Larry Hubich's Blog

Net Neutrality explained - SaveOurNet.ca

2009-12-06T19:57:00.002-06:00

www.SaveOurNet.ca

National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women - December 6

2009-12-06T09:33:00.002-06:00

Olbermann: Companies betting on employees' lives

2009-12-05T09:49:00.001-06:00

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Story of Cap and Trade

2009-12-05T08:40:00.002-06:00

"The Story of Cap & Trade is a fast-paced, fact-filled look at the leading climate solution being discussed at Copenhagen and on Capitol Hill. Host Annie Leonard introduces the energy traders and Wall Street financiers at the heart of this scheme and reveals the "devils in the details" in current cap and trade proposals: free permits to big polluters, fake offsets and distraction from whats really required to tackle the climate crisis. If youve heard about Cap & Trade, but arent sure how it works (or who benefits), this is the film is for you."
www.storyofcapandtrade.org

SFL Marks 20th Anniversary of the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

2009-12-04T11:08:00.004-06:00

News Release

For immediate release December 4th, 2009

SFL Marks 20th Anniversary of the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

Saskatchewan's labour central will commemorate the victims of the 1989 Ēcole Polytechnique massacre this December 6th, alongside workers and citizens across the country.

"Saskatchewan’s labour movement stands in solidarity with the “20 Days, 20 Ways” campaign of the Canadian Labour Congress. It begins with honouring the memories of the 14 women who were murdered that day, for the expressed reason that they were women. Violence continues to affect shocking numbers of women. Far too many of our daughters, wives, mothers, sisters, and partners live in fear and pain because collectively we have not solved the problem of the hatred of women,” says Mary-Beth Hollis, chair of the SFL Women’s Committee.

“The trade union movement believes that one key way to solve the problem of violence against women is to push our governments to promote and support women and their struggle for equality. This December 6th we are pressing the Harper government to promote and advance women’s equality, rather than continuing their agenda of diminishing it,” says Larry Hubich, SFL President.

The campaign highlights the need for a comprehensive social and economic program that includes:

- maintaining the long gun registry, which has reduced gun-related spousal homicides by 50% since it was started;
- access to affordable, safe housing;
- a living minimum wage;
- effective pay equity laws;
- a national publicly-funded child care programme;
- equal access to Employment Insurance;
- access to justice, including the resources to challenge discriminatory government action and legal aid;
- increased governmental support for women’s centres, rape crisis centres and women’s shelters;
- legal protection and support for women who report sexual assault.

Workers are mailing postcards on these issues every day, for 20 days, directly to the Prime Minister.

The SFL also invites Saskatchewan citizens to attend a vigil outside Member of Parliament Ray Boughen’s office, at #210 – 2631, 28th Ave. Regina, on Sunday December 6th at 4:00 p.m. (see attached poster)

“We will be sending a message to stop Federal Bill C-391 which proposes to end the registry of long guns. Let’s send a message to our government that the gun registry helps save women’s lives and should not be dismantled,” says Hollis.

The SFL represents 95,000 unionized workers from 37 affiliated unions in Saskatchewan.

Download news release here.

Brad Wall's pet union calls for a cut in minimum wage: SFL news release

2009-12-03T20:51:00.009-06:00

News Release

December 3, 2009 For immediate release

Brad Wall's pet union calls for a cut in minimum wage

The "so-called" union that has been invited by Brad Wall and Rob Norris to open up shop in Saskatchewan has submitted a brief to the Saskatchewan Minimum Wage Board calling for a cut in the minimum wage for workers under the age of 21.

In a submission dated October 23, 2009, the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC) made four (4) recommendations to the newly appointed Minimum Wage Board one of which urges the Board to recommend that minimum wage be "discounted by 10 percent for youth under the age of 21 years".

"Real unions don't call on governments to bring in changes that result in putting more people into poverty", said Larry Hubich, President of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour (SFL). "No union worth its salt would ever advocate that we should be setting up a provincial two-tier minimum wage regime that opens the door to unscrupulous employers exploiting, ripping off and impoverishing young workers."

The SFL points out that the Sask. Party government has already admitted that a motivating factor of them introducing the controversial Bill 80 was to open the door for CLAC to set up shop in Saskatchewan. And it is also more than a mere coincidence that some of the most supportive organizations and groups regarding Bill 80 are anti-union and non-union companies and individuals who like the idea of signing sweet-heart deals with company-friendly unions to block real unions from organizing their employees.

