Just a few more that came in. Note the issue that CUPE will have to deal with regarding Temps and Seasonals.
1) I work for parks and the day was largely without note save for the announcement in the morning that contractors were cutting sports fields at Ford Test Track (an announcement that wasn't made in every division). After a few calls to the union the contractors were dismissed and the work will be finished by city workers. No ill feelings towards our supervisor who is liked by pretty much the entire department.
After two days, my impression is that it is going to take a long time to clean up the parks to the standard that we like.
2) Hi Ed,
Isn't it sad to see what the Windsor Star has become? The CUPE strike just reinforces what the newspaper has been about for years. The opinion pieces going back to R.M. Harrison in the 1950s, John Lindblad and later so-called scribes are as predictable now as they were then. The message is simple: support the establishment, hammer the unions and until now, actually criticize the mayor.
But at least the paper had stuff other than half baked opinion pieces for people to read. Until about ten years ago the Star actually had investigative reporters who tracked feature stories and presented them in highly readable form. Many of these pieces were outstanding in content and writing skill. Also employed was a full time labour reporter who reported labour news as objectively as his editors would let him.
But even as print media gradually fades into oblivion and as papers trim writing, editorial and production staff, the bleeding still doesn't stop. Despite the right wing anti-union stance the paper took during the CUPE strike, the Star's popularity is unlikely to go up. In fact, readership may drop even more as people disgusted with the paper's position on the CUPE strike and other editorial policies cancel their subscriptions. Despite the fact that some staff writers are conscientious and talented, they are part of a dying breed.
There is with no such thing as a newspaper "fairness doctrine" whereby a a paper must print views opposite to its right wing stance. Yet, hope is here. Via the internet, bloggers are able to counteract the nonsense put forth by publications like the Star. And as many CUPE members learned since April, alternatives to the conglomerate owned media actually exist. The new messages are available to anyone with a home computer or at any public library.
Take a bow, Ed.
3) [Copy of an email to Councillor Brister sent to me] It behoves me that you actually spoke up and asked about contracting out on the first day the union staff went back to work.
What kind of man are you? This was totally unacceptable behavior. Did you honestly give this any thought before you opened your mouth.
Many many disgruntled people said contract out /fire them all during this prolonged EDDIE strike. Most were from laid off jealous people, people that owned a truck like yippee, taxpayers that thought they taxes were too high (of course they are and will be no matter what the union does) people on fixed incomes. You sit and listen to their nonsense but don't take other issues as serious.
Anyway I am so glad Ron Jones fired back at you, you deserved it and more. Shame on you. I hope your kids are proud of you because there are a lot of sons and daughters of the union members that are not proud of you.
Look in the mirror Mr. Brister, HOW DO YOU WANT TO BE REMEMBERED like this???
Ideas like this put the city back 50 years, with people like you at the helm Windsor will never be a prosperous vital border town.
4) Hey Ed, can you believe how wonderful the counsellors are at welcoming us back and helping out with the healing process.
One wants to know how much it would cost to outsource garbage collection, first day back, he couldn’t have waited a few weeks.
Now thats respect for your employees.
5) [RE meeting with the Mayor and the Parks Dept managers re the Caboto fiasco] Not much to say, Eddie came in and stared at his Blackberry (as usual). He did not look at or speak to the staff. He and Michael Duben met with Don Sadler and most of the managers that were involved. From where I was, it appeared that Duben did most of the talking. I spoke to one of the managers and he said that the mayor did apologize to them and “he seemed to mean it”. (Too bad its two weeks later.)
6) I am shocked at the one e-mail you received from a CUPE member who thought seasonal rec people should be in their own union. What that person doesn't realize is that all seasonal rec staff are not all teenagers. Seasonal recs are in their 30's 40's 50's and 60's. Some will never see full time and received a $500. lump sum payment. The other group members are screaming about are the essential service personal. Hundreds feel they should also be in their own union.
Think about that for a minute will you. Take all the seasonal rec staff and the essential service staff away from your local and guess what, you cut your membership in half and greatly reduce your bargaining power. If you then take that 700 out of the equation, good luck on your next strike folks, that would leave you with a hand full of people willing to picket and the city hall bull dozer would run you over in a minute.
