The Real Fat Cats of the Auto Industry

This a must read to understand why the Big 3 Automakers are in so much trouble.

CUPE Shows Their Colours

In a not surprising, but still disgusting move, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) has issued this press release:

CUPE Ontario to recommend support for ban on Israeli academics in response to Gaza bombings

January 5, 2009

TORONTO, Ont. – CUPE Ontario's university workers committee will bring a resolution to its annual conference supporting a ban on Israeli academics doing speaking, teaching or research work at Ontario universities as a protest against the December 29 bombing of the Islamic University in Gaza.

“In response to an appeal from the Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees, we are ready to say Israeli academics should not be on our campuses unless they explicitly condemn the university bombing and the assault on Gaza in general,” said Sid Ryan, president of CUPE Ontario. “It's a logical next step, building on policy adopted by our provincial convention in 2006.”

Resolution 50, adopted in May 2006, supported boycotts, divestment and sanctions aimed at bringing about the Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories and a just peace in the region.

“Clearly, international pressure on Israel must increase to stop the massacre that is going on daily,” said Janice Folk-Dawson, chair of the CUPE Ontario University Workers Coordinating Committee, whose conference is scheduled for February. “We are proud to add CUPE voices to others from around the world saying enough is enough.”

Ryan and other CUPE representatives will join in the demonstration against the Israeli assault on Gaza at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, January 3 at Dundas Square in Toronto.

For more information, contact:

Sid Ryan, President, CUPE Ontario, 416-209-0066
Pat Daley, CUPE Communications, 416-616-6142

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The Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees is headed by one Dr. Amjad Barham, who has a long history of issuing boycotts against Israel. That's his prerogative but for CUPE to go along with it is despicable.

On a purely Canadian note, isn't it interesting how last year much of the news featured assorted Muslim groups trying to silence the free speech of Ezra Levant, Mark Steyn, and others. Now in 2009 we have CUPE ready to go along with an initiative to silence the free speech of Jewish academics. A very disturbing trend indeed.

I wonder how long it'll be before we see the pink flags mixed with the green ones.

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Question: Perhaps any painters out there can tell me, if you mix pink with green, do you end up with red? No particular reason, I'm just curious.

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Update: Further to the antics of CUPE's President, Sid Ryan, I just read this.

About halfway down is this interesting revelation: "I was told that CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) was one of the organizers of the anti-Israel protest. Sure enough, I ran into CUPE President Sid Ryan, sitting comfortably in the back of a coffee shop near the Israeli consulate."

So it seems clear now that we have a public sector union calling for an end to free speech for [some] academics and inciting anti-Jewish hatred at rallies. And the MSM on all of this is ... where exactly?!?

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Update #2: SDA has an interesting update. Read the comments!

How the Auto Workers Unions are Ensuring the Destruction of the Big 3 Automakers

The taxpayers of the United States and Canada are giving the Big 3 Automakers a renewed chance at life. And the response of the union leaders in the U.S.? "Thanks suckers, but we're not going to offer a bit of help. In fact, we want even more!" You can read more here. Note the mutterings of Democrat Congressman Barney Frank; clearly bought & paid for by the unions. For those who have forgotten, he's the same one who many blame for acting in a pivotal role in our current financial crisis.

Up here in Canada, watch for the heads of the Canadian Autoworkers to have a very similar attitude. The comments on this discussion thread are most enlightening. I'd like to highlight one in particular:

The reason for the ''bailout' is because of the importance to the overall economy of this particular industry. Think of what would happen to the Saudi economy if oil production stopped. The auto industry isn't as supreme as oil, but GM's payroll is almost 9 billion a year, and a 1998 strike knocked a full percentage point off the US economic growth that quarter.

ulianov - you wrote:

"Unions don't manage the car companies, they don't design the cars, they don't control the price of fuel, they don't approve bank loans, and they don't ask for free trade agreements with countries that refuse to buy products manufactured in North America."

