Quote:
Originally Posted by iggy_oi
That was a fun little merry go round.
Ok maybe give them time to get it going for you. In the meantime stop complaining that they’re not doing enough for you when you’re not willing to help and admittedly can’t be bothered to support them beyond signing a piece of paper.
I was already aware. It’s too bad you think doing the same thing as before is going to lead to a different result.
You’re making it harder and harder for me to give any credibility to your claims that you’re wanting to support unions.
How have you been generally supportive? Like all BS aside, what have you recently or ever actually done to support the labour movement? I’m not asking to be a jerk or as some sort of got ya, I’m just pointing out that this is why unions would be skeptical of how much support the public would actually give them.
Not voting for the UCP because you don’t care for their views on certain things outside of their labour policies but being willing to vote for them if they change the views you disagree with while maintaining their anti-labour policies doesn’t qualify.
Helping a movement that is strongly opposed by very powerful people who spend billions globally fighting it unfortunately requires a little more effort than being neutral.
Well I hate to break it to you but you’re already seeing our rights being trampled yet you still don’t appear to be willing to do anything other than sign a petition and that’s just not going to change anything. Blaming unions for not doing enough when to do more they clearly need help that you’re not willing to actually give them isn’t likely a winning strategy either.
I don’t disagree that Unions would benefit from better PR but I disagree with your characterization that I’m chastising you or anyone else. I’m being upfront and honest about the problems that are preventing the labour movement from being a more effective catalyst for positive change and suggesting practical solutions to those problems. How would you like for me to sugar coat it for you?
Most (non-union supporters/members)people that I talk to about this stuff in person genuinely seem to appreciate the no BS approach I take. I guess you would prefer that I take the AFL’s approach of overpromising and under delivering even though that seemed to disappoint you in the end. To each their own I guess.
Then why don’t you want to actually DO anything about it ASAP? Expecting everyone else to do things for you is rarely the fastest way to get anything done.
I’m not blaming you for anything. I’m saying quit complaining that others aren’t doing enough for you when you don’t want to do anything to help them.
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No need to sugar coat anything. The labour movement just seems more impotent than I thought it was. But I guess I'm just crazy for expecting groups who specialize in organizing collective action to...organize collective action.
It's like if my neighbour was a firefighter named iggy and his neighbour's house was on fire. I'm ready and willing with my garden hose, and I'd love the expert to tell me exactly where its best to point it. But instead it turns out he's upset that I haven't been following him to work all these years to help him fight fires elsewhere. "Real convenient powderjunkie🔥🔥🔥now YOU want to fight THIS fire because it might spread to YOUR house🔥🔥🔥 eventually! 🔥🔥🔥 Now let me tell you a few things about the chronic 🔥🔥🔥 underfunding 🔥🔥🔥of the fire 🔥🔥🔥department🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
But not to worry, I phoned 911 and they assured me that they've started a conversation about maybe probably possibly perhaps having a day or two of joyous fire fighting in my neighbourhood if necessary. But not necessarily.
So ya...I'm still ready and willing to help, but since the experts don't seem to be in any rush I guess I'll just spray down my own house to keep it safe and monitor the situation...I certainly dare not question the fire departments tactics!
Anyways, let's go back to Ontario for a moment...you suggested the union situation was way weaker here in Alberta. And yes Alberta is the weakest in the country at 23.4%. But Ontario is second weakest at 26.1%. No other province is under 30% right now.
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1...pid=1410012901
So an you elaborate on why you think it's so impossible for us to implement similar action as swiftly as that they did? There's some key differences between the situations, but the timelines are not dissimilar:
Ford announced what they were doing on Monday Oct 31 and passed it on Thursday Nov. 3. The affected workers walked off on Friday the 4th (for day 1 of their strike, unlike our teachers). A general strike was threatened over the weekend, and Ford backtracked on Monday the 8th.
I completely understand why the teachers could not and should not continue to strike, but why did the AFL have to castrate themselves on Wednesday afternoon? I do not think things would have been as 'easy' here as they seem to have been there (our opponent is just as dumb but twice as evil), but generally following their playbook still seems sensible. I don't need immediate action...just explain why a slower course is necessary without tipping your hand that the action you envision sounds pretty lame (but damn we really missed the boat...a day of joyous protest on October 31 would have actually been pretty awesome)