So instead of shuddering at the re-action of the season rec staffs reaction to the contract, thank God that they were there to fatten up your picket lines when others wouldn't
7) [Re mini-Gord column: CUPE faces backlash] I'm sure you have already seen this. But how can this guy promote such hate??????
8) Work was good today the management is just fine with us in fact acting overly nice to us. I even got visited from the head of our department to see how we were feeling.
I am feeling on edge with going in public because I think we are on the close watch of the public eye because of all the bad publicity the media has given us. I dont trust Eddie francis and never will and want that man removed from his office because we went threw the strike and know the truth of this man. I dont beleive there was any good that came of that strike for the tax payers or the employees of the city. I think Eddie Francis used this strike for a political gain for himself and infact it cost everyone in the city in the end.
The mentality of everyone I have talked to is they dont care about putting the extra effort at work anymore becasue the city has shown us how much little respect they have for us as workers. Good luck in the future efforts of getting the good quality work out of us like we used to try and make our mayor look good. I have no repect for him and never will.
9) Were you watching council tonight? Brister and Eddie mentioned that the $ from the sale of Brighton Beach lands to the feds had already been "spoken for" in the 2009 budget. Just when did everyone know how much the feds were going to pay for the lands and what is it going toward in the budget? It seemed to me that when the announcement was made everyone was surprised and ecstatic about the size of the windfall. It was sold to the citizens that way.
10) you know, of course, that it was i who threw that video up
figured for all your hard work, that tiny endorsement at the very
least was well deserved.
11) See Ed - how can so many of us be wrong? I specifically remember asking you to run for mayor over a year ago when I first started reading your border file blog. You must be beaming with flattery and you should. Your writings are an eye opener and an inspiration to us all. Thanks once again.
12) Aha - we finally agree on something (at least I think we do)!! - drop CUPE and get a different union and leadership. You have to admit they led them like sheep during this dispute.
I don't understand what is wrong with Eddie being involved in negotiations. I work for a privately-owned company, and there is a team that negotiates, but they obviously receive their directive from the owner, and they wouldn't agree to anything without his approval. Isn't Eddie in that same position? I know three councillors I wouldn't hesitate to not vote for in any upcoming election - they were obviously playing both sides and were trying to keep everybody happy, which didn't work. My husband works in London, and apparently the voters there love Eddie Francis for what he has done here in Windsor. So I guess even out-of-town papers don't reflect the views of all their readers!!
At least now I can go back to complaining about how the mayor and council seem to want to keep work (and, thereby jobs) out of Windsor.
And now I have a confession to make to you - I'm not even a resident of Windsor! I live in the county, so it's probably none of my business what goes on in Windsor or with their strike!! Sorry - but it just made me so mad sometimes I had to say something!!
But I will say this - Windsor garbagemen are the absolute worst!! My daughter lives in the city, and I can't believe the stuff they leave on the sidewalk and won't pick up - sometimes just bags that are a little heaver, and I have heard many other people complain also. It makes it very difficult for people who have no vehicle, and no access to a pick-up truck. County garbagemen are the BEST - they'll take anything - couches, old carpets, old drywall - doesn't matter how heavy it is. I am so glad they are taking care of my trash for me. Maybe you could blog about that next - not too soon, though - let them get back to work for a bit first!!
So I'll probably agree with everything you write from now on, at long as it doesn't have anything to do with CUPE or the CAW leaders who stuck their noses in (which brings up a thought - if Eddie shouldn't have been involved, why should they have been?).
13) So it's over - thank goodness. And, believe me, I'm not a fan of Eddie Francis, although I supported him completely in this, and I am NOT anti-union, although I think CUPE gives them all a bad name, even though, obviously, there was mistakes made on both sides.
I don't know if I can continue reading your blog. I'm amazed that you think you have presented a balanced view of these events. In every one that I have read you are writing anti-Eddie comments. I believe you when you say that you have written things critizing the union too, but they must have been few and far between, because I somehow missed them. I can only assume that most of your responses come from CUPE members and their families.
I have never been in a union, but I have worked at two companies where unionized workers have been on strike, and at the end of it there was never any negative talk by the members - just things like "we're glad it's over and that we will be getting back to work", etc., etc. If I were a CUPE member I would be voting Jean and Jimmy out asap.
14) just read your blog this morning and I feel compelled to reply to commenter number five. The person was referring to Seasonal Recreational workers as being young and making most of our money in the summer. That might be true for some but certainly not all.
