‘Indifferent’ (not her or his real name) comments:
Can someone explain to me why I should care either way in the Telus labour dispute? A non-essential service company has a labour dispute, so what? How does this effect me in any way what so ever. I don’t use Telus for a phone service and I am not a shareholder of the company therefore I have no vested interest in this dispute.
These battles are not won in the media anymore because nobody cares. We all have issues we have to deal with (job security, fair pay, decent standard of living). I would suggest both parties get back to talking – or don’t, like I said, nobody cares anymore.
I’ve heard similar sentiments from the CKNW phone-in herd, and thought I’d throw it open to y’all. What’s your answer to Indifferent?
You’re too modest, Ross… here’s the link. :)
What’s in it for me?
How ’bout an IPod if I’m willing to be a scab?
____
(details at my place)
Now they are fighting over how much an ipod costs… like I said, nobody has time for this kind of crap.
I believe the issue at hand is the fact that Telus refuses to bargain.
Telus, however, is not a non-essential service company. It will only become that when there are choices for every last one of their customers. Larger city residents can be thankful they have the selections to choose, but for the majority of their customers…there are no other options for dialtone, internet or wireless.
The writer of the quote brings up a fabulous point. A lot of people have to deal with the issues of job security, wages, standard of living, etc. So if a majority of people have these same concerns, including the author, how does one person turn a blind eye to others in the same situation?
Regarding the statement that battles aren’t won in the media anymore, I have to laugh at it, as would the PR business en masse. The world revolves around the media, as sad as it was to type that, and there are hundreds of thousands of people who actually DO care about the issues. One of the great things about the media is that it allows a voice to be heard across a great distance to people who normally wouldn’t get the chance to hear it. This, of course, is not so great when the statement is applied to Canadian Idol (obviously).
When an issue like this moves across so many different kinds of job environments, through so many cities and towns, and the ramifications of the outcome will affect employee/employer relations the world over, I do believe that the statement that “no one cares” speaks for itself. If no one cared, there wouldn’t be such a battle, plain and simple. It’s not too much to ask, especially if you don’t have any vested interest in the company or union itself, to inform yourself before making an opinion. Given that we all see the parallels in our own lives.
I retired from Telus about 5 years ago. Telus joined forces with BC Tel just before that and the combining of the two has not served the public or the employees well. While working for BC Tel I saw several strikes over the 35 years that I was employed and every one was preceded by psychological warfare initiated by upper management. It has gotten considerably worse under the current head. He seems to be a megalomaniac wanting a bigger company and more power. He has forced several acquisitions to increase corporate size similar to the strategy employed by Nortel. Most of the employees were afraid for their jobs then because they were afraid the company would go go bankrupt. All of this has had a toll on the emotions of the emplyees. Rumour has it thatmany ALbertan employees have crossed the picket line and gone back to work. They are broken men and women. Can you imagine working in a province where King Ralph is the leader. Ralph has interests which do not appear to support unions and the benefits that unions provide. Now that Telus is in both BC and ALbeta there is an even bigger squeeze on all employees to follow the corporate mandates: contracting out for services, less vacation time and strickter guidelines on vacations, elimination of ATO – Accumulated Time Off. The people left there after several early retirement incentives are left to carry the load. It’s no wonder that some Albertans are crossing the picket line. They are broke, are being told that there will not be any bending by management.
What can you do about that? Will this affect you? Your bloody right it will affect you. Telus and CBC are examples of two organizations in the public eye. Whatever happens there will likely be followed by other companies. All of the rights and priviledges you worked for as a member of a union could be eroded quite swiftly.
There are problems for CBC and for Telus. Technology has made huge change in both. What needs to be done is discussion and if necessary forced arbitration. If the kids won’t play right then they need to be forced to play right. Both company and union have obligations to the customers and the workers. All of theis baloney has gone along far too long. Both sides must be forced back to the table and each side must suck back and be willing to back off on their demands. Times have changed and the way of doing work has changed. The families of the workers must be taken into consideration. They need stability. Threats and rumours of threats make life untenable.
Get back to the table you guys. No more crap from either side.