The deeming of services beyond what society has no ability to be without whatsoever as essential services is nothing more than the next step in undermining our charter right to free collective bargaining. The latest headline grabber in this debate is Toronto Councils’ support for essential service legislation for the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC).
The need (however arrived at) for essential service legislation in almost all cases outside of the narrow band mentioned above is removed or at least significantly mitigated should employers come to the bargaining table with full intention of reaching a two party collective bargaining agreement. When union negotiating committees give notice to bargain there is always full intention to reach a two party deal. The intolerant regimes like Ford and his Council minions in Toronto find it easy to overlook this vibrant component to labour relations and instead play off those who are easily turned to a negative opinion of unionized workers.
Perhaps an even more fundamental part of the debate and the legislative initiatives that undercut free collective bargaining is the failure of governments, irrespective of jurisdiction, to enact anti-replacement worker legislation and card check certification. Both of these items encourage free collective bargaining by ensuring that employers are kept at the bargaining table and that more workers have easier access to union organization.
The use of essential service legislation should be a measured approach and only applied with the utmost care and due diligence and never used as it is in this case; to intentionally mislead people into thinking negatively about unionized workers and to grab more headline space for people like Ford.
Branding the TTC as an essential service is playing with a tool that is needed, but is not appropriate in anyway for the suggested application.
Dave Trumble
President
Grey-Bruce Labour Council
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Law and Order and Poverty
Prime Minister Harper and his caucus are great advocates for a Law and Order agenda or as I like to call it; another right wing easy answer.
Make no mistake there are legitimate criminal entities that the very brave women and men in law enforcement must confront to ensure the safety of the individual and society in general, but the concern in this letter is part of the convoluted attempt of governments of similar philosophy to the Harper conservative to use the cover of the law and order agenda to cover up the fact that they have no policy to deal with the roots of poverty.
The various roots of crime are indeed far too broad and varied to discuss in a short letter, but sadly a statistically relevant part of crime is rooted in the fact that for conservative and right wing governments are happy to pander to the segment of the population that believes in throwing more policing and bigger jails at the problem instead of doing the hard work and establishing programs or funding existing program to aid those whose poverty has driven them to crime. Of course not everyone who lives in poverty turns to crime; in fact the vast majority live a life dignified and defined by their struggle to do what is right by themselves, their families and their communities despite the daily challenges that must be overcome. In the same breath poverty, sometimes multi-generational and sometimes a direct result of recent job loss drives people who do lose hope to do things outside of the law.
The law and order agenda, where policing and incarceration increase considerably, needs to be stopped in its tracks and re-evaluated in light of what would take place if government policy took straight aim at generating jobs in the manufacturing and resource sectors. This would create an economic recovery based on being a producer of Canadian made goods rather than country racing to the bottom of the economic ladder and shipping off middle class unionized jobs to parts of the world where workers are exploited.
If legislative policy at all levels of government focused on regenerating the well paid unionized jobs found in the manufacturing and resource sector that have disappeared in the millions in Canada since the signing of the first free trade agreement in 1988 it may just be that the crime generated out of the poverty created directly by the ridiculous trade policies of successive Canadian governments would be mitigated. The end result is a much healthier country economically and socially and the easy answer or glib conservatives / right wing are forced to answer for their long term legislative failures instead of hiding behind the façade of their law and order agenda.
Dave Trumble
President
Grey-Bruce Labour Council
Make no mistake there are legitimate criminal entities that the very brave women and men in law enforcement must confront to ensure the safety of the individual and society in general, but the concern in this letter is part of the convoluted attempt of governments of similar philosophy to the Harper conservative to use the cover of the law and order agenda to cover up the fact that they have no policy to deal with the roots of poverty.
The various roots of crime are indeed far too broad and varied to discuss in a short letter, but sadly a statistically relevant part of crime is rooted in the fact that for conservative and right wing governments are happy to pander to the segment of the population that believes in throwing more policing and bigger jails at the problem instead of doing the hard work and establishing programs or funding existing program to aid those whose poverty has driven them to crime. Of course not everyone who lives in poverty turns to crime; in fact the vast majority live a life dignified and defined by their struggle to do what is right by themselves, their families and their communities despite the daily challenges that must be overcome. In the same breath poverty, sometimes multi-generational and sometimes a direct result of recent job loss drives people who do lose hope to do things outside of the law.