A vast number of Seasonal Recreational workers ...and there are over 400 of us...work throughout the year at various recreational centers. Many people work behind the desk or work at the centers in various capacities. We are not summer students!!!!! Many of us are well out of school having achieved various educations at college or university. When a program is booked at a community center who do you think books and runs it?
Classifying us as Seasonal Recreational or now as Recreational is a means for the city to get away with paying us less and ensuring that they do not need to grant us the same benefits as other union members who work the same number of hours! For example regular part time or temporary. Even if we work the same number of hours as a regular part time employee we are not allowed to buy into benefits etc. Plus we are paid considerably less money than other union members for doing a hard days, skill filled work! Some Seasonal employees have been working for the city for over ten years without the benefit of the benefits that regular full timers take for granted!
On the picket line many Seasonal Recreation workers lost a considerable part of their pay starting on April 17! Regular full time employees were not the only ones in danger of not paying bills or not making a mortgage payment! We were out there on the picket line fighting shoulder to shoulder with our part time and full time brothers and sisters! I do not think it unreasonable that we should be treated fairly in a contract or also receive improvements considering that union dues are taken off our paycheque as well!
Most people I met did not know we existed! I think ignorance of our situation is our main enemy!
Having $650 for us turn into $500 and see permanent employee amounts go up was a slap in the face! Again! Of course they improved the language so we can enter the pecking order. What if we like our jobs? What if we just want things fixed where we are? Like a fair pay considering what we do and benefits and the ability to pay into OMERS sooner etc.
Thank You for your ear,
15) The city said no overtime.
Overtime for garbage collectors is paid out by the weight picked up, not by time.
They work 4-10hour shifts a week.
If they pickup more than their quota then OT kicks in.
Judging by your daughters picture, there will be alot of overtime for them.
16) Does Eddie ever listen to ANY of his high-level, highly-paid
staff? BOTH percentages are correct, as Onorio has explained. Even
if Eddie didn't pass Grade 4 mathematics, he pays Onorio enough as a
Treasurer to be able to trust that HE did, you'd think. Will Onorio
be frustrated enough to join Scorbie on vacation too? Will Eddie end
up driving ALL of his staff to the "low points" in their careers
before his public relations war with CUPE is over? This has now gone
beyond the point of ridiculousness
17) Wow! Are these CUPE members adults or children? They are paid to do a job and go home. I guess when certain unions don't get what they always demand then they MUST have respect given to them. They should grow up and realize that respect is earned and NEVER given.
Getting back to my number one point. They perform a task and are paid for doing that. If they get respect for doing it then kudos to them. but this typical entitlement of being hand held to do what they were hired to do is just plain nonsense. Why cater to it?
18) Sorry I didn't get back to you earlier about the meeting. I just want to say thanks for providing some good public discourse over the course of the strike. The lack of journalistic rigour from the Windsor Star bordered on appalling (not to mention the lax spelling and grammar standards). I wonder if their idea of "positive change" is to slowly eradicate the use of the comma, (see Gordo's column from a week ago).
I look forward to following your thoughts on the next issues that come up.
19) Deputy premier George Smitherman helps clean up garbage on July 14 as part of a new volunteer effort during the Toronto strike.
Windsor still gets the shaft.
The Liberals sent out scabs to pick up Torontos garbage. Very big ones.
Where were Sandra and Dwight during the Windsor strike?
I mean fair is fair right?
20) Ed: You were the one ray of sunshine through this whole strike. I would read the Windsor Star and all the hate mail and get very discouraged. You were always fair in what you wrote about us and the City and Mr. Francis.
The most frustrating thing I found throughout this was the biased reporting from the Star, AM 800 and the TV news reporting. I'm also surpised that citizens are still writing angry hate mail. They need to find some other way to vent their frustrations regarding their own lives. They forget we're the ones who serve them on a daily basis when we get back. The Mayor has turned this city into a dirty garbage filled dump and turned citizen and family against each other, but in a couple of years he'll be gone and we're left with the carnage that will take years to fix. I hope he's proud of himself!
I also have to mention all the acts of kindness I received including some of the Managers and citizens and fellow strikers. From grocery store gift cards, to food and money to help us out in this really long ordeal. I've learned that there are a lot of big hearted people out there.
Thank you again!
21) Have received the call to welcome us back, but now we wait to see when we will actually work again.
