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My roomie and best friend was the B.A. for the teamsters for many years,they even pleaded for him to run for president but he turned it down.I spent well over 22 years in the teamsters and another ten in other unions like the steelworkers and clac and lots I cant even remeber the names of.The first strike to use cc cams was here,ive seen people get murdered and have their houses burnt to the ground for crossing a picket line.My step dad was also working in the Giant mine in Yellowknife when a union brother killed a bunch of miners.

I have a good idea what their all about and how they work.

   

Quality of pay and life are not going up because of labour laws, because many companies have found a loophole around having to pay benefits and decent wages: the temp worker.



Unions and strikes won't be made illegal. In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled that unions have a right to strike.

As for the Ottawa transit strike, it is an example of a good union doing its job, even if it does leave people like me, who rely on public transit to get to work, buy groceries and visit family and friends, in the lurch, disgruntled and upset that I can't get anywhere without either walking for long periods of time, calling a cab, or relying on my dad to go on shopping sprees for things that I need. It is not the union's fault that this strike is happening, it is the fault of the people who did not vote in the last municipal election, and the minority of people who did vote that chose a crooked fucking idiot to be our mayor. If Alex Munter had been elected, it is very likely none of this would have happened. He knew how the city works, he knew how to run transit, he had been a city councillor for many years. Instead, we got "NO NEW TAXES" from a Lex Luthor look-alike, and this is how we're paying for it.

The union did not force this strike on its members. The members voted 98% in favour of striking, because the issue on the table affects how well they are able to do their job and still be able to spend time with their families. The mayor, through his brilliant clusterfuck "NO NEW TAXES" campaign, has had to scramble to find extra cash or face a large financial deficit that this city cannot afford, because that's what fucking happens when you don't raise taxes. In trying to find this money, instead of doing something reasonable like cutting down his own salary, chose to poke at sore spots with union members over a very thorny issue. In fact, it's the exact same issue that led to the last transit strike we had. The reason this strike has gone on for so long is because the mayor keeps giving the union the same offer and calling it something different.

   

That's hardly the reality of the transit strike. The union has put forth many different offers - the city has rejected them all. The city has put forth the same offer again and again, calling it different every time, even including bribes (a $2500 "productivity bonus" (read: take our money and get back to work) for every member), and will not budge. The blame for this strike lies squarely with Larry O'Brien and every one that voted for him.

Don't get me wrong, though, I'm not in favour of this strike at all. I think other methods of getting the mayor's attention could have been used, and instead the union resorted to action that has put at least 4,100 people out of a job because they no longer have any way to get to work. I now pay $120 a month to get to work myself, because my ride is charging his three passengers the equivelant of cash bus fare.

   

That's pretty much how my current job goes, and we're not unionised. In fact, if we were unionised, my workplace would probably cease to exist because it couldn't afford to pay its employees more than what it already does, and is actually doing just well enough to keep ahead in these apparently tough economic times.

   

Yup,the temp workers are like pawns or bargaining chips used by management.
But the union will still get the dues from each one so they dont care.

   

And you can bet if the unions could get their grubby paws on 'your co.' that they would move right in, squeeze all they could out of the people who started and own the company as well as the workers who have helped to build it and keep it going, ( that's YOU!), and then when the company went bankrupt,leaving you out of work, then they would and move on!!!

   

I think the point is that a lot of time was wasted because the union thought a lot of paperwork should be done and a lot of people paid to do work that originally was done willingly by one person for free outside of work hours. If you ask me, that's a waste of productivity.

   

First of all, a 14-year old can't make $10/hr, and second, you can't very reasonably live on much less than that. The minimum wage should have been $10/hr several years ago.

   

I totally agree with you. Not only is it a waste of productivity, it is a waste of money too. And then people ask why we import things from China?

   

The company I work for works hard to keep its workers employed, and does give very good benefits for those who stay longer than six months, as well as profit sharing for the most productive workers, and material incentives like mugs, shirts, sweaters, lunch bags, Sens tickets, etc. for those with the best attendance records. The work sucks, and we're often just on the edge of not having any, but the employees understand the company's financial situation because the owner is very down to earth and actually regularly tours the factory floor and talks with his employees (not just supervisors, but all employees).

Apparently a union rep once came in and tried to get some people to sign up, but no one would because they knew the company would go out of business the day that our shop became unionised.

But this is not necessarily the case for all unions and all workplaces. It really depends on the kind of job you do, and what kind of union you sign up with. Some unions are good, some are really terrible and even completely unnecessary. Some workplaces are really great and others deserve to be unionised (WalMart).

   

You actually sound quite level-headed. I mean that!

Let's take Walmart for example. I go apply for a job there. I have min of education and no job experience. 'Wallyworld' tells me, this is your job description and this is what it pays. Take it or leave it! I decide to take it. I mean, I don't exactly have employers beating down my door trying to hire me right!
What gives me the right to tell them 6 mos. later " Listen here buddy, this is how it goes now and this is how much your going to pay me now and, oh yah, you will now be giving me the following benefits"! ?

Low paying shitty jobs are a necessary evil. 'Justification for higher education'!

Didn't have a chance for a good education before? Your in Canada now. Get off your ass and get too it!

   

Yes, they are a necessary evil, but that does not mean that you should be at a disadvantage in your living conditions because you can't afford post-secondary education, which is more expensive now than it has ever been. And how should one pay for higher education if one is struggling just to feed and shelter oneself anyway?

WalMart is one of the richest companies in the world, and makes enough money every year to buy at least a couple of small countries, but for some reason still gives their employees the lowest pay they legally can and treats them like shit. In America, WalMart employees often do not even get benefits or make enough to pay into third-party medical insurance, and so they have to rely on public health care which, in the so-called Land of the Free, is a big no-no. It's actually not even that much of a stretch to put some of blame for this economic downturn on WalMart, because they take more out of the system than they give. They take peoples' skilled jobs and turn them into crap. They take peoples' livelihoods and throw them down the garbage disposal. They use Chinese slave labour to drive down prices and sell us all what is essentially trash before it's even out of the store. If WalMart were unionised tomorrow, a great deal of this would be fixed, and might actually even make the company a respectable, productive member of the economy. Instead, they waste resources and reap all of the profits for themselves.

   

A main role of unions is to keep managment in check. I work for small business and some of the managment is abusive - fire people for small infractions. In small business firing a person is the discipline of choice. In many instances unions can't demand higher wages because of competition restraints but they can prevent this managment abuse. That's what they are there for.

   

Where is it written that someone going into business is obligated to 'spread the wealth'? Walmart employs a lot of people who otherwise may not be employable. No one is forced to work anywhere. As in my line of work, some contractors pay less than others for the exact same work. No one forces me to take the work. I'm free to go somewhere else! If I so choose to 'spread the wealth then that is 'my choice'. People rarely get into business so that they can become a 'social safety net'. I know I didn't. I'm a capatalist and damn proud of it. I put in the 'start-up funds' took the risk, worked longer and harder than anyone else. I reap the lions share of the benefits. Along the way I employed and trained many people. I was very clear about what I expected them to do. I was very clear about how much they would be paid. Take it or leave it!

No one is forced to patronize any business. If people quit buying what Walmart is selling, they'll change. If no one will work for the wages they offer, they'll change. No one has the right to go ask another to give them a job and then turn around and extort them!

   

C'MON stop making sense, Jeeze some people.

   

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