Word: plumbers
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...moment, the plumber's Local 12 and the Master Plumbers Association of Greater Boston stand far apart in their rancorous negotiations. Paul J. Madden, business manager for the plumbers, blasted the association for being inconsiderate of workers' rights. "We insist we be allowed to have stewards on the job," he says. But according to the associate director of the Plumbers Association, the steward issue is "merely political"--the real issue is the management of fringe benefits. Meanwhile, Thomas A. Sullivan, the group's associate director, accuses the union of trying to "cloud our offers," adding "we're ready to settle...
...provided the medium of exchange is not the zloty but the dollar, the deutsche mark or outright barter. Waiting time to buy a Polish-built Fiat can be shortened from four years to a few weeks if payment is made in dollars rather than zloty. The plumber, whose services are normally difficult to obtain, comes immediately if the bill is paid with a pair of nylon hosiery. Hard-to-get meats like veal are available, at six times the official price; wealthy nightclub patrons in Warsaw are occasionally pounced on by flashers who pull open their coats to offer...
...director of the African Institute of the Soviet Academy of Sciences in 1976. Influence peddling-called blat in Russian-prevails at all levels of Soviet society, from the Kremlin down to the local butcher, who can set aside a choice cut of beef for a friend or perhaps his plumber-who will then come and fix his leaking pipes...
...Soviets call it living na levo-"on the left." At its simplest, it is nothing more than passing on to the local butcher tickets for a popular soccer game or concert in return for a good cut of meat; tipping off the plumber about a shipment of shoes that is due to arrive in a shop as payment for fixing a leaking pipe; or holding down a second job as a furniture mover or apartment painter. Na levo can and does, however, also extend to smuggling consumer goods in from the West, running a hidden factory, stealing state-owned materials...
...Coca-Cola Heiress Frances Woodruff of Atlanta is said to be the oldest woman ever to ride and fly a hang glider. In Pampa, Texas, Plumber Ronnie Farmer, 29, ate 100 hot jalapeno peppers in 15 minutes, destroying the previous record (94 in 111 minutes) and probably his innards as well. In Japan, Hideaki Tomoyori has learned to carry the mathematical formulation pi (3.141 etc.) to 20,000 places, putting to shame his own earlier record of 15,151 places...