Local media declares Jihad on Saskatchewan government

There are a couple of articles/columns in today's (Friday, December 7, 2007) Regina Leader-Post reporting on the Brad Wall government's recent flip-flop on the question of "Essential Services Legislation". Before the election they said they "Wouldn't bring in legislation", now they are determined that they will.

The article is by James Wood - Wall tries to settle labour law confusion.

and the column by Murray Mandryk - Sask. Party rewrites election script.

Just to clear up the comments regarding demonstrations and rallies on the steps of the legislature -- this is how it went. It was right at the end of a 15 minute scrum following my meeting (On Thursday) with the new minister in charge of labour, Rob Norris. I had talked and responded to questions about worker rights; potential judicial challenges against the backdrop of recent Supreme Court of Canada decisions; why the Sask. Party said one thing before the election and the complete opposite after the election; whether workers might defy legislation like has occurred in the past; and so on.

We were just about to conclude the interview and Leader-Post Reporter James Wood demands something like - "so if the Wall government refuses to back down and refuses to consult appropriately will we be seeing 500 people protesting on the steps of the legislature?"

I looked at him with a puzzled and astonished look, thinking to myself - "you can't be serious James, we're talking about peoples' constitutional and charter rights here - that's the best question you can ask?" and I responded (kind of tongue in cheek) - "oh I don't know, probably - maybe even more. If workers feel strongly enough that this is an infringement on their charter rights I'm sure they'll protest in a variety of ways."

p.s. Murray Mandryk wasn't even there to witness me "declaring Jihad ... with my threats of protests on the steps of the legislature." It was James Wood who threatened protests on the steps of the legislature, I just responded that protests were a possibility. Talk about sensationalism and exaggeration.

Other than that - the article and column are pretty good.

U. of S. Faculty Association joins SFL

On December 4th, the University of Saskatchewan Faculty Association (USFA) voted to become the latest union to join the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour.

The USFA represents approximately 1,000 faculty members including professors, librarians, archivists, and extension specialists at Saskatchewan’s largest university.

I am very pleased that the Faculty Association has chosen to join the House of Labour. Their decision to join the SFL reinforces that in this day and age, workers need unions, and unions need strong central organizations to advocate on their behalf.

These additional members at the University of Saskatchewan will make a fantastic addition to the diverse make-up of the SFL. Our Federation is an organization that truly reflects the wide cross-section of workers in virtually all occupations throughout the province.

The Saskatchewan Federation of Labour Executive Council will finalize the affiliation at their meeting next week in Regina.

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

See official SFL News Release here. (in Adobe PDF format)

National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

Saskatchewan's labour central urged all Saskatchewan citizens to take time to commemorate the victims of the 1989 Ecole Polytechnique massacre this December 6th. Fourteen young women were shot and killed that day in cold blood.

See the full SFL News Release.

Federation of Labour working hard to bring sides to table

Leader-Post reporter Anne Kyle filed this linked article for publication in the Thursday, December 6, 2007 issue of the paper.

There is a second article reporting of the same matter on the CBC Web-site.

These articles refer to efforts being made by the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour to assist the parties to settle the dispute.

Keith Olbermann: George Bush and His Iranian Masquerade

Saskatchewan University Workers Reach Tentative Settlement

While I am pleased that the members of CUPE 1975 at the Universities of Regina and Saskatchewan have achieved a tentative agreement and have ended their strike - I have some thoughts about how that agreement came to pass. CUPE's web-site article about the final bargaining session facilitated by provincial conciliator Doug Forseth is linked here.

The two outstanding issues that precipitated the strike have been referred to "binding arbitration". Previously, CUPE had offered to end the strike by referring these same two issues to "non-binding mediation" - an offer that was rejected by the University leadership.

The following excerpt from the article speaks volumes:

"It's not the resolution we wanted, but the government's threat of back-to-work legislation meant 'arbitration' was the only topic of discussion at the conciliation table," says CUPE 1975 bargaining chair Brad McKaig. "Since both employers appeared to prefer legislation to negotiation, it had a huge influence on what we could achieve at the table."

Premier Brad Wall told the media on Thursday the government would end the strike through back-to-work legislation if no agreement was reached in concilation talks, which resumed Friday.

"Given the threat of government intervention, our only option was to influence how arbitration would proceed, not whether it would proceed," says McKaig.

So how did all of this come to pass? I think that the President of the U of S - probably called (former University of Saskatchewan employee) the new Minister in charge of the labour portfolio (Rob Norris) and asked for the government to exert the heavy hand and introduce the threat of legislation. Plain and simple.

