Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Message in Harper's back to work law against CUPW is that labour will be put in its place

The Harper government's legislation to end the lock out at Canada Post sends a strong message to Canadian labour. They intend to lower the wages and benefits of public sector workers and they could give a damn about collective bargaining rights.

The CUPW bill is brutally anti-union and it comes only days after strike breaking legislation against CAW Air Canada workers was introduced, but not passed when the union struck a last minute compromise deal. These back-to-back attacks on unions leave no doubt that there is no place for unions and collective bargaining in shaping Canada's economy under Harper, and that this government will act harshly and decisively to put unions in their place.

The law will be vigorously opposed in Parliament by the NDP opposition, but a modified version of this legislation will either pass within days or be mirrored in a forced settlement between the union and Canada Post.

This trampling of union and democratic rights from the Conservatives is not unexpected and the Canadian Labour Congress and its major affiliates must now determine how to fulfill the action plan it adopted to respond to this predicted assault.

The postal legislation has three main parts. First it writes the term of the agreement and sets the wage increases for each year until 2015. The wage increases are 1.75 per cent, 1.5 per cent, 2 per cent and 2 per cent. These are effective wage controls imposed on the federal public sector -- and it is even a little less than what Canada Post offered the union in bargaining.

The legislation then sends all the remaining issues in dispute to a form of arbitration called "Final Offer Selection." These include a number of very contentious concession demands by Canada Post, including demands for a ten-year, two-tier wage system before a new employee earns full wages, and a two-tier pension benefit for new employees with an older retirement age.

"Final Offer Selection" is particularly offensive to unions. Each side presents a so-called "final offer" to the arbitrator who then picks one that is binding. Breakthroughs for workers, however justified, are almost impossible in this form of arbitration and unions are forced to present an offer that is usually just a more "reasonable" version of what the employer is demanding. The union then becomes complicit in what can be very unfair results for workers.

But this law is much worse than that. The legislation also contains criteria for the arbitrator to choose what is reasonable. In the case of the CAW legislation, the law would have forced an arbitrator to make an award "competitive with non-union" airlines. In this case, the law requires the arbitrator to "be guided by the need for terms and conditions of employment that are consistent with those in comparable postal industries and provide the necessary degree of flexibility to ensure the short- and long-term economic viability and competitiveness of Canada Post..."

Full Article
Source: Rabble.ca 

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