Picotalk Blog Compilation

This morning I awoke to the ongoing news of the Telus labour dispute and the Teachers Union dispute. Today is Labour Day, a holiday long ago created to acknowlege and support the rights of workers and labour unions (More Info on Labour Day). With all the news coverage of the many unions striking or being locked out these last couple years, I'm becoming more and more convinced that the unions of today are more about extortion than worker (human?) rights.

The original unions, back in the founding days of labour standards long before my time, were fighting evil and oppressive employers and corporations. They were clearly abusing the very people that broke their backs every day, often for less than enough food to survive. It wasn't an issue of the company not having the profits to share, it was more like slave labour with a different face.

Today, I have a really hard time looking at those who work for companies like Telus and seeing any similarity to our severely mistreated ancestors. I don't think that our nurses and teachers working conditions remotely compare. Within or without unions, I don't think there's many examples in our great nation that come anywhere near the harsh realities of those who originally earned us these rights and this multi-national holiday.

The unions of today seem to have become too large and too powerful, and we've all heard that power breeds corruption. Are the workers for these unions suffering from long days without breaks? Are they working for unreasonable wages? Are they working in harsh unreasonable conditions? Are the unions of today fighting to make their workers safer? Doesn't seem like it. It seems the focus of today is on extracting more money for workers. They've already go their workplace safety covered. They've got the great holiday time and sick pay. They've got about as much job projection as can be provided in a world of uncertaincy. So, what else is there to fight for?

Now, don't get me wrong. I think unions are an important part of our society; but perhaps it's time for the laws that protect and guide unions to be carefully reviewed. When a union goes on strike, the effects often reach far beyond the company and the employees directly involved in the dispute, often causing hardship for smaller companies and their employees.

When the nurses union goes on strike, it's the tens of thousands of patients that must suffer. When teachers go on strike, it's the students and parents that suffer. When the ferries go on strike, travellers (business or pleasure) and transport companies suffer.

I realize this isn't a "true" union, but just look at what happened to hockey with the NHL lockout. A bunch of overpaid hockey players, unwilling to face the realities of the financial situation of their league, managed to cause financial problems for thousands of hockey related companies, possibly tens of thousands of employees that earn their living off related products and services. In the end, their greed caused a lot of harm, and ironically, to no benefit for themselves.

Maybe it's time for those of us who are not in a union, to form an 'association' to protect us from greedy unions? Perhaps, it's time for a reality check? Did our forefathers, who knew that they had to fight for the rights to form a union just to survive know it would turn out like this?

I feel for those who earn minimal wages and have little in the way of benefits. I believe we ALL deserve to be paid reasonably and to have reasonable benefits with our employment; but there's a line that must be drawn.

Mickael Maddison