Cornwall ON – Research by labour experts Richard Freeman and James Medoff concluded that organizations with labour unions experience less employee turnover. Unions also allow employees to feel like they have a voice in the workplace, which can reduce feelings of frustration that could lead to turnover.
The business of unions is to provide a balance by addressing the issues that don’t interest the financiers and others, such as job security, pensions and benefits, equality and so on. The labour movements speak for all working people not just its due-paying members. The reality is the individual worker is always more vulnerable than the boss, and that’s why unions were invented. Society needs checks and balances, unions do fulfill that important role.
The notoriously conservative World Bank released a report in February 13, 2003 saying that labour unions are good for the economy and equity.
Based on more than a thousand studies of the effects of labour unions and collective bargaining on the performance of national economies, the World Bank report found that workers who belong to trade unions earn higher wages, work fewer hours, receive more training, and have longer job tenure on average than their non-unionized counterparts.
High rates of unionization also lead to lower inequality of earnings, especially for women and minority groups, says the report, entitled ‘Unions and Collective Bargaining: Economic Effects in a Global Environment.’
But unionization is not just good for individual workers – the study also found that countries fare better economically if large numbers of workers belong to trade unions.
More specifically, the study shows that high unionization rates are associated with lower unemployment and inflation, higher productivity, and speedier adjustments to economic shocks.
Union seeks a society which affirms the essential equality of human beings and embraces the goal of equality of condition. It does this by defending existing social programs against cutbacks, by advocating new programs such as universally available national childcare system and by pushing for economic reforms that transfer power to those who work for a salary or a wage.
Unions works for a change in the strategic balance so that business can no longer impose concession on the rest of society.
In contrast to the right-wing globalization agenda, which prevents whole nations from setting their own economic course, the labour movement affirms the importance of community-based economic development. To that end, the Unions support policies aimed at strengthening cooperatives and credit unions, whose goal is to reinvest capital in local communities.
The left remains what it has always been – the party of equality. And the right continues to be what it has always been – the party of inequality. All the specific questions in our politics – globalization, competitiveness, the deficit, unemployment, taxation and the welfare state are really debates about equality versus inequality.
Unfortunately, as long as power, greed, and tyranny dwell in the hearts of humankind, there will always be a need to protect the many from just such a few.
Mario Leclerc
Mario
You must admit a union is truly a bad solution for bad management.
Look at all the goodness a union has brought to our society with places like Courtaulds, Domtar, BCL. It has made our market too expensive to deal with.
Those greedy unions have bargained us all into the poorhouse (except their own membership). They have even talked the City of Cornwall to pay policemen and firemen a “retention” pay. You know what that means. You get paid to do your job and we throw in more money as retention pay so you don’t quit and go somewhere else! I think we know the value of unions.
Smee and C.C. are right, everyone should be brought down to minimum wage and no more right to strike.
@ Concerned Citizen. This is what you should consider greed.
http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/connie_woodcock/2010/06/11/14359881.html
NDP made mess on floor, missed newspaper. Last time NDP won in Ontario -they say, ‘we weren’t elected for our policy, it was a protest vote’, then beat up teachers union with big sticks in Toronto. They make even bigger federal funny now. They get elected to number two and then say, “Hey, big surprise -we not socialist anymore – we just use socialist vote.” Spit on face, just teasing maybe. Public major big time fool to not beg for army to take Parliament all away under martial law.
I take it that Benito and smee and Concerned Citizen are members of the elite ruling class. Lets starve the workers and heap the riches on our privileged aristocracy.
Get one half of the workers to arrest the other half. Put assembly lines in prison. Lower minimum wage. Limit welfare to one year. Raise age of pension to 72.
And all welfare recipients and others receiving handouts from the federal or provincial governments should be made to have a drug test when picking up their cheques. The governments will not support a drug habit! No more mail outs! No more free cash!
How about we shore up offshore banking rules so that people can’t drain this country of dollars?? Betcha that creates a whole lot of money that the government can spend….
admin
Compared to what we waste in needless social assistance programs, off shore money pale in comparison. Atleast money leaving the country comes back in. It may not be the best but robbing paul to pay peter does work. Beter then just having mary on crack drinking beer and making babies.
This is in no way directed to people that are actually trying to improve their standards
What does a lifer on welfare give to the community?
fartz
Show me one example of a starving family in Cornwall that has actually worked for a living.
That would have some requirements, No home, no booze, an old beater for a vehicle and no children cuz they cannot afford to raise them.
Most of what you call poor walk out of food basic with a buggy full of junk food and nonessentials…
it has little to do with being elite but a loss of common sense which you seem to exude with each post you provide.