I disagree with your view. The CEO of the car companies, in their management, MUST include the union presence and its effect. This includes costs of production (i.e., contracting out, out-of-country contracts, costs of car production or less man-hours of work etc).Research and design has to be considered with the union in mind as to costs of production. The CEO must also consider the demands of the union in attempting to obtain bank loans, for a bank may very well say that the union costs are so high that the profit margin is too low to provide for future investment by that car company. As for countries that refuse to buy products manufactured in N. America - that's also a result of the union costs which have driven the price of production beyond the carrying capacity of the local consumers.

The union costs are not just 8% of production, but include, for example, an approximate $1,600 per car 'legacy costs' for retiree's health and benefits for their pension. The legacy costs are an enormous drain.

Then, normally in hard times, an industry would reduce production. But GM's union agreements mean that it can't legally close plants or lay off workers without enormous penalties! That's what the union has done!!! Get it, Ulianov? The union has transformed a production industry into a service centre for workers.

The industry can't get enough money to research and develop new cars; it can't reduce the costs of production because it can't reduce even the NUMBER of workers! It can't close plants. Its only reason for existence...is to serve those workers. To hell with car production.

Even if GM halts its production, it STILL has to pay the workers, and their pensions and health care and other benefits. That is, what the union has done is to set up a situation where the car industry can't reduce its production because its production has NOTHING to do with cars but with workers. It can't lay them off, can't reduce its numbers of workers..and when they retire, the benefits are an enormous cost. Those union legacy costs are an enormous drain and this union-caused legacy is the basis of much of what ails the auto industry.

Toyota, Honda, Nissan didn't get trapped by the unions, didn't transform from car manufacturers into worker service centres. They are able to turn their profits into profitable new designs, which the Big 3, with their different focus on Benefits To The Workers - were unable to fund. For example, GM put only 7 billion on research and development vs Toyota's 15.3 billion.

As for 'bailing out the banks', please remember that the banks are not unionized, and the purchase of insured mortgages has nothing to do with production costs of anything.

Posted by: ET at December 26, 2008 6:12 PM

The AFL-CIO's Bill Samuel

Watch a devout union leader poorly argue how America should be converted into a socialist country:

This madness has to stop!

The Recession Proof Public Sector

Anyone working in the private sector, about to walk into a very scary 2009, will not enjoy reading this editorial about Canada's public sector. But it's an important read nevertheless.

If You're Going to Lie, Make it a Really, Really BIG One!

I was just listening to Rob Breakenridge's show on CHQR in Calgary. Being interviewed was Gil McGowan, President of the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL). You can listen to it here.

He had the audacity to say that "the Liberals and NDP are the most staunch federalists in Canada." He said it with such conviction that perhaps he didn't even know how much he was lying.

How else to explain such a comment?

Why do I suspect it won't be too much longer before Coalition supporters are telling us that "2 + 2 = 7" and screaming at us when we dare to disagree?!

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At first I didn't recognize McGowan's name. But then I remembered. He and his union were the ones responsible for the "Albertans For Change" campaign & website, attacking Premier Ed Stelmach and his Conservatives earlier this year. The AFL reportedly spent more than $1 Million on the vicious ad campaign.

Sadly for McGowan et co. it all backfired. Not only did it not help the NDP they were supporting, but it was regarded as pivotal in diminishing their seats from 4 to 2. NDP Leader Brian Mason was furious. So were several labour groups.

LabourWatch details the whole sorted affair. Here's a telling snippet:

Without express permission from almost 200,000 unionized Albertans, union leaders in Alberta are claiming to be representatives of them wanting change in Alberta. Negative political attack ads were launched on TV and radio on January 14, 2008. Of course the ads do not even remotely hint at their union connections. Only a dedicated website discloses union connections but has the audacity to allow visitors to infer that almost 200,000 Albertan voices support one of the worst forms of political activity – negative attack ads.

