Unions

I just erased this whole thing by mistake.
Blah .. OK start over

There are strikes going on here all the time. So often in fact that it's become a bit of a joke in our city (Vancouver). People wonder who will be on strike when the 2010 winter Olympics are here.

Well last week something happened that made me wonder how its come to be that our government has so much control.

Last week the Hospital Employees Union went on strike here after being told a month ago that they would have to take a pay cut of 15%. I believe it was 2 days later that the government legislated them back to work. They now have the authority to fine the union, fire workers etc.

Well not only did the HEU workers not go back to work, now the CUPE (which is the largest union) started unplanned walk outs on Friday and say more will come next week. This could include school employees.

You can find the story here

Just wondering what everyone's opinions are on this.

I know our medical expenses in Canada are going through the roof, and our taxes are rather high and still, it doesn't seem to cover the expenses. But I also know that our government wastes money and that half those guys shouldn't be getting pensions until they're 65 when they were thrown out of power.

[Edited on 2-5-2004 by MessedUpAnnie]

[Edited on 2-5-2004 by MessedUpAnnie]

'catch 22' that is! Haha. Yea, ok. So they get their pay-checks cut. And they go on strike, because the cost of living is getting higher, not lower.

And so the gov. brings them all back, at the same time, they have less freedom than before and their jobs are now like fish amongst shark. Hm. Sound fair to you? Sound like there's some bullying going on around there.

I think the people have to fight as tough as the gov. is doing to them. They're gonna haf ta pass the hot potato in an effort so that the gov. ends up having to balance the power instead of monopolize it and abuse instead of use the labor industry, properly.

Stand up for your rights folks!

The link does not work and is truncated.

Ok I fixed it. Sorry about that.

Update -

Now they are saying that the schools could be closed tomorrow and that there may not be any public transit. This entire city is going to shut down, it's crazy!

Details

[Edited on 2-5-2004 by MessedUpAnnie]

OMG! The government has complete control.

Update

It seems no one cares about this so I'll shut up now.

[Edited on 2-5-2004 by MessedUpAnnie]

Originally posted by MessedUpAnnie
OMG! The government has complete control.

Update

It seems no one cares about this so I'll shut up now.

[Edited on 2-5-2004 by MessedUpAnnie]

because its not happening in america, thats why its not getting any attention. if it was happening in america then everyone would be up in arms over this.

i care but i'm not canadian. also looks like america isnt the only country with a bully for a government. but again, its not happening in america so noone cares. bush cant be blamed for this so it's being overlooked.

Hey, our federal Liberal government is doing a great job of getting right up there in the bully department.

I guess they didn't want George Bush to be the only one.

MUA, I'm trying to read your links but the last two aren't loading up correctly for me.

Unions are an odd thing.
I'm a big supporter of workers' rights and having an organization to back them,
but on the other hand, strikes and walkouts affect things so severely, especially when we're talking areas like public works or school personnel.

I think it's an unfortunate Catch-22 here ... the workers don't necessarily deserve such a huge wage slash, but vital services are being compromised. Everybody's losing in the end, even those who aren't involved.

-B.

i member the union trying to take over at this place i worked at, they camped the end of the parking lot an handed out flyers to anyone who would accept them to support there casue an get enough signatures of people interested so they could have a vote an try an be voted in at our plant, the people handing out flyers? you guessed it uinon gettin paid to hand out flyers to take over another plant i think there a cult. anyways this went on for so long i dunno the outcome becuz i left due to the pay bit'in big time.