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.]

Friday, January 13, 2012

Toronto union president offers to flat-line wages for thousands of outside workers

The Toronto public-sector union on the precipice of work stoppage has played an unexpected gambit in its negotiations with the city.

Mark Ferguson, President of CUPE Local 416, is offering to flat-line wages for his over 6,000 outside workers for the next three years, a move that contradicts the city’s claims that Mr. Ferguson has refused all its demands.

Savings from the proposal would total $8.5-million each year of the three-year contract.

The proposal would essentially carry over the current contract, which expired on Dec. 31.

For its part, city negotiators have not been focusing on wages. Their goal during this round of negotiations is to stamp out job-security provisions that virtually guarantee that all workers displaced by contracting out will retain a job somewhere within the municipality.

On Thursday, the city pushed Toronto closer to an all-out work stoppage by asking the provincial Minister of Labour to declare an official stalemate in negotiations with Local 416, also called a declaration of “no-board.”

The province is expected to come back with a no-board report as soon as Tuesday, starting a 17-day countdown until the city can declare a lockout or the union can go on strike.

The status of negotiations with CUPE Local 416, the city’s second-largest union, will have an inevitable effect on negotiations with Local 79, the largest city union with over 17,000 members.

Original Article
Source: Globe 

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