I also think that the new Minister responded to the request, and the Premier issued the "threat".

Now, just to put things in perspective - during the week prior to CUPE 1975 voting on the employers "so-called final offer", I placed a call to the new Minister and offered (through his office) to meet with him to discuss the matter, and offered to provide labour's perspective. I'm still waiting to hear back from Mr. Norris in this regard. Somehow, I don't think he's interested in anything workers or their representatives have to say about anything.

I guess that's what the new Minister meant when he said to reporters following his appointment that the government would be "Rebalancing the relationship with labour". And that's what the new Premier meant when he said during the election campaign that he would be "Reaching out to labour".

Public Pressure Forces B.C. Government to Drop Vote on TILMA Enforcement Bill

It appears that the secretive, anti-democratic Gord Campbell government in British Columbia has a bit of trouble on their hands. For a second time, public pressure and fierce opposition has forced them to back down on their attempts to ram through the B.C. / Alberta Trade Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) enforcement bill.

TILMA is a massive assault on democracy and is being pushed by corporations and the right-wing governments and political parties that they control.

Read the Council of Canadians news release about this by clicking here.

In addition, Erin Weir has added more commentary on the topic of anti-democratic government behaviour over at the "Progressive Economics Form" Blog under the title of: TILMA, Ontario and Quebec: The Price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance.

"The End of America": Naomi Wolf and Amy Goodman Discuss America's Descent into Fascism

"Naomi Wolf outlines what she sees as the ten steps to shut down a democratic society. She argues the Bush administration has already implemented many of these steps."

Part 1 - The End of America: Naomi Wolf


Part 2 - The End of America: Naomi Wolf


Read more and watch the video interview of Naomi Wolf by Amy Goodman from Democracy Now on AlterNet.org by clicking here.

Enterprise Saskatchewan: Former CFIB director Dale Botting lands key role in Saskatchewan Party government

Joe Kuchta over at the "Owls and Roosters" Blog has posted an interesting update on Enterprise Saskatchewan and a backgrounder on Dale Botting, the recently appointed Deputy Minister attached to the portfolio. You can read it by clicking here.

Olbermann with Naomi Klein: The Shock Doctrine

This is VERY illuminating!

What does "Reaching Out to Labour" mean?

Saskatoon StarPhoenix reporter James Wood writes in an article in the Friday, November 30, 2007 issue entitled: Wall enters strike fray, Settle or face back-to-work law, premier warns about Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall's apparent anxiousness to legislate an end to the strike at Saskatchewan's two universities.

Just to clear up any possible confusion caused by this article. I told James Wood when he contacted me by telephone (Thursday) that since the election of the new government I have sent the Minister (of Labour) 2 letters (on different topics). I also attempted to contact him once by telephone - last week.

The telephone call was my offer to meet with him to provide my insight into the dispute, and to offer my analysis of the options available to assist in resolving the dispute.

He has not returned my call, nor taken me up on my offer.

Obviously, the "new" labour minister, and the "new" Premier are not as interested in "reaching out to labour" as they promised during the election campaign.

A couple of bloggers have already posted on Wall's comments:

Buckdog: Saskatchewan Party Government Threatens To Legislate University Support Workers Back to Work!

Sean in Saskatchewan: Sask Politics: Wall, CUPE 1975 strike, and back-to-work?

The Writers Strike - Why We Fight

The Folly of Merit Pay - by Alfie Kohn

Linked here is a really interesting article by Alfie Kohn entitled: The Folly of Merit Pay. The upshot of which is a very compelling argument that "pay-for-performance plans are reliably unsuccessful, if not counterproductive".

While the article is aimed mostly at these types pay schemes in relation to the teaching profession - the arguments are generic across all occupations.

I particularly like the following paragraph:

"Educational policymakers might be forgiven their shortsightedness if they were just proposing to raise teachers' salaries across the board—or, perhaps, to compensate them appropriately for more responsibilities or for additional training. Instead, though, many are turning to some version of "pay for performance." Here, myopia is complicated by amnesia: For more than a century, such plans have been implemented, then abandoned, then implemented in a different form, then abandoned again. The idea never seems to work, but proponents of merit pay never seem to learn. "

Urgent Message to Board of Governors U of S

The Advertisement below and linked here was placed today (November 29, 2007) in the Saskatoon StarPhoenix by Concerned Alumni from the University of Saskatchewan.

Whatever Happened to the 100 Million Dollars?