Keep giving us the straight talk and the side of the coin that the Windsor Star refuses to give us. Thanks again and I'm sorry it took a strike for me to get to read your blog.
22) I know it's late and it's perfectly alright if this wasn't included in your BLOG. I thought I'd tell you about my first day back, which was today.
I admit, I expected a positive welcome back and for the most part, it was. I did not expect major fanfare or anything like that, there were no gifts or banners or even hugs. I did receive a few sincere smiles and "welcome backs" and those were unexpectedly from management/non-union people who normally are quiet and abrupt.
However, the others, the ones I expected to say "HI! Welcome back" hardly said a word to me today, one didn't even say hi, just gave me some documents to fax and that was all I saw of them the whole day.
It was absolutely awful; as I sit here now, I'm trying very hard not to cry all over again. The afternoon passed quickly, thank the Lord. The atmosphere in our work area isn't tense per se but it's not like it was 16 weeks ago.
I was apprehensive but glad to get back to work, but now.....who knows what the second day back will bring.
On a much brighter note, thank you for your words and views expressed these last 15 weeks. It was a relief to read something neutral, positive and truthful. I'd subscribe to your BLOG over a free lifetime subscription to that used toilet paper the Windsor Star prints out any day.
23) Ed I just have to reply to one of your letters that you posted regarding "seasonal employees."
Yes there are over 400 so called "Seasonal Employees" in 543.1 and I am disheartened at the suggestion that we should belong to a different Union. I'm a "Seasonal Employee" have been for 13 years. I have worked 7 days per week however my hours are capped at 24. I work 52 weeks a year but still classified as "Seasonal?" The picket line I was assigned to had 28 people, only 3 on the line were full time employees. The other 29 were seasonal like me older and students who walked the line in support. Students also work year round, teaching sports, the office in Community Centres, cleaning ice in arenas, lifeguards etc. and not just July and August as the writer suggests.
I take offense that all seasonal should belong to a different union. This is my career and I love my job.
Thank you for letting me vent.
24) another great blog Ed. It is more entertaining than tv. I will continue
reading and contributing to you whenever I get some good info. Time to
elect a new City Council and Mayor. The broom has to sweep this bad
group out the door.
1) I work for parks and the day was largely without note save for the announcement in the morning that contractors were cutting sports fields at Ford Test Track (an announcement that wasn't made in every division). After a few calls to the union the contractors were dismissed and the work will be finished by city workers. No ill feelings towards our supervisor who is liked by pretty much the entire department.
After two days, my impression is that it is going to take a long time to clean up the parks to the standard that we like.
2) Hi Ed,
Isn't it sad to see what the Windsor Star has become? The CUPE strike just reinforces what the newspaper has been about for years. The opinion pieces going back to R.M. Harrison in the 1950s, John Lindblad and later so-called scribes are as predictable now as they were then. The message is simple: support the establishment, hammer the unions and until now, actually criticize the mayor.
But at least the paper had stuff other than half baked opinion pieces for people to read. Until about ten years ago the Star actually had investigative reporters who tracked feature stories and presented them in highly readable form. Many of these pieces were outstanding in content and writing skill. Also employed was a full time labour reporter who reported labour news as objectively as his editors would let him.
But even as print media gradually fades into oblivion and as papers trim writing, editorial and production staff, the bleeding still doesn't stop. Despite the right wing anti-union stance the paper took during the CUPE strike, the Star's popularity is unlikely to go up. In fact, readership may drop even more as people disgusted with the paper's position on the CUPE strike and other editorial policies cancel their subscriptions. Despite the fact that some staff writers are conscientious and talented, they are part of a dying breed.
There is with no such thing as a newspaper "fairness doctrine" whereby a a paper must print views opposite to its right wing stance. Yet, hope is here. Via the internet, bloggers are able to counteract the nonsense put forth by publications like the Star. And as many CUPE members learned since April, alternatives to the conglomerate owned media actually exist. The new messages are available to anyone with a home computer or at any public library.
Take a bow, Ed.
3) [Copy of an email to Councillor Brister sent to me] It behoves me that you actually spoke up and asked about contracting out on the first day the union staff went back to work.
What kind of man are you? This was totally unacceptable behavior. Did you honestly give this any thought before you opened your mouth.
