The Premier and his pals in

The Premier and his pals in VANOC best get a grip on the mmayor of Vancouver's dithering or expect to see a labour dispute that could go on for some time. We lived in the city when the garbage collectors were off the job. Those back alleys got pretty rank . If the two sides are taling less than one percent apart it's time to settle by the cities going up the one percent. Maybe the mayor hasn't figured ut what's going on.

Hiding behind the bargaining agent

Sam Sullivan and other municipal mayors are hiding behind the GVRD bargaining agent. But, in the end, they are responsible for any strike that is going to occur. Asking for concessions in a 39 month term that ensures labour peace past the Olympics? Even the BC Liberals weren't that dumb.

2% C.o.L. - Bah!

The price of virtually everything that people need at the base level to survive is up more than 2%.

-Transportation to and from work:
gasoline, parking, bus fares
-Housing
$750,000 for detached bungalo
apartments
-basic groceries
bread, vegetables, meat/fish, T.P.

I don't know how "they" calculate Cost of Living figures, but those figures always seem to be bunk to me.

The high wage/salary earners who are in charge of negotiating these contracts don't have a clue about the struggles working people are going through - one paycheck away from being out on the street.

Democratic right to strike

What our money-oriented right wing society keeps forgetting is that employees have every right to withdraw their services and go on strike. This is so fundamental that it is usually missed. Collective bargaining is explicitly permitted by legisltation, and creates a system of balancing two opposing interests. Employers who seek to reduce pay, and employees who wish an increase. If no agreement can be reached, a strike is permitted. At the end of every strike a new agreement will arise. It's called democracy, and it works better than all the other systems. Great article.

re: my last comment

On second thought, perhaps they do have a clue and are hoping that the CUPE folks are so poor that they can't afford to weather a strike. I happen to think that CUPE folks may be so poor that they don't care anymore - they'll tell the banks to go ahead and foreclose on their mortgages and take their frickin' houses. Start getting some foreclosures happening and the interest rates rise further... They could be the pin that bursts the housing bubble.

Final Offer Vote

The media is reporting that Vancouver has requested a Final Offer Vote. This is a one time affair, whereby an empoyer may ask hat its final offre be put to a vote. They normally fail miseraby (don't have the stats in front of me).

Someone needs to ask the brain trust at City Hall, how muchin legal fees this move cost.

They're already making excuses

Construction on projects including the Canada Line, Olympic Village and Richmond Oval could also be delayed, thwarting VANOC's promises to deliver the 2010 Winter Games on time and on budget.

My gut feeling is that 2010 is going to be the most overbudget olympic games on record. They are already trying to create a scapegoat for the cost overruns -- those over paid civil servants. It couldn't possibly be because VANOC made a bunch of promises that they couldn't possibly keep, or never had any intention of keeping. I think the abandonment of the affordable housing clause fits into the latter category.

Remember anytime a bunch of money is taken out of the taxpayers pocket it lands up in somebody else's pocket. The more the cost overrun the bigger the recipients pocket.

Sullivan needs a strike.

I think Sullivan is doing this on purpose. Sullivan want’s a strike. He can see the forces of Vision Vancouver circling and gaining momentum. A municipal CUPE strike that leaves your garbage rotting in your backyard always brings out the anti-labor sentiments in the moderates. Sullivan will use this sentiment against Vision Vancouver and COPE. Sullivan is looking to score all the points he can. He is almost 2/3 through his term and has yet to get past first base. He is getting desperate.

3%, 5 years

As Faoro said, no one wants a strike. If Sullivan and the rest have any forethought and bargaining skill they'll offer the 2.5% (hell, if i was a CUPE member i'd be asking for 3% annual cost of living increase-2.5 % barely covers inflation!) and a contract of 4 or even 5 years.

why not strike?

Many of the CUPE members are qualified tradespeople, who are sorely tempted to get a job in the private sector and earn as much as $2.50 an hour more and perhaps get a signing bonus!

