Friday, April 24, 2009

Progressive Links To Labour and the Economy

The following links are to progressive articles you need to read if you want to get a grip on what is happening in the current economic mess we are in, and why some things have become "lightning rod" issues in the main stream media.

Cutting versus Building - Jim Stanford

Don’t Take Away MY Defined Benefit Pension! - Jim Stanford

Corporations blame unions for economic meltdown - Linda McQuaig

Financial elite have no shame - Linda McQuaig

Canada's Vital Auto Industry: Past, Present and Future - James Laxer

Public services a bargain for Canadians: Study - Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Canadians get more public services than they pay for -Melanie Ogilvie and Ish Theilheimer

What the labour movement means to me? - Brandon Fox

ARE UNIONS OBSOLETE? - Don Wells

This is Privateering - George Lakoff

Friday, April 10, 2009

The Job Losses Continue

According to Harper, there is nothing to be concerning to Canadians in the current economic downturn. Call it what you will: Cyclical Downturn, Structural Recession, etc. Whatever the current government wishes to call it, they don't seem to understand that this is having a devastating effect on the working people of this country.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBxSWRvhQPw

If you still have a job, do yourself a favour, ignore all of the union bashing that is going on in the media, and if you are not yet organized, find a union, and protect yourself. If you are in an organized environment, attend your meetings, and support your union. Don't join the race to the economic bottom.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Cats Maintain, "All is Well in Mousland"

In a report from the CBC today, “Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Friday the country is in a mild recession and that Canada will come out of it strongly.” This appears to be yet another instance of the federal government trying to convince Canadians that they have managed the economy well and that we have nothing to fear. These comments are as credible as Stephen Harper's claims as recently as last October Canada could still avoid a recession. These comments seem to indicate a disconnect on the part of the government with the realities being experienced by the people of Canada. In February the economy experienced a loss of 110,900 full time jobs, 35,000 of these losses were in Flaherty's home province of Ontario. Clearly he is not listening to the daily reports in the media of continuing job cuts: Stelco in Hamilton, 1,500 jobs in March, Bombardier, 3,000 job losses announced on April 2nd, as examples. The suffering by Canadian workers continues. The actions of the Federal Government can only be likened to Nero fiddling while Rome burns.

“Earlier this week, Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney told an audience in Yellowknife that growth may not return until 2010. He said Wednesday that Canada's economic contraction in the first quarter of 2009 now appears likely to be the worst on record since 1961.”, (http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2009/04/03/flaherty-jobs-london.html). So who are Canadians to believe, the Bank of Canada, or the Finance Minister? Someone either does not have all of the facts, or is attempting to mislead the populace.

It is time for Canadians to take control of their futures and to become politically active. The economic problems that have been laid at the feet of the working class are the result of massive deregulation of the financial systems worldwide. The following link although old is more timely than ever and should be required reading for anyone who is of voting age in this country.

http://www.tommydouglas.ca/mouseland

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

We Have the Strongest Banks in the World, but...

This morning started as a typical April day. The morning breakfast television show on CHCH predicted rain showers for most of the day. Since I am recovering from recent knee replacement surgery, I decided to put off my morning walk until later on in the afternoon. Typically, I scanned the cable television directory to see what I could watch to fill the morning. I found a movie called, “Maxed Out”, which documents the history of the current financial, and debt crisis we find ourselves in. I watched this and can I recommend this to anyone who thinks that we are doing okay and the real issues are only in the U.S. During the documentary, I got a couple of wrong number calls from someone who was wondering if the food bank was going to be open today? These rapidly brought the economic situation closer to home and made me think how real this crisis really is.

I thought back to the morning show I had watched, where the lead news story was Stephen Harper's attendance in London at the G20 conference where he is patting himself on the back for the strength of the banking industry in this country. A situation in which he fails to admit that he has had no hand in implementing. Our PM takes pride in being a trained economist. What most people don't take into account is that he is firmly in the camp of Milton Friedman, and the Chicago School of Economics, and if he had ever achieved sufficient power, would have deregulated our financial industry in order to follow the models of the US, British, and Icelandic systems.

On that same morning show, the newscast another of the lead stories was the closure of yet another manufacturing plant in the Niagara area. This one was a non-unionized auto parts supplier. As a result 180 people have lost incomes and will because they were not organized not be getting any sort of severance package to help them survive.

The job losses and subsequent suffering in this area are severe yet, because they are happening on an almost daily basis, and in such numbers, people, unless they are personally impacted are not taking notice of what is happening around them. On Sunday I stopped to talk to my neighbour down the street. I knew of the closure of the Stelco plant here, but was not aware of his story. He had 29 years of seniority and is 50 years old. His wife also worked for Stelco by has been off work for some months and was getting only the odd shift of relief when they were short-handed. Between them they had over 50 years of service with Stelco. They are not going to get a pension for their service. They have two children about to finish grade school. He drives a 1992 Oldsmobile. What are they going to do?

Stephen Harper and Tony Clement, and Jim Flaherty aren't going to be there to provide any assistance to people like my neighbours, or the poor fellow who was wondering if the food bank was going to be open today. In times like these, people look to the federal government for leadership and help. From where I sit here in Hamilton, there is little in the way of leadership, or help from either of the senior levels of government. Who, if anybody is going to step up and offer the people of this country a lifeline? The government of the day is clearly not up to the task.