Many many disgruntled people said contract out /fire them all during this prolonged EDDIE strike. Most were from laid off jealous people, people that owned a truck like yippee, taxpayers that thought they taxes were too high (of course they are and will be no matter what the union does) people on fixed incomes. You sit and listen to their nonsense but don't take other issues as serious.
Anyway I am so glad Ron Jones fired back at you, you deserved it and more. Shame on you. I hope your kids are proud of you because there are a lot of sons and daughters of the union members that are not proud of you.
Look in the mirror Mr. Brister, HOW DO YOU WANT TO BE REMEMBERED like this???
Ideas like this put the city back 50 years, with people like you at the helm Windsor will never be a prosperous vital border town.
4) Hey Ed, can you believe how wonderful the counsellors are at welcoming us back and helping out with the healing process.
One wants to know how much it would cost to outsource garbage collection, first day back, he couldn’t have waited a few weeks.
Now thats respect for your employees.
5) [RE meeting with the Mayor and the Parks Dept managers re the Caboto fiasco] Not much to say, Eddie came in and stared at his Blackberry (as usual). He did not look at or speak to the staff. He and Michael Duben met with Don Sadler and most of the managers that were involved. From where I was, it appeared that Duben did most of the talking. I spoke to one of the managers and he said that the mayor did apologize to them and “he seemed to mean it”. (Too bad its two weeks later.)
6) I am shocked at the one e-mail you received from a CUPE member who thought seasonal rec people should be in their own union. What that person doesn't realize is that all seasonal rec staff are not all teenagers. Seasonal recs are in their 30's 40's 50's and 60's. Some will never see full time and received a $500. lump sum payment. The other group members are screaming about are the essential service personal. Hundreds feel they should also be in their own union.
Think about that for a minute will you. Take all the seasonal rec staff and the essential service staff away from your local and guess what, you cut your membership in half and greatly reduce your bargaining power. If you then take that 700 out of the equation, good luck on your next strike folks, that would leave you with a hand full of people willing to picket and the city hall bull dozer would run you over in a minute.
So instead of shuddering at the re-action of the season rec staffs reaction to the contract, thank God that they were there to fatten up your picket lines when others wouldn't
7) [Re mini-Gord column: CUPE faces backlash] I'm sure you have already seen this. But how can this guy promote such hate??????
8) Work was good today the management is just fine with us in fact acting overly nice to us. I even got visited from the head of our department to see how we were feeling.
I am feeling on edge with going in public because I think we are on the close watch of the public eye because of all the bad publicity the media has given us. I dont trust Eddie francis and never will and want that man removed from his office because we went threw the strike and know the truth of this man. I dont beleive there was any good that came of that strike for the tax payers or the employees of the city. I think Eddie Francis used this strike for a political gain for himself and infact it cost everyone in the city in the end.
The mentality of everyone I have talked to is they dont care about putting the extra effort at work anymore becasue the city has shown us how much little respect they have for us as workers. Good luck in the future efforts of getting the good quality work out of us like we used to try and make our mayor look good. I have no repect for him and never will.
9) Were you watching council tonight? Brister and Eddie mentioned that the $ from the sale of Brighton Beach lands to the feds had already been "spoken for" in the 2009 budget. Just when did everyone know how much the feds were going to pay for the lands and what is it going toward in the budget? It seemed to me that when the announcement was made everyone was surprised and ecstatic about the size of the windfall. It was sold to the citizens that way.
10) you know, of course, that it was i who threw that video up
figured for all your hard work, that tiny endorsement at the very
least was well deserved.
11) See Ed - how can so many of us be wrong? I specifically remember asking you to run for mayor over a year ago when I first started reading your border file blog. You must be beaming with flattery and you should. Your writings are an eye opener and an inspiration to us all. Thanks once again.
12) Aha - we finally agree on something (at least I think we do)!! - drop CUPE and get a different union and leadership. You have to admit they led them like sheep during this dispute.
I don't understand what is wrong with Eddie being involved in negotiations. I work for a privately-owned company, and there is a team that negotiates, but they obviously receive their directive from the owner, and they wouldn't agree to anything without his approval. Isn't Eddie in that same position? I know three councillors I wouldn't hesitate to not vote for in any upcoming election - they were obviously playing both sides and were trying to keep everybody happy, which didn't work. My husband works in London, and apparently the voters there love Eddie Francis for what he has done here in Windsor. So I guess even out-of-town papers don't reflect the views of all their readers!!
