07.04.2015 08:32 AM

My love letter to Maude, after spending the night at the airport

And I mean it in the nicest possible way. 

  

17 Comments

  1. smelter rat says:

    Sometimes people get pushed too far and are forced to take matters into their own hands, the shareholders be damned.

    • Bill says:

      You may be on to something. If the local authorities can pick and choose what laws they want to enforce without repercussions , (see Vancouver and illegal pot retailers) then surely as citizens we should be able to pick and choose what laws we should personally have to obey.

  2. Joe says:

    Isn’t that like telling water not to be wet?

  3. doconnor says:

    Innocent people facing a life of poverty wages is pretty bad, too.

  4. mrburnsns says:

    Not sure whether you have ever worked in a unionized job, but union leadership will often publicly condemn what they privately support in order to avoid legal action.

    Staying the night in an airport sucks, but if some twentysomething idiot with an MBA was axing my job at worst, or cutting my pay by $20K at best, I’d do what it takes to get my message out there. I think AC and the other airlines are probably now questioning whether those $6million a year in potential savings are worth it. They should.

    Frankly, I want someone who’s dispensing flammable liquids and has access to the secure areas of an airport to make a decent living wage. $14 at the top end just doesn’t cut it in Toronto.

  5. Jackal says:

    Management want’s to bring their wages down from $26 an hour to $14. You can’t live a real life on $14 an hour and it’s ridiculous to tell these people they should just grin and bear it.

    Not really surprising that their union isn’t standing by them or that the law is against them when the game is so rigged. Anyone who cares about fairness or about giving all people the chance at a decent life should stand with the workers on this one.

  6. Don Wilson says:

    Maude Barlow sadly has a track record of ill-researched positions that have unfortunate and unintended consequences. Although her current C o C campaign about water seems to be well thought out.

  7. MississaugaPeter says:

    Sorry WK, couldn’t disagree with you more. I applaud them for doing what they can when they still can do it. Calling in sick, the last time I checked, was not illegal. It is time that the little guys and gals united together. Signed, a 1 percenter.

  8. Ronald O'Dowd says:

    Warren,

    So this is the Canada of the third world…

    Foolish me, I thought working for a living wage amounted to a fundamental human right.

    Don’t want to see right to work laws that essentially mean having a right to potentially starve on those wages.

    Work disruptions amount to blackmail that is essential to maintain mere survival in many of these cases.

  9. Greg from Calgary says:

    Nice, instead of paying a living wage and having a Canada where these workers can expect a decent life we are creating another group of working poor.

  10. Doris says:

    Good for them, most are facing unemployment as the new company has said few will will be taken on the rest said f*kc it and “up yours” to prove a point they have nothing to lose anyway. I hope they do it again and again. It should be inspirational to others facing the same treatment from the corptocracy.

  11. gyor says:

    I’m on the worker’s side as well.

  12. I was also one of the people caught up in the action as I was traveling home from Ottawa via Toronto. I eventually made it at 3:00 a.m. and my luggage is still en route somewhere, as WestJet opted to load fuel rather than luggage in Ottawa.

    It’s really hard to find a newspaper article that actually explains why the workers are taking the action, but when you find it, you find it’s hard not to sympathize with them. Basically, they’re all being replaced, and their replacements will earn about half what they make – as pointed out above, a sub-standard wage of $14 per hour. 250 of 300 workers involved in refuelling are due to lose their jobs on Oct. 1.

    Under current legislation, the union leaders have to be ‘opposed’ to the action or they risk going to jail.

    I am 100% in support of the workers. You spend 40 years working with a company and then they dump you out on the street? And do you really want people earning only $14 per hour responsible for refueling your aircraft? Think about it. This is no way to run a society.

    This is why we have to get rid of the bums who run the country, both Tory and Liberal. This sort of behaviour by corporations should no longer be tolerated.

  13. Carlos Ortiz says:

    Hi here Stephen.
    greetings from Ibagué Colombia
    What you mentioned is fair and I tottally agree with you. This is not happening only in Canada’s airlines, but also in many other countries such as Colombia and I’m not talking just about airlines but all sort of companies, enterprises and corporations.
    Lots of people in Colombia also experience the same. It’s very convenient for the entrepreneurals but it’s not for workers and their families. The way it’s going always favors the big finantial monsters but it affects badly workers interests.

  14. P. Brenn says:

    yes companies taking advantage or workers but excessive taxes on fuel, govt overspending/oversized , up coming cap and trade , new pension ..while all individually nice stuff ..add them all up its really tough to make a dollar ….many things occurred in Greece but unsupportable overspending over many years by govt was critical to starting downward spiral in that country…

    If uinon wants to really stand up for workers they should go on the record I think its called leadership…

    • doconnor says:

      How would the government lowing taxes / laying off people make it easier to earn a dollar? Businesses would may save 10% on taxes, but lose 10% of their customers.

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