yoko at the Guild and organize this scab rag?

That Star Wars scene has irritated me for decades. If you watch closely, Carrie has her hands on the large beam even before the walls start to move. She totally blows the timing of the scene, but Lucas is such a schmuck director he probably never noticed. Sadly, this was the trio of actors that actually had life to them, compared to the prequel cast, and yet Lucas still managed to mangle their performance. Ugh.

And when will the Teamsters counter WM's PR campaign and put out the wage that workers with less than 5 years experience receive? All we've been hearing is some 74K nonsense, which is almost certainly reserved for long-timers. Hard to build public sympathy if people think someone with a GED is getting 74K per year for hauling garbage.