The law and order agenda, where policing and incarceration increase considerably, needs to be stopped in its tracks and re-evaluated in light of what would take place if government policy took straight aim at generating jobs in the manufacturing and resource sectors. This would create an economic recovery based on being a producer of Canadian made goods rather than country racing to the bottom of the economic ladder and shipping off middle class unionized jobs to parts of the world where workers are exploited.
If legislative policy at all levels of government focused on regenerating the well paid unionized jobs found in the manufacturing and resource sector that have disappeared in the millions in Canada since the signing of the first free trade agreement in 1988 it may just be that the crime generated out of the poverty created directly by the ridiculous trade policies of successive Canadian governments would be mitigated. The end result is a much healthier country economically and socially and the easy answer or glib conservatives / right wing are forced to answer for their long term legislative failures instead of hiding behind the façade of their law and order agenda.
Dave Trumble
President
Grey-Bruce Labour Council
Friday, November 12, 2010
Municipal Elections 2010
Municipal Elections 2010
The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) campaign to endorse and help elect candidates in the recent Ontario municipal election met with significant success as over 1200 endorsed mayors, councillors and trustees were elected. Locally the Grey-Bruce Labour Council endorsed two school trustee candidates and three candidates for councillor. The effort was a clear success as all but one candidate is now in office.
CLC political action campaigns and activities implemented by local labour councils and local unions have become a centrepiece of the work to protect working families in our communities. Working families have fallen victim to a never ending list of legislative and policy initiatives at all levels of government that have robbed them of jobs and dignity and for those that remain in the workplace the necessary protection that regulations pertaining to the workplace provide. Examples of such initiatives would be bad trade deals, failure to develop a reasonable industrial jobs strategy, protection of social and healthcare services, failure to adopt “card-check” certification to make unionization easier and failure to adopt “made in Canada” policies by some municipalities (quite acceptable under even free trade agreements).
Elevating the political activity of those that represent the interests of working families is an absolute necessity to ensure a worker’s voice. Too often the voices of the right receive the attention of government and media; after all they have such catchy phrases as “I will end the gravy train” which is closely attributed to the new mayor of Toronto. Running and endorsing candidates that stand in clear opposition to such meaningless platitudes and vicious attacks on working people is an absolute necessity. More locally and in our region there are those that no doubt aspire to the equivalent in right wing views, but between the endorsed candidates and those with strong social conviction already in place the absolute necessity of working through the CLC and Labour Council to elect and then hold accountable those elected is critical.
This municipal election stands ahead of what is expected to be a federal election in the spring and a provincial election in the fall and the successes of this municipal campaign now holds the lessons to lead those who believe in the value of working people to greater success at the ballot box next year and in four years back at the municipal level. On behalf of the Grey-Bruce Labour I offer thanks to all those that worked to elect candidates that are friends of working people and to offer encouragement to all candidates to put working families first.
Dave Trumble
President Grey-Bruce Labour Council
The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) campaign to endorse and help elect candidates in the recent Ontario municipal election met with significant success as over 1200 endorsed mayors, councillors and trustees were elected. Locally the Grey-Bruce Labour Council endorsed two school trustee candidates and three candidates for councillor. The effort was a clear success as all but one candidate is now in office.
CLC political action campaigns and activities implemented by local labour councils and local unions have become a centrepiece of the work to protect working families in our communities. Working families have fallen victim to a never ending list of legislative and policy initiatives at all levels of government that have robbed them of jobs and dignity and for those that remain in the workplace the necessary protection that regulations pertaining to the workplace provide. Examples of such initiatives would be bad trade deals, failure to develop a reasonable industrial jobs strategy, protection of social and healthcare services, failure to adopt “card-check” certification to make unionization easier and failure to adopt “made in Canada” policies by some municipalities (quite acceptable under even free trade agreements).
Elevating the political activity of those that represent the interests of working families is an absolute necessity to ensure a worker’s voice. Too often the voices of the right receive the attention of government and media; after all they have such catchy phrases as “I will end the gravy train” which is closely attributed to the new mayor of Toronto. Running and endorsing candidates that stand in clear opposition to such meaningless platitudes and vicious attacks on working people is an absolute necessity. More locally and in our region there are those that no doubt aspire to the equivalent in right wing views, but between the endorsed candidates and those with strong social conviction already in place the absolute necessity of working through the CLC and Labour Council to elect and then hold accountable those elected is critical.