Fortunately, two Member Associations of LabourWatch decided to stand up for unionized Albertans and call into question this abuse of forced union dues. On January 24, 2008 the Merit Contractors Association and the National Citizens Coalition ran newspaper ads across Alberta. The Campaign: “ Union leaders are putting YOUR money where THEIR mouths are” drew attention to the critical issues arising from this abuse of union dues.

Am I the only one who sees irony here deeper than the Grand Canyon? First Gil McGowan hijacks the Alberta NDP's election strategy and is accused by many in the labour movement of improperly spending/wasting union dues. Yet not a thing happens to his own employment with the AFL. Now we hear him telling us that Stephen Harper must lose his job ... for what reasons we're not quite sure but as part of the explanation we're told to believe that the Conservatives are hurting this country whilst the Liberals & NDP, in bed with Quebec separatists, are "staunch federalists". Okay, sure Gil, sure.

Given Mr. McGowan's track record, Stephane Dion & Jack Layton might want to think twice about having him speak out for them.

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On a completely unrelated note I found this fascinating article about pathological liars.

Misguided Union Leaders

What's the #1 priority of every union leader? I always thought it was to increase the wages & benefits of their union members. Did this change and no one told me?

Ken Lewenza has succeeded the incompetent Buzz Hargrove as head of the Canadian Auto Workers Union, the largest private sector union in Canada with 260,000 members.

The traditional North American auto manufacturing industry is in desperate trouble, with plant after plant after plant being shut down. There are many reasons for this, which include: high gas prices slowing down sales, uncompetitive wages, and poor productivity.

In the [expected] upcoming Canadian federal election there are only two political parties that have any realistic chance of forming the government: The Liberals and The Conservatives. Stephane Dion's Liberals are focusing much of their campaign on a Green Shift plan. Every realistic examination of this plan concludes that it will amount to a tax on every household, estimated at $6,000 per family in energy producing provinces and $1,300 per family elsewhere.

With more money going to the government there will be less money to buy things like . . . automobiles and gasoline! So, from the perspective of a CAW member, is it in their personal best interest to support a political party in favour of such a plan or one opposed to it?

Would someone please explain to me why Mr. Lewenza would say the following in his first speech as president of the CAW: "I will do everything in my power to defeat The Conservatives in the upcoming federal election!"

Politics often boggles the mind.

CUPW: Yet another anti-semetic Canadian union

It has long baffled me why being part of a Canadian union has anything to do with the State of Israel on the other side of the planet. Yet time after time I see strange stories about such unions vehemently against Israel and in support of the Palestinians.

While such support is couched with phrases like "helping oppressed people" and "standing up for human rights", I've long suspected that what's really at work behind the scenes is a deep-seated hatred toward Jews amongst some agitators in the union.

The fact is that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a very complex one. Anyone who takes the position that "one side is completely wrong and the other side is angelic" is a fool of the highest calibre. Speaking of fools . . .

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers "has no plans to block mail to and from Israel as of yet." I'd imagine that 99% of such mail would be either to or from a Jewish person. Just imagine what would occur if this union were to announce that they may start blocking mail to/from China. If I were a Chinese-Canadian person, I'd be outraged ... and rightly so.

One has to wonder if a requirement to join CUPW is to indicate some sort of anti-Jewish bias? Perhaps if you do then your monthly union payments get reduced. Or maybe you get discounts on such books as:

• Intolerance: What all the Kool Posties are doing these days!
• How to destroy mail without getting caught - a hacker's guide
• Nazi Calligraphy, the art of drawing the perfect swastika
  

Do you think CUPW has a special salute?!

The BCTF Is The Most Destructive Force To Children in B.C.

Not teachers, but the BCTF definitely! Education Minister Shirley Bond is asking teachers to have the courage to discuss the policy of holding back children who fail many subjects. The BCTF wants none of it!

