839 saved my life

For the record... I have nothing against 839 or the members. 839 saved my life. I had a bicycle accident in 2002 and need reconstructive surgery on my knee. It took me two years to make arrangements for knee surgery, and I hobbled around on a broken knee while I figured out what to do. Finally I got surgery and the Animation Guild 839 paid for the entire bill of $10,000. and this was more than nine months after I got laid off from Warner Brothers. This was above and beyond the call of duty and I am forever indebted to the Animation Guild and the Union movement for workers. If I could get a Union job in VFX I would take a cut in pay, just to be a Union member again. Unfortunately those jobs do not exist in the USA any more. The USA has the lowest rate of Union membership of any industrialized country, or almost any country in the world. Only 15% of the civilian work force is Unionized, whereas in some European countries and Japan almost 60% of the work force is Unionized and Union Representatives sit on the board of directors of major corporations. Those countries ALL have a better standard of living than the USA. Vote Union. Go 839.