Because a labor dispute won't be resolved by street theatre. It will be resolved by the less sexy business of people sitting across from each other at a conference table, hashing out terms. And apparently that's happened now. I walked by the building where they've been demonstrating. Nobody was there, including the pig. I found an abandoned air horn on the sidewalk and took it home to be recycled.
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
Strike stricken
For the last few weeks there's been a labor dispute at RISD. One that the students, for reasons that would make an interesting study, have really thrown themselves into. They've been holding demonstrations to show solidarity with the striking workers. It's been fliers, chanting, drumming, and a giant inflatable pig. Fairly harmless stuff, and entertaining at times, but definitely a sideshow.
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2 comments:
Funny you should write about strikes since as of yesterday the government workers in Canada are on strike. One might feel sympathy for those who toil under cruel conditions but federal employees can't in truth be described that way. I'll give you a bit of a breakdown of their demands:
1. This strike primarily encompasses two groups of federal employees: 120,000 at the Treasury Board and 35,000 at the Canada Revenue Agency.
2. Union reps for the Treasury Board employees have been asking for a 13.5% pay hike over three years.
3. The CRA (the tax collectors) staffers want an immediate 9% raise and 20.5% over three years (that makes 30% if you're counting).
4. They want to make remote work more broadly and uniformly available. (as in while wearing pyjamas).
5. They want bonus pay for when they work after 4:30pm.
6. The most hilarious PSAC demand is the union demand for more anti-racism training.
The Trudeau government has increased the ranks of public employees by more than 33% since 2015. Which is very odd considering one of the bigger recent scandals has been the McKinsey consulting company who've been given tens of $millions, might actually be Canada's real bosses.
The fact the students have made a party of the labor dispute at RISD sounds like kids just wanting a reason to party - fair enough but that won't solve the problems that are likely to be more basic for the cooks and cleaners who work at the art school.
Glad to know you recycled the air horn. I hope someone trustworthy is looking after the pig.
When it comes to strikes and to unions in general, there are some with legitimate grievances, and others with that are just a matter of throwing your weight around. The one you're describing sounds like the latter. In fact the demand for more antiracism training makes me suspect the whole thing is an astroturf action and the rank-and-file actors are going to get certain accessions whether they want them or not.
McKinsey is a bad penny. I'm sure they have their reps in or adjacent to as many governments as they can get.
Youthful hedonism probably was a factor. The demonstrations did start as winter was ending. I wish the workers well. In all likelihood a lot of them are relieved to get back into the groove.
The airhorn has been taken away. Maybe the pig will turn up in a parade somewhere. The next year of the pig is 2031, so there's that to look forward to.
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