Solidarity with City Workers: Civic Workers Off, But Parking Meters Still On?

Good point. Although I'm sure their wages are higher than many, so many unions are currently operating with out of date agreements that haven't taken inflation and cost of living increases into account.

Hopefully they can resolve it soon, though. Last time the garbage workers went on strike I remember it was just awful.

Hey, second sentence of the second para. I think you might mean slated instead of slighted. Big diff in the current context. ;-)

"what our civic workers are asking for is approximately a 5-15% wage increase"

5-15%! Calling that approximate is a bit of an understatement, no?

Didn't the city offer 9.75% over 39 months? As I understand it, the union's problem is not with the 9.75% so much, but with the 39 months, instead of 36. The difference between 39 months and 36 is right to hold the City's toes to the fire just before the Olympics. I can see why the City is reluctant to go for that...

Ooops... "is *the* right", not "is right".

The thing to remember in my opinion is that some of the city workers consider a %9.75 increase to be below inflation, if they calculate long-term wage increases. For those who are looking at short-term gains, they certainly see that the %9.75 increase diminishes, and in turn becomes umm, what, 3.25 for the next year (if we have a 36 month agreement, or even less if the agreement is 39 months long). This means below-inflation increases.

Now, i think what we're talking about is that everyone is experiencing wage increases that are far below price increases, and this is not just a local issue but is a phenomenon taking place across borders.

Jark.

What else is really interesting is that Canada, federally, reports pretty much zero growth in the economy, while inflation is still up there, nearing, what, %3+ which means, we're not sustaining any growth, people are not sustaining any "real" wage gain, and our economic growth (or what appears as growth) in BC, is actually construciton that is going to remain unpaid until AFTER the olympics. A case in point, is our Sea to Sky Highway, which is entirely fronted by the builders until the project is complete. This will be an astronomical bill, and is only one of many. Best.

You know, there's no need to keep guessing these numbers, you can look them up. According to Statscan, the CPI for Vancouver increased 1.9% from June 2006 to June 2007 (2.2% nationally.) Canada's GDP increased 2.2% from April 2006 to April 2007.

So 9.75% over 39 months (about 3% yearly) is an above-inflation rise, by quite a bit.

Let's see if Vancouverites can put their money where their mouthes are, and clean up after themselves at the fireworks.

It's doubtful!

Quit yer bitchen' all you haters!

Free Parking for the People! – Anti-Poverty Activists Engage in Campaign of Economic Sabotage!

Anti-poverty activists [Anonymous] have begun a campaign of economic sabotage targeting parking meters. So far, in one night, over 300 meters have been damaged in such a way as too make them useless.



According to one saboteur, "This is an act of militant solidarity with the CUPE workers on strike. So long as this strike is going on- the city is not going to be cashing in. As well these acts of economic sabotage are a protest against the NPA’s Civil City Initiative that fines street level workers. If the city continues stealing the money from working-poor peoples pockets we will take it from their coffers."

- The launch of this campaign follows a confrontation that happened between strikers who had set up a picket line to prevent parking enforcement agents from leaving a garage. Police were then used by the city to break the strike line.

*** Reprinted from a letter sent to the Anti-Poverty Committee ***

Mark, I hear what you're saying -- and i think we should try to think outside of the discrete boxes of GDP or inflation. My major qualm with DGP calculations is that it includes not just growth but also destruction. In short, it's mathematics calculates any expenditure and includes it in the term "Product" but, in my opinion, that doesn't represent to me the wellbeing and living conditions, or lifestyles, of the "people".

Secondly, I also don't turst the GDP calculation methods because the seemingly "new" GDP calculation method since 2003 (adopted pretty much globally) is based on the 1993 SNA (System of National Accounts) standards jointly formulated by, get this, not only the United Nations, the World