In Canada there is currently a postal strike going on but in fairness to the various locals they are doing a rotating strike so service will not be completely disrupted and pensioners as well as those on social assistance will still receive their benefits through the mail. The press in Canada of course is painting a picture of greedy unionists striking for money in a depressed economy and for the most part the sheeple are buying into the fabrication. The strike is about maintaining standards and safety, and for the record I am not a union member only an objective observer.
(Above- Canada Post workers picket outside a sorting depot in the borough of Ville St-Laurent in Montreal, Monday, June 6, 2011. (Graham Hughes / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
At first I was really shocked by the commentary made on Canadian news feeds as well as viewer commentary being in the negative and not supportive at all of the Postal Workers Union. Many of the comments were the “get back to work” and “ungrateful” type. I found the last one very interesting as it cropped up quite a bit… “grateful” what the hell for. For fighting to have the rights and safety that was hard won through a corporation that sure as hell didn’t want to give them in the first place? “They (the union workers) should be grateful” again grateful to whom? Their masters? Sounds like slave talk to me, those are not the words of free women and men to be grateful while you like someone’s boots. Other comments were “I work at such and such a meaningless job for peanuts and Im o.k. Jack” another assumption that because someone is willing to work in a shitty work place for nothing while their corporate masters reap record profits is the new norm? And that what makes you a hero or something? Sounds like a kicked dog hoping for some table scraps.
Rights are given they are taken. No one is going to give anyone rights (or very very rarely) because they ask for them…. “please sir, may I have some more gruel” what the fuck people wake the hell up, DEMAND what is your due, not grovel. It is interesting to note from back during the so called “Peasants Revolt” in June of 1381 in Medieval England. The Black Death had cut a swath through the population and exposed the Feudal System for all its rot, corruption and suppression. People found that the lords and ladies were no better than they were and certainly not “noble” at all. Folks were able to demand better wages and living conditions and got them.
John Ball the nominal leader of the peasants revolt ( in 1377) was quoted as saying thus:
Why are those whom we call lords, masters over us? How have they deserved it? By what right do they keep us enslaved? We are all descended from our first parents, Adam and Eve; how then can they say that they are better than us… At the beginning we were all created equal. If God willed that there should be serfs, he would have said so at the beginning of the world. We are formed in Christ’s likeness, and they treat us like animals… They are dressed in velvet and furs, while we wear only cloth. They have wine, and spices and good bread, while we have rye bread and water. They have fine houses and manors, and we have to brave the wind and rain as we toil in the fields. It is by the sweat of our brows that they maintain their high state. We are called serfs, and we are beaten if we do not perform our task… Let us go to see King Richard. He is young, and we will show him our miserable slavery, we will tell him it must be changed, or else we will provide the remedy ourselves. When the King sees us, either he will listen to us, or we will help ourselves. When we are ready to march on London I will send you a secret message. The message is “Now is the time. Stand together in God’s name.”
another attribution at the time went something like this: “When Adam delve and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?”
There is a reason Ive gone back into over half a millennium ago here. I feel that the corporate world we find ourselves in today is just an attempt by the so called “elites” to roll back the clock and set up a neo-feudal society of have nots and have lots. And sadly the public (sheeple) is handing right to them and cheering it on. Poor misguided sots that they are. So dear reader keep up the good fight, keep that candle burning and learn how to say FUCK NO! -EvS
Jan Zizka and guy who knew how to say NO!
I agree with the peasant mentality of mamy people however Canada Post is a Crown corp. that has been loosing money and our tax dollars are being used to prop it up. I still believe in a fair days pay for a fair days work, however we cant continue to dump millions into crown corps that are at least capable of breaking even.
Thanks for the feedback. Completely understood. One of my past vocations involved labor market analysis, labor costs (on average and including government run corps)are about 10% or less of any given corporations operating cost. Most costs are in materials and operating expenses, for instance equipment, electricity, water, computers, etc. If you take a look at the labor costs associated with the CEO’s and other executives you will find in most instances that those staff who account for less than 5 percent of total people employed will account for more than 40 percent of labor costs and also eat into operating expenses at about 20 percent ( stock options, etc). -EvS
On another note I felt I should have a link to some of those bonuses and other perks “Crown Corporations” in Canada give executives
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Politics/2009/03/13/8733171-sun.html
another good link I got today is debunking some of the Canada Post myths:
http://www.publicvalues.ca/ViewArticle.cfm?Ref=00967