Here are some voices from the destructive BCTF:

"There is no research that supports retention. What we end up doing is punishing children." - Janice Neden - Kamloops Thompson district

"We used to call that failing kids and we shouldn't fail kids." - Irene Lanzinger, president of the BCTF

These two women do not know of what they speak. Or perhaps they do and are more interested in protecting the reputations of teachers more than educating children. The fact that people like this are seriously involved in the education of our children should send a chill up the spine of every parent in this province.

I do agree that extra resources should be brought to bear to help kids who are failing but at the end of the year, if they can't pass the tests then it makes absolutely no sense to move them forward with the other kids who can.

I distinctly remember a boy named Ian who was in my class in Grade 5. Our teacher was going around the class, asking everyone to spell different words. Ian was unable to spell the word "blue". I kid you not. Take a moment to put yourself in his shoes. Can you imagine how embarrassed and inadequate he must have felt each and every day. This is what the BCTF wants more of.

Vancouver's Civic Strike: The Truth Is Finally Becoming Clear!

It's said that if you tell a lie enough times that even you start believing it. Such is clearly the case with the "altered truths" told to the striking CUPE workers by their leadership and then repeated amongst themselves ad nauseum.

This became clear to me when I heard striker after striker calling into CKNW and providing a completely twisted, false view of the facts at hand. Recall the first sentence above.

Province columnist, Michael Smyth, offers a scathing view of the strike here. He says what many of us have been thinking for some time: This strike was mostly about the union leaders and their political masters trying to embarrass Mayor Sam Sullivan and his NPA party so that the CUPE friendly parties will win the next election. I have to wonder what a striker, who wasn't able to find temporary work, thinks about being used as a political pawn throughout all of this.

The ironic thing for me is that I have not been a fan of Sam Sullivan whatsoever. I did vote for him but have since found him to be weak, indecisive, and at times, just downright odd. But the hairs on the back of my neck have gone up over the past 13 weeks, watching the way he has been treated.

If you're a citizen of Vancouver then think carefully about who you vote for next time around. Also, think doubly carefully about not voting at all. For if the union-friendly thugs get in, watch for your taxes and rents to go sky high!!!

Vancouver's Civic Strike: Absurbity Beyond Compare!

Back in late July, when the Vancouver civic strike began, if you had asked anyone whether 12 weeks later, the CUPE members would vote down an agreement that had essentially long been accepted by municipal unions all over the rest of Metro Vancouver, you would rightfully have been told you were nuts. After all, what kind of person, after being out of work for 3 months, and now sitting out in the rain everyday, would possibly vote to stay out even longer?

But in order to understand why 2 out of 3 unions turned down the offers presented to them, you need to revisit the question posed above and see the fallacy in its assumptions. It turns out that there are a great number of CUPE members who have not been out of work and are not getting rained upon every day. These folks immediately obtained work elsewhere, much of it in the private sector, and often for higher wages than they're getting from the City of Vancouver. Why won't they quit their city hall job? Because they don't want to give up their lucrative benefits and pension.

So we have a classic impasse. What's thick with irony though - in fact, as wide as the RAV line passing in front of their picket lines on Cambie Street - is that these same people who voted 'No' are supposedly holding out for lifetime job security. Think about that for a second. Their union is wanting guaranteed employment security for jobs that these people clearly hate. Don't believe me? Talk to a civic worker sometime: They have the worst jobs known to mankind, they're treated harshly, and they're not paid enough. It's sad.

The only way I see out of this problem is for the courts or the provincial government to order them back to work. Otherwise, new deadlines will come & go but nothing will ever change, because there's absolutely no incentive for those 'No' workers to change their minds.

Back on August 5, 1981 U.S. President Ronald Reagan fired 11,345 air traffic controllers for failing to return to work. Perhaps something similar needs to happen here? Imagine going into a municipal government office and being greeted by people who are pleasant & caring and actually seem to enjoy what they do.

Nahhh, I've got to stop day dreamin'!