And Here We Go Again! Lisa ‘I’m Too Sexy For The Proletariat’ Raitt Is Mad And She Ain’t a Takin’ It No More! Part D’Uh!

Yep, Dear Lisa is busy sharpening her claws and no doubt finding ‘sexy’ ways to stamp on workers, yet again, boys ‘n’ girls, and this time, it’s Air Canada Flight attendants. Flight attendants, who are represented by CUPE, have voted to reject the latest deal negotiated between CUPE and management. Interesting twist. What went wrong?

Before I go on, I should disclose that I am a CUPE member, though, I am not an Air Canada employee. Those who have followed my blog or who are friends with me on Facebook know that I am employed by a social services agency under the department of health and social services of the Quebec Government, but we are represented by CUPE.  So, I will not provide any commentary or observations one way or the other between the conflict, whatever it may be between CUPE and its’ flight attendant members, other than to say that it is not dear Lisa’s, nor Stevie Spiteful or any branch of government’s place to intervene in any shape or form.

My arguments are pretty similar to those of my posts regarding the NDP filibuster when Lisa and the Harpercons bulldozed the postal workers and CUPW and Canada Post with bill C-6. I won’t rehash those posts for the most part, except for some brief review. I invite to read  both of them.  Here is how C-6 could set a dangerous precedent for all workers, including non-unionized ones. I highly recommend reading that one, as dear Lisa, apparently is toying with the idea of changing the Canada Labour code. More on that later.  Here is my other post reviewing the NDP filibuster and Jack Layton’s last shining moment in the House of Commons.  The NDP caucus all performed well. Let’s hope they still have it. They may need to do it again. Also, as a former head of PSAC, Nycole Turmel would be in her element.

More on that later.

Dear Lisa, is saying she just won’t have it! She is livid, boys ‘n’ girls, just livid, I tell you!

“If the parties are unable to come to a solution, our government is prepared to act to protect Canada’s fragile economy,” Raitt said in a statement Monday. “All options are being considered, including proceeding with the legislation proposed in September, which remains on the House of Common’s notice paper.”

Oh, I bet that file has been sitting on top of her desk for some time now, under her tapping finger nails, her relishing the day she could flash it.  Oh, and here comes the usual, but…but… the economy!! Mantra. 

  “However, we will be clear that a work stoppage is unacceptable in this time of fragile economy.”

Aaarrrggghh!! She blows!!

Once Again, Those Harpercons Once Again Shoot for the Unprecedented–Dear Lisa Muses About Changing the Labour Code

On a serious note, boys ‘n’ girls, it could get serious this time, as I’ve mentioned abov, Lisa is contemplating changing the labour code, in addition to more hideous back to work legislation.

“Intervention is the first piece and then the second one is taking a look at the bigger problem and determining if there’s any changes that need to be made,” the minister told CBC’s Wendy Mesley on Monday.

and

“If we do have a problem and maybe it is a flaw in the system, we should discover it now and if we need to make changes we can make changes,” the minister said.

I can’t say that I’m surprised. It’s hideous, but not surprising. The red meat base will love this! That is, until it actually happens and it affects them. And how far back will she, under the orders of puppet master, Stevie Spiteful, naturally, take the work force back? It’s a question we all should be asking ourselves, no matter what partisan stripe we paint ourselves.

A labour expert doesn’t remember when a labour minister made such comments. That’s ok, these Harpercons have proven time and again to have a propensity for the unprecedented. Go read Lawrence Martin’s Harperland for a good eye full. The hits just keep on coming from where Mr. Martin left off. Anyway here’s what the expert had to say.

“This will become the pretext and the context to legislate changes to the act that — knowing where this government is coming from — will make it more difficult to go on strike,” Lee said.

Oh, I’d say that would be barely scratching the surface. Let’s not forget there are plenty of unionized workers who are deemed to be providing essential services, thus, not allowed to strike or striking capabilities are quite limited.  I have a feeling those Harpercons would plan insidious ways to stomp on them too. In fact, not only them, but also non-unionized workers as well.

