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.]

Monday, May 21, 2012

CP Rail Strike: Labour Minister Lisa Raitt Urges Workers To Reconsider Striking

OTTAWA - Federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt is expressing concern about the threat of a strike at CP Rail (TSX:CP).

The union representing 5,000 employees issued 72 strike notice this weekend and the workers could legally walkout as early as Wednesday.

The two sides are continuing to negotiate and Raitt issued a news release Sunday urging talks or binding arbitration rather than a work stoppage.

But the release didn't give any hint whether Raitt would intervene as she did to block job action at Air Canada and Canada Post.

A spokeswoman for Raitt also wouldn't comment on the possibility.

The workers, represented by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, include conductors, trainmen, yardmen, locomotive engineers and rail traffic controllers.

"A disruption of rail services would have a significantly negative impact on businesses and our national economy," Raitt says in the release.

The workers have been negotiating with CP since October to try to reach a new contract _ the last one expired in January.

The union says CP is demanding major concessions on pensions, work rules and wages.

The company says if there is a work stoppage, it will "proceed with a safe and structured shut down of its train operations in Canada."

Original Article
Source: Huff
Author: CP

No comments:

Post a Comment