L'Union fait la Force

Just wanted to add these two great quotes;

You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man's freedom. You can only be free if I am free.

- Clarence Darrow

Only a fool would try to deprive working men and working women of their right to join the union of their choice.

- Dwight D. Eisenhower:

Brothers and Sisters Are You Ready?*

I posted a comment in the TJ today to freelancing reporter Charles W. Moore. In his opinion piece Autoworkers' 'concessions' are a bad joke . He goes on a rant and rave on how the Canadian Auto Workers union could have taken so many more cuts to help save the auto industry. What Moore doesn’t understand is that CAW does not want to set a precedent. It’s too easy for companies of this magnitude to simply cut into workers wages. It’s the fastest way also. Unfortunately, once these cuts are made, workers never get them back no matter how successful the company gets afterwards.

What CAW is trying to insure is that close to 97,000 auto workers remain part of Ontario’s economy. CAW represents unionized autoworkers at plants in Windsor, Oshawa, St. Catherine’s and Woodstock. We are talking about roughly over $5.3 billion in salaries. Now I am not sure what kind of economic windfall these salaries generate but it’s pretty safe to say approximately over $12 billion. How’s that for reality?

What a lot of people don’t understand is that if people make $50,000 a year they usually end up with bills to match it. Cut their salaries but their debts are still there. It also means, no paved driveways, no patios built, no houses renovated, no pools installed, no travelling vacations, no lawn care etc... That affects a lot of small businesses too, get the picture? Union workers put the survival of their communities before the survival of their employers.

I’ve had one moron answer me with this;

“It also means, no paved driveways, no patios built, no houses renovated, no pools installed, no travelling vacations, no lawn care etc . . ."
S. Renkosovich. you have clearly shown that you are as far out of touch as Lewenza. A lot of Canadians can't afford the things you list off. And yet, you sound like you are entitled to these things because you are a union member?

GET REAL!
Freddy Rose, Saint John on 12/03/09 10:50:37 AM ADT

I'd love to meet Freddy Rose in a dark alley so I could give him a good dose of reality.

I have no patience for these bleeding heart slackers who believe everyone is entitled to a free ride. I’d love to see these pen-pushers try working in their offices while chlorine is passed through their air conditioners and there’s a corroded acid line running above their heads.
Too many people don’t realize that if it wasn’t for unions, non-unionized workers would be working for even less today.

Anyway, I am too pissed off to continue.

*taken from a Gordie Johnson/Big Sugar song

Has The Time Come?

This picture is what I want to believe is happening in Afghanistan. Our troops doing good.

I have much respect our troops and their work towards the subjugated people of Afghanistan. I feel that a withdrawal from this place would be, for lack of a better word, unjust to all who have already paid the ultimate price. But I also do not want to read that we have lost more Canadians in a hopeless cause. The question remains; do the heads of our military believe our soldiers are making a difference?

I dearly hope our leaders, both political and military, have the best interests of our soldiers and the oppressed people of Afghanistan at heart. I am grief stricken at the latest news and confused in my beliefs as to why our soldiers are still there.

I have never considered myself a racist, sometimes misinformed maybe, in younger times I could be ignorant but I have learned to educate myself before I rightfully form an opinion. I hope that's part of getting wise with age.

But the more I learn about the Taliban the less I like them. It's too far from my safe zone here in Canada that I find it impossible to even come close to understanding their way of life.

More to come on this subject.

Christie Blatchford wrote a sobering piece last week concerning the people our soldiers are dealing with.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090210.wxblatch10/BNStory/International/home