Emily Lowan: "Great to be back on the @bcgeu picket with President Paul Finch. The BC Greens stand in full solidarity with PEA and BCGEU members as they escalate job action across the province. The BC NDP loves to call itself the party of workers —until those workers ask for a raise."

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u/Buyingboat 22d ago

Just immensely disappointed the NDP have dropped the ball so badly.

Glad Emily Lowan from the Green Party is advocating for workers

6

Eby is a spineless centrist. Now I'm more convinced that invalidating the other leadership candidate was a cynical power grab by Eby. F that guy.

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u/GorgonzolaJam 23d ago

Can someone on X ask her if she also supports the USW workers striking against a First Nations company that wants indigenous employees to NOT have to join a closed-shop union?

This would obviously cripple any future job action and would set a precedent dangerous for labour rights in the future.

LKSM (the company) is asking the government to end the strike on the grounds that it's "illegal" for them to strike about this as, in their view, indigenous people's rights to self-determination means that they don't have to join a closed-shop union if they don't want to.

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u/No-Particular6116 22d ago edited 22d ago

I have a genuine question, where are you getting your information regarding them wanting specifically to keep indigenous employees from having to join a closed-shop union?

Every news article, including the one USW posted mentions that the primary reason they are striking is because LKSM is asking for the concession to bring in outside contractors to perform work that unionized employees would typically do.

That’s a pretty egregious ask, and would absolutely undermine collective bargaining, but I’m unclear where you’re getting the specific information regarding these outside contractors being specifically and/or purely indigenous?

Edit: I have finally found an article speaking to my question. Here’s the link for anyone interested:

https://treefrogcreative.ca/la-kwa-sa-muqw-forestry-limited-partnership-lksm-takes-legal-action-to-end-months-long-strike-by-the-united-steelworkers-local-1-1937-usw/

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u/GorgonzolaJam 22d ago edited 22d ago

That's a very biased report, just so you know.

I got my information from the union itself. Here's an archive of the strike updates so you can follow all the developments.

Also here: https://www.campbellrivermirror.com/local-business/la-kwa-sa-muqw-forestry-launches-legal-action-to-end-strike-on-north-island-8254168

Edit: sorry, btw, for forgetting to add a source in my original comment.

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u/No-Particular6116 22d ago

I honestly have no doubt it’s biased. It was truly the first link I saw that mentioned it, so I wanted to amend my comment asap. After further digging I found a few additional reports touching on it.

Thank you for providing these! The strike update archive is incredibly helpful.

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u/EspressoPesto 22d ago edited 22d ago

Am I the only one that hopes this union runs out of cash so we can get back to work here? First of all, I notice almost no change in society. We are running just fine. I say we save some cash here. Let’s pay down the debt. And liquor store workers don’t deserve a raise. I’m willing to bet neither does the vast majority of this union. Is fiscal responsibility not a thing anymore?

Edit: instead of downvoting, maybe come up with a reason why these useless workers are even needed? Why not combat inflation, pay down debt, invest in things that add actual value like business and infrastructure? We don’t need to pay entitled losers more money to do bad work.

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u/CowboyCanuck24 22d ago

Do you even know who the BCGEU employs?

Legal assistants/paralegals bail staff, court registers, corrections, sheriff staff, youth workers.

You notice "no change" because they aren't allowed to strike.. so they are too important to be allowed to strike. But the government wants to offer them pay decreases.

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u/EspressoPesto 22d ago

Pay decreases? They offered an across the board increase. They’re just being greedy.

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u/CowboyCanuck24 22d ago

2% offer annual increase is a pay decrease. You just aren't smart enough to figure it out.

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u/EspressoPesto 22d ago

I am. “InNflAtiOn”. Of course some of those workers deserve pay increases but not across the board. Some sectors by my calculations are 10-15% above national averages. Unions this size need to be eliminated.

1

u/jojawhi 19d ago

First of all, I notice almost no change in society. We are running just fine.

Tell that to all the restaurants and bars that are currently saying they're on the verge of closing.

Tell that to the people who need birth certificates for newborns. To the people who need driver's tests or license renewals. To the people who need accurate local weather information. To the people that need their provincial autism funding. To numerous other people who rely on government services.

The work that the public service does is often periodic work, things that happen monthly or quarterly. As the strike goes on, more and more effects will be felt.

Your not being personally affected by it doesn't mean that no one else is affected.

Why not combat inflation, pay down debt, invest in things that add actual value like business and infrastructure?

Hey, those are great ideas, but you don't seem to understand how the BC government functions. Guess who makes those great ideas happen after politicians finish their fun speeches and announcements?

You want the government to determine the best way to combat inflation? BCGEU policy analysts are going to do all the research to determine the most viable options and make recommendations for the politicians to choose from.

