Cry havoc, and unleash the dopes of war...

It looks like Sam Sullivan and the NPA didn't get their money's worth from their latest push poll concerning Vancouver's civic workers strike. It's annoying that $9,000 of taxpayers money went to a poll, that when all the results are seen, doesn't reveal anything new: Vancouver is still polarized between small-minded, anti-union NPA voters who can afford their own houses (and the municipal garbage pickup that comes with it), and those of us who want the people who work for the City of Vancouver to actually be able to afford to live in the City of Vancouver.

What's worse for the NPA is that since the City's patronage of The Wilcox Group has been exposed, it's public relations offensive against CUPE has been reduced to rank-and-file NPA supporters screaming up and down Internet discussion boards and letters to the editors. Since returning from Banff yesterday, this page has been catching up and has been amused such hysterical bluster as:

"The Union's all for preserving their rights. What about our rights as citizens and residents of Vancouver?"

"City workers should think for themselves and not be manipulated by union bosses."

"If we privatize City services, taxpayers would save and there would be no more strikes."

I'll address these points in order. First of all, all Canadians have the right to organize unions, bargain collectively with their employer, and if necessary, go on strike if negotiations fail. That's been confirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada on a number of occasions. Just because someone doesn't like it when someone else exercises their rights doesn't mean those rights should be taken away.

Secondly, "union bosses" more than likely refers to a Union Bargaining Committee, which is elected by members of the affected Local. The Bargaining Committee surveys those members as to what they need in their next collective agreement. By comparison, the City of Vancouver doesn't consult with taxpayers as to our priorities: do we want fairly compensated municipal workers or such grandstanding poor-bashing crap as "Project Civil City"? Another thing, I haven't seen any Union elections where a candidate with the same last name as the frontrunning opponent pops up out of nowhere and steals enough vote to swing the vote. Excuse me, who was supposed to be manipulative and political?

As for privatizing City services, imagine what your property tax bill will look like once monopoly private contractors start guaranteeing profits for themselves. Also, if the Supreme Court of Canada told the BC Liberals they couldn't rip the successor rights of the Hospital Employees Union, then the City of Vancouver can't rip up CUPE's either. Besides private sector workers are not prohibited from organizing, so any attempts at "labour cleansing" through privatization are eventually futile.

It appears that for CUPE members and Vancouver residents who need the services provided by those members, things are about to get a lot dumber before they get better.