The Role of Labour

Over the weekend I've been catching up with news on the Labour wire and been seeing the same old story; employers engaging in hostile workplace practices, then blaming it on the workers, cry that they have no money and once their workers strike to demand better conditions the employer magically comes up with the cash t pay for SCABS and private investigators to spy on their employees.

Same is true in education. Right now, in Connecticut, there is a move in education reform headed up by Governor Malloy to trend towards Charter Schools in order punish not some, but all teachers, on the public's payroll and instill a system headed up by his cronies and their friends in the vetting process.

Why does this matter? Because it very easily happen to you. Let me explain.

In our first example, I'm going to cite the Lincoln County Humane Society in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Workers there know that budgets are generally tight when it comes to helping our animal friends, yet as a publicy funded organization, they are asking for the employer to reconsider a 15% wage cut! Think about what you make then what would happen if your paycheck was cut by 15%, that's the amount of FICA out of a paycheck in the USA for some people.

As part of the bargaining process, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 1287 is arguing the idea that the Human Society can't afford Health Benefits, among other things, and that the Union makes to many demands on them while they always operate in a deficit.

Yet, according to sources, there is a credible rumour that the employer is going to bus in SCABS and hiring a Private Investigator to spy on the picket lines. This costs a considerable amount of money, money a organization in dire straights can't afford. Volunteers and Staff continually cross the picket line in pure disrespect for their fellow workers at the same time.

Back here in the USA, Governor Malloy is, among other things, attacking those who educate our children by  subjecting them to political harassment.

As reported by fellow blogger Jonathan Pelto, Connecticut's teachers and their bargaining unit are unfairly being depicted as the sole reason the education system is unfair and inequitable. Nevermind the fact that cuts to school budgets continually get made, teachers and support staff have been asked to give up parts of their contract to "take one for the team" (which they did, and so did the Universities as well) and teachers are actually considering doing away with their tenure system, a system designed to retain teachers for their careers.

The last part most people have agreed, in general, needs to change, but when your class sizes are 30-40 students at any given time, what else does the public want from you except your soul?

This attack on our Labour force, those who did not cause the crisis we are in, will be a top topic of mine over the life of this blog. Trains will not run on time and jobs will not be good paying and healthy unless more of the working class rises up by some means to protest the unjust actions of our leaders.

If you would like information on where to send donations to help the humane society workers and/or other labour conflicts I post about please let me know in the comments section.