HAPPY EARTH DAY TO YOU…
HAPPY EARTH DAY TO YOU…
HAPPY EARTH DAY MOUNT FRANCIS…
HAPPY EARTH DAY TO YOU!
What a mess. There is no one involved in this strike who doesn’t reek of garbage.
As someone who’s been out of work since the end of 2008, I really find it hard to any sympathy for them at all. I would gladly take a job with them tomorrow at the reduced benefits the city offered. Times they are a changin’ and the Windsor sense of entitlement needs to change too…
Maybe Windsor can be the next Naples!
I’ll tell ya, if I was mayor, I’d privatize the garbage collection (along with parking enforcement)… It can be done, cheaper and more efficiently by the private sector. After listening to the call in show the other morning on AM800, it sure seems like they don’t have public support on their side…
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From a CAW member they have my full support as long as it takes.
I'm with you Andrew. There's probably no better time to make this happen, especially in Windsor.
Hey, how about "Andrew Foot for City Council"? Newly elected Councillor Foot has a nice ring to it!
The funniest part is when you hear the CUPE reps saying that they are against the city, not the citizens.... Well, the way I see it, the city IS the citizens! We are the employers of these people, and enough is enough. Union demands on wages and benefits have had a huge part in the auto crisis, and the financial crisis, as companies are looking for cheaper labor for manufacturing. (Why are the CITIZENS, these people's employers, not out there protesting this madness?) Times are changing, and NO public servant should have the expectations that these people have. Benefits for unskilled labor? not on my dime. With only 3 Canadian cities offering full life benefits to their employees, why should Windsor be one of them? Now is the time for Windsor to stand up and say: NO to Unions. Maybe then, businesses will want to come here. (I do not think that it is far fetched to say that the union presence has caused many companies to look elsewhere). ps. Andrew, I find your reference to the garbage pile as 'mt. Francis' a bit backwards to your opinion. Remember, it was not the mayor or council that decided to strike, start a garbage pile, or even throw eggs at private garbage collectors like BFI. Maybe it should be called Mt.CUPE. (ps. im all for privatization until we can rid of the union, then maybe look into bringing the workers back)
>Union demands on wages and benefits have had a huge part in the auto >crisis, and the financial crisis, as companies are looking for cheaper >labor for manufacturing
Sorry, labour's ONLY 7% of the cost of a vehicle,find another scapegoat..
Bob C.
Hi BobC, even if that is true, it is a 7% advantage for the foreign companies, and right now, its all about too many companies and not enough customers. If labor wasn't so high, would the foreign auto makers even be here at all?
Ps. lets stay on topic with the CUPE issue (sorry for the distraction... got ahead of myself there).
When a city needs to cut costs, we all need to make sacrifices.
As a libertarian, my heart fluttered with Andrews suggestion of privatization of the garbage collectors (and parking enforcement). Let's cut the size of the city's government and make it more attractive to businesses.
I've been suspicious of the mountain of garbage from the beginning. Given the timing of the strike (midnight) and the appearance of the garbage in time for the next afternoon news, who exactly had the time or motivation to deliver all that crap? I suspect it was uniuon organized to begin with and they probably arranged for the provincial health inspection as well.
Why is this all Eddie Francis' fault personally, anyway? I think he's done a better job overall than the previous two administrations and he's honest. He's also trying to keep the city alive through a lot of nasty stuff I don't think he can be blamed for by his harshest critics and he (they, the council; he's not the only one involved.) isn't proposing anything that hasn't already been done in plenty of other municipalities.
Union members I've seen interviewed are IMHO selfish and short-sighted in their demands. Why would that surprize me?
it is a 7% advantage for the foreign companies,
JP> I didn't know foreign companies paid 0 to their workers
>>If labor wasn’t so high, would the foreign auto makers even be here at all?
Do you REALLY believe that??? 7% is 'so high'??? Maybe,just maybe the foreign companies were/are looking to expand their markets???
Unbelieveable.....
Clare - The mayor is anything but honest. Since he's been mayor there have been more secret "in-camera" meetings than there were under any other mayor.
He's the head of the city, a city that's the worst in Canada for access to information:
http://www.cna-acj.ca/en/news/public-affairs/cna-releases-4th-annual-freedom-information-audit
Look here on Page 37:
http://www.cna-acj.ca/en/system/files/CNA%20National%20Freedom%20of%20Information%20Audit%20-%202008_0.pdf
Windsor charges $103,420 for the same information that Victoria, BC charges $60 for or Vancouver charges $160 for. In fact the second most expensive city is Calgary, and they "only" charge $7909. Windsor charges more than 13 times the amount of the number 2 worst city.
What about Enwin? http://www.windsorstar.com/Enwin+keeps+meeting+info/1203736/story.html
Here's the full document: http://www.windsorstar.com/pdf/EnwinMeeting.pdf
Now he's keeping strike information from Councilors?
http://www.windsorstar.com/news/Councillors+trusted+with+strike+binder/1519801/story.html
During his first election campaign he promised to get rid of the Zalev Brothers Scrapyard, 6 years later, we don't even talk about it. If you want to see what a liar he is, wait until next year when he runs again for mayor... despite his two term promise...
The man is an arrogant egomaniac. The sooner Windsor is rid of him, the sooner this city can move forward.
He is not honest, he's manipulative and deceitful. As much as everyone hated Mike Hurst, I'd take him back as mayor in a heartbeat!
Re: 'in-camera' meetings.
Some things are best left out of the public spotlight. Our saving grace must be that we elected trustworthy and responsible councilors who are educated to make the right decisions, and represent the values and goals of their constituents. If we can't trust our council and mayor, maybe we should take a harder look at who we vote in and try to get a better voter turnout.
I'm not against in-camera meetings so much, as long as they are productive. When I was in a different Ontario city, the same was being said about the mayor there: "too many in-camera' meetings... BUT these meetings are sometimes needed to make important deals with investors and etc.. that want to remain in private so that these deals are not jeopardized. This city is now one of the cities that is less impacted by the recession. These secret meetings had put into place some policies and deals that are the best for the overall good of the city in question. Why would the mayor and council do otherwise? If they do something for personal gain, they will go to prison for it. I hope they understand these consequences. Eddy has certainly not done everything perfectly, but he has done some good things. One of which is standing up for the CITIZENS of Windsor against CUPE. I think its going to be tough to be a mayor of a city with many backwards-thinking residents and strong resistance to change.