Dans le message de
news:[email hidden],
Bill C <[email hidden]> a réfléchi, et puis a déclaré :
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:Bill C said:If they had any balls
I agree, but I can understand the pressure they're under. I had to
sign a loyalty oath, a remnant of the McCarthy era, when I started
working for a public university.
I can see your point, but where does it become intolerable for them?
Striking would be a huge risk, especially now. Pound and some of the
press and politicians have convinced large portions of the public that
every bicycle racer is a doping scumbag. It's pretty easy to
discriminate against and abuse any population once you convince the
general public they are scum.
Pretty typical historical political tactic.
Sandy, Benjo and others have pointed out numerous times that the
riders are really in a no win, weak situation and this is being taken
advantage of by everyone around them. The only way I see to begin to
change that is to make a fight out of this, form a good union, make
the case that they are the little guys being eaten up and thrown away
by the machine. Bring in other established labor leaders for advice
and support, play up the tiny salary for the massive number of hours
worked almost all of them actually make, etc...
There are two real risks that I can see, the first is it just kills
the sport off, or the UCI, organizers, and promoters go with scab
racers and blackball everyone who dared challenge them.
It's still getting paid, albeit like dogshit, to do something you
love and others consider a game so they have to decide just how much
abuse and exploitation they are willing to live with in this monopoly
before they fight it.
Very few easy decisions out here in real life.
Bill C
The really sad part - the missing sine qua non - is rider courage. Yes,
they get up and ride hurt ; they exceed their estimated potential ; they
obstinately ride beyond pain. But, they have virtually no courage as a
class when it comes to earning their living.
I have studied the UCI contract and how it conforms to European labor law.
Briefly, the parts most offensive to some of us are also in violation of
(generally) existing rules on employment. The short labor contract tries to
make the arrangement appear to be sub-contracting, yet the "employee"
obligations are patently present. If ever the riders association developed
into a strong union, the model UCI contract would be disembloweled in short
course.
That UCI contract _needs_ to be challenged and annulled, but the dreams of
many, if not all, riders dictate that they glimpse a chance of earning a ton
of money and glory in the short career of a pro racer. So long as they
harbor those illusions, some of which turn into reality, and prefer illusion
to courage, they are the losers.
Benjo, more than I, knows the history of racing, and I am sure can tell of
many men who looked to improve their lives by riding in support. They are
the reality of this sport. They, more than the stars, need real protection
from abuse by their bosses.
Not sponsor, nor teams, nor the UCI has a stake in doping, really. There
will always be some guys ready to turn pedals for cash. Regardless of its
being a spectacle more than a sport, it would be curious if the American
OSHA turned an eye to racing and the workplace environmental and procedural
damages inflicted (joke, please). If sponsors leave, and if riders don't
get princely wages, it is not the end of cycle racing. It could be the end
of serious money, however. And I don't really care if someone can't earn
millions in a year from this sport any more than I care about the earnings
of pop music stars. There is no automatic entitlement to riches.
--
Sandy
--
C'est le contraire du vélo, la bicyclette.
Une silhouette profilée mauve fluo dévale
à soixante-dix à l'heure : c'est du vélo.
Deux lycéennes côte à côte traversent
un pont à Bruges : c'est de la bicyclette.
-Delerm, P.