Anyway, back to the labour dispute between Air Canada flight attendants, CUPE and management and the Harpercons.  I have already read the hysterical usual misinformation from blogging supposiTory Hunter this morning. Man, she never ceases to be amusing, if nothing else. The unions are out of control! She says!  Well, she should perhaps pay closer attention to the news, and I do mean something other than Fox News North. She’d find that it’s the flight attendants that are rejecting what CUPE has already negotiated. I have to ask how she’d feel if the government decided she should earn less than what she’s earning today? Or she should be stripped of her pension and benefits?  Things that would likely happen if Dear Lisa gets her way and changes the labour code.  Anyhoo… This next bit of information is dedicated to fools like Hunter.

Life of a Flight Attendant Ain’t as Glamourous as All That

Remember I once said that the media propoganda machine has an uncanny way to spin any vocation as glamourous. Flight attendants, as we’re seeing now, are no different.  Let’s put that to rest.

According to Jeff Taylor, president of CUPE’s Air Canada component, a flight attendant’s entry level salary is only 18,000$/year.  It’s lower than the national poverty line for a single person.

Statistics Canada defines the “poverty line” (or low-income cut off) for a single person living in a major city in 2007 as $21,666 (before tax).

But, they’re overpaid, aren’t they?  Tell me, Hunter and other Blogging SupposiTories, what would be the right wages, not just for flight attendants, but for anybody; a waitress, cleaning person, garbage collector, nurse, mail carrier, secretary, orderly, etc…??

Jeff Taylor goes on to explain other conditions flight attendants work under.

“Some people think that flight attendants have a very glamorous job travelling around the world. But the reality is very different – long unpaid hours in airports, significant pay cuts in 2003 and 2004, and not enough rest time on long flights,” said Mr. Taylor, who added it’s appalling that crews sometimes have to eat their meals next to a plane’s washroom.

Eating next to the can? Ok, that’s just nasty! I wonder if Hunter would mind eating next to the potty?

As for not enough rest time, I can understand the problem. Imagine constantly travelling constantly, changing time zones several times in one week.   I hear from my family and friends travelling to and from Europe complaining about how changing time zones in one day fatigued them terribly. Imagine a flight attendant who changes time zones regularly? And how can anyone perform effectively if they do not have enough rest?

Earnings of Some Top Execs

Oh, while Air Canada’s management, like most talk of belt tightening and how everyone must compromise and the public talks of greedy workers and their unions, let’s take a look at what Air Canada’s CEO, Calin Rovinescu is being compensated these days, shall we?

Salary and benefits of C$4.6 million ($4.8 million) paid to Air Canada’s (ACa.TO) (ACb.TO) chief executive last year were a “disgrace” after years of belt-tightening in the industry, one of the unions, currently in labor talks with the airline, said on Monday.

That was from Canadian Autoworkers’ Union, the union who represents the ticket sales people who were in labour dispute around the same time as the postal workers were.

Air Canada’s management proxy circular, released last Friday, disclosed that CEO Calin Rovinescu received total compensation of nearly C$4.6 million in 2010, up 75 percent on the C$2.6 million he received the year before.

Air Canada said the compensation “reflects the terms of Mr. Rovinescu’s original employment contract of April 2009 when he was recruited to return to Air Canada” and that “these arrangements are not new”. It declined to comment further.

The contract also includes a retention payment of C$5 million for Rovinescu if he stays until March 31, 2012.

Even more obscene, the former chairman and chief executive officer of ACE Aviation Holdings, Robert Milton, well, let’s just take a look at what he earned, shall we?

Mr. Milton, chairman and chief executive officer of ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. (ACE.B-T10.48-0.01-0.10%), saw his compensation more than double to $14.7-million last year. From 2005 through 2009, his remuneration exceeded $82.7-million at ACE.

ACE, up until sometime last year, was a holding company that held controlling interest in Air Canada.  To this day, it still owns around 27% of Air Canada. Needless to say that Mr. Milton’s earnings have left a bad taste in unions’ mouths. Gee, ya think?  I wonder if ol’ Milty, Rovinescu and the rest of upper management are willing to sacrifice their bonuses and/or taking a pay cut for the sake of, you know, belt tightening? NOT!!