This municipal election stands ahead of what is expected to be a federal election in the spring and a provincial election in the fall and the successes of this municipal campaign now holds the lessons to lead those who believe in the value of working people to greater success at the ballot box next year and in four years back at the municipal level. On behalf of the Grey-Bruce Labour I offer thanks to all those that worked to elect candidates that are friends of working people and to offer encouragement to all candidates to put working families first.
Dave Trumble
President Grey-Bruce Labour Council
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Labour Council Supports Steam Generator Transfer
Dear Editor;
In evaluating the facts associated with the plan to ship used steam generators from Bruce Power to Sweden for recycling the Grey-Bruce Labour Council has resolved to support the shipment. The basic tenets of this support are found in light of the facts that 3-4 million shipments of radioactive material are safely shipped each year in Canada and that this shipment is governed by the same regulations and that the specific radioactivity is significantly lower than the vast majority of these shipments. In addition when it is noted that the entire life cycle of steam generator removal, shipment and recycling process is handled by well trained union members and that the idea of minimizing waste is consistent with all environmental initiatives the Council Delegates were able to strongly support the shipment.
The Labour Council discussed the facts of the issue and heard to some degree the details of the falsehoods put out to needlessly alarm people in respect of this issue. The discussion was fact based and to this end the delegates focused on the responsible and accurate reasons that support this initiative and hopefully that will bring this recycling technology to Canada so the Canadians can carry out this very same project over the next couple of decades when, not if, the remaining CANDU units in Ontario have to have their steam generators removed and the metal recycled.
Dave Trumble
President, Grey-Bruce Labour Council
In evaluating the facts associated with the plan to ship used steam generators from Bruce Power to Sweden for recycling the Grey-Bruce Labour Council has resolved to support the shipment. The basic tenets of this support are found in light of the facts that 3-4 million shipments of radioactive material are safely shipped each year in Canada and that this shipment is governed by the same regulations and that the specific radioactivity is significantly lower than the vast majority of these shipments. In addition when it is noted that the entire life cycle of steam generator removal, shipment and recycling process is handled by well trained union members and that the idea of minimizing waste is consistent with all environmental initiatives the Council Delegates were able to strongly support the shipment.
The Labour Council discussed the facts of the issue and heard to some degree the details of the falsehoods put out to needlessly alarm people in respect of this issue. The discussion was fact based and to this end the delegates focused on the responsible and accurate reasons that support this initiative and hopefully that will bring this recycling technology to Canada so the Canadians can carry out this very same project over the next couple of decades when, not if, the remaining CANDU units in Ontario have to have their steam generators removed and the metal recycled.
Dave Trumble
President, Grey-Bruce Labour Council
Friday, October 29, 2010
Wind Power Produces 6% of Ontario's Electricity, Big Deal!
The recent high winds in Ontario has given rise to some power outages in a variety of locations in Ontario. Now this is hardly news (unless we do a seperate blog on the failure of the Ontario government to support the ongoing needs for renewal of our electrical transmission system), but it did focus for a day or so the attention of the media on Ontario's electricity supply. The Media true to form missed the big issue, but pronounced with much fanfare that Ontario's wind farms produced 6% of Ontario's electricity needs for a short period of time this past week.
This is a fine piece of information and given the need for a diversified supply mix it is likely not bad news, but the issues that are missed by the media are the real story. The first of these would be the fact that when Ontario had an industrial jobs strategy and a significant industrial load (which wind cannot support)over 60% of Ontario's electrical needs were met by nuclear power and that billions (with a "B") tonnes of greenhouse gases were mitgated by the use of electricity from nuclear plants. Still in the vein of nuclear power; all the electricity from nuclear energy was created in three defined geographical areas (Bruce, Pickering and Darlington) as compared to the various wind farms that dot and destroy landscapes and are built without any consideration for negative health effects.
The media in Ontario and in most jurisdictions exhibit an astounding lack of understanding of the electricty sector and energy policy and this has recently been demonstrated in the focus of this blog, but I would also suggest it is further demonstrated in the media's failure to research the issues around what will without a doubt be the safe transfer and shipment of used steam generators from the Bruce Nuclear Site and the inability of the media to fully grasp the complete disaster that awaits the electricty consumers of Ontario as the Ontario goverment implements more and more of it's green energy act. Perhaps the most ludicrous piece of this act is the ability for the government to count the energy not used by a now shutdown manufacturing plant (shutdown due to the lack of an industrial jobs strategy)as conservation.