At least now I can go back to complaining about how the mayor and council seem to want to keep work (and, thereby jobs) out of Windsor.
And now I have a confession to make to you - I'm not even a resident of Windsor! I live in the county, so it's probably none of my business what goes on in Windsor or with their strike!! Sorry - but it just made me so mad sometimes I had to say something!!
But I will say this - Windsor garbagemen are the absolute worst!! My daughter lives in the city, and I can't believe the stuff they leave on the sidewalk and won't pick up - sometimes just bags that are a little heaver, and I have heard many other people complain also. It makes it very difficult for people who have no vehicle, and no access to a pick-up truck. County garbagemen are the BEST - they'll take anything - couches, old carpets, old drywall - doesn't matter how heavy it is. I am so glad they are taking care of my trash for me. Maybe you could blog about that next - not too soon, though - let them get back to work for a bit first!!
So I'll probably agree with everything you write from now on, at long as it doesn't have anything to do with CUPE or the CAW leaders who stuck their noses in (which brings up a thought - if Eddie shouldn't have been involved, why should they have been?).
13) So it's over - thank goodness. And, believe me, I'm not a fan of Eddie Francis, although I supported him completely in this, and I am NOT anti-union, although I think CUPE gives them all a bad name, even though, obviously, there was mistakes made on both sides.
I don't know if I can continue reading your blog. I'm amazed that you think you have presented a balanced view of these events. In every one that I have read you are writing anti-Eddie comments. I believe you when you say that you have written things critizing the union too, but they must have been few and far between, because I somehow missed them. I can only assume that most of your responses come from CUPE members and their families.
I have never been in a union, but I have worked at two companies where unionized workers have been on strike, and at the end of it there was never any negative talk by the members - just things like "we're glad it's over and that we will be getting back to work", etc., etc. If I were a CUPE member I would be voting Jean and Jimmy out asap.
14) just read your blog this morning and I feel compelled to reply to commenter number five. The person was referring to Seasonal Recreational workers as being young and making most of our money in the summer. That might be true for some but certainly not all.
A vast number of Seasonal Recreational workers ...and there are over 400 of us...work throughout the year at various recreational centers. Many people work behind the desk or work at the centers in various capacities. We are not summer students!!!!! Many of us are well out of school having achieved various educations at college or university. When a program is booked at a community center who do you think books and runs it?
Classifying us as Seasonal Recreational or now as Recreational is a means for the city to get away with paying us less and ensuring that they do not need to grant us the same benefits as other union members who work the same number of hours! For example regular part time or temporary. Even if we work the same number of hours as a regular part time employee we are not allowed to buy into benefits etc. Plus we are paid considerably less money than other union members for doing a hard days, skill filled work! Some Seasonal employees have been working for the city for over ten years without the benefit of the benefits that regular full timers take for granted!
On the picket line many Seasonal Recreation workers lost a considerable part of their pay starting on April 17! Regular full time employees were not the only ones in danger of not paying bills or not making a mortgage payment! We were out there on the picket line fighting shoulder to shoulder with our part time and full time brothers and sisters! I do not think it unreasonable that we should be treated fairly in a contract or also receive improvements considering that union dues are taken off our paycheque as well!
Most people I met did not know we existed! I think ignorance of our situation is our main enemy!
Having $650 for us turn into $500 and see permanent employee amounts go up was a slap in the face! Again! Of course they improved the language so we can enter the pecking order. What if we like our jobs? What if we just want things fixed where we are? Like a fair pay considering what we do and benefits and the ability to pay into OMERS sooner etc.
Thank You for your ear,
15) The city said no overtime.
Overtime for garbage collectors is paid out by the weight picked up, not by time.
They work 4-10hour shifts a week.
If they pickup more than their quota then OT kicks in.
Judging by your daughters picture, there will be alot of overtime for them.
16) Does Eddie ever listen to ANY of his high-level, highly-paid
staff? BOTH percentages are correct, as Onorio has explained. Even
if Eddie didn't pass Grade 4 mathematics, he pays Onorio enough as a
Treasurer to be able to trust that HE did, you'd think. Will Onorio
be frustrated enough to join Scorbie on vacation too? Will Eddie end
up driving ALL of his staff to the "low points" in their careers
before his public relations war with CUPE is over? This has now gone
beyond the point of ridiculousness
17) Wow! Are these CUPE members adults or children? They are paid to do a job and go home. I guess when certain unions don't get what they always demand then they MUST have respect given to them. They should grow up and realize that respect is earned and NEVER given.
