Layton slams 'kill-a-unionist-pay-a-fine' deal with Colombia

clipped from www.nupge.ca Ottawa (11 July 2008) - Federal NDP Leader Jack Layton says it's "simply outrageous" for Ottawa to sign a trade deal with Colombia with a clause calling for the South American nation to pay a fine to a special fund whenever a union activist is murdered. It's not clear how the fund would work and the Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper has not released any details on the payment scheme, negotiated with the government of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. NDP trade critic Peter Julian describes the proposal, written into the Canada-Colombia trade plan, as "kill-a-unionist-pay-a-fine." He predicts that it will become a significant issue during the fall session of Parliament.

MLA's have no problem with pay raise while the working class suffers

So here we have the average person in Saskatchewan earning just under $30,000.00 per year

While this is on no surprise to the working women and men in this province, what is surprising is that as of April 1, the wages of Saskatchewan MLAs will rise to $84,409.00

The 2.8% increase is equal to the raise in the provincial Consumer Price index in 2007. All bonus remunerations will rise by the same amount, meaning all cabinet ministers will get an extra $$2,974.00 for a total of $127,383. Premier Wall will make $!47,799 and NDP Leader Lorne Calvert $!27,383.

Usually, I do not tend to agree with the Canadian Federation of Taxpayers, but this time they actually raise a good point. I invite you to see their post and the comments there from Barb Cape, President of SEIU Local 299.

I also invite to read the quote from Finance Minister Rod Gantefoer also reportedly said he has never heard the public complain that MLA wages were too high.

Following the request from the CTF, please be one of "the first," and do let him know your objection to these raises:

Rod Gantefoer, MLA Melfort
Address: Minister of Finance
Government House Leader
Melfort Mall,
P.O. Box 2800,
Melfort, SK S0E 1A0

800.242.6796 (Toll Free)
306.752.9005 (Fax)
rgantefoer@mla.legassembly.sk.ca (Email)
www.melfortconstituency.ca (MLA Website)

Bill 5 and Bill 6? UNION BUSTING, plain and simple.

I invite you all to please check out Larry Hubich's blog for important information on BIlls 5 and 6. This is now in critical stage!!!!

The Saskatchewan Federation of Labour (SFL) has posted it's brief to Sask. Party Minister of Advanced Education, Employment and Labour Minister Rob Norris on the SFL Web-Site.

10 easy Steps to Political Omnipotence

Step 1:
Get Elected anyway you can. Make sure you do not actually make it clear what you are running on.

Step 2:
Set a fixed election date so that you know when to begin to buy the required votes to retain power, immediately begin to put into place, a plan to screw as many people as fast as you can. Don't worry they will forget all about it by the time you start to buy votes for the next election.

Step 3:
Target any groups, such as Unions and Organized Labour, who would be able to mobilize against you. Make sure you do it in such a way that they cannot increase their size or have the ability to use their Chartered rights to oppose your vision.

Step 4:
Create a "arms length" board where you can both control who sits on it as well as control what they do. Make certain that you, yourself, stay away from it. This way, if things get real tough, you have someone you can point the finger at for making recommendations. You can also pick and choose the ones you like and want to enact. Make sure you give any opposing groups only one seat so they cannot say you pushed them out but they won't have any real voice in the new Board. Also recommended that this group be comprised of "non-elected" people so that you can ultimately claim you were "listening to the voices of the People". What ever you do, do not be seen snickering for pulling the wool over their eyes.

Step 5:
Make a totally ridiculous announcement as soon as possible. Make sure it is one that would get the voters to respond against it, then announce that you heard them loud and clear and retract it. What ever you do, publicly say you will follow their wishes but continue on with the plan quietly and discreetly. This will result in two things. First it will fool them into thinking you actually care and listen (remember not to smirk) and second it will show you if they are actually watching what you do behind the scenes.

Step 6:
Align yourself with your Federal Counterpart. Be careful not pick a fight or open any old wounds but be passively aggressive with him. Although you should strive to be his "boy toy", do not let your voters see you doing it. Remain firm but do what he tells you. Is recommended that you get some type of promise that would bring money into your Province but make sure that it will come with no strings and that you can use it where ever you want.

Step 7:
Systematically and methodically, go through your Civil Service and eliminate anyone who does not or will not do everything you want, when you want it. Make sure you erase anyone who could or would question one of your policies. Remember, you are the boss, even the smallest chance of someone not obeying you, should be dealt with. Do not worry about collective agreements or severance pay, by the time they file the grievances, your labour laws would of been changed anyways and the cost of severance would be offset by the funds you got from your federal daddy.

Step 8:
Immediately upon starting Step 7, replace one of the top Board members with someone who will obey your every wish. The perfect candidate would be someone who was strongly connected to the previous administration but has left their ranks. The person should not only be someone who has left the political realm to advance his/her own agenda but someone who would allow you to pull the strings and tell them what to do. The perfect person would also be someone who is married to someone in a position, like a University President, who can not only help finance your Party but someone who can use his/her position to help bolster your agenda.