Notice you will not see Mario address any of these concerns because he knows it to be true.
If the Post Office strike was effecting the economy and needed this barbaric back to work legislation so badly, why did the Conservatives make mail delivery an essential service instead as one NDP suggested. This would of got the postal workers back to work and negotiations would of been able to continue. I choose freedom of collective bargaining. I choose a democratic society which at this rate if we continue with Harper, that will be lost also. Just look at what Harper is doing in Newfoundland, closing down the Search and Rescue, thousands of lives will be lost, Harper DOES not have the regular Canadian’s welfare at heart, only the bank’s pocket books
@ smee. Your comment about poor families is somewhat uninformed. I know many pensioner’s in Cornwall who have given to society all their life and cannot afford a decent meal let alone a beer. This is YOUR future and your neighbors future. Especially if companies keep lowering pensions like Air Canada & the Post Office have and as we all know what we have all given in the CP will never come back to us. The government does not have it. Any other case, wouldn’t that be considered fraud? Instead of giving banks and corporations tax breaks, they should of been working on this problem.
Don’t let welfare people use the parks or theatres. Put their children in foster homes. Chase the poor through the streets. Put union organizers in jail. Punish, punish, punish. We spend 1% of our GNP on welfare and unemployment – it’s killing our economy. Have drug testing for all business owners and drivers. Anyone using marijuana should have their business license and drivers license and pension cheques cancelled. Put their children in foster homes. Patients should pay the full real price for medical. Sterilize the unfit. Get rid of warrants. Any government official should be able to enter your home to inspect for bad light bulbs or bad habits any time.
To Diane Marshall: With the purchase (it’s a done deal) of all Obama’s EH-101 helicopters and spare parts, Search and Rescue can go on for years and years searching and rescuing because they now have the parts to maintain their helicopters. Thanks to the Conservative government’s quick-thinking! As for the CPP it will remain healthy way after we’re gone(you included Diane). I don’t know where you get your information from Diane Marshall but you had better start reading a newspaper that will give the the true facts.
Diane
Why do you believe a select few people should have a pension given to them? These pensions are from our taxes which could be better directed at the retirees you are speaking about, or a contribution to the CP
As for fraud, what our government considers a democracy is fraud.
You are right banks do not need the breaks, how ever corporations do.
The same rich and poor scenario can be assigned to corporate tax cuts. Many people are doing contract work as a corporation or sole proprietor. It helps with the excess costs and expenditures. If they eliminate those breaks it will cripple that business market as well.
It is much bigger then the giant corporations you speak of.
good point Benito and the people standing smoking wearing their gowns IV in toe at the hospital should not be allowed to either smoke or if they so choose to while under Dr care and in the hospital…pay your own way
@ Cojones Kid THE GOVERNMENT has told us there is not enough money for the baby boomer’s as they retire. Check the federal website. I have and what I am getting in pension so far does not even cover my rent. Unfortunately the CP does not work with inflation. My Mom has worked hard all her life, never missed a day of work, other’s I see, who have worked in labor all their life are crippled from their years of work and the pension’s they are getting cannot sustain them. How does one live off of $500/month? You tell me? My point is there are poor who deserve respect. Not all poor are druggies How can you afford drugs and booze when your check hardly cover’s your rent? Yes there are some who abuse the system but many do not. Your comments are all based on assumptions, categorizing & not researched. The new search and rescue will be based in Halifax also. A long way to go by helicopter when someone is drowning.
Me, Smee, Cornwall Harry, and Concerned Citizen will put everyone in jail and remember, “Klan Kids Don’t Do Drugs.”
@ Benito One day it could happen to you! Your company closes down and you are at the age that no one will hire you. Pre-judging is not good & not nice. I know at my age now, I been lucky enough to start my own business which hopefully will sustain me in the future. But, many people cannot do that nor do not know where to start. I know what my pension will be, the federal website offers you the calculations. It is not good as it does not work with inflation. I am preparing for it but many do not even know they can go check this. Other’s my age are preparing in other ways for the pension years cause they know they are going to be “had”. The government has told us. They do not HAVE the money for the baby boom pensioner’s.
Has a study been done on how much cheaper goods would be if we did not have a group of lawyers and administration, fighting for each side? There are so many health / safety / labour / enviromental rules now in effect, that some unions are just fighting to keep membership and income.
“Admin says How about we shore up offshore banking rules so that people can’t drain this country of dollars?? Betcha that creates a whole lot of money that the government can spend….”
Serious consideration towards that is an idea, however, where does it stop? Would we also have to stop immigrants from working here 10 years and going elsewhere with the pension money?