So, even if  Susan Welscheid, Air Canada’s senior vice-president of customer service, offers the feeble defense that senior flight attendants earn about $51,500 , and rambles on about how her workers must “accept the “facts of life.”,  how does she justify her superior’s outrageous 7 and 8 figure salaries/bonuses/benefits with a straight face while she is telling her workers to “face the facts of life” ?  I wonder how much she earns herself?

Air Canada; an Essential Service or Not?

What? Air Canada wasn’t so essential when Brian Mulroney decided to privatize it in the 80s. Now that its’ workers have all gotten a tad uppity and decided they want and need better working conditions and decent wages, it’s all of a sudden essential? Which is it, Lisa?

Private or not, I contend that it is not an essential service.   For openers, there are plenty of other airlines that fly to and from Canada and other destinations. Plus, travel is a luxury most Canadians can’t afford in the first place.  Labour dispute or not, it’s not going to affect the lives of most , one way or the other.

Even with business travel, today with all the technology available like skype and video conferencing, one can still conduct business from the comfort of their home office.

As for cargo, there is Fed-ex. Very reliable service. I used them when I was a shipping clerk for our overseas needs.  That’s just one.

Another thing, the flight attendants do have a legal mandate to strike as of 12:01 Thursday morning. If they’re in a legal position to strike, then the government is sending mixed messages by intervening, to say the very least.

Different From Air Canada

It is plainly obvious Dear Lisa plans to step in along with the puppet master and the rest of the puppets. If they do, this would be one their biggest excercises in hypocrisy and most Canadians would miss it, as glaringly obvious as this hypocrisy is.

Thanks to Brian Mulroney’s privatization kick in the 80s under his watch, as mentioned above, Air Canada is no longer a crown corporation. It is a private company; a member of the good ‘ol private sector.  I dunno, but aren’t these Cons always preaching how the private sector should be left alone and how they would always solve their own problems and left to their own devices, all would turn out well in the end for the greater good?  Don’t these Cons always say that government has no place in the private sector (well, except, of course, to bail out their friends when they screw up, of course) and how they run themselves? Well, if they intervene in this labour dispute, don’t all their arguments just fly in the face of all of that? Doesn’t that imply that the private sector (today, Air Canada; tomorrow, who knows?) can’t take of itself, can’t run itself and doesn’t solve all the problems of society at large?

Will The NDP Put On a Repeat Performance?

One can only hope. As I’ve already mentioned, as a former PSAC president, Nycole Turmel would be right in her element to lead a filibuster.  Given that this time around, it appears to be the workers, themselves, rejecting what CUPE, had already negotiated with management, there could be different optics–the opposition would be seen as standing up for the workers themselves, more than for the union,  though, I’m not optimistic about that. It seems that the propoganda machine won’t allow most to make that distinction, but still, critical thinking is desperately needed here.

Or, given the propoganda machine and the Harpercons having hammered the NDP as Communist, socialists who only stood up for “union bosses” and “union thugs” during the last filibuster, and the fact that the party is busy with a leadership convention, or maybe even a loss of confidence without Jack Layton, will they simply sit this one out?

How will the LIberals handle themselves this time around? Given that Air Canada is a private company and their services are really not an essential service and there are other airlines who do provide the same services, could they basically take the angle that the government has no business in the affairs of the private sector?

If the NDP do repeat filibuster festivities, look forward to perhaps the histrionics of perhaps Robocop Fantino up past his beddy-byes, talking about his organs not reaching the other side of the Atlantic, or perhaps even Wladislaw Lizon sounding the paranoid rallying cry of the NDP being worse than a “Communist Pogrom”.

Speaking of communist pogroms, I leave you with a parting trivia question, boys ‘n’ girls, that  commenter Jon left at one of my earlier posts: Was Joseph Stalin the one who worked for free and fair bargaining between employees and employers? Or was he the one who imposed a ‘fair wage’, for The Good of The People/Economy?