Wednesday 19 December 2007

Saskatchewan Workers' Charter and Human Rights will be stripped away by new legislation

On Wednesday, December 19, 2007 the Brad Wall Sask Party government introduced two pieces of labour legislation in the form of Bill 5 - The Public Service Essential Services Act and Bill 6 - The Trade Union Amendment Act, 2007.

These two pieces of legislation, if passed in their current form, would result in Saskatchewan becoming the jurisdiction that has the worst union certification legislation and the worst essential services legislation in Canada - bar none.

In a single afternoon, Saskatchewan has gone from a province that had a highly respected and internationally recognized reputation of fair, balanced and competitive labour legislation to one of leading the pack in the race to the bottom. Brilliant retention and recruitment strategy!

See the SFL Official News Release.

15 comments:

The Golden Vision said...

Enough with the charter and human rights bs Larry. The people of this province are fed up with unions abusing their power and getting a free ride. You need to get this figured out : Companies don't exist solely to make employees happy and to shell out money to people.
Every one knows that unions came into existance for a good reason, and they did a good job of bringing justice and dignity to the workplace. However, unions now are like a predator after its first taste of blood. They can only think of sticking it to employers, you have gone beyond justice and now try to take advantage of every one you can.
Shame on you. Hopefully you wake up tomorrow with a sense of morals and ethics, and think of the good of our whole province instead of only the good of yourself and your union.

Mike The Greek said...

Larry,

Although the SFL and NDP's official position is to boycott John Gormley Live, rather than having his usual "Bugs Day - The Hour of Rage", he is having "Hugs Day - The Hour of Praise"

I want to be the first to give you a big old Greek hug for Christmas.

I know you're having quite a lousy month, losing your election and all and now having that nerdy Labour Minister ROD Norris handing you your ass on a plate, but it's Christmas and as baby Jesus said, "Be cool with everyone on my birthday"...

God Bless You and the SFL!

dv said...

No one is moving to Saskatchewan to join the union, so personally, I think it's a great recruitment strategy! Retention ... yep, not going to move away to join a union either, I'm staying, it's working!

Frank L said...

Any outfit wants to oparate here should hav to use the labor system we have. Are unions do a good job getting us good money, and some company wants to get money from us in the province can pay me good money right back. The govermint got no right interfiring in the union, and we want to go on strike , we will. It is my job, I should get paid what the union can get me. And public jobs have lots of tax money to pay for them.

Richard_Cranium said...

Problem with that Frank is that people no longer get paid based on the merit of the work they do, how and when they do it. They get paid based on how much hurt they can inflict on the public before the public puts pressure on the businesses to settle. If a strike does not affect any of the public it will go nowhere. Unions are the reason the 7-11 cashier gets paid 8 bucks an hour, and the liquor store cashier gets twenty some. I'm sure the LB cashier goes yippee yayyy, but the poor 7-11 guy wonders WTF is goin on. We would be better off with NO unions or ALL union. Its the mix of the two that causes most of the dissent.

Unknown said...

Yesterday when I stopped to chat with picketers outside the Ramada in Regina, It dawned on me ... with the new legislative changes coming into effect, is it not time for a mass one day strike amongst all unions to oppose the rights being taken away from them?

I propose a mass work stoppage of all employees, not just unionized employees but every worker in the province.

One day only ... a provincial day of protest against this horrific piece of legislation that goes directly against the rights of workers, and the rights that unions have worked hard to establish!

Cheers,

Matt

www.soop.ca

Unknown said...

Larry and the rest of the Rabble.

WAH!

25 percent is not a majority. 50 percent plus one is more like it.

Equal rights are equal rights. Employers have rights too. About time the scales are balanced!

An ex Unit Chair.

Anonymous said...

Well Richard, getting paid or promoted based on the merit of the worker, is a great thought....if we lived in a perfect world or maybe a fairytale world. But we don't, our world is far from perfect. The problem is that the "merit" is usually based on: if you are related to the boss, or go golfing with them, or go drinking with them, have sex or flirt with them, or if you have the right colour of skin, have the same beliefs or same non-beliefs, or who you vote for, if you are willing to take short cuts and work unsafe, if you allow the boss to belittle you because it makes them feel good about them self's, or how fast you can wear out the knees of your pants being a "yes" man or woman. At least with seniority you are reworded with the years of service that you give to your employer.

Unions don't want to go on strike and defiantly don't intend to hurt the public. Union workers just want a fair contract. They don't even want a contract that hurts the employer. Wouldn't make sense to bargain a contract that is so rich it would put your employer out of business would it. The fact is Unionised companies are some of the most successful ones. But don't take my word for it. next time the Star Phoney or the Leader Post prints their "top companies of Saskatchewan" take a look at how many of them are Unionized.