People on welfare that are able to work, should be encouraged more to do so, not being allowed in a park helps no one.
The place of unions in society is complex, and there is no simple answer. However, before automatically bashing the unions, remember, it was not Ronald Reagan who brought down “The Evil Empire,” it was a Polish trade union.
I hate people that play the bash welfare card. It’s such a minuscule and tiny part of the money that is abused in this country and most welfare money stays in the community and cycles through rents and survival costs. If you really want to change society for the better have a truly fair taxation system and have a guaranteed minimum income for everyone.
some of the drug and alcohol abuse is because of the poverty…
You are right admin, these same people who are bashing welfare recipients are probably abusing the health system anyway, going to doctor’s for sniffles and such. I have seen the welfare system get some women out of the hole from a divorce, got them an education so they could support their children on their own since the dead beat dad would not contribute to his kids.
WOW, reading some of theses comments are very disturbing. Obviously, mankind has not evolved to the level I thought it had. So much hate and bigotry.
With some of he above comments, no wonder Cornwall hasn’t grown.
It may be time to reconsider where to live.
Smee opens himself up for slap-down when characterizes all welfare recipients as lazy or drunks and such. Given his level of literacy, I assume he’s living on an inheritance, or in his mother’s basement. People like smee obviously have never been struck by a serious illness, or have experienced a life-changing accident or anything like that….YET. So go ahead and keep bashing the less fortunate, but you better pray like hell that your good luck never runs out.
Willie Cornwall is a great place. You can find nasties all over. Like they say…”The grass isn’t always greener….” 😉
Willie it is easy for some to be nasty behind their monitor as some here are, sadly their true personality shows up? But, let them talk to you face to face is another story. I just pity them myself but I agree, it makes you concerned that this is how some human beings have evolved and not only in Cornwall.
You should see some of the posts we don’t allow to go through. Sadly the world can be a less than pretty place….
If more unions are the answer, what will a cup of coffee cost? The people, picking the beans & pumping fuel into trucks to haul the beans all the way up to the people who fill the cup, will need a few dollars more. More union jobs then require dues which are claimed on our annual tax forms, which either brings in less revenue or equals out with all the new union adminstration workers paying in.
Mario Leclerc, before any of these studies are worth, well, a hill of beans, other factors need to be looked at. Population age, education, religion, level of democratic government and country resources to start.
There have been too many events that have me seriously thinking about leaving Cornwall. In Cornwall, there is always someone going out of their way to keep you down while trying to better yourself.
Eric, the union worker’s are paying the price with their union dues each week off their pay cheque. I worry more why the coffee keeps rising which is because of certain companies hoarding the beans making them less available like what they did with chocolate beans. It’s the availability that makes food prices rise, not unions. Just as the price of meat and chicken. It is not the farmer’s who make extra money when the prices go up, its the middle man. The food industry is a scary thing. Food control is a scary topic.
forgot to mention the oil companies also control food prices!
Yes Willie; that’s true as I can attest, but there are also people that will work with you and opportunities that happen here that generally don’t in other places. The trick is to find good positive people to work with.
furtz
Yet again you are way off topic, slap down you make me giggle. Perhaps if you read what is written and not try to extrapolate fiction to suit your musings and limited thought capability …well your posts would actually make sense. Never did I say all welfare recipients. Read the post shown at 9:58am.
As for not being struck down by serious illness, again you are wrong. You are 2 for 2 in the out to lunch category furtz.
Inheritance??? from raising a person with the illness I have there is little money left.
Unlike you we do not use it as an illness as an excuse to be lazy.
I understand how you feel a little Willie, there is much work to do in Cornwall on some issues but as far as the people go, they are not that bad, have you ever visited CBC website? Comments from Canadians all across the country are absolutely out of hand and no one to moderate the forum. I used to go there to get my news when I needed to confirm something I had seen on the news on TV, If I do now I read quickly and avoid the comments. There is no point, it’s just a circus. Happy that the comments are moderated here. A job I would not want.
willie you are so right, That Cornwall hold back attitude and mentality is why I have not worked there in 15 years.
Diane it’s a tribute to our viewers that very little moderation is needed here. I think we scared off most of the professional trolls.
Smee you’re an anonymous troll. We don’t know if you work anywhere or where you’re from even. Geez, some of the stuff you type… Don’t trash my hometown if you don’t have the cojones to sign your name.
eh senor admin, muy grande cojones
Jamie, we do know a few things about smee. He doesn’t like people who receive social assistance. He doesn’t like people that belong to a union and make decent wages. He doesn’t like living in Cornwall. He doesn’t like you or me and a bunch of other people he doesn’t agree with. He’s never rowed a boat, indeed, he’s never seen a rowboat. And last, but not least, he only has one oar in the water.