"This is all part of the Rob Norris and Brad Wall anti-union agenda. Strip away workers rights, destroy their ability to form legitimate unions, invite company-friendly unions to town, stack boards and commissions with anti-union appointments and cut wages," said Hubich.

The SFL represents more than 95,000 workers from 37 affiliated unions in Saskatchewan. Download SFL news release here.

The government and SAHO must do better

2009-12-02T12:18:00.001-06:00

Kiefer Sutherland pledges his support for Medicare

2009-11-30T23:21:00.003-06:00

Sign the Medicare Pledge here: http://medicare.ca/medicare

MEDICARE PLEDGE
As a Canadian, I believe access to quality health care must be based on need, not ability to pay.
Our public health care reflects those values of equality and fairness.
We must improve our public health care for everyone, instead of expanding private for-profit services that benefit only a few.
I pledge my support for the protection and improvement of public health care in Canada.

Canada's reputation being destroyed by corporate greed

2009-11-30T21:31:00.004-06:00

An article posted on The Guardian web-site written by George Monbiot should be of significant concern to every person in Canada. The article, entitled: Canada's image lies in tatters. It is now to climate what Japan is to whaling is a scathing indictment of Canada's horrid position and reputation when it comes to climate change, pollution, and action to curb an impending global environmental catastrophe.

A once proud, and highly respected country on the global stage - has been reduced to country that is off-side with almost everyone else on the planet. We are seen as being completely and totally controlled by the excesses of the corporate elite, and our Prime Minister is seen as their lackey. How embarassing. The first few paragraphs of Monbiot's article are reproduced below:

"When you think of Canada, which qualities come to mind? The world's peacekeeper, the friendly nation, a liberal counterweight to the harsher pieties of its southern neighbour, decent, civilised, fair, well-governed? Think again. This country's government is now behaving with all the sophistication of a chimpanzee's tea party. So amazingly destructive has Canada become, and so insistent have my Canadian friends been that I weigh into this fight, that I've broken my self-imposed ban on flying and come to Toronto.

So here I am, watching the astonishing spectacle of a beautiful, cultured nation turning itself into a corrupt petro-state. Canada is slipping down the development ladder, retreating from a complex, diverse economy towards dependence on a single primary resource, which happens to be the dirtiest commodity known to man. The price of this transition is the brutalisation of the country, and a government campaign against multilateralism as savage as any waged by George Bush.

Until now I believed that the nation that has done most to sabotage a new climate change agreement was the United States. I was wrong. The real villain is Canada. Unless we can stop it, the harm done by Canada in December 2009 will outweigh a century of good works." Read full article by clicking here....

Dark Side of Dubai's Boom Town - Dubai's dirty little secret

2009-11-30T13:08:00.004-06:00

Dubai - mecca for the rich. Everything that right-wing governments dream of. Run by a dictator, built by slavery. No rights for workers, and laws to make unions illegal. The Sask. Party vision.

Building Towers, Cheating Workers

2009-11-30T12:21:00.004-06:00

Check out this report by Human Rights Watch: (It's a bit dated, but very disturbing). This is the Sask. Party government's vision of how workers should be treated.

"Building Towers, Cheating Workers
Exploitation of Migrant Construction Workers in the United Arab Emirates
Based on extensive interviews with workers, government officials and business representatives, this 71-page report documents serious abuses of construction workers by employers in the United Arab Emirates. These abuses include unpaid or extremely low wages, several years of indebtedness to recruitment agencies for fees that UAE law says only employers should pay, the withholding of employees’ passports, and hazardous working conditions that result in apparently high rates of death and injury."

See more details here.

Download the full report here.

Amy Goodman Detained & Questioned About 2010 Olympics

2009-11-29T22:09:00.001-06:00

Check out democracynow.org

Grey Cup 2009

2009-11-29T11:16:00.002-06:00

Hardball: Michael Moore on Capitalism and Greed

2009-11-27T13:24:00.001-06:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody

2009-11-26T09:55:00.001-06:00

Canadians want a Torture Inquiry - ceasefire.ca

2009-11-25T21:28:00.004-06:00

or visit ceasefire.ca for more details

Public perception of unions is misguided

2009-11-24T22:32:00.009-06:00

Gary Engler, vice-president of CEP local 2000, recently blew the lid off the situation at Canwest Global, Canada's largest media conglomerate. The corporation is filing for court protection against creditors.
.
What he revealed at rabble.ca is a startling picture of corporate greed.

