Courtesy of repairpal.com

There are vast differences in the outcome of public sector and private sector strikes. The union is omnipotent within the public sector but becoming impotent in the private sector. The tragedy is that unions have not come to grips with this new reality and as a result they irreparably damaging the lives of the rank and file in the private sector. Such is the sad case of the employees at the Lever Brothers soap factory.

In 2002 Unilever sold the Lever Brothers soap factory to Korex Don Valley. With the purchase Korex inherited the best paid workers in the soap manufacturing business at $25/hour with benefits. This is indeed an incredible wage for unskilled labour. The reality was that the company was no longer financially viable. When the contracts were renegotiated the workers agreed to a five-year wage freeze, cuts to disability benefits and the loss of their defined-benefit pensions in exchange for job security. When that contract expired in June 2007 Korex wanted more concessions. In June 2008, 160 workers went on strike to protest a new contract that they said wiped out seniority rights. The factory continued to run at a reduced rate until May 2009. Korex Don Valley has now filed for bankruptcy. The remaining 110 workers who are members of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada local 132-0 now have no jobs and very poor prospects.

According to Korex the strike went on far too long and as a result they lost their consumers. The union has only one job – to represent the rank and file. Why would they have encouraged prolonged strike action with a company who was not on solid footing financially? If these unfortunate and ill-advised workers had it all to do over again I’d be willing to bet that they would be happy to accept Korex’s concessions and continue working. Who is going to hold the union responsible for the livelihoods of these 110 people, many of who have worked 30 years or more at this same factory?

The outrage about the settling of the recent city workers’ strike will not be moving off the front pages any time soon and the fall out is just beginning. Torontonians were very passionate about the issue and many are now feeling an enormous sense of betrayal and are furious that after a strike that lasted over a month, the union got everything they asked for and in the end Mayor Miller supported the strikers instead of the people that he is sworn to serve. In record numbers the residents of Toronto reached out to their city councillors and expressed their opinions prior to the vote. Did your city councilor support the wishes of your riding? Here is the list of how they voted.

YES to the contract for CUPE Local 416
Mayor David Miller
Maria Augimeri (York Centre)
Sandra Bussin (Beaches East York)
Shelley Carroll (Don Valley East)
Raymond Cho (Scarborough Rouge River)
Janet Davis (Beaches East York)
Glenn De Baeremaeker (Scarborough Centre)
Frank Di Giorgio (York South Weston)
Paula Fletcher (Toronto Danforth)
Adam Giambrone (Davenport)
Mark Grimes (Etobicoke Lakeshore)
Suzan Hall (Etobicoke North)
Adrian Heaps (Scarborough Southwest)
Doug Holyday (Etobicoke Centre)
Pam McConnell (Toronto Centre Rosedale)
Joe Mihevc (St. Paul’s )
Joe Pantalone (Trinity Spadina)
Gord Perks (Parkdale High Park)
Anthony Perruzza (York West)
Bill Saundercook (Parkdale High Park)
Adam Vaughan (Trinity Spadina)

NO to the contract for CUPE Local 416
Paul Ainslie (Scarborough East)
Brian Ashton (Scarborough Southwest)
Mike Del Grande (Scarborough Agincourt)
Mike Feldman (York Centre)
Rob Ford (Etobicoke North)
Cliff Jenkins (Don Valley West)
Norm Kelly (Scarborough Agincourt)
Chin Lee (Scarborough Rouge River)
Peter Milczyn (Etobicoke Lakeshore)
Denzil Minnan-Wong (Don Valley East)
Ron Moeser (Scarborough East)
Frances Nunziata (York South Weston)
Case Ootes (Toronto Danforth)
John Parker (Don Valley West)
Karen Stintz (Eglinton Lawrence)
Michael Thompson (Scarborough Centre)
Michael Walker (St. Paul’s)

Abstentions for conflict of interest:
Howard Moscoe (Eglinton Lawrence)
David Shiner (Willowdale)

Did not vote:
John Filion (Willowdale)
Gloria Lindsay Luby (Etobicoke Centre)
Giorgio Mammoliti (York West)
Cesar Palacio (Davenport)
Kyle Rae (Toronto Centre Rosedale)

Will you be voting for your city councillor or for Mayor Miller again?

courtesy of network.nationalpost.com

Why is the deal shrouded in secrecy? The union says the city dropped all 118 pages of concessions. If that’s true then why did we have a strike to begin with and why was what went on called a negotiation? Mayor Miller says that the deals worked out meets the goals he and the city laid out at the start of talks. Why don’t the city councilors know anything about it? Aren’t they “the city”? Did the city and the union agree to the same terms? Both sides can’t be telling the truth, so what was actually agreed to? Why won’t the pickets come down until after the agreement is ratified?

At this point there are only questions and no answers. The deals struck with CUPE Local 79 and Local 416 are still tentative and need to be ratified. What we do know is that after the deals are ratified, if they are, there will be no instant back to business as usual. It will take several days before services and programs are restored – garbage needs to be moved, parks will need a lot of cleaning and maintenance, swimming pools need to be cleaned and refilled, and the Toronto Island ferries need to be serviced. In 2002 it took about 3 days to clean up after the strike, but this strike went on for more than twice as long.

There are a lot of things that Toronto needs at the moment, but most of all it needs strong leadership, which is exactly what we are lacking.

As of noon today, Friday, July 24^th, VIA Rail has ground to a halt. The only trains still operating are the ones on the Sudbury-White River and Victoria-Courtenay routes which are operated by third parties on VIA Rail’s behalf. Yet another strike, this time Canada-wide, threatens an already crippled tourism industry, particularly in Toronto which has become extremely adversely effected by the civic workers’ strike. Each day it is estimated that 12,000 passengers use VIA Rail across Canada, which operates 503 intercity, transcontinental, and regional trains each week along its 12,500 km long route network.

This time it is 340 locomotive engineers that are on strike. The issues are wages, benefits, and scheduling changes. The strike, clearly meant to be as disruptive as possible, has come at one of the busiest travel times of the year. The last thing that the public wants is another strike. When people are losing their jobs in a challenging economy, the prospect of a strike for wages, benefits, and scheduling is not going to garner any sympathy. When are the unions going to wake up and join reality?

In anticipation of the strike VIA Rail started canceling long distance passenger routes earlier in the week so that passengers wouldn’t have the misfortune of being stranded. Unfortunately no alternative transportation will be provided during the strike. However, Greyhound has offered to add buses to its scheduled if needed. Passengers can get a refund for any unused VIA Rail tickets.

For the latest information check the VIA Rail website, or call 888 VIA-RAIL (888- 842-7245) or 800- 268-9503 if you are hearing impaired.