Strike Is All About Olympics

But maybe not in the way you've heard.

By David Beers, 25 Jul 2007, TheTyee.ca

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Richmond settled. Burnaby is probably going to do it. Why can't Vancouver sit down and work something out with its workers? The question hangs in the increasingly smelly air.

So do a few more, like: Does Vancouver City Hall really think the strike is a serious money saver? And is the union really hanging tight for a contract term that enables it to hold the city hostage just before the Olympics?

Let's start with the strike-creates-city-slush-fund theory. Vision Vancouver sources point out that the city saved as much as $1.3 million during the civic strike of 2000. Okay, but this time, the city will be losing big bucks because it can't rent out its facilities during the high season of summer. And why risk the feel-good run-up to the Olympics, a billion-dollar extravaganza, for a mere million or two? Perhaps, as union sources say, because in those preparations for the Olympics, VANOC and the city want far more flexibility to hire new faces at whatever wages it chooses, which will mean giving some new hires better benefits than current employees. That's what's in the city's "final offer," and CUPE isn't willing to go there.

What about Mayor Sullivan's claim that timing is everything, that labour insists on contracts that end just before the Games, giving it the power to shut down the party? A less Machiavellian reading might be that bills for the Olympics will tend to come due well after the Games are over, so unions would prefer to be bargaining before all those debts are payable. In any event, Sullivan's alarming scenario seemed less credible when CUPE leaders stated they'd be happy with a four-year deal. Which Sullivan promptly shot down because, he said, then they'd be negotiating at election time.

More evidence that unions aren't playing hard ball with the Olympics arrived yesterday afternoon, with news that Richmond, home of the fancy skating oval, had worked out a tentative agreement with its 1,250 civic workers. The deal, already approved by council, will be ratified by CUPE workers today and tomorrow.

"This agreement shows that where there is a will to bargain, there is a way to a contract," said Robin Jones, CUPE national representative and chief negotiator for the workers, in a press release. "We are an Olympic host city, we have Olympic venues ... this agreement shines a light on what is possible when there is a desire by the employer to also bargain a fair agreement."

No details of the agreement will be disclosed until Richmond CUPE members have had a chance to vote on the deal, the press release said.

In Burnaby yesterday evening, meanwhile, Mayor Derek Corrigan was sighing relief on CKNW because his city workers were on the job to staunch the blown oil pipe before a small catastrophe could become a major disaster. He praised the skill of his city's workers fulsomely as he predicted negotiations would produce an agreement rather than a strike in Burnaby.

You have to wonder how the folks running Vancouver look to the International Olympics Committee in Geneva, as they read about the negotiating table abandoned by City Hall, and the mess and misery predicted to pile up in the coming weeks, maybe months.

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David Beers is founding editor of The Tyee.

15 Comments:

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  • Jim Van Rassel

    4 years ago

    British Columbians want Canadian government to 'take over' 2010

    British Columbians want Canadian government to 'take over' 2010 Olympics
    Jul 20, 2007

    A random sample of 1,650 British Columbians throughout the entire province including: Vancouver (pop-578 K), Surrey (pop-394 K), Victoria (pop-330 K), Burnaby (pop-202 K), Richmond (pop-174 K), Abbotsford (pop-123 K), Coquitlam (pop-114 K), Kelowna (pop-106 K), Delta (pop-96 K), Langley Township (pop-93 K), Kamloops (pop-92 K), Prince George (pop-83 K).
    This poll was conducted between July 13-19, 2007 (with marginal respondents achieved on the 19th, 2007-Whistler the only region in the province with over 50% "No" to Question #2).
    This poll featured emphatic responses for particularly Question #2 and is thus considered scientifically as follows: 1.5% margin of error, 19-20 times out of 20 @99% comeptency (within the abstract of the time period in which the poll was conducted). This poll was sponsored by Gentleman Jim Van Rassel (604) 328-5398 who wishes everyone "A Nice Day".

    Question #1
    The Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre developed under the BC Liberals was initially budgeted to cost just under $500 million in 2002. The final cost could reach $900 million or more. The fast ferry scandal under the former Glen Clark NDP government of the 1990’s went from $210 million to nearly $460 million. The fast ferries were sold by Premier Gordon Campbell for $20 million. In your opinion which of the two political scenarios is the worse boondoggle?
    The Glen Clark NDP fast ferries 13.5 %
    The Gordon Campbell Liberal Vancouver Convention Centre 26.5 %
    They are both equal blunders 46 %
    Undecided/Don’t Know 14 %
    Question #2
    The BC government is currently responsible for the production of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games for Vancouver/Whistler. BC taxpayers are liable for any cost overruns. Recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that his country would invest $12 billion to fund the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, a city located near the Black Sea, not dissimilar to Whistler/Vancouver as a location. Our questions is this: Russia is a large country like Canada with a population of 150 million, while Canada has a population of 33 million and British Columbia has a population of 4 million. The Russian government is taking total charge of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games with the entire country responsible for any cost overruns or liabilities. In your opinion should the Federal Government of Canada take over total responsibility for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics from the BC Liberal government including reimbursing the province for any costs incurred to date?
    Yes 70 %
    No 24 %
    Undecided/No Opinion 06 %
    For all Commentary regarding this poll
    http://www.robbinssceresearch.com/polls/poll_403.html
    Jim Van Rassel
    604-328-5398

