My Girl Friday!

With all the cold we had, we really need a bikini shot for today's very sunny day, eh?

The Rumour Mill

I’ve gotten the inside scoop that the Montreal Canadiens might be trading Chris Higgins, Ryan O’Byrne and Thomas Plekanec to the Tampa Bay Lightning in return for Vincent Lecavalier.

O’Byrne was called up a few days ago and played in last night’s game against the Lightning, a chance for the Bolts to see him in action maybe?
With young players like Matt D’Agostini and Max Pacioretty proving their worth and their ability to play in the NHL and Alex Tanguay on the verge of returning, this trade would definitely be a good one for the Habs.

Certainly, George Gillett heard the crowd’s cheers when Vinny hit the ice at the Bell Centre and realized Lecavalier’s next home should be Montreal.
It’s a wait and see situation and I’m anxious to hear if my recent informer has his ear at the right door.

My Girl Friday!

Here’s my first official Girl Friday for 2009
The one and only Pam Anderson

The Beer War

Recently, some interesting talk has been circulating around NB Liquor and the Crown Corporation losing some $12 million in sales to the American and Quebec markets last year.
Basically, the point of the new brew is to offer beer drinkers - particularly in border towns like Campbellton and Edmunston, - the cheapest possible option so they don't have to drive to Quebec or Maine.
On Wednesday, I gave an opinion to the article Cheap beer 'bleeds' agency that in the end it’s a matter of taste not price. Man, was I ever blasted with thumbs down. LOL
I believe where I erred was mentioning some “better beers” and actually naming them. People in New Brunswick are very sensitive about their beer brands.
Point learned!
As far as cheap beer goes, I have indulged my fair share, but I realize now that I prefer different beers at different times. I love going to a pub and having a reddish Picaroons or dark Pumphouse. At home, I always have my Moosehead on hand. I like Molson Canadian and sometimes Corona during the summer.
Anyway, thing is, cheap beer is cheap beer. You get what you pay for and if Dana Clendenning and NB Liquor want to start their own brand, well go ahead. I don’t think it will do that much in convincing people in border towns to switch. Some people just want cheap booze, remember swish barrels?
But that’s just my opinion.

Unions- A Necessary Strong Chain

With the on-going economic turmoil many people are worried about their future employment and that is quite understandable. I have a hard time getting excited about financial matters, (or as Peter Griffin would say; “Unlike my credit card, I carry a very low interest level”)

What is interesting to me are the ongoing challenges the unions must go through at the AV groups in Nackawic and Atholville. I have union brothers at both mills and I got quite a lot of feedback during the holidays. Of course many of the brothers and sisters are worried about closures since both places closed and were sold in the last 15 years.
Paper markets have always been up and down, usually at seven year intervals. But with the advent of recycling and development this trend has practically disappeared. Nackawic used to make paper for Kodak but the boom of the digital camera has taken care of that.
So in comes Tembec and the Aditya Birla Group of India looking for cheap mills and hungry workers. Atholville was the first to get into dissolving pulp business which is the main raw material used in the manufacture of viscose staple fiber or aka rayon. After a seven year closure the workers there were ready to accept anything and the AV group knew it too. They signed a seven year contract at almost 25% lower than the national average pulp market salary and took a cut in every section of the union book. But you will do what you have to do to work, right?

Where am I going with this?
Back in November, AV Nackawic and AV Cell narrowly escaped a temporary shutdown in because of a slowing global economy and too much inventory. CEO Peter Vinall was quoted as saying that "unprecedented market conditions exist worldwide and that has resulted in mills across the country contemplating temporary closures or moving ahead with them. If it happens in Nackawic or in Atholville, it will be a reflection of those conditions.”
More recently, Vinall said he would leave at the end of this year to pursue another job in the industry and shouldn't be viewed as an omen that bad times are in store for either the Nackawic mill or at Atholville's AV Cell.

While the first was good news before the holidays, I don't take Peter Vinall's word too seriously. Yes, the economic crisis is a worldwide one and market situations are hardly stable but the Nackawic mills as well as its predecessor AV Cell in Atholville are not producing pulp anymore, they are producing fiber. Fiber is used to make clothing which will mainly supply India, China and other Pacific-Asian countries, totaling billions in population. Vinall and the AV group are well known to cry wolf when things look bad as to encourage the union into giving more and expecting less. Atholville is near contract negotiation time again. Plus, closing down a mill in the middle of winter is extremely expensive and the AV Company is a penny-pinching group and their thought process is wholly centered on making a buck…period!

I am not worried about my union brothers and sisters of the AV Group, they will shut down eventually, for upkeep and maintenance, but that’s it. One thing people have to remember is that both these operations are no longer “pulp mills” but are now “chemical mills”. They smell worst, they’re more dangerous and the company runs them on a very strict inventory. Their health is at risk on the long term but it is work. Don’t begrudge the unions demand for better wages and better health coverage. These are difficult times but it is imperative that union members stick together for the best of all union members.

Peace brother!

Another year, another try...why not?

I took a few months off to basically figure what I wanted to do with this blog. While the Tory election of a new leader brought forth David Alward, the news of the budget release and ongoing economic turmoil, I was getting a little carried away by what I wanted to say. This was meant to be a blog for the blue-collar sector of the NB population and I believe was straying. I hope to do better in this attempt at reviving the Blue Collar Manifesto, not that it’s been running a long time but I really enjoy doing it.
Here’s to a better 2009 New Brunswick.