The never ending whining auto workers

Last weekend members of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) voted 87 per cent to reduce their bloated compensation packages in the hopes of keeping Chrysler operational in Canada and their cushy jobs intact.

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You would think that the possibility of survival of a major player in Canada’s auto industry would be a good thing and the union would be happy that its members would not be added to the growing worldwide unemployment statistics. You would think that union boss Ken Lewenza would be happy that the deal that he helped craft and agreed to was overwhelmingly supported by the membership. But no; Lewenza is now whining more and louder than ever. Prior to the deal being reached the big whine from the organized labour brats was that it wasn’t the workers’ fault that Chrysler and GM are in so much trouble. Without going into the argument that the current state of affairs is just as much the fault of the CAW as it is the automobile manufacturers, what led up to the present economic crisis throughout the world certainly isn’t the fault of those who simply went to work each day and did their jobs. But those innocent workers are no different than millions of other Canadians who have seen their jobs disappear and their savings dwindle through no fault of their own. But the unions like to portray themselves as victims; if not the only ones suffering through this recession, certainly the ones who are the hardest done by. And many people are getting fed up with the whining over the loss of many benefits that most Canadians never had in the first place. The ordinary auto worker probably realizes that they are much better off than most other Canadians. The situation is reminiscent of the Ontario in the early 1990s when then NDP Premier Bob Rae instituted “Rae Days” whereby members of the province’s civil service were forced to take days off without pay. While the union leaders couldn’t stop yelling and screaming, privately civil servants would admit that they were pretty well off and weren’t faced with job losses as those in the private sector were. But according to their leadership, these workers were just poor victims of an uncaring capitalist system. Now, after the deal was made, Lewenza began railing against dentists. As the union’s generous dental plan was cut, this is all a plot by dentists to get rich. The Canadian Dental Association has been found out; they organized the entire collapse of the economy to improve the lives of Canadian dentists. And we are all supposed to cry tears over the loss of dental benefits by Canada’s pampered auto workers. Well these workers can do what other people do; they can pay dentists out of their own pockets. It’s not like they can’t afford dental work with their $30 plus hourly wage which of course remains untouched. Or, if the union boys and girls really want to get “down with the people” they can let their teeth rot. That’ll teach those bloodsucking dentists. Lewenza is also threatening pharmacies indicating that in cities such as Windsor that if they don’t drop their fees the union will start its own pharmacy in auto plants. All because their generous drug benefit plan was cut in order to keep jobs in Canada. For Canadians who have their own problems during this economic turndown, it’s hard to take all this whining about dentists and drugs. The union should be grateful if at the end of the day, Chrysler and GM are still manufacturing vehicles in Canada and the survival of these two companies is still far from certain. It might even be better if both Chrysler and GM put on masks and moved to Mexico. Anything to stop all the whining. Most of us don’t care.

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