Lisa Raitt’s trampling of union rights speeds up demise of labour ministry
Posted on October 14, 2011 in Policy Context
Source: Globe & Mail — Authors: Rod Mickleburgh
TheGlobeandMail.com – news/national
Published Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011. Rod Mickleburgh
Yes, Virginia, there is a federal Labour Minister. Her name is Lisa Raitt, youngest daughter of Tootsie and former union negotiator Colin MacCormack. But Ms. Raitt may not have the job long. Like labour reporters, labour ministries may soon be extinct.
Union membership is on the wane, swamped by a vast sea of low-paying service jobs and yawning indifference from a public increasingly obsessed by such weighty matters as the stock market, shopping, gossip about nonentities and the struggle to survive when there hasn’t been a new product to talk/text/tweet about in the past 15 minutes or so.
Ms. Raitt is doing her best to accelerate her portfolio’s demise. The right to free collective bargaining and the right to strike have been fundamental in this country for more than 70 years. With Ms. Raitt in charge, those rights appear headed for the trash can.
Take the postal workers, and don’t say “please.” Not only did the Lisa Raitt government order them back to work (not new), it imposed wages on the union that were actually lower than the employer’s last offer. Something like that hasn’t happened in Canada since the final daze of “Wacky” Bennett’s Social Credit government out here in the early 1970s.
Customer service agents at Air Canada, a private company, also faced back-to-work legislation this year, after only a few days on strike, with few flight disruptions. Why?
And now we have the sad farce of the current wrangle at good old Air Canada, with all sides bumbling around like a bat in a bowling alley.
This one’s been a doozy for Ms. Raitt. She vowed back-to-work legislation before flight attendants had set up a single picket line, called for a review of the long-standing federal labour code because employees twice said no to a recommended agreement (an extremely rare event), and further abused the bargaining process this week by arbitrarily referring the wrangle to the Canada Industrial Relations Board, putting union job action on hold.
This is a difficult dispute. It cries out for the cool deliberation of an independent third party to ferret out root causes and propose a fair settlement.
Yet Ms. Raitt seems more interested in trampling traditional union rights, and few among the 39.6 per cent of the electorate that voted Tory the day before my birthday likely cares a whit.
< http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/rod-mickleburgh/lisa-raitts-trampling-of-union-rights-speeds-up-demise-of-labour-ministry/article2200777/ >
Tags: economy, ideology, rights
This entry was posted on Friday, October 14th, 2011 at 2:49 pm and is filed under Policy Context. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
253 Responses to “Lisa Raitt’s trampling of union rights speeds up demise of labour ministry”
« Older Comments | Newer Comments »
Recent Comments
Simply want to say your article is as amazing. The clarity in your post is just great and i can assume you’re an expert on this subject. Fine with your permission allow me to grab your feed to keep up to date with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please keep up the gratifying work.
I don’t normally comment on blogs.. But nice post! I just bookmarked your site
You appear to know so much about this, and I see you’re a published author. Thanks
It’s clear you’re passionate about the issues.
We’re developing some community services to respond to this, and your blog is helpful.
A comprehensive Malay-language Islamic guide providing step-by-step instructions, clear Arabic text with Rumi transliterations, and translations for Tahlil ringkas, Doa Arwah, Solat Jenazah, Doa Selamat, and Ziarah Kubur.
I’ll check back after you publish more articles.
397876 3494I view something genuinely particular in this website . 303565
171091 940451Attractive part of content. I just stumbled upon your internet site and in accession capital to claim that I acquire in fact enjoyed account your weblog posts. Any way Ill be subscribing to your feeds and even I achievement you get entry to constantly quickly. 959699
519894 26617Excellent read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing slightly research on that. And he actually bought me lunch because I found it for him smile So let me rephrase that. 446549
How long does it take you to write an article like this?
With this issue, it’s important to have someone like you with something to say that really matters.
You are good writer. Thank you.
We need to build frameworks and funding mechanisms.
We’re developing some community services to respond to this, and your blog is helpful.
Might we expect to see more of these same problems in the future?
Our local network of agencies has found your research so helpful.
This information is critically needed, thanks.
I Am Going To have to come back again when my course load lets up – however I am taking your Rss feed so i can go through your site offline. Thanks.
I feel that is among the so much significant info for me. And i am satisfied studying your article. However should commentary on some basic issues, The site style is ideal, the articles is in reality excellent : D. Excellent activity, cheers