Getting back to my number one point. They perform a task and are paid for doing that. If they get respect for doing it then kudos to them. but this typical entitlement of being hand held to do what they were hired to do is just plain nonsense. Why cater to it?
18) Sorry I didn't get back to you earlier about the meeting. I just want to say thanks for providing some good public discourse over the course of the strike. The lack of journalistic rigour from the Windsor Star bordered on appalling (not to mention the lax spelling and grammar standards). I wonder if their idea of "positive change" is to slowly eradicate the use of the comma, (see Gordo's column from a week ago).
I look forward to following your thoughts on the next issues that come up.
19) Deputy premier George Smitherman helps clean up garbage on July 14 as part of a new volunteer effort during the Toronto strike.
Windsor still gets the shaft.
The Liberals sent out scabs to pick up Torontos garbage. Very big ones.
Where were Sandra and Dwight during the Windsor strike?
I mean fair is fair right?
20) Ed: You were the one ray of sunshine through this whole strike. I would read the Windsor Star and all the hate mail and get very discouraged. You were always fair in what you wrote about us and the City and Mr. Francis.
The most frustrating thing I found throughout this was the biased reporting from the Star, AM 800 and the TV news reporting. I'm also surpised that citizens are still writing angry hate mail. They need to find some other way to vent their frustrations regarding their own lives. They forget we're the ones who serve them on a daily basis when we get back. The Mayor has turned this city into a dirty garbage filled dump and turned citizen and family against each other, but in a couple of years he'll be gone and we're left with the carnage that will take years to fix. I hope he's proud of himself!
I also have to mention all the acts of kindness I received including some of the Managers and citizens and fellow strikers. From grocery store gift cards, to food and money to help us out in this really long ordeal. I've learned that there are a lot of big hearted people out there.
Thank you again!
21) Have received the call to welcome us back, but now we wait to see when we will actually work again.
Keep giving us the straight talk and the side of the coin that the Windsor Star refuses to give us. Thanks again and I'm sorry it took a strike for me to get to read your blog.
22) I know it's late and it's perfectly alright if this wasn't included in your BLOG. I thought I'd tell you about my first day back, which was today.
I admit, I expected a positive welcome back and for the most part, it was. I did not expect major fanfare or anything like that, there were no gifts or banners or even hugs. I did receive a few sincere smiles and "welcome backs" and those were unexpectedly from management/non-union people who normally are quiet and abrupt.
However, the others, the ones I expected to say "HI! Welcome back" hardly said a word to me today, one didn't even say hi, just gave me some documents to fax and that was all I saw of them the whole day.
It was absolutely awful; as I sit here now, I'm trying very hard not to cry all over again. The afternoon passed quickly, thank the Lord. The atmosphere in our work area isn't tense per se but it's not like it was 16 weeks ago.
I was apprehensive but glad to get back to work, but now.....who knows what the second day back will bring.
On a much brighter note, thank you for your words and views expressed these last 15 weeks. It was a relief to read something neutral, positive and truthful. I'd subscribe to your BLOG over a free lifetime subscription to that used toilet paper the Windsor Star prints out any day.
23) Ed I just have to reply to one of your letters that you posted regarding "seasonal employees."
Yes there are over 400 so called "Seasonal Employees" in 543.1 and I am disheartened at the suggestion that we should belong to a different Union. I'm a "Seasonal Employee" have been for 13 years. I have worked 7 days per week however my hours are capped at 24. I work 52 weeks a year but still classified as "Seasonal?" The picket line I was assigned to had 28 people, only 3 on the line were full time employees. The other 29 were seasonal like me older and students who walked the line in support. Students also work year round, teaching sports, the office in Community Centres, cleaning ice in arenas, lifeguards etc. and not just July and August as the writer suggests.
I take offense that all seasonal should belong to a different union. This is my career and I love my job.
Thank you for letting me vent.
24) another great blog Ed. It is more entertaining than tv. I will continue
reading and contributing to you whenever I get some good info. Time to
elect a new City Council and Mayor. The broom has to sweep this bad
group out the door.
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