SaskPower workers 1st union to reject 3.5% wage cut
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon ... -1.4391451
$1:
Members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers voted 80 per cent against accepting a contract that would lower their overall compensation by 3.5 per cent, followed by three years with no wage increases.
Earlier this year, Saskatchewan's finance minister said compensation for public sector workers would be cut in order to balance the provincial budget.
That will definitely mean lay offs then. It's coming for us too, and cut backs have already come into play with the elimination of the Northern Games for kids and elimination of staff positions in resource and LNC.
Crazy that the government can't just raise taxes to pay for public employees. 
BartSimpson BartSimpson:
Crazy that the government can't just raise taxes to pay for public employees.

I’ll bet that’s not the issue at all. I’ll bet the employees are expected to take a pay cut to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy and executive raises.
herbie @ Tue Nov 07, 2017 6:01 pm
Dog Bites Man
details at 11:00
rickc @ Tue Nov 07, 2017 6:08 pm
I dont blame I.B.E.W. That is dangerous work. Lets see some of these government bureaucrats go out in a blizzard at 2:00 AM to restore power.
http://www.glassdoor.ca/Salary/Internat ... irect=true
I find it hard to feel sorry for people who make a minimum of $35.00/hr. Most of us could be so lucky. They are already well compensated for their work, and receive awesome pensions and other perks most of us could already dream about. So they don't get an increase for three years. If I was making as much as them, I wouldn't be crabbing.
Unions needs to learn that there is only so much money out there. Unions used to be about protecting their workers and wanting better standards. Now, they just want all thee $$$$ they can get their hands on, so they can use it to accumulate power and manipulate.
Unions = obsolete.
-J.
$1:
I find it hard to feel sorry for people who make a minimum of $35.00/hr. Most of us could be so lucky. They are already well compensated for their work, and receive awesome pensions and other perks most of us could already dream about.
Maybe you should have gotten some post secondary education, or a decent trade.
Thanos @ Tue Nov 07, 2017 6:44 pm
rickc rickc:
I dont blame I.B.E.W. That is dangerous work. Lets see some of these government bureaucrats go out in a blizzard at 2:00 AM to restore power.
Yup. The Sask govt is just taking advantage of the oil recession to take it out on the union guys, even the ones that actually do keep the place running. Pretty lame, but Austerity Hero is one of the lamest political games of all time. Yes to no new raises for a couple of years but a huge no to any wage cutbacks, not even if the dope politicians do the publicity stunt of taking a small one themselves first.
CDN_PATRIOT CDN_PATRIOT:
http://www.glassdoor.ca/Salary/International-Brotherhood-of-Electrical-Workers-Salaries-E31245.htm?countryRedirect=true
I find it hard to feel sorry for people who make a minimum of $35.00/hr. Most of us could be so lucky. They are already well compensated for their work, and receive awesome pensions and other perks most of us could already dream about. So they don't get an increase for three years. If I was making as much as them, I wouldn't be crabbing.
Unions needs to learn that there is only so much money out there. Unions used to be about protecting their workers and wanting better standards. Now, they just want all thee $$$$ they can get their hands on, so they can use it to accumulate power and manipulate.
Unions = obsolete.
-J.
The reason your job doesn’t pay better is because someone once made these same kind of comments about your line of work and there wasn’t a union to stand up to them. Demanding that other people be victimized too just so you can feel equal makes you sound like the toddler whose toy is broken wants the teacher to break the other kids toys
Opposing a wage REDUCTION isn’t protecting workers and is greedy?
Just because you’re low income doesn’t mean skilled tradesmen who do dangerous outdoor work to provide an essential service should be.
These people aren’t living lavishly, they’re blue collar middle class there’s nothing obscene about that.
rickc @ Tue Nov 07, 2017 7:26 pm
BeaverFever BeaverFever:
CDN_PATRIOT CDN_PATRIOT:
http://www.glassdoor.ca/Salary/International-Brotherhood-of-Electrical-Workers-Salaries-E31245.htm?countryRedirect=true
I find it hard to feel sorry for people who make a minimum of $35.00/hr. Most of us could be so lucky. They are already well compensated for their work, and receive awesome pensions and other perks most of us could already dream about. So they don't get an increase for three years. If I was making as much as them, I wouldn't be crabbing.
Unions needs to learn that there is only so much money out there. Unions used to be about protecting their workers and wanting better standards. Now, they just want all thee $$$$ they can get their hands on, so they can use it to accumulate power and manipulate.
Unions = obsolete.
-J.
The reason your job doesn’t pay better is because someone once made these same kind of comments about your line of work and there wasn’t a union to stand up to them. Demanding that other people be victimized too just so you can feel equal makes you sound like the toddler whose toy is broken wants the teacher to break the other kids toys
Opposing a wage REDUCTION isn’t protecting workers and is greedy?
Just because you’re low income doesn’t mean skilled tradesmen who do dangerous outdoor work to provide an essential service should be.
These people aren’t living lavishly, they’re blue collar middle class there’s nothing obscene about that.

+5 Well said!!!
Thanos @ Tue Nov 07, 2017 7:33 pm
IBEW is thankfully one of the tougher unions out there so the chances are zero and none of the government ramming this through or intimidating them into compliance.
ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:
Maybe you should have gotten some post secondary education, or a decent trade.
I went to college for Digital Media Productions and HTML Programming. Problem is, when we all came out of our program, there were NO jobs. I started a side-business doing websites that I eventually had to shut down because everyone else outsources the work to India. I couldn't compete with people building a site for a few rupees.
-J.
herbie @ Wed Nov 08, 2017 11:04 am
Oh come on, I personally made tens of dollars doing websites over the last 20 odd years.
Now I like to go to the town hall meets where some BC Liberal candidate carries on about how teaching kids coding in schools is the future, stand and ask what kind of coding. C++, html, what kind? Then I can watch their face because they don't even know what they're promoting.
If I didn't have a part pension from all the years as a union telco guy at 40 below, I'd be fucked.
It isn't up to workers to balance the goddam gov't books for them.
Tricks @ Wed Nov 08, 2017 1:54 pm
ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:
$1:
I find it hard to feel sorry for people who make a minimum of $35.00/hr. Most of us could be so lucky. They are already well compensated for their work, and receive awesome pensions and other perks most of us could already dream about.
Maybe you should have gotten some post secondary education, or a decent trade.
I'm trying, but my teachers are on strike.
Tricks @ Wed Nov 08, 2017 1:55 pm
herbie herbie:
Oh come on, I personally made tens of dollars doing websites over the last 20 odd years.
Now I like to go to the town hall meets where some BC Liberal candidate carries on about how teaching kids coding in schools is the future, stand and ask what kind of coding. C++, html, what kind? Then I can watch their face because they don't even know what they're promoting.
If I didn't have a part pension from all the years as a union telco guy at 40 below, I'd be fucked.
It isn't up to workers to balance the goddam gov't books for them.
Python, powershell, bash would be my picks. Even though I loathe python.