A safe, dependable and diversified electricity supply and a responsible energy policy with knowledgable media reporting on the sector is absolutely necessary for general understanding of the energy sector and to ensure that decisions are made that align policy with need and not with ideology.
This is a fine piece of information and given the need for a diversified supply mix it is likely not bad news, but the issues that are missed by the media are the real story. The first of these would be the fact that when Ontario had an industrial jobs strategy and a significant industrial load (which wind cannot support)over 60% of Ontario's electrical needs were met by nuclear power and that billions (with a "B") tonnes of greenhouse gases were mitgated by the use of electricity from nuclear plants. Still in the vein of nuclear power; all the electricity from nuclear energy was created in three defined geographical areas (Bruce, Pickering and Darlington) as compared to the various wind farms that dot and destroy landscapes and are built without any consideration for negative health effects.
The media in Ontario and in most jurisdictions exhibit an astounding lack of understanding of the electricty sector and energy policy and this has recently been demonstrated in the focus of this blog, but I would also suggest it is further demonstrated in the media's failure to research the issues around what will without a doubt be the safe transfer and shipment of used steam generators from the Bruce Nuclear Site and the inability of the media to fully grasp the complete disaster that awaits the electricty consumers of Ontario as the Ontario goverment implements more and more of it's green energy act. Perhaps the most ludicrous piece of this act is the ability for the government to count the energy not used by a now shutdown manufacturing plant (shutdown due to the lack of an industrial jobs strategy)as conservation.
A safe, dependable and diversified electricity supply and a responsible energy policy with knowledgable media reporting on the sector is absolutely necessary for general understanding of the energy sector and to ensure that decisions are made that align policy with need and not with ideology.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
The highest court in Saskatchewan has upheld a decision to certify a union at a Wal-Mart in Weyburn, Saskatchewan
Dear Editor;
The highest court in Saskatchewan has upheld a decision to certify a union at a Wal-Mart in Weyburn, Saskatchewan. In a unanimous decision the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal upheld the certification of United Food and Commercial Workers’ (UFCW) Canada Local 1400 bargaining unit at the Weyburn store. The certification had originally been issued by the Saskatchewan Labour Board in December 2008.
Wal-Mart had successfully challenged that certificate in a lower court but that court’s decision was struck down by the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, and the union certification upheld. This is a victory for workers rights and the principle that no company is above the law.
It was the second time in a week the courts have ruled against Wal-Mart. Just two days prior to the Saskatchewan ruling, the Quebec Superior Court upheld an arbitrator’s decision that Wal-Mart had acted illegally when it shut a store in Jonquiere, Quebec shortly after workers there joined a union.
Meanwhile, UFCW Canada members at a Wal-Mart in Gatineau Quebec recently achieved a first contract. UFCW Canada members at a store in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec also have a contract in place.
In Saskatchewan, UFCW Canada Local 1400 also has applications pending before the labour board for Wal-Mart stores in Moose Jaw and North Battleford.
Seeing the workers in one of the largest, if the not the largest business in the world, able to access their rights to free collective bargaining is some of the best news the trade-union movement and workers in general could possibly receive. It tells the world that people are long past the point of accepting that their standard of living must be diminished while the unbridled greed associated with globalization and as many people refer to it, the Wal-Mart mentality, proceeds unchecked as business drills deeper and deeper into the poorest countries of the world to establish their outposts where no labour, environmental or health and safety regulations exist. In fact this very behavior exists within our own borders as globalization permits the use of sub contractors that have no access to any legislative protection.
If business had nothing to hide and was interested in looking after their workers they would not oppose unionization nor would they oppose the various forms of legislation that protects the lives and livelihoods of workers such as improvements to health and safety legislation, pension reform and legislation that prohibits the use of replacement workers (scabs) when workers exercise their right to withdraw their labour when the employer fails to offer a reasonable collective agreement.
Dave Trumble, President, Grey-Bruce Labour Council
The highest court in Saskatchewan has upheld a decision to certify a union at a Wal-Mart in Weyburn, Saskatchewan. In a unanimous decision the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal upheld the certification of United Food and Commercial Workers’ (UFCW) Canada Local 1400 bargaining unit at the Weyburn store. The certification had originally been issued by the Saskatchewan Labour Board in December 2008.
Wal-Mart had successfully challenged that certificate in a lower court but that court’s decision was struck down by the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, and the union certification upheld. This is a victory for workers rights and the principle that no company is above the law.