Step 9:
Invite a past Premier from a neighbouring Province who has been coaching you on how to become omnipotent, to come and address a group of young impressionable students. Make sure he insults anyone who might protest his visit and have him drop the notion of selling off some of your most value viewed assets. Then have one of your own puppets state that you would never do that. With the completion of Step 8, you will be able to repeat the results seen in Step 5 and the voters will be none the wiser. When ready, don't sell them but just shut them down. That way you can fall back on the line "as I had stated earlier...I wont sell them and I didn't".

Step 10:
Continue to move your agenda forward. Whenever possible publicly trash the previous administration and blame them for causing you to have to change things, after all, it was supposedly time for a change. No one ever said a change to what. Be very cautious not to admit that they played a lead role in both a booming economy, a population increase and new job records.

Although these 10 Steps are not set in stone for your transition to omnipotence, by both following them, consulting both your federal daddy and communicating to the other leaders who have the same goal of extreme power, you should be able not only eliminate anyone who dares to doubt you, you will be able to fool each and every citizen into thinking that it was time for a change and that you are indeed GOD!!!!

What have Unions done for us?

My good friend Shirley Klassen sent me this link. it is a must watch for anyone who doubts what Unions do have brought us. Maybe Brad Wall and the Sask Party should watch this one!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=184NTV2CE_c

Martin Luther King Jr. reminds us of why unions were formed,

Once again Martin Luther King Jr. reminds us of why unions were formed, why we do the work we do and why all working people must stand together.

"So often we overlook the work and the significance of those who are not in professional jobs, of those who are not in the so-called big jobs.

But let me say to you tonight that whenever you are engaged in work that serves humanity and is for the building of humanity, it has dignity and it has worth."

For more details on the 40th Anniversary Strike and events read below.

Jan. 17, 2008

Four decades ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led what would be his last campaign--a strike in Memphis, Tenn., involving hundreds of working people who dared to take a stand
(http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/9p101q11jq0c/) for dignity and respect on the job and a voice at work with AFSCME.

During the strike, King spoke to the workers and reminded them of the dignity of their labor:

"So often we overlook the work and the significance of those who are not in professional jobs, of those who are not in the so-called big jobs.
But let me say to you tonight that whenever you are engaged in work that serves humanity and is for the building of humanity, it has dignity and it has worth."

Watch video of his speech here
(http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/97101q11jq0d/).

Tragically, King never witnessed the success the Memphis sanitation workers achieved. The 64-day strike ended with a union contract
(http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/9d101q11jq0e/)
for 1,300 members of AFSCME Local 1733. The strike is credited with reviving a dormant union movement in Memphis and initiating a wave of public employee union organizing in other parts of the South.

In honor of the strike's 40th anniversary, the AFL-CIO is holding its
2008 Martin Luther King Jr. holiday observance this weekend in Memphis.
More than 900 union and civil rights activists are gathering to reaffirm their commitment to making King's dream a reality. (Learn more here
(http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/9p101q11jq0c/) and here
(http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/9d101q11jq0e/).)

The weekend is devoted to community service projects serving the community that King worked to help--the poor and disadvantaged.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney will present a computer lab paid for by union members to a local elementary school, and AFSCME and the Transport Workers Union (TWU) will make contributions to schools and the Head Start program.

"Working people across the country know that civil and worker rights go hand in hand, and that without the tools for a proper education, students can never go on to attain the kind of economic equality in which King and other leaders believed,"
Sweeney said.

A few years before the Memphis strike, King spoke of the importance of a strong labor movement in our country's history.

"The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress,"
(http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/od101q11jq0X/) he said.

This year, 40 years after Dr. King's death, we ask ourselves, "How will things be for our children 40 years from NOW?" We owe it to him to keep up this fight--and that's exactly what we're planning to do.

In solidarity,

THE WORST LABOUR LEGISLATION IN THE COUNTRY

Commentary below is reproduced from the COPE 397 Website:

http://www.cope397.ca/

______________________________________________________________________

THE WORST LABOUR LEGISLATION IN THE COUNTRY

As most of you know, Brad Wall and his crew of inexperienced college frat buddies have recently introduced legislation that put Unions squarely in the cross hairs.

Make no mistake, this time they are coming for us. Your rights are under serious attack.

There are two pieces of legislation recently introduced [so far, we anticipate more] that threaten to turn Saskatchewan's labour climate into a one-sided Employer's holiday.

These are Bill 5 which concerns itself with essential services, and Bill 6 which amends the Trade Union Act. Both have received first reading and will soon be law.

Bill 5

Bill 5 is a particularly nasty piece of legislation that allows Employers to designate classifications that will be identified as so called 'essential services'.

Those persons designated as 'essential' will be identified BY NAME [emphasis mine] as employees 'who must work during the labour stoppage to maintain essential services'. Those named 'must work during the work stoppage ....without regard to the availability of other persons to provide essential services'.

