Another Canuckistanian-centric poll

[sabotabby]

[Poll #678041]

I will say, though, that CUPE's leadership has done a shite job of not only informing the public about the reasons for the potential strike, but also of informing its own members. My mum's CUPE local is large and quite conservative; they are not going to walk out and no one's told them why they should.

The OSSTF (high school teachers' union) has told its members that they do not have the right to not cross picket lines, should there be any, once again begging the question of why it bothers to claim to be a union in the first place.

If you have news or analysis links about the strike, post 'em in the comments.

EDIT: Looks like it's on.
BRIDE OF EDIT: No, wait, it's off!

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Not related but nevertheless interesting: Aristide's exile may be about to end.

And when you see this on Cute Overload, how could you not want to do this with it?

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Oh yes, and there's a new Gaybortion!: Knitting Party!

Comments

[billie0.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping it will be a quick strike. I have a friend who is a single mother of two who can't afford to go out for long...

[sabotabby]

I think the bigger it is, the faster it'll be over. Still, it'll probably be a day.

[(Anonymous)]

They're a boss union. They do what they're told. This is what happened to unions in Amerikkka. They co-opted them, made them 'responsible'. They provide a path of little resistance, so people feel 'represented' but are still fair game. There is nothing they can REALLY do because the union is REALLY there to make sure they stay in their quiet place.

[jhfurnish.livejournal.com]

It's me, I forgot to log in.

[sabotabby]

Well, except that a boss union is still better than no union. I respect what CUPE's doing, even if I think that they're not doing the greatest job of it.

[roter-terror.livejournal.com]

Aside from a few radical unions, ALL unions are boss unions. And it's not just a problem in Amerikkka THE UNITED STATES. Here's the head of the French employers' association: "We have everything to lose if the unions become weaker still ... and so we have to find ways of keeping their heads above water." In Italy, Gramsci (and one would hardly expect this from a relative moderate and anti-communist), seeing how the unions turned on the workers, developed a theory of trade union degeneration that's still influential today. So I'm not sure why you singled out the United $nake$ or whatever you're into calling it.

Co-opted? By who? Other persons whose sole goal is a "fair wage"?

another BC general strike in the works?

[r1vethead.livejournal.com]

right now in BC over 250,000 public sector workers are in simultaneous collective bargaining for new contracts. The govenment is demanding concessions that would essentially break the unions and allow their major components to be privatized.

Re: another BC general strike in the works?

[lovableatheist.livejournal.com]

Hey, just out of curiosity, you didn't come to Ottawa a few years ago for a student meeting and then meet up with some wobblies and NEFAC folks up on roof did you?

[groovitude.livejournal.com]

KILL WHITEY! LOL!

[sabotabby]

Eventually all of my icons will contain the same content they do now, but with kittens.

[groovitude.livejournal.com]

I believe you will have the full support of the Fourth International. Today your icon, tomorrow the world!

[threeliesforone.livejournal.com]

i keep meaning to bring this up, but i haven't. i'm a little too close to it, what with my parents living off my dad's pension right now. he's already been screwed once by OMERS, post-retirement, & i'm really afraid for them being screwed again.

i don't think it's so much CUPE [although, poor ole sid can be a little bit of a wet blanket, i suppose] as it is the media totally focussing on the increased pensions/benefits for firefighters & police officers & therefore, distracting the hell out of people as, for some reason, people seem to think that police officers & firefighters "deserve" more rights than any other CUPE member as they "risk their lives everyday." bullshit. i remember being regaled with stories as a young girl about my dad visiting co-workers in the hospital that had been electrocuted & now the skin on their arms was black & falling off. & that's just one example of the hazardous working conditions that hydro workers face, nevermind everyone else. every job is dangerous in it's own respect. fuck firefighters & police officers. especially cops. or something.

anyway, everytime i watch CTV news [which i need to stop doing...damned olympics] & read the star, that's what they're talking about.

CUPE is doing a piss-poor job of rallying its members, though. how is this supposed to be an effective strike if not everyone strikes? then again, apparently, in some schools, the caretaking staff will strike, but the office staff won't. that says a lot about gender lines, i think, & who can afford to do what. pretty sad, really.

[sabotabby]

It's funny, because I heard absolutely nothing about it until two weeks ago, and then my mum (former 905 president!) asked me: "So, what's the CUPE strike about?"

*headdesk*

I want to know where all the memorial days and statues are to construction workers who fall off buildings and such. At least firefighters only risk their lives when there's a fire. And cops get to shoot back.

[threeliesforone.livejournal.com]

pfft. but, y'know, construction workers aren't HEROES. they only build the buildings we live in, work in, shop in. they don't protect us or anything.

my mom called me last week & i asked her what my dad was saying about the OMERS bill. she hadn't a clue what i was talking about. y'think they'd pay attention...seeing as the pension their current & sole source of income and all.

[rohmie.livejournal.com]

I left an important comment in your previous post.

It's about comics.

[sabotabby]

I commented. ;) Comics are always important.

[brownfist.livejournal.com]

Well I hope that more radical, non-Boss, unions like the IWW support the strike. However, I do think that we need to recognize that not all unions are boss-unions. The Indian labor movement for example is pretty radical, although in recent years due to their affiliation to the major parties they have become less effective. I think that people should look at some of the stuff around the recent airport strike in India. However, I agree that unions are vitally important, and the goal of a succesful party/group/movement is to help radicalize the unions. I dont think we should not fall into the anti-union sentiments of specific anarchists or pro-Lin Piao Maoists.

[sabotabby]

The strike's off (so good thing you didn't come back from the Peet). I mean, one can be critical of reformist tendencies in unions without dogmatically rejecting them, or even downplaying their importance. And especially given the IWW's size, it pays to be involved with the broader labour movement.

Speaking of Lin Piao, I have a present for you.

[zingerella.livejournal.com]

Speaking of Lin Piao


And aren't we always?

[sabotabby]

He's now been brought up three times today in two different contexts.

Today was a special day.