It was the second time in a week the courts have ruled against Wal-Mart. Just two days prior to the Saskatchewan ruling, the Quebec Superior Court upheld an arbitrator’s decision that Wal-Mart had acted illegally when it shut a store in Jonquiere, Quebec shortly after workers there joined a union.
Meanwhile, UFCW Canada members at a Wal-Mart in Gatineau Quebec recently achieved a first contract. UFCW Canada members at a store in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec also have a contract in place.
In Saskatchewan, UFCW Canada Local 1400 also has applications pending before the labour board for Wal-Mart stores in Moose Jaw and North Battleford.
Seeing the workers in one of the largest, if the not the largest business in the world, able to access their rights to free collective bargaining is some of the best news the trade-union movement and workers in general could possibly receive. It tells the world that people are long past the point of accepting that their standard of living must be diminished while the unbridled greed associated with globalization and as many people refer to it, the Wal-Mart mentality, proceeds unchecked as business drills deeper and deeper into the poorest countries of the world to establish their outposts where no labour, environmental or health and safety regulations exist. In fact this very behavior exists within our own borders as globalization permits the use of sub contractors that have no access to any legislative protection.
If business had nothing to hide and was interested in looking after their workers they would not oppose unionization nor would they oppose the various forms of legislation that protects the lives and livelihoods of workers such as improvements to health and safety legislation, pension reform and legislation that prohibits the use of replacement workers (scabs) when workers exercise their right to withdraw their labour when the employer fails to offer a reasonable collective agreement.
Dave Trumble, President, Grey-Bruce Labour Council
Monday, October 11, 2010
Mid term Elections
Is anyone else watching the most hypocratic batch of candidates in history; the batch involved in the mid-term elections in the US. Each and everyone is trying to lay claim to the high ground on the jobs front? Now, to be fair, some of them are legitimate in their claims, but on the whole they are about as hypocratic as the day is long.
The vast majority seeking re-election came to be in office on the free-trade. low taxes and de-regulation platform; a platform that any person of social conscience or just minimally interested in job creation will discredit. The spin on this is that these same people have two disgusting habits. The first is their self-righteous attitude that they are the only ones to see the failing of these policies of successive previous governments and that they will make it right. Don't forget many of them came to power believing in this same travesty in the eighties and nineties. Even more distasteful is the efforts they make to try and convince us that they discovered Free Trade and its associated failed policies when the Labour Movement in Canada sighted the pending disaster in 1987 as American and Canadian governments of the day rocketed Canadian manufacturing jobs to the "right to work States" in America as they signed the first free trade agreement in 1988.
Candidates committed to change are the ones who commit to a policy of manufacturing jobs and resource jobs in North America without the propaganda that accompanies the advocates of the global economy. They will also be recognizable by their tell tale statements similar too; "reasonable amounts of taxation and increases in taxes are necessary to pay for programs such as health and education that benefit all people not just the rich".
When election day in America hits take some advice from a Canadian and get past the morbid fear of taxation and tell the candidates that the only policy that will lead to prosperity in America and other countries is fair trade, reasonable taxation and necessary regulation.
Dave Trumble
President
Grey-Bruce Labour Council
The vast majority seeking re-election came to be in office on the free-trade. low taxes and de-regulation platform; a platform that any person of social conscience or just minimally interested in job creation will discredit. The spin on this is that these same people have two disgusting habits. The first is their self-righteous attitude that they are the only ones to see the failing of these policies of successive previous governments and that they will make it right. Don't forget many of them came to power believing in this same travesty in the eighties and nineties. Even more distasteful is the efforts they make to try and convince us that they discovered Free Trade and its associated failed policies when the Labour Movement in Canada sighted the pending disaster in 1987 as American and Canadian governments of the day rocketed Canadian manufacturing jobs to the "right to work States" in America as they signed the first free trade agreement in 1988.
Candidates committed to change are the ones who commit to a policy of manufacturing jobs and resource jobs in North America without the propaganda that accompanies the advocates of the global economy. They will also be recognizable by their tell tale statements similar too; "reasonable amounts of taxation and increases in taxes are necessary to pay for programs such as health and education that benefit all people not just the rich".
When election day in America hits take some advice from a Canadian and get past the morbid fear of taxation and tell the candidates that the only policy that will lead to prosperity in America and other countries is fair trade, reasonable taxation and necessary regulation.
Dave Trumble
President
Grey-Bruce Labour Council
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