Is it possible that smee is alluding to an attutude that resembles the phrase, that’s not my job?
When union negotiated contracts are in force, do we really see people doing more than is what is written on the work order? I tried it a few times and was almost fired or a complaint was leveled against me.
Go away from Cornwall for a couple of years without much contact, come back and talk with people. You should be able to see the difference and not just because you are a couple of years older. I would imagine small town around the world are the same way.
Diane, oil companies do alter food prices because food and other companies have to pass the extra cost of transporting goods. I would be the last one to say any thing negative about Farmers BTW.
I submit that unions have as much to do with rising costs as others you noted. Management costs to deal with unions and higher wages / benefits to staff either strains the bottom line or increases the cost when also considering material / office / tax and other issues.
Eric, just touching on your comment about oil companies helping to alter food prices:
Farmers only make about 10-12% for all their products they produce here in Canada. Kind of makes you wonder where all that additional money is tossed onto the prices we pay. A good portion of that thanks to supply management and oil companies of course. Skinless boneless chicken breasts here in Canada = 6.99 a pound. In the US = 1.99 a pound. Milk in Canada = average of 6 dollars a gallon. In the US milk = 2.25 a gallon. Eggs here in Canada = 1.99 for 6 at No Frills. Eggs in the US = 99 cents a dozen. The producer and the end user both get the short end of the stick here. It’s a wonder why so many people shop across the border.
Go to the farmers market, where it actually costs even more to purchase local produce and other items from local farms than you would pay in Farm Boy or other supermarkets. That is the farmer trying to skip out the middle man (supply management, oil companies, unions) who takes most of the gain from the farmers work. That is if you can get local Asparagus to begin with instead of Asparagus from Mexico (huh?). In reality, the farmer should be able to sell for less than what the big stores sell for, but with the cut of the pie the big stores and other entities bring in, its a wonder that the farmers would think any different and drop their prices. Something really needs to be done about these prices, and it needs to be more fair for the producers and end users in this country. Not the middlemen and government marketing boards!
You must be shopping at the wrong farmer’s market Cliff. There was lots of locally grown fresh asparagus out in Long Sault and now strawberries…..aww… the strawberries, mmmmm.
So sorry Reg, I should have specified the Cornwall Farmers Market.
All good information Clifford_Stork. Does the US allow steroids for chicken as well as beef and to increase milk output?
I forgot to add our free health care in the mix of costs along with a shorter growing season.
Eric you should read the milk labeling on milk from the US. It categorically states that NO artificial growth hormones were used in cows producing milk. Check the poultry labels too while you’re there.
Its not free health care, we pay for it, out of our taxes we already pay, plus our income taxes, and our health “premium”, not a tax. But regardless of this all Eric, are we still paying just a little too much when it comes to essential’s for survival? The facts remain, that our food costs are inflated and the only reason is greed, and it’s not the farmers greed. And by the way, the milk I have states they don’t use hormones. Not that I believe that to the most extent. But still, when raising a family and such, if I cannot produce what we need personally, then I seek the next lowest price.
By the way Reg, I grow my own Asparagus and produce. I have 6 large gardens I tend to all the while doing my job and other activities. I do this to offset the costs of having to go buy my own. I don’t sell in any markets. I actually give stuff to friends of mine to help them with their stores as they are struggling to survive as well.
As I said Eric oil companies contribute to the cost AND the middle man. In Canada it is out of control. What the farmer’s get paid and once it gets on your table is ridiculous. The Grocery stores, & farmer’s are not benefiting from rising costs. Seriously it is the middleman for many foods. Weston took care of the rising costs they had by offering the employee’s be part of the solution and it worked. Sadly their employee’s are suffering too. It was either that or go bankrupt. In Canada we are becoming more like the states as far as regulations go. Our government has allowed Monsanto in Canada who have been in the U.S. for years destroying farmer’s lives. Prepare yourself for more and more GM food. Our farmer’s are trying to keep their seed as clean as possible but Monsanto seed (GM seeds) from other farm’s keep germinating in their organic fields. When our farmer’s export to other countries some shipments are rejected because of traces of GM. Sad to say, and proven other countries have higher standard’s when it comes to GM. When Monsanto donated seed to Haiti, they burned it. Farmer’s tried to get a food bill passed in parliament last Oct/Nov and the Conservatives and Liberals voted no.(Believe that was C-147 been awhile now) Only the NDP cared about our farmer’s and what we are eating. BTW to the trolls, this is known facts, if you don’t know this then learn & research Monsanto.