Workers at Canwest are being 'restructured', meaning laid off, with no severance pay, as previously promised. Eighty retirees will lose medical, dental and life insurance benefits. One hundred and twenty retirees face reduced pensions. Stock has plummeted from $20 a few years ago to about $0.25 per share. Shareholders will be getting just a few cents on the dollar.

But what about the three directors, four top executives and 13 other senior managers at Canwest? They're walking away with over $9.8 million in bonuses, and retirement benefits for life. Yes, bonuses, on top of already exorbitant salaries.

Canada's legal system allows for this to happen.

So what does this have to do with unions? Well we've all heard the accusations that unions are greedy, either in the media or from people in our lives. Unions have even been blamed for the recent economic meltdown.

The reality is something totally different. The people who run the large corporations, the executives, and their friends in government who make ther rules, are those ultimately responsible for the meltdown. They wanted to get richer, and they did.

Unions advocate for those without much power or wealth. And we believe workers deserve to share in the wealth that they help to create. Every time union members receive a raise, they pay more taxes, and they spend their money locally, supporting Saskatchewan's economy.

Unions push for fair laws, for public services like rural post offices, and for industry regulations to keep products and services safe.

Let's respond to those falsehoods. The answer is found in our trade union principles: "An Injury to One is an Injury to All." Be proud to be union.

Click to download the December 2009 issue of the SFL Labour Reporter.

The Questions - Charlie Sheen's 20 minutes with the President (9/11 Questions for Obama)

2009-11-25T06:46:00.001-06:00

Interpretation of Charlie Sheen's letter to President Obama demanding a real investigation into the events of 9/11.

Alex Jones & Charlie Sheen video competition entry. http://www.infowars.com/twenty-minutes-with-the-president/

Every Page Blacked Out - Secrecy in Saskatchewan

2009-11-16T23:11:00.009-06:00

Check out the blog posting over on the Owls and Roosters Blog entitled: Secrecy trumps transparency as Wall gov’t denies five FOI requests on wage mandate and SAHO negotiations with health care provider unions.

Citizen blogger, Joe Kuchta, exposes the stunning actions of the Brad Wall government related to recent Freedom of Information requests Kuchta made respecting ongoing Health Care Bargaining between SAHO and the provider unions (SGEU, SEIU, and CUPE)

Astonishingly, Kuchta was provided with 10 pages of apparent documentation related to his request with every page completely "blacked out".

The photos above are a composite of the actual 10 pages of "blacked out" material that was forwarded to Mr. Kuchta.

These anti-democratic and secretive actions certainly make a lie of the government's worn out and meaningless slogans including:

“promises and fulfill the commitments of the election, operating with integrity and transparency, accountable to the people of Saskatchewan.”

and to

“demonstrate leadership for good governance, transparency, and accountability across government.”

Companies kill (at least) 16 workers every day of the year

2009-11-16T23:53:00.004-06:00

www.16deathsperday.com/?utm_source=rgemail

www.bravenewfoundation.org/?utm_source=rgemail

20 days - 20 ways to end violence against women

2009-11-14T19:17:00.004-06:00

The Canadian Labour Congress is asking people to send postcards to the prime minister telling him to take action now to end violence against women, including keeping the gun registry. Barbara Byers, CLC Executive Vice-President, says, "We want the government to keep the long gun registry and to take action on a range of issues that will help to keep women safe."

On November 16th, send the 1st of 20 postcards to the prime minister online! http://www.canadianlabour.ca

Wall government offer an insult to hard working citizens

2009-10-14T19:10:00.004-06:00

Hard working women and men who work in the health care sector in various Saskatchewan communities are saying that the Wall government wage and settlement offer after 17 months without an agreement is an insult.

Brad Wall wants to privatize safety inspections? - Bad Idea

2009-10-13T23:47:00.007-06:00

Read more here....

Saskatchewan's Community Support Workers: Giving more, worth more

2009-11-12T21:46:00.002-06:00

communityworkers.org

Like Father, Like Son

2009-11-10T21:26:00.004-06:00

In 1989 the province of Saskatchewan was nearly bankrupted by an incompetent and corrupt government under the leadership of then Conservative Premier, Grant Devine.

20 years later, and 2 short years into the first term of Grant Devine's protégé, we appear to be headed down that same slippery slope. Where did all the money go?

NDP slams minister for missed deficit signals - CBC

Saskatchewan likely facing recession (weasel word for deficit) by end of fiscal year: finance minister - Leader-Post/StarPhoenix

Deficit talk rises in Saskatchewan as potash revenues fall to unprecedented low - P.A. Herald