To vote or not to vote that may be the question for some members. However, the bigger question may be, I am going to vote but who should I vote for? I give you the following suggestions, which you may heed or not, but we can impact who our employer will be.
Look at the candidates running in your riding. What is their record or position on:
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issues that concern you as a Canadian?
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issues that concern you as a union member and Government employee?
Look at the Party of the candidates. What is their record or platform on:
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issues that concern you as a Canadian?
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issues that concern you as a union member and Government employee?
Then vote!
Keep in mind that your candidate may be great but when it comes time to vote on substantive issues in Parliament, it is the Party that will call the shots.
Now I will venture into some controversial ground. This current Government, the “Canadian” not “Harper’s” Government, has:
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Publicly announced in their budget that they intend on attempting to negotiate away of your Severance Pay out of your Collective Agreement.
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Frozen the operating budgets of the CRA thus making negotiations for an economic increase extremely difficult.
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Cut 5% from the CRA budget and intend on further cuts. This will result in job losses and our members being affected under the Workforce Adjustment (WFA) Appendix. This may mean accepting a different job or worst case scenario, being laid off. It could also mean the release of our Term Members.
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Rolled back your negotiated economic increase from a signed Collective Agreement. This was done by way of an omnibus Bill that attempted to conceal many of the detrimental aspects of the Bill by its sheer volume.
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Made Employment Equity an issue at the bargaining table instead of the Courts. Don’t forget, it takes two to agree at the bargaining table while the Courts will make a decision.
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Underfunded or totally cut funding for Women’s Groups.
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Not addressed the dire need for improvement in the health care of Canada.
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Not addressed the need for universal daycare.
I could probably go on and on but I’m pretty sure that I have raised the dander of many of our members already. What I ask of you to do, is to make an informed decision on the Party and Candidate that actually deserves your vote..............Obviously, mine will not go to any Conservative.
Betty Bannon, National President, UTE