Whatever happened to the 100 Million Dollars that the Provincial Government gave to the University of Saskatchewan on December 12, 2005? Have we got an Academic Health Sciences Centre?

Is it time for a forensic audit???

Academics' Critique U of S Human Resources Policies, Practices & Procedures

Some University of Saskatchewan Academics have done a critique of the U of S Human Resources Policies, Practices & Procedures. Check it out over at the "Concerned Academics Speaking Out Blog".

Described another way this is sort of "a performance evaluation", or a "grading" so to speak.

And the results are in. The University of Saskatchewan Adminstration and Human Resources Department have flunked out. The following quote says it all:

“The development of a five year plan by the University of Saskatchewan based on publications that have been described by one leading international business authority as studies that “lack analytical rigor” and not likely “to win a blue ribbon at your local high school science fair” is almost incomprehensible for an institution that promotes “scholarship” as one of its fundamental values. One would think that scholarship, critical thinking and the attendant high performance standards for research should apply to the Human Resources department as well.”

CUPE 1975 Rejects University Final Offer

CUPE 1975 members (employees of the University of Regina and University of Saskatchewan) have overwhelming and massively rejected their employers' so-called Final Offer.

In votes held November 26 and 27, (and supervised by the Saskatchewan Labour Relations Board) the members voted 'NO' by 85%.

For further details check the Union Web-sites at:

www.cupe1975.ca (U of S)
www.cupe1975-01.ca (U of R)

The Official New Release is reproduced below:

CUPE calls for more bargaining dates:
University workers vote to reject employers’ final offer

Saskatoon/Regina: Striking university workers voted 85% to reject the employers’ final offer at membership meetings in Regina and Saskatoon. The ballots were counted this afternoon.

The CUPE 1975 negotiating committee, which asked members to reject the final offer, says the strong “no” vote sends a clear message to the employer.

“We are not prepared to settle for anything less than a fair contract settlement,” said Brad McKaig, chair of the 1975 bargaining committee, adding “the employers’ final offer was far too little and way too late.”

Despite the falling temperatures and the approach of Christmas, striking university workers came out in large numbers to defeat the employers’ final offer. About 72% of the membership cast ballots at meetings in the two cities.

“The strong rejection vote demonstrates the membership’s resolve to achieve a fair contract offer – something they have not seen so far,” said Don Puff, president of CUPE 1975-01 in Regina.

Bargaining is scheduled to resume on Friday, November 30. But the union says they are ready to meet as early as tomorrow and through the weekend, if that’s what it takes to negotiate a settlement to this dispute.

“There are two outstanding issues that must be resolved to conclude an agreement and get members back to work,” said Puff. “There’s no reason that could not happen on Friday, but if it takes longer we are prepared to bargain through the weekend.”

- 30 -

For more information contact: Brad McKaig at 229-6730 or Don Puff at 537-3199

The Ontario-Quebec Deal: TILMA 2.0 ?

Erin Weir over on the "Progressive Economics Forum Blog" has just posted a commentary on the recently announced discussions between Ontario and Quebec on so-called "free-trade".

Below is an excerpt from Erin's posting. The full commentary can be read by clicking here.

"Today, Premiers McGuinty and Charest kicked off “free trade” negotiations between their provinces. The key question is whether this process will be a sweeping “race to the bottom” like the BC-Alberta Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) or a focused effort to develop common standards in the few areas where problems may exist. As usual, the rhetoric about “inter-provincial barriers” is based on barely any concrete examples of alleged barriers."

Bank Teller Sues CIBC for $600 Million for Unpaid Overtime

Dara Fresco image courtesy www.cbc.ca

There was a great segment on CBC Sunday Night tonight called: "Working For Nothing". It's a story about a Toronto bank teller named Dara Fresco who is sueing the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) for $600 million for unpaid overtime.

There's a video of the segment available at this link: Working For Nothing.

Also, there is a story about the case when it broke back in June of 2007 posted on the CBC Web-Site. You can read it by clicking here.

Good for Dara Fresco!

Temporary Labour or Disposable Workers?

"Foreign labourers are brought to the tar sands, but are easily sent home"

Here is an excellent article by Tim Murphy which further exposes the exploitation of workers through the Government sponsored Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

This is a source of terrible embarassment. These types of programs will cause serious damage to Canada's reputation around the globe if we don't start paying attention to ensuring workers rights are respected and protected.

"It's a litany of horror stories that almost smack of servitude. They [the workers] are artificially subdued because the threat of being sent back is always hanging over their heads and so the complaints part of the process is largely silent." - Don MacNeil, CEP