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.]

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Toronto library strike: Job security the big issue again

The library workers’ decision to walk off the job surprised even the left-leaning councillor who leads the library board’s labour relations committee.

“I really thought they would stay at the table,” said Councillor Sarah Doucette, an opponent of Mayor Rob Ford. She called the strike, which forced all 98 branches to shut down, “the last thing” she had expected during weekend negotiations.

The talks collapsed Sunday over the issue of job security. Fortified by a library-loving public, union president Maureen O’Reilly is gambling that a strike will pressure the city into protecting a greater number of workers from potential future job cuts.

Under the collective agreement that expired on Dec. 31, no permanent library worker could be laid off in the event of outsourcing or technological changes. The city’s outdoor workers enjoyed similarly ironclad protection.

Facing a hostile public, the outdoor workers made a significant concession on job security to avoid a labour disruption. Their new agreement protects only workers with 15 years or more seniority.


The city’s last offer to the 2,300-member library union included a lower seniority threshold, said Councillor Paul Ainslie, the Ford ally who chairs the board.

“We started whittling it down from 15 years as they took some issues off the table — ‘If you take this off, we’ll go to 13,’ and, ‘Okay, we’re willing to go to 12 if you take these off.’ So we were making those advances,” Ainslie said. “But then we got to a point where, looking at the job market in Toronto and across Canada, they were asking for a level of job security that I don’t think anyone working a part-time job has, or would expect.”

Most union members do not work as librarians. In July, according to a union web posting, there were 699 part-time pages, who perform work such as stocking shelves; 533 public service assistants; and 242 librarians. Many of the workers who picketed City Hall on Monday said they are unhappy with what they said is an ongoing shift toward part-time work.

“Things are a little tight as it is. There would be no way to make things work without the second job,” said Tim Paine, who works 17.5 hours per week for the library in shipping and receiving and is also employed at the Beer Store.

It is the 13-member board, not Ford, that dictates the city’s approach to the talks — though Ford could exert significant influence if he chose to.

While the board’s five councillors and eight citizens were appointed under Ford, the board refused in the fall to endorse the 10 per cent budget cut he demanded. Doucette said it has not taken a particularly hawkish line in labour negotiations.

But O’Reilly, leader of Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 4948, said the city is seeking to weaken the job security provisions so as to lay off 1,300 employees and close branches.

“You have to ask yourself, ‘Why do they want to do this?’ And the only reason they want to do this is to get rid of library workers and close libraries. Otherwise, there’s no point in undertaking this battle. It’s been a theme of the Ford administration from Day 1, and it continues,” O’Reilly said.

The board and council approved a 2012 library budget that included about 100 job cuts. Council, however, overwhelmingly rejected a consultant’s suggestion to close branches, and even Ford’s allies remain strongly opposed to that highly unpopular measure.

Original Article
Source: Star
Author: Daniel Dale

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