In my previous post I brought up the fact that SGEU has decided to send it's crop adjusters out on strike at the moment they are needed the most by the people in Saskatchewan. By doing so, Bob Bymoen is holding the people of Saskatchewan hostage in order to get what he wants.
The same is going on with the Cancer workers strike and of course the teachers did the same before agreeing to mediation. There are other strikes to come as the unions align themselves with the NDP going into the fall election.
Time of the unions is in the past, there is no such need for them anymore, no matter what spin the union heads want to put on it. There are labour relations boards, workers safety boards and more in place to make sure the workers are being treated fairly. This was once the job of unions, it was not to get into the political forum nor to hold the people hostage like they do today. Imagine if the members were able to keep their union dues and actually put that money to work for their families instead of going into advertising against a government or into the pockets of union heads?
What I suggest for the Sask government to do is bring in legislation ordering all striking unions back to work and then introducing right to work legislation. The unions will cry and take everything to court, further wasting their membership's dollars, but this is gaining a lot of traction in the U.S. and around the world. In today's world we have to compete against other nations who have become much more productive than us, more streamlined and cheaper labour costs. These other countries don't have the burden that unions have on our country and that gives them a huge advantage which further hurts our economy.
So what is my common sense solution to the union problems in Canada? Bring in right to work legislation which will kill the unions and then go to the workers and say you can have a collective voice from your membership to negotiate with the employers. Instead of having the right to strike, like a union does, have both sides go directly to mediation at least a year before the current contract is to expire. This can be done and should be by changing the legislation. The mediator would have to be approved by both sides and be from outside the province in order to make sure there is no influence one way or the other. If within 6 months there is still no contract then it goes to binding arbitration with the result being accepted by both sides. The fees paid by the membership would be very little as compared to today's membership dues. The labour side would hire a law firm when it comes time for negotiations instead of paying union heads and a bunch of cronies 24/7/365. The law firm would then take on direct negotiations with the employer and mediator.
By using this approach I thing the animosity between employer and employee would begin to heal and we can then concentrate on further progressing our province and nation instead of being held back by labour disputes. By changing the labour laws to allow for this type of process would allow the government and all employers for that matter to have more of a voice with it's employees, to be able to actually talk to them about where they are financially and what they need for concessions when it comes to pension reforms.
It is no secret that we as taxpayers need pension reforms from current labour contracts, the unfunded liabilities that they carry is unsustainable and if we don't do something now we may find ourselves looking at some very big austerity measures in the future. Entitlements have become the norm in this country and it needs to stop, for the better of our children's futures.
The same is going on with the Cancer workers strike and of course the teachers did the same before agreeing to mediation. There are other strikes to come as the unions align themselves with the NDP going into the fall election.
Time of the unions is in the past, there is no such need for them anymore, no matter what spin the union heads want to put on it. There are labour relations boards, workers safety boards and more in place to make sure the workers are being treated fairly. This was once the job of unions, it was not to get into the political forum nor to hold the people hostage like they do today. Imagine if the members were able to keep their union dues and actually put that money to work for their families instead of going into advertising against a government or into the pockets of union heads?
What I suggest for the Sask government to do is bring in legislation ordering all striking unions back to work and then introducing right to work legislation. The unions will cry and take everything to court, further wasting their membership's dollars, but this is gaining a lot of traction in the U.S. and around the world. In today's world we have to compete against other nations who have become much more productive than us, more streamlined and cheaper labour costs. These other countries don't have the burden that unions have on our country and that gives them a huge advantage which further hurts our economy.
So what is my common sense solution to the union problems in Canada? Bring in right to work legislation which will kill the unions and then go to the workers and say you can have a collective voice from your membership to negotiate with the employers. Instead of having the right to strike, like a union does, have both sides go directly to mediation at least a year before the current contract is to expire. This can be done and should be by changing the legislation. The mediator would have to be approved by both sides and be from outside the province in order to make sure there is no influence one way or the other. If within 6 months there is still no contract then it goes to binding arbitration with the result being accepted by both sides. The fees paid by the membership would be very little as compared to today's membership dues. The labour side would hire a law firm when it comes time for negotiations instead of paying union heads and a bunch of cronies 24/7/365. The law firm would then take on direct negotiations with the employer and mediator.
By using this approach I thing the animosity between employer and employee would begin to heal and we can then concentrate on further progressing our province and nation instead of being held back by labour disputes. By changing the labour laws to allow for this type of process would allow the government and all employers for that matter to have more of a voice with it's employees, to be able to actually talk to them about where they are financially and what they need for concessions when it comes to pension reforms.
It is no secret that we as taxpayers need pension reforms from current labour contracts, the unfunded liabilities that they carry is unsustainable and if we don't do something now we may find ourselves looking at some very big austerity measures in the future. Entitlements have become the norm in this country and it needs to stop, for the better of our children's futures.
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