It is not clear whether or not those named individuals would be able to refuse overtime or whether they could be called back from, or denied holidays.

DO NOT THINK FOR ONE MINUTE THAT THERE WILL NOT BE SO CALLED 'ESSENTIAL SERVICES' DESIGNATED AT SGI If this legislation is passed, it is almost a certainty that there will be individuals named as 'essential' in our workplaces. Those individuals completely lose their right to strike, and of course forcing them to work undermines everyone else who is undertaking a work stoppage.

But wait there's more.

The Government has given itself extensive powers to make regulations to this Bill without ever having to debate these changes in the Legislature. This represents an unprecedented lack of accountability.

Bill 6

Bill 6 poses as an amendment to the Trade Union Act. This Bill gives an unparalleled ability for the employer to give 'its opinion' on matters, in a manner that would previously have been illegal.

The specific wording is 'nothing in this Act precludes an employer from communicating facts AND ITS OPINIONS to its employees' [emphasis mine].

This means that an employer may comment on any grievance, workplace incident, strike vote including Collective Bargaining, as it sees fit. It is estimated that this Bill will make legal more than 90% of employer conduct which is currently illegal in almost every part of Canada and even much of the U.S.

There are other changes buried in this Bill as well, including the removal of the three year limitation for collective agreements. This potentially sets the stage for demands by employers for much longer agreements. Can the day of the ten year collective agreement be finally here? Wouldn't we all love 10 years of zero, zero, zero, zero, zero……… ?

There is no question, and no doubt that this is indeed the worst labour legislation in the entire country.

These two Bills are, in my opinion, a declaration of war on the middle class. They will undermine the effectiveness of the unions that one third of Saskatchewan working people belong to.

We encourage you to see this attack on your rights for yourself.

» Bill No. 5 - An Act respecting Essential Public Services - posted here.
» Bill No. 6 - An Act to amend The Trade Union Act - posted here.

We have copies of these two Bills in our office as well, which we will be pleased to give you on request. Please contact Patti Harris at (306) 352-4238 or by e-mail at cope397@sasktel.net.

Once you have seen the evidence, you may wish to write your MLA and tell them what you think of our province having the distinction of having the absolute worst labour legislation in the entire country.

Garry Hamblin
President

The hunting and diet of the Sask Party Caucus

Knowing that Brad Wall and Sask Party are truly wolves in sheep's clothing, it is of interest to fully understand their feeding and hunting regime..

Packs of MLA's cooperatively hunt any large Unions in their range. Pack hunting revolves around the chase, as MLA's are able to run for long periods before relenting. It takes careful cooperation for a pack to take down a large Union, and the rate of success for such chase is very low.

MLA's, in the interest of saving energy, will only chase one potential union for the first thousand or so meters before giving up and trying at a different time against a different union. Therefore, like most other pack species, MLA's must hunt continually to sustain themselves. Solitary MLA's depend more on smaller animals, which they capture by pouncing and pinning with their rhetoric. This technique is also common among other canids such as the CFIB and NSBA.

MLA's diets include, but are not limited to, Federation Presidents, Union Presidents, workers and other large organized voices. The SFL is probably the heaviest animal MLA's prey on — federations weighing more than a 100,000 members having been taking hits by a pack. They also prey on past governments and other small groups in a limited manner, as a typical adult MLA requires a minimum of 1.1 rediculous allegations each day for sustenance, and approximately 2.2 archaic bills to reproduce successfully. MLA's rarely succeed each day, but compensate by trying to silence up to 100,000 workers at a time.

When pursuing large prey, MLA's generally attack from all angles, targeting the necks and sides of their prey. MLA packs test large populations of prey species by initiating a fixed election date and used car tax break, targeting the less-fit electorate. Such electoarte typically include the elderly, lower income and young. Healthy voters, such as the rich, may also succumb through circumstance.

Healthy, fit Federations of Labour will not run from MLA's and will instead choose to stand their ground. This defensive technique increases the possibility of injury to the preying MLAs. The MLAs, not willing to risk injury, are more likely to yield when encountered with such a bold individual. Instead, they will try to target weaker unionized members that are easier and safer to hunt. MLAs are generally inefficient at killing large healthy Federation, with success rates as low as 20% which is due, in part, to the large size and defensive capabilities of the Union.

Like many other keystone predators, Sask Party MLAs are sensitive to fluctuations in the abundance of prey. They are likely to have minor changes in their populations as the abundance of their primary prey species gradually rises and drops over long periods of time. This balance between the MLAs and their prey prevents the mass starvation of both predator and prey.

Surplus killing

Surplus killing is defined as the killing of several small unions too numerous to eat at one sitting. During a surplus-kill, a predator's killing instinct is continually sparked off by the stimuli of so many prey animals unable to escape, so that the predator cannot stop killing. An instance of surplus killing by right wing governments was witnessed in Canada's Federal Conservative Party, where instances of Prosperity Gaps are seen daily.