There was a time when working for the "government" implied having a safe job, endless security and benefits.

Today thanks to our neo-liberal leaders, there is perhaps less security than with private firms, certainly no longer any guarantee you will have a job next month.

So, why would there be any rush to sign a lousy deal?

I will bet many will prefer to go on strike and if it drags out simply take on a job elsewhere.

This is one time when the capitalists have outsmarted themselves

Vancouver's contribution to global warming.

Don't pay your employees enough to live where they work. It could happen if it hasn't already.

Elitist Bullies

"alive" 2 days ago bemoans the fact tradespersons are paid 2.50/hr less than market value under these CUPE deals. Probably very true, probably more than $2.50 hr less. The fact of the matter is that in any union membership group the higher the skills and hence market value of the work the more those members are under compensated relative to free market value and conversely the less skilled the work the more union membership benefits the unskilled worker relative to his more skilled brothers and sisters.....Personally I don't happen to think what Bono or Sting or Michael Moore or Al Gore or Tiger Woods do is worth jillions of $'s but that's what they get.

Oh, for anyone who isn't familiar with public sector "unionspeak", Building Services Worker means Janitor in the real world. The next time the Lefty Swells that pontificate here are lounging at their favourite Cafe on the Drive they may want to consider how much their brother or sister that sweeps the floor after they leave, receives for cleaning up their mess , It's a hell of a lot less than $18/hr plus CUPE benefits city hall janitors get. Why don't the higher purpose righteous types try to organize the people that need help the most.....I guess those people don't pay union dues.

Seeger, Chavez. Hill....names from a long time ago now

Good idea, but

Sparkyboy
You make a good point! ----- unintentionally I am sure.

In European countries practically every worker is unionized, and nobody has to work for peanuts!

In Canada the media have from day one, painted unions as an obstruction to free enterprize, and therefore bad for Canada!

Now, many years later we see where free enterprize has lead us, and still the sentiments is that unions are representing a bunch of lazy workers!

The English immigrants were prone to unionize, and soon were banned from many workplaces simply because they were from England.
Employers had no use for anyone who might insist on proper conditions and safety.

To this day, workers have to strike in order to secure decent conditions, and when they obtain it, the non-unionized workers begin to bitch, instead of trying to unionize themselves.

Sparkyboy conveniently forgets the many attempts at unionize smaller firms as well as the typical holdouts like Wallmart and 7-11.

Every attempts has to get a certain percentage of support, and every time the employer influences the outcome by persuasion and firings.

The various unions do try, but what is needed is general understanding from the people suffering the poor conditions.

Unfortunately those who have to work 2 or more part-time jobs, have little energy left to pursue ideals, they struggle to merely survive!

Gas inspector?

Kind of surprises me that a gas inspector would be part of the essential service, considering they operate under the auspices for the BC Safety Authority, whose inspectors are either GEU or UAPSG. Nothing to do with the City at all, except they won't cross a line....

civic employee strikes

First, Monte, please don't call it a "general strike." That term has a different meaning. The last one we had here was a one-day affair in the 1970s to protest the Anti-Inflation Program, and even they didn't call it a general strike, but a day of protest. This strike, if it occurs, will be a bunch of strikes by individual unions seeking a better offer from their employer--the same issues that are behind most strikes.
Secondly, municipal employees have trouble winning strikes here. The rotting garbage isn't as big a deal as it used to be with plastic garbage bags,composting, re-cycling and the like. During the 2000 strike, there were 3 of us in the house, and we didn't fill the two cans for garbage to which we were entitled then.
Third, what rational management negotiator would put a union in a position to take a legal strike two months before the biggest international event in the history of the city? the average length of a contract in BC these days is about 38 months.
Someone should take a look at the employer's position on promotions. Those issues are very important in municipal government in my experience, where promotions are not very numerous and the biggest way for the employer to reward ambition.