Thoughts on the "Garbage Strike", (revised)

I have been following some of the reporting of the CUPE strike in Toronto, especially with regard to the garbage situation. To be honest, it is difficult not to be aware of this situation, and the opinions held by the Union, the City, and the populace of Toronto. As the holder of a senior leadership position in a larger private sector local, (in a previous life), I have definite opinions with regard to most matters regarding organized labour. Up front, I support the position of the Union regarding the issues surrounding concessions demanded by the employer.

All labour negotiations that go into the ditch and result in a labour disruption are political acts. There are clearly two strategies in dealing with the current garbage situation. The first, and it appears that is the track the Union has chosen, it a complete withdrawal of all services and a militant posture that paints both management, and the users of the system, (the people), as the adversary. This is partially the result of biased reporting in the media and the Union's "take no prisoners", strategy. Who is to blame actually, is mostly irrelevant. The Unions's position, can be an effective tactic, but it requires a clear winner, and a clear loser. In this case the populace with likely eventually have to concede, or force back to work legislation, but the Union will in the end, have lost the support the people. It cannot be overstated that the Union does represent a workforce in the public service.

The second strategy would be in my opinion as effective in the short term and less damaging to the Union in the long term. Politically they should adopt a less confrontational posture, in their dealings with the populace. There should be an effort made to assist the public in any way they can, (without breaking their own strike of course). This should include efforts such as assisting the people at the transfer stations, by helping people carry their trash bags, minimizing any delays, public displays of good citizenship, such as cleaning up litter in parks, and beaches etc. This may seen counter-intuitive, but in the end public support can help end this strike and not leave everyone with a bitter taste in their mouths. In other words, they need to be seen not as the problem, but in a sympathetic light. Public opinion will support a victim before an aggressor.

Unions in these times of recession have enough of a public relations problem without leaving everyone with the impression that they are greedy, inflexible, and/or totally self-serving. Strikes are a result of the failure of negotiations, and should not be used as an excuse to declare war on everyone not in the local. When it is over, and it will eventually come to an end, the Union will still have to deal with management, and and the public. It is obvious that it is easier to organize and operate in an environment that is sympathetic to organized labour rather, than with the hostility now being suborned by the Union's strike strategy.

I ran across a blog this evening and stand corrected. Although I don't usually agree with Warren Kinsella's point of view, he has provided another point of view regarding the tactics of the union, one that hasn't been covered in the main stream media.
http://www.warrenkinsella.com/index.php

I went to the CUPE Local 416 site and I still support their actions but still believe they are losing the PR part of this fight. They are up against a lot of media bias but even finding their site wasn't totally simple with a Google search and it is not the best layout to get their message out.
http://www.local416.org/