Comments on: The CAW-Magna Agreement: Not the Way Forward

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:07:14 +0000

(laughing…)

Just because a group of staffers who are told to stand up at a meeting and say words in support of Buzz concerning a sell-out deal he authored doesn’t somehow make it right. Paid staffers under threat of lossing their jobs or being in bad favor with Buzz is a shameful example of how undemocratic the CAW has begun. To prove the point, even after all this so-called debate at the CAW Council meeting, when the time came for a vote, was it a secret ballot vote or a show of hands? It was a ’show of hands’. It wasn’t an honest accounting of the delegate’s wishes becuase the pressure of conforminity was present thru this undemocratic voting proceedure. But this process isn’t surprising given that the CAW leadership never thought to ask the workers at Magna (even once) what ‘they’ would like to see in ‘their’ contrcat! The back room deal making of Buzz is astounding! At a time when the labour movement is on the offensive when it comes to re-establishing labour rights as human rights, Buzz and his gang toss away a fundemenal right like this (right to strike) as easy as throwing away yesterdy’s trash. As worse, he has allowed Frank Stronach to choose the union’s leadership which is appauling and beyond resason.

Some leadership, eh!!!

By: Thomas

Thomas — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 03:03:13 +0000

If the Labour Movement and the academics speant as much time trying to make the worls a better place for workers, as they do trash talking Buzz and the CAW, oh what a world it would be. I had the oprtunity to sit in on the debate recently at the CAW Council and speaker after speaker in the CAW leadership lined up at those mics and talked of the rules and restrictions that govern there rights as workers. Health care workers with no right to strike, essential service acts, office workers that may approve of a less confontational approach. The list went on and on. Why no outcry about stripping workers of there rights when international unions are signing 15, 18 years agreement? The reason why, is plain and simple..they all wish they had dynamic leadership like the CAW and the type of democratic union that they enjoy. Some of these socalled trade unionist can’t resista an opprtunity to take a swipe at Buzz. Some of the ideas that have biunced around this article are ideas that have not resonated with workers or their families for decades, and probably won’t again for a generation or two. It is so easy to stand on high shaking your fist, and singing the banks are made of marble. Real life isn’t like that anymore Brother sand Sisters. there is a time and place for everything, and the workers at Magna will join another Union if they want to retain that precous right to strike. Plain and simple.

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 15:00:11 +0000

Arguably, this is a 'company' union and therefore not entitled to be recognized as a bona fide trade union under Ontario's Labour Relations Act.

You should also be aware that workers are at a serious dis-advantage by having their terms and condistions of employement determined by binding arbitration. Arbitrators are loath to grant anything but the most modest of gains because of an overiding principal governing their thinking: the union should not gain anything beyond what they might have bargained for without including the leverage of a strike.

Hemi Metic and Buzz have been been out bargained by Frank Stronach who is obviously the better negotiator. In their quest for new members, Hemi and Buzz have taken the labour movement back 50 years. Company dominated unions will now be a going concern thanks to this precident.

They should be ashamed at selling out labour's most important value - a free, autonomous, independent labor movement!