Bargaining - modern style
"We've made a fair offer" says executive vice president Michael Shtaif, of Viceroy Homes. The union comment was "is either take it - or we're closing,". Fair to whom? and further down the Union press release was another comment that the contract comes with no guarantee of not being shutdown. References were made to efforts by local elected officials being invovlved in rescue efforts and these have been ignored. So just what is a community to do when faced with determined employers? Not much except to get involved either to make the pols loook good for trying or ignore the situation because nothing can be done. Does the Mayor of Cobourg really think that a brand new arena is going to make Cobourg more attractive to prospective companies? If he does he is delusional. The local taxes that the company will pay are far more of a detriment and drag than a shiny new ice-pad that the exec's kid's will play on.
In another story it has been reported that a mediation session between Cameco and USWA 14913 hasn't gone very far. This is a puzzling strike in that Cameco has deliberately set out to own all parts of the nuclear business from mining to installation. Why then take out a piece of the chain for such a minor set of issues?
Another shiny piece of newspaper illustrated the five proposals for the CCC yesterday. Pity the submission for comments had passed by the time people had sat down to read and make comment. The announced plan has not changed yet and the timetable means that nobody will know who has been selected to build the CCC until Monday evening's meeting, probably not even councillors as the agenda is already printed. "Will that be - door #1 or door #2" Peter and when will interested citizens be able to make comment?
In another story it has been reported that a mediation session between Cameco and USWA 14913 hasn't gone very far. This is a puzzling strike in that Cameco has deliberately set out to own all parts of the nuclear business from mining to installation. Why then take out a piece of the chain for such a minor set of issues?
Another shiny piece of newspaper illustrated the five proposals for the CCC yesterday. Pity the submission for comments had passed by the time people had sat down to read and make comment. The announced plan has not changed yet and the timetable means that nobody will know who has been selected to build the CCC until Monday evening's meeting, probably not even councillors as the agenda is already printed. "Will that be - door #1 or door #2" Peter and when will interested citizens be able to make comment?
6 comments:
I drew the conclusion that bargaining was going badly at Cameco again. That was because I saw a phalanx of security guards at the gates of the Northam Industrial Park and strikers videotaping their activity.
I hope we see this settled and soon.
Ben says: A puzzling strike.
Puzzling because current rules governing such disputes do not support the right of the public to be informed.
We need to change those rules by requiring disclosure of those factors (financial and other) that might reasonably be part of the puzzle.
We give limited liability charters to companies with the expectation that their operations will, to some extent and in some way, be of public benefit.
When strikes/lockouts interrupt the operations of such companies, threatening the communities in which they operate, the public needs to be informed.
I don't know if anyone else heard it or not but this past week Michael Holinka, the finance guy, was talking with Andy Barry on CBC about the CN engineers strike. Did I say 'talking'? More like erotically fantasizing about what a wonderful world it would be if we could just get rid of all these unions holding us back from untold wealth and prosperity. I shouldn't have expected any better from the yappy little lap dog I guess. But the next day, because there was apparently such a large response to the broadcast, the CBC balanced Holinka's comments by bringing in CAW economist Jim Stanford who pretty much showed Holinka to be the left-over Harrisite he is. Holinka just about lost it a couple of times which was kinda fun. Other than that it just showed how vehement the anti-union tenor of our times really is. It's a race to the bottom out there, folks....
Why have the unions failed so miserably to be a positive symbol for society? But then again, aside from unionistas, who cares?
Most bargaining these days is not about getting a better deal, it's about not getting a worse deal. Workers who take consessions, because the employeer threatens to close up shop and move, are many times worse off. If a worker makes $30.00 hr and is put out of work because of a plant closing his/er benefits are based on the $30.00 but when they take a cut to say $20.00 those same benifits are based on $20.00 and the company does not care............ they are still gone!
I do not claim to know the issues in this strike in great detail. However, my understanding is that these workers are fighting, in part, against a cut-back in benefits that could literally affect their lives. At the moment, if there is an occurrence of cancer, the worker is covered on the assumption that it is work related --a good assumption given the nature of the industry-- and covered long-term. The proposed cutback means that if the cancer does not surface within 2 years, no coverage will apply. Given the reality of cancer and how it often takes time to reveal itself, this is a life-or-death issue in this strike. All of us should be able to relate to this and to clearly see the callousness of this proposal from the employer.
If I am wrong in some aspect of my understanding, I would be happy to be corrected.
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