October 21 1998

   
   

DEVIL’s ADVOCATE _

magine you are being forced
into joining a movement you
may not agree with, Imagine
hat the Nazis have sacked your
own and you have to join their
ause or else you can't work. Now

magine youre in a union.
Basically, they are one and the
ame.

Unions came about at a time

   
   
 
 
  
  
  
   
 
  
 
  
  
 
 
  
   
   
 
 
  

when workers were being exploit-
td by their employers. Unsafe
orking conditions were preva-
ent, and wages were too low to
urvive on. Unions developed as a
etwork of volunteer workers
elping one another for a com-
on cause. They were not paid to
Ho so, and they fought so that
working people would get a fair
hake of the stick from the peo-
ble who owned all the capital.

ay back when, unions worked.
hey helped to save people's lives
nd livelihoods. Unions pressured
mployers into being responsible
jo the working people who made
hem their profits.

But oh how things have
hanged.

Just like many other things that
humans put their minds to, the
ntire premise of unions was
made into a grotesque, capitalis-

 

Thinking STRIKE is a four letter word since 1976

nions screw students

tic, heaping pile of steaming
excrement. Nowadays, unions are
huge corporations. They are large
economic bodies in and of them-
selves with copious amounts of ,
power, and no one to keep them
in check.

The government cant, and

wont, because if they try they are
accused of being anti-union. And
any politician will tell you, declar-
ing yourself as anti-union is polit-
ical suicide.

Essentially, there is no way to
match the power of a union. The
ideal of these organizations exist-
ing to keep employers in check
has been thrown out the window
—because the people working in
unions figured out a great way to
make money without actually hay-
ing to do anything.

Unions have so much power
that they can get stupidly high
wages for employees who may be
counter productive, merely
because they are part of the
union.

The problem in general is that
unions don't care about individu-
als, even though the whole is
made up of the sum of its
parts. There are now union helms-
men who get a fat wad of cash
when their members go on strike,
while the workers recieve low
strike pay. Nowadays, unions

employ people to run the organi-
zation. People like secretaries,
boards of directors, and chairmen
who have no background in the
field supported by their union
employers.

Flashback to the Safeway work-
ers strike a few years ago. Workers

ern,

  

a

wanted better wages, and picketed
outside Safeway stores for a cou-
ple of weeks, effectively prevent-
ing out the public from shopping.
So who cares? You have to shop at
IGA or Save-On-Foods for a cou-
ple of weeks while greedy people
whine and complain on the picket
line. No one is really affected
except Safeway, which isn't mak-
ing the same amount of profits.
But what would happen if you
had to pay a monthly charge just
to shop at Safeway, then they
went on strike and you couldn't
shop there, even though you had
paid your dues? How would you
feel if you couldn't cross the pick-
et lines to shop, and get your
money's worth?

This is the potential situation
at Douglas College, and post sec-
ondary schools around the

. province. Two unions (the CIEA.

and BCGEU) are pushing for
higher wages and fairer work con-
ditions. And if these conditions
are not met, students will be
unable to attend their classes for

ether Pre

fear of cross-
ing the picket
line. The problem with this idea
is not that the teachers will be out
of work for a few days or weeks
but that students are

getting
screwed in

the

process.
Enter the

CFS (Canadian

Federation of

Students) into the fray. The CFS

  
  
 
 

 

 

5

 

Volume 23 ¢ Issue 6

is another form of union—one
which pretends to care about the
needs of students. In the event of.
a teachers’ strike, the CFS has
some demands for a “fair settle-
ment” for students.
The CFS says:
“Students must
be provided
flexible
opportu-
nities to
make up
for lost
instruc-
tion
hours.”
What it
means: Students
get to gouge into

continues on page 2

 

HOMAN SANAIE

n October IS, the
CIEA (the College
Institute Educators’

Association of BC) and the
BCGEU (BC Government and
Service Employees’ Union)
served their 72 hours strike
notice.

In a media release dated
October 15, CIEA President Ed
Lavalle said “We are taking this
action because negotiations are
bogged down on the critical
issues. The employers’ response
on salaries, job security and fair-
ness for non-regular employees
has not been sufficient.”

BCGEU President John
Shields said “We have reached a

 

College educators serve 72 hours strike notice

critical point. For eight months,
we have tried without success to
negotiate an agreement. We will
continue to do everything we
can to avoid disrupting the edu-
cation of our students, but the
ball is now in the employers
court. If we are to avoid a
strike, now is the time for the
employer to address the issues
that have been on the table for
so long.”

The unions can take job
action any time after the end of
the 72 hour notice period. The
unions and employers can still
come up with an agreement
even after the 72 hour notice
period has passed. As of press
time, the negotiations were still
going on.

 

 

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