  • G West

    4 years ago

    Thanks Jim, Thanks Glen

    Very interesting - the city will have to demonize the union for a few weeks at least to try and turn those opinions around.

    Get set for a smelly summer!

  • Chris H

    4 years ago

    Thanks Richmond!

    The rumours are the contract is for 5 years and 18.5%. This will put big pressure on Vancouver and North Vancouver District to get back to the bargainning table and settle. There is hope that this could be over sooner than later.

  • Skywalker

    4 years ago

    Very good article.

    "Which Sullivan promptly shot down because, he said, then they'd be negotiating at election time."

    Every time I see Sullivan on TV repeating the above line, I can't help wondering whether he really thinks people aren't smart enough to see through his spin. If he really was worried about the Olympics then take the risk that you might have to negotiate close to an election by accepting a longer term of the contract. Or is it really his own political fortunes that are the root of the concern here. He actually might have to negotiate with the union when the "chickens come home to roost" on the Olympics. Poor Sam. Who's fault is that.

    In this brief article Sullivan's posturing is exposed for just what it is. Self serving use of the public as hostage.

  • DPL

    4 years ago

    Seems Mayor Sam may be

    Seems Mayor Sam may be catching on. The public is behind the workers, a couple of places have tentative agreements and Sam was doing nothing. Now he says he might be interested in a five year deal. Just how did this guy ever get elected to be Mayor is interesting.

  • verso

    4 years ago

    ...

    Sam should be more worried about 2008 than 2010. Bye-bye Sam.

  • RickW

    4 years ago

    And Here I thought ther Strike was about getting a fair share...

    ...of the pie, as demonstrated by those who brought us the Golden Decade:
    http://thetyee.ca/Views/2007/07/26/MLAPay/

  • RickW

    4 years ago

    I Have a Small Question (as an aside):

    Quote:
    In Burnaby yesterday evening, meanwhile, Mayor Derek Corrigan was sighing relief on CKNW because his city workers were on the job to staunch the blown oil pipe before a small catastrophe could become a major disaster. He praised the skill of his city's workers fulsomely as he predicted negotiations would produce an agreement rather than a strike in Burnaby.

    http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=31749b61-8662-4f67-9d6c-6506a67d5b88&k=21086
    "The pipeline is part of Kinder Morgan Canada's TransMountain Pipeline system."

    So why wasn't a Kinder Morgan crew "johnny-on-the-spot" to:
    a] shut off the flow?
    b] to effect immediate containment and cleanup?

    http://thetyee.ca/News/2005/08/23/KinderMorgan/
    Is this an instance of a corporation externalizing costs? Environment Minister Barry Penner assured us that a bill would be sent to the responsible party. And while a bill might well be sent, will it be paid?

  • Jeffrey J.

    4 years ago

    Democracy At Work

    Great article. And to judge by BC residents support for CUPE and working people, I am proud of this province. Notwithstanding the continuous trumpeting by CanWestGlobal of the great job capitalism is doing in BC, our citizens know better. Its about sharing the wealth, good pay for people who go to work every day, and being a community. It's not about capital gains, IPO's, profit and greed. This is OUR province, and people haven't forgotten that. I wish everyone at CUPE and this bargaining session the BEST of luck. And as Burnaby just proved, collective bargaining can be very, very good for civil society.

  • Dave A

    4 years ago

    Strike Is All About Olympics

    A good article. It certainly exposes Sullivan's duplicity in these negotiations, where, earlier, he professed to "not interfering with, but allowing the city bargaining committee to handle negotiations", and now he's full front and center declaring that "if Richmond can come up with a positive outcome with their employees.etc...". I guess reality has caught with him. As for Burnaby's unfortunate oil disaster, to quote environment minister John Baird," the polluter shall pay!". Sounds like the taxpayers are going to get hooked over this one, unless the 'battle of your surveyor versus my surveyor' is won by the Municipality of Burnaby. You can be sure that all the corporate biggies are going to be focussed on these two incidents and the spin will be on to lay blame at the local governments. I don't know whether I would support the referendum question, vis-a-vis federal government taking over responsibilty for the Olympics(reg.TM), probably something that Campbell is at the point of slashing his wrists over; God knows his singing is terrible enough!.

