Category: Bargaining
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Fighting the coming attack
Dear sisters and brothers: The wounded global economy came home to roost at Queen’s Park yesterday. Finance Minister Dwight Duncan announced that Ontario’s budget deficit this year will hit $24.7 billion. The news, while not surprising, was shocking just the same. It’s a big number. It has big consequences for every OPSEU member. The Minister…
Andy Pedersen
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Collectivity, Community, Balance and Fairness
Greetings, Friends. It seems that not a day goes by without the union movement being under some kind of attack by the corporate elite and their media shills. As the last line of defense for working people, we are convenient targets. The Globe and Mail could hardly contain itself. For that shameless rag and all…
Andy Pedersen
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Wow: An Ice Storm in Winter!
History has a strange way of repeating itself. What happened? Shockingly, an ice storm did — and wow — it was during a Canadian winter! The severity of this storm caught government officials at the municipal and provincial levels flatfooted. Who knows what the federal government thought or did given that they were absent throughout.…
Andy Pedersen
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United we stand: by-elections show us the power of politics
The recent by-elections saw Ontarians reject Progressive Conservative proposals for austerity, reduced services and the introduction of American style labour laws. Four out of five ridings rejected the PCs. Their one win came in Etobicoke-Lakeshore. In that riding their candidate was a popular municipal politician. It is time for that party to hit the reset…
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The Death of a Dream
I like some of things about the U.S.A., but a lot of what they do doesn't fit my values. This tension arose last during the attempt by the city of Detroit to declare bankruptcy. I shook my head at the finger pointing that followed. It would be easy to ignore the Detroit bankruptcy. Our cities…
Andy Pedersen
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Prosperity: Is it at the corner of Main Street and Union Way?
Some say that we're all in this together. But are we really? Disturbing trends have brought us watered down democracy where one set of rules apply to the wealthy while a different set apply to the rest. How did this happen? It starts and ends with economic inequality. Money is always linked to political power.…
Andy Pedersen
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Obama inspires struggle for equity
The inauguration of Barack Obama as the first black president of the United States represents a major step forward and hope for the future. Obama’s words from the base of Abraham Lincoln’s monument can be adapted for our own union, as well: …if we could just recognize ourselves and bring everybody together…..Latino, Asian and Native…
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Inspiration on a flight north
Last week I had the privilege of being invited to a meeting of OPSEU activists in Sault Ste. Marie. As they say, the journey can be as important as the destination. This was one of those times. On the flight north, I made the acquaintance of a young man who had recently gotten married. He…
Andy Pedersen
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End the marriage between business and government
Dear friends, OPSEU members have a lot to be concerned about as we head into the winter of 2011. We know the next provincial budget will be of critical importance to many. Members worked hard during the past year to voice their concerns and shape the future. We’ve done this through political activity, campaigns and…
Andy Pedersen
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Cash Without a Pulse
“Dead money.” That’s what Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney this week called the half trillion dollars Canadian corporations have stashed away. Both Carney (and surprisingly) Finance Minister Jim Flaherty have criticized corporations for stuffing money into mattresses while our economy lays dormant. Both men have said investment in research, technology and innovation could increase…
Andy Pedersen
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Working Together – Leading the Resistance Movement
The clouds of conflict gather as we count down to the federal and provincial budgets. The coming fight will be unlike others; waged by the privileged one per cent, motivated by greed, self-interest and a commitment to dismantle public services. The 99 per cent is in their sights. We are part of the 99 percent,…
Andy Pedersen
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Unions united are getting results
Dear sisters and brothers: A few days ago, Premier Dalton McGuinty told a group of Ontario road builders that now is not the time to be cutting back on public spending. “If banks are reluctant to lend and the private sector is not doing that much spending and consumer confidence isn’t where it should be,”…
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The Clock is Ticking
It’s that time again. It’s time to review the past year. It’s time to plan. We must strategize and prepare so we can meet upcoming challenges. Yes, it’s time to develop the 2013 OPSEU budget. What is the right course for 2013? In many cases it is steady as we go. The attack on working…
Andy Pedersen
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Profits and poverty: a look at two budgets
Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty called his March 22 Budget A Low-Tax Plan for Jobs and Growth. I’d call it something else: A Program for Profits and Poverty. Even Tories considered Flaherty too right-wing when he was Ontario Finance Minister a few years back. He fits right in with Stephen Harper, who wasn’t kidding when…
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Members to McGuinty: We don’t buy your spin
Sept. 13, 2010 was a big day for our union. Close to 500 elected leaders from OPSEU locals, sectors, and key committees came together that day in Mississauga. They had one goal: to nail down a response to the McGuinty wage freeze. The debate was passionate. Members had many views about the best strategy to…
Andy Pedersen
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Election question: What kind of Ontario do we want?
Recent election results in the United States and here at home have got us all wondering where the world is going these days. And with a provincial election next year, when I say "the world," I mean Ontario. In some municipal races and the U.S. mid-term elections, quite a few voters shifted their support to…
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Canadian Tories: If the Mitt Fits, Wear It
There was a time when civic-minded individuals entered politics. Sadly, that time appears to have passed. So what happened? Where did all the nation-builders go? Where are the big thinkers – the problem solvers? More importantly, why do the people we elect today end up punishing the people who elect them? I’ve heard about people…
Andy Pedersen
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Workers bear burden of provincial ‘restraint’
Toronto Star: Published on November 19, 2010 A $35,000-a-year caregiver in a nursing home doesn’t usually get much news coverage. She feeds our parents and grandparents. She helps them use the bathroom. She tries to enrich their final years. Sometimes she holds their hands as they die. None of this makes the news. It’s behind…
Andy Pedersen
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Truth, deception and Ontario’s bi-elections
In true Liberal style, Dalton McGuinty has back-pedaled. Just days ago, when asked to comment on Greg Sorbara’s sudden retirement as an MPP, the Premier spoke about calling byelections in the ridings of Vaughan and Kitchener-Waterloo, and stated: “It would be unfair to plunge the province into two important byelections in the dog days of…