Comments on: Leaders and Members at Odds on CLC (Geoff Bickerton) http://canadiandimension.com/articles/2005/08/30/47/ Mon, 13 Oct 2008 09:15:48 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Susanne Shaw http://canadiandimension.com/articles/2005/08/30/47/#comment-5 Susanne Shaw Fri, 09 Sep 2005 06:02:48 +0000 http://canadiandimension.com/articles/2005/08/30/47/#comment-5 <p>This is so true! In our case here in Port Alice, the National did not even have a good lawyer present for our side when Judge Tysoe signed away our collective rights to severance with a stroke of the pen. He allowed the pirates of Lapointe to buy the mill from Brascan-Doman for a buck. And not one word of protest at that court hearing from our national reps!</p> <p>Also, Brascan gave Lapointe Partners $5.5 million to run the place. Of course, the Pirates pocketed the cash instead and proceeded to run the mill into the ground, stealing all the assets, our paycheques, pensions, RRSPs, etc. Then they skipped the country, leaving an estimated $35million dollars in unpaid wages and supplies all over the continent. Lapointe cleared $13million from their skullbuggery. Not bad for $1 investment, eh?</p> <p>National has helped a little with publicity--thanks largely to Media 2000. But National gave us very little real help, when you consider the amount of money we've paid in dues when we were running. The suport we've gotten has been mainly from other locals of CEP--and they have been unbelievably generous--unlike our miserly national!</p> <p>Another issue. Some of our union pension money has been put into dubiously ethical enterprises with people union people shouldn't even be seen with, never mind invest with! The same with working opportunity funds--labour sponsored investments. Guess what? They don't sponsor labour projects! They even give donations to rightwing parties! Good God, if only we'd invest our pensions in ourselves, in worker-owned enterprises, we'd be way ahead, and help worker rights at the same time! Power to the working stiffs and all that. But Bro Ken of the CLC couldn't even suppport HEU when it was being raided by IWA's disreputable 1-3567, with absolutely ruinous results for HEU members. It's time to throw out the top brass of everything--from unions to corporations to all levels of governments. The Peter Principle is all too prevalent. We need democracy back in all political and organizational structures. In order to get that, it seems, we need to get rid of the obstacles at the top of them all. So where is the Guillotine these days?</p> This is so true! In our case here in Port Alice, the National did not even have a good lawyer present for our side when Judge Tysoe signed away our collective rights to severance with a stroke of the pen. He allowed the pirates of Lapointe to buy the mill from Brascan-Doman for a buck. And not one word of protest at that court hearing from our national reps!

Also, Brascan gave Lapointe Partners $5.5 million to run the place. Of course, the Pirates pocketed the cash instead and proceeded to run the mill into the ground, stealing all the assets, our paycheques, pensions, RRSPs, etc. Then they skipped the country, leaving an estimated $35million dollars in unpaid wages and supplies all over the continent. Lapointe cleared $13million from their skullbuggery. Not bad for $1 investment, eh?

National has helped a little with publicity–thanks largely to Media 2000. But National gave us very little real help, when you consider the amount of money we’ve paid in dues when we were running. The suport we’ve gotten has been mainly from other locals of CEP–and they have been unbelievably generous–unlike our miserly national!

Another issue. Some of our union pension money has been put into dubiously ethical enterprises with people union people shouldn’t even be seen with, never mind invest with! The same with working opportunity funds–labour sponsored investments. Guess what? They don’t sponsor labour projects! They even give donations to rightwing parties! Good God, if only we’d invest our pensions in ourselves, in worker-owned enterprises, we’d be way ahead, and help worker rights at the same time! Power to the working stiffs and all that. But Bro Ken of the CLC couldn’t even suppport HEU when it was being raided by IWA’s disreputable 1-3567, with absolutely ruinous results for HEU members. It’s time to throw out the top brass of everything–from unions to corporations to all levels of governments. The Peter Principle is all too prevalent. We need democracy back in all political and organizational structures. In order to get that, it seems, we need to get rid of the obstacles at the top of them all. So where is the Guillotine these days?

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