Mayor Miller

[masterchief]

BTW, it is city crews being paid double time and half today to clean up what they created. I believe I was poo pooed by a couple of other posters on this site when I said that the City Crews would be out doing clean up and racking up the overtime. Well guess what - I see those nice yellow and blue trucks all over the place.

Of course they are, they need to make-up for the lost wages during the strike, that was always thier plan. Toronto doesn't have the balls that Windsor did in making them only work straight time.

Not to mention they got to keep any seniority days and benefit days earned while they were on strike.

So a raise, a buyout of sick days, an amnesty to prosecution, jobs for life and three days of maximum overtime; basically everything they were asking for...But like the Mayor said...its a fair deal for everyone.

 

[multimedia]

Even after the land transfer and 100% vehicle registration tax, reduced garbage service (with higher fees), increasing tax rate on assessed property values increasing for the next 1/2 decade (even though property values have dropped signifcantly), there is a record 8.5 billion dollar budget, with about a $500 million shortfall that is to be made up somehow either through new taxes or extra money from the provincial government (there's a good chance that's going to grind to a halt since Ontario's credit rating is in jeopardy.. the Premier is pissed as Fed funding will be down... both Harper and McGuinty are at least worried about the fiscal situation except Mr. Miller who assumes things will always be paid somehow) and all the while businesses are leaving Toronto in record droves reducing the tax base even more while cost of living adjustment raises across all union members (esp at a time when inflation/cost of living is flat) with no elimination of jobs or wasteful spending/programs whatsoever to balance the books and mirror what is going on in the rest of the world.

And to top it off, this shows just how addicted to spending the Mayor is in; committing on spending Billions on a light rail system (with a preferential bid from a Cdn Union plant no less) while pissing off the Feds..."F*CK Toronto" was the more precise response from a Harper Cabinet official bc the proper procedures weren't followed and it wasn't even approved but the Mayor went ahead and announced it anyways in the media as if it were a done deal.

Great job.

 

[Mrbig1949]

I usualy vote for him and I think he fucked up. He should have made a much higher offer much earlier. He will stay in bed and win unless the development industry comes up with a credible candidate. None of the right wing knuckle draggers on council have a chance, Smitherman and Tory would both probably lose to Miller as well. Haven't heard a credible name mentioned yet. They need to be both willing and able. Anybody??? I didn't think so.

 

[fuji]

It's not just Miller we should be going after. We should be making sure that the councillors who voted for that idiotic deal don't get re-elected either.

It's worth remembering that the mayor only has one vote. As much as the media focuses on the Mayor it's actually council as a whole that matters.

Of course it helps if the executive has an independent brain and is not a union puppet.

 

[Mrbig1949]

Very hard to unseat city councillors. Only one or two actually lose each election out of what is it 44? Seats tend to move from right to left or left to right on the retirement of old warhorses. Their endorsed replacement doesn't always make it, see Olivia Chow Adam Vaughn story.

 

[masterchief]

The sad thing is that with the new electoral wards that were redrawn on the provinicial side of things, there is a chance that the city could follow suit and make it 46 councillors for the next election.

 

[buckwheat1]

NO need to worry it's all over now!!! The garbage is being cleaned up!!!!

 

[fuji]

NO need to worry it's all over now!!! The garbage is being cleaned up!!!!

Only the strike is over.

 

[BoringBob]

The reason to put stuff out to tender is simple: If the teamster types try to invade and raise the salaries and benefits too high, that company will no longer be able to be the lowest bidder the next time around. So give 5 year contracts, renewable, and work from there.

Suddenly the costs of garbage collection will remain stable, pretty much on the inflation line, because you aren't having to deal with expanding union demands. If they demand too much, a newer, lower cost company will come along to do the work.

It's amazing what happens once you get the union noose off from around your necks.

 

[Mrbig1949]

I would expect that only unionized companies would be able to bid.

 

[fuji]

I would expect that only unionized companies would be able to bid.

Why? That sounds like an unfair restraint on trade.

 

[Mrbig1949]

There is a long history of this in municipal gov't

Why? That sounds like an unfair restraint on trade.

Also a school boards.

 

[wantoplay]

Also a school boards.

Explain please??

 

[Mrbig1949]

I am a little removed from it now but for decades the Toronto Board of Education had a union only policy for construction and any contracting they did. The city also had this policy for years but I believe it has been replaced with a fair wage policy which means you don't have to use union but you have to pay at or very near the union wage. It is part of the government as model employer to build a high wage high standard of living economy. Under either policy only companies that meet these union or fair wage policy are able to bid for city work. Great policy, keeps out the fast buck low service bidders.

 

[guelph]

Wonder what Mel would have done.?

probably disappeared with a girl friend.

 

[james t kirk]

I forgot about the "Fair Wage Office"

You are right, they would probably need to be unionized.

You can not bid a construction job in the City of Toronto unless your company is unionized. The City simply will not allow it. Ditto for the TTC. AS far as I know, the City of Toronto is the only jurisdiction that makes such rediculous stipulations against its bidders.

The Province-wide collective agreements are binding on all employers in the sector. The former City of Toronto was first considered an "employer" when the relevant unions obtained bargaining rights beginning in 1978. As a result, subject to the jurisdiction of the collective agreements, union workers must be used for contracted-out work. The use of union sub-contractors for municipal building projects is also required in most cases

Link:

http://www.toronto.ca/fairwage/contractual.htm

 

[james t kirk]

I don't have so much a problem with the City of Toronto setting wage guidelines, however, they cross a huge line by insisting that construction companies be unionized.

I imagine that this was heat that was applied in the past by City of Toronto unionized staff to the politicians and somehow they went for it.

MTO does not subscribe to such BS.

 

[buckwheat1]

Paying for unionized help stops the non-unionized guy from paying his employees cheap. I can sell it for a buck you can sell it for .97 and on down the list it goes there'll be someone out there to sell it for.50 cents at the expensive of his/her employees.

 

[someone]

There is no doubt these polices work against the public interest. However, there is also no reason a new council could not also changed these bad polices when they contract out the work.

 

[james t kirk]

Paying for unionized help stops the non-unionized guy from paying his employees cheap. I can sell it for a buck you can sell it for .97 and on down the list it goes there'll be someone out there to sell it for.50 cents at the expensive of his/her employees.

This could just as easily be accomplished by saying that if you're a steel erector you need to pay your workers $30.00 per hour as opposed to saying, "thou shalt be unionized". A non union shop that pays the same as a union shop is ALWAYS better run because there is no union bullshit like, "it's not my job", "you can't tell me what to do", "I'm going to grieve this", blah blah blah.

Just look at Stelco (unionized and shut down) verses Dofasco (not unionized and profitable) yet paying the same salaries.

Besides, if your employer fucks you around - find another job.

It's all about promoting unionism and ensuring the power structure of the union itself. The City officials in Toronto are left leaning and they are pandering to the unions for votes.