Politic?

This is a blog dedicated to a personal interpretation of political news of the day. I attempt to be as knowledgeable as possible before commenting and committing my thoughts to a day's communication.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Irking Unions

This new majority federal government in Ottawa feels confident in its numbers and it does not appear to have too much patience with public-sector strikes disabling the country and striking a blow at its still-tenuous economic recovery. Air Canada's strike was in its infancy when the Minister of Labour tabled a bill to end the strike.

And lo and behold, management and union struck a deal, after all. The 3,800 Air Canada workers, awaiting ratification of the deal which their own bargaining committee has endorsed, and which the CAW union president proclaims himself to be satisfied with, won't even have a recall of that intermission in their services to the flying public.

The postal strike now, that's another matter entirely.

Another bill was put on the table to be voted on in Parliament, this one to force the 50,000 locked-out Canada Post employees back to work. And the NDP, the spanking-new official opposition in Parliament proclaimed itself furious that this government is engaged in strike-breaking and union-busting.

As though it isn't in the interest of the government to ensure that public service continues unabated.

The NDP got astride their high horse and refused to dismount, although Members of Parliament were chomping at the bit to leave their Aegean stables for their long-awaited summer break. One, two, three nights of debate, with each of the NDP members popping up like burnt toast to speak their 20 minutes' of denunciation.

Does the right to collective bargaining upend the need for employer and employee to bargain in good faith, and to each compromise on the issues important to each? Neither management nor union appeared prepared to budge one iota. Management is responsible to the taxpayer, union to their paid-up membership. What benefits the union does not necessarily equally benefit the taxpayer.

Many of whom are unemployed at this juncture, and have little sympathy for publicly-engaged employees with their assured wage packets and benefits. Add that to the increasing redundancy of mail service and the growing reliance on other methods of communication.

And bearing in mind that the NDP campaigned on a promise to represent and support small business, and this is the demographic most in pain from the strike.

Bill C-6 got well debated. In the sense that time was spent wasting time for the purpose of gaining time, ostensibly for the purpose of giving the 'adversaries' in management and union time to find some common ground for agreement. Which simply did not occur.

So CUPW effusively thanked the NDP and signalled it was time to get on with things. And there's the constituency, solely, that the NDP has serviced.

On to the Senate now, and summer vacation for Parliament, leaving the NDP well and truly pleased with itself and its newfound muscle; flaccid but audaciously insistent nonetheless.

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