  • Working Memory

    4 years ago

    Precursor of events to come

    It wasn’t a coincidence two weeks ago when John Furlong, CEO VANOC, told mainstream news media that his 2010 show was on time and budget. He knew a garbage strike was coming and he wanted to fool citizens into believing he’s doing his part. It’s the old, “It’s not my fault” routine.

    During the peak of the Olympia restaurant fiasco, The Vancouver Sun reported that anyone who used Olympics symbols without permission would be responsible for causing 2010 to crash and burn. Apparently they were wrong because within two weeks Bell offered a record breaking $200 million for a sponsorship, and money from other sponsors kept flowing.

    Local news media now claim that unions will bring 2010 to its knees.

    In reality, the greatest threat Furlong has is this online article, and the thousands that have come before and will come after. Sochi Russia was just awarded the 2014 Games. How close do you think their citizens are watching us, and how close do you think citizens in cities preparing a Bid for 2016, 18, 20, and beyond are watching TheTyee.ca?

    In the past it was incredibly difficult for citizens in Olympics regions to share what they were experiencing. Today information is traded in real time online.

    Every time 2010 hiccups, prospective Olympic volunteers in Vancouver and Whistler take a step back. It takes the edge off of volunteering when people realize that 2010 will not be good for our community. Peer pressure is a powerful thing. Will it be “cool” to volunteer in 2010? We’ll see.

    2010 cannot possibly happen without the full cooperation of local businesses and citizens. VANOC probably needs about three times the volunteers they claim. The HR churn rate at recent past Olympic Games has been 3:1, which means that for every volunteer who makes it all the way through the three week run, two quit, many on day two. If you want VANOC’s attention, communicate with and impact their volunteer pool.

    Unions create havoc in all Olympics regions, and all Olympics organizing committees work it out, which I expect they will also do this time, but this time, if union members aren’t happy, they can talk to citizens in Sochi or London directly. No middleman. No news media.

    The Vancouver Sun recently announced that they are now “official” Olympic boosters. They will be paid big dollars to promote 2010, and the money will come from taxpayers across Canada. How do you think taxpayers in Gander, Halifax, Montreal and Innuvit will feel when they read this article? What if they complain too?

    In the past Olympic organizations were able to keep all this controversy under the radar until the tax bill arrived, and well after the Games left town.

    Yesterday it was the Olympia restaurant, today it is unions, and tomorrow it will be well-educated citizens who will think twice about volunteering.

    Maurice Cardinal
    Editor: www.OlyBLOG.com
    Author: www.LeverageOlympicMomentum.com

  • RickW

    4 years ago

    2010 show was on time and budget......

    Oops! Just that niggly little thing called "security" now. Fortunately (ahem!), I think I heard the great man say that doesn't affect his "on time, on budget" as it falls to a different category........how convenient. And I've all ready heard some (official) mutterings about how BC'ers won't stint on security, so they can enjoy 2010............and here I wasn't even aware that many BC'ers would be actually going to the games!

  • verso

    4 years ago

    ...

    It's obvious Olympic boosterism by the Sun and Province are why stories of a grossly inadequate security budget are buried behind happy-happy headlines of buildings being "on time, on budget."

    The MSM, like Vanoc and the Liberals, can not now pretend the lack of security dollars is a surprise. Alarm bells have been ringing for more than two years over these costs.

    The Canwest stories, if you can find them, try to pin most blame on the RCMP, while down playing how much the Libs knew. How stupid do they think we are?

    Come clean Vanoc and Liberals -- How much is this 3-ring circus really going to cost us!

  • alive

    4 years ago

    WE pay! who else?

    Quote:
    I think I heard the great man say that doesn't affect his "on time, on budget" as it falls to a different category........

    and of course he is correct, as that burden falls on to the taxpayers!
    It will have a different label and not be counted as Olympic spending at all!

    Who was talking about "fudgit budget"
    Campbell has taken that science to a new level.

  • realisticman

    4 years ago

    A bit Dodgy

    Sam is aware that there are many that want the games to fail and some might even consider radical action, therefore security costs will go up even more. He has to be careful with his budget in settling with the unions bearing in mind these added costs. Security is paramount. Added costs will have to come from somewhere and raising property taxes would not be popular but might be necessary.

    As for the poll suggesting the Federal Government take over, that's a pipe dream. Montreal, the city of, finished paying for their '76 Olympics in '06. It took 30 years and not even the Province took on all debts. The idea that all of Canada, including Quebec and Montreal, should bear any burden for a Vancouver/Whistler Olympics is impossible to contemplate. Politically it would be an absolute non-starter.

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