Last but not least, the 7-11 workers. Unions are the reason he gets at least $8/hour and not $3. Does he deserve more? of course he does. 7-11 makes millions and their workers deserve their share as well. Unions always push for stronger Labour Standards (the standards for non-Union workers) and higher min wage.

One thing we can agree on is that All workers should be Unionized.

Mike The Greek said...

Holy crap Craig,

Get out from under your union yoke and get in the real world.

You really believe all that stuff about fairy tales? No wonder unions are in the dark ages.

What an absolutely corrupt world view.

Your comments are a perfect example of why union membership is on the decline, and why unions have lost the respect of very hard working men and women; union and otherwise.

Larry should keep them up here for all to see. Only the most negative, unproductive element of our society could agree with any of your comments.

My God... I pity anyone who sees the world in the same way...

bob stavely said...

I seem to recall a recent election, democratic in nature. The new government won a clear majority and now have mandate to make changes. Changing the labour imbalance in Saskatchewan is long overdue. Following the announcement of the proposed legislation I heard someone saying that "now nobody will be coming here to work in our hospitals". That is truly bizarre considering that the proposed legislation is essentially the same as in the rest of Canada. Perhaps these misguided unionists seek a change of venue. How about Cuba and how about Larry Hubich at the front of the pack? It's over guys, enjoy the political wilderness because I think you have become permanently exiled. The world has changed but you guys seem to be incapable of that. Merry Christmas....

Unknown said...

'The problem is that the "merit" is usually based on: if you are related to the boss, or go golfing with them, or go drinking with them, have sex or flirt with them, or if you have the right colour of skin, have the same beliefs or same non-beliefs, or who you vote for, if you are willing to take short cuts and work unsafe, if you allow the boss to belittle you because it makes them feel good about them self's, or how fast you can wear out the knees of your pants being a "yes" man or woman. At least with seniority you are reworded with the years of service that you give to your employer.'

Same can be said about what goes on inside unions. I recall a certain union fighting whistle blowing legislation. I've personally been 'instructed' how to leave certain words, sentance and entire ideologies 'unsaid' to influence a union vote result.

Look at how Unions negotiate amongst themselves (SGEU and its current unrest with its own union lock out of their support staff).

I wish that unions had to compete with members, and there was true freedom of choice. Like the Leanding Tree commercial, when unions compete, the members win. But that is the ultimate dream.

Anonymous said...

Well Mike I am in the real world. I am a Union member that works at a mine. I have also worked other non-Union jobs. Now don't misquote me I did not say every employer will treat merit that way, just that unfortunately it works out that way a majority of the time. there is however that odd exception to the rule. Too bad they are few and far between. While "ignorance is bliss", not seeing the world the way it is (I agree sometimes I wish I too didn't realise what greed will do to people, and could believe that all companies really do care more about the workers than the profit) I would rather live in this world with my eyes open.
You are missing the positive side, Unions level the playing field where the worker and the employer are on the same level and can negotiate terms that both of them can work under. There are even some employers that are proactive with working with the Union members and great thinks can come out of it.

Anonymous said...

What about the right to not associate? Ever consider that one Larry? You and your SFL cronies and the NDP ought to be very thankful that right to work legislation has not yet been proposed.

Richard_Cranium said...

Craig, seeml like the age old perception principle. From the unionists perspective the imperfect world consists of shifty employers who want to goose the employee at every opportunity, and from the business perspective, the unions want to do average work, for rediculous pay, and are a bunch of unmotivated protected species.
Somewhere in between reality must exist. Each case has its own set of circumstance where either one or both or none of the scenarios are in play.
You cant group all in to the same basket regardless of your position.

Anonymous said...

Like I said before, there are some good employers out there. So I don't believe that every employer "wants to goose the employee at every opportunity", but I do believe that profit and greed makes people do terrible things. That the shareholders become more important than the workers and that the workers are dehumanized in the eyes of the employer, they become like gears in a machine. example is an 30 year employee is seen more like an worn out dated part of machinery than a valued worker that gave the company 30 years of their life. the worker may move a little slower as we all do with age and it may even be from the type of work that they do for the employer, taking it's toll on the worker over many years.

Another example is if you were an employer and you have two workers you have to lay off. realistically they are both the same calibre of workers. one has worked for you for 5 years and the other is a friend of yours, you hang out every weekend, but he/she has only worked for you for 3 years. on the "merit" system more times than not the 5 year employee is laid off. especially with the pressure of the 3 year worker telling you on the weekend to please not lay him/her off. sonority not only works for the worker but for the boss in this case.

To say we are unmotivated would be unfair. see my comment earlier about the top Sask. companies being Union. We are only protected from unfair acts of the employer, not legitimate complaints.

The SP keeps on talking about levelling the playing field between business and labour. how about the inequity between the employers profits (including CEO wages) compared to the workers wages. If companies want to motivate their workers how about compensating them properly. Who wouldn't be a top notch worker with a CEO pay check. don't take my word for it, check out http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/paywatch/