City hall and its unions remain entrenched in a stalemate—which is probably bad news for CUPE
The city and CUPE met yesterday with a provincial conciliator, but the two sides remain stuck in basically the same position they’ve occupied for weeks. The union has agreed to roughly 30 of the city’s 70 proposals, but CUPE Local 416 president Mark Ferguson says his organization won’t concede on the most substantial ones. (He also says the city is headed for a lockout, by now a well-worn threat.) Unfortunately for Ferguson, with the bulk of public opinion falling on the anti-union side, nothing short of major concessions will make organized labour appear to be the reasonable party here—so, politically, sticking with the status quo is basically equivalent to losing ground. Read the entire story [Toronto Sun] »
I read all this anti union sentiment but this isn’t about the union or the City of Toronto, it’s about the taxpayers. Rob Ford has all but sealed his fate as a one term. Barack Obama was popular once too. If the rinks, libraries & pools are closed on March break, he’ll more to worry about “this hour has 22 minutes on his driveway” The lack of services to the tax payer will ruin him. Just ask David Miller. The garbage strike sealed his fate & a lockout will seal Ford. He’s underestimated the fight in local 416. It’s not about winning the battle, it’s about winning the war.
Rob Ford is the greatest leader since Stephen Harper. His upcoming battle with unions will prove once and for all that rich businessmen rule all the little people. Hopefully they pull the same stunt as Caterpillar did and ram through a 50% pay cut. That oughta teach those greedy government employees a lesson. GRRR. I thought this sht was cut but it aint lol
Before you all jump the gun, don’t forget that the small businesses will follow suit … if municipal wages are cut, everyone elses will get cut too. If you think you have it bad now in the private sector, just wait!
Also, not every City employee is greedy, some of us are hard working tax payers who also live in this wonderful city.
Yes, some efficiencies are needed, but not to the extent that services are affected and so many people lose their jobs that nobody has any money to spend … this again will affect the smaller businesses … the trickle affect will be felt by many.