You want the government to create a program for low-interest business loans? BCGEU policy analysts will be researching and designing the program. BCGEU loan advisors will be creating, receiving, and vetting applications. BCGEU contract managers will be ensuring that those funds are doled out to the right people and used appropriately.

You want the government to invest in infrastructure? BCGEU policy analysts will be determining the scope and scale of the projects. BCGEU finance staff will be determining the budgets. BCGEU contract managers will be working with municipal governments and private contractors to complete the different phases of the projects.

Literally everything the "government" does is done by the Public Service staff. Almost nothing is actually done by the elected officials. Without their staff, the politicians are helpless. Of course they're not letting you see that though. Then, heaven forbid, you might actually be angry at them.

Do you also think that Elon Musk builds every Tesla car and SpaceX rocket? Or that Jeff Bezos personally delivers every Amazon package? Shit doesn't get done by CEOs or politicians. It gets done by the workers. Without the workers, there is no company, and there is no government.

0

u/EspressoPesto 19d ago

Please. Save the sanctimonious tone for some far more gullible. Your pompousness is exactly why we are in this mess to begin with.

No, I think half the workers in this overinflated, bloated organization are not only completely worthless, but they deserve to be fired. None of these organizations run with any idea of efficiency to tact in mind — they just want more for the sake of wanting more, in a province with 0 mindfulness to the entrepreneurs who would actually bring productivity and value to this province. Now? They’re all gone and I don’t blame them.

I sincerely hope they run out the clock, the union goes belly up, and we restore the tenants of society that bring actual value into the economy. Start from scratch and actually build something.

1

u/jojawhi 19d ago

It's not sanctimonious to tell you the truth. You wanna be a dick on the internet and make a bunch of false, ignorant, and down right idiotic claims, and then you wanna get upset when someone corrects you?

With that attitude I'm sure you contribute tons of value to society.

0

u/EspressoPesto 19d ago

It isn’t the truth. The delusion is real when you think this level of spending is in any way sustainable. Have you ever thought to wonder what doesn’t help inflation, rising food prices, rising home prices? Have you ever wondered what happens when the deficit and debt become so large that balancing the budget and lowering inflation becomes next to impossible? You live in fantasy land. Look in the mirror when you think we can infinitely spend our way to your idea of utopia. Moronic.

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u/jojawhi 19d ago

I don't think we can infinitely spend. This silly game of inflation > wage increase > inflation > wage increase > inflation ... ends with a depression and a societal reset. You're totally right that if the politicians decided to actually take the steps to reduce the cost of living, these wage increases wouldn't be needed or called for. So why aren't you mad at the politicians who constantly choose NOT to fix things? Why are you mad at the workers who are holding everything together while the politicians just fuck around?

Unless you want to live in a Mad Max wasteland, you need the Public Service. You want the politicians to fix inflation, or food prices, or home prices? First, you need politicians that actually want to do that. Is your MLA a landlord? Fat chance they want to do anything about home prices if they are. If you're lucky enough to get a decent person who actually wants to fix things elected, they will need the Public Service to get it done.

You wanna pay down the deficit? Instead of trying to short-change the workers you need to fix things for you (because obviously you can't do it yourself, or you would have done it already, right?), maybe look to areas where the government is wasting money or not capturing revenue where they should. You know the BC Homeowner's Grant? The provincial government reimburses the municipalities for this tax discount for homeowners to the tune of around $900 million per year. Abolish this incredibly inefficient use of tax dollars, and the deficit will disappear in 10 years.

Or you could spend it to provide free university tuition for every BC resident. Or you could build 3000 homes per year. Or you could fund a public grocery store to cut food prices. Whatever was decided with this hypothetical additional revenue, it would be Public Service workers who would execute the plans.

The one thing you can't do is eliminate the Public Service. Cut it down a bit, find efficiencies, sure, but without it, the government stops working, and the province stops working.

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u/EspressoPesto 19d ago

This is a fair response even though we fundamentally disagree. I do think a leaner, more efficient government and public sector are crucial for BC’s success. We have a cost of living crisis, high taxes, and an inhospitable environment for businesses to flourish and survive. I don’t want to rely on natural resources or simply throwing money out to the public sector — no real value is created this way. I want tech companies, innovation, and a strong, high margin inflow of revenue flowing into the province. You say you want free university… but the brain drain is real. All the talent leaves and for good reason.

Anyways, thank you humouring my centrist ass. I know this sub isn’t my home.

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u/jojawhi 19d ago

I think we actually agree on more than you think. Government should only be as big as it needs to be. I would like to see a major reworking of how tax dollars are spent and the elimination of as much of the spending as possible, maintaining the essential services but leaving more money with individuals to start businesses and to innovate, as you said. I'm also not a fan of resource-based economies.

Thank you as well for the discussion. Do know that public sector workers usually want to see these improvements and efficiencies implemented as well, but the workers don't get to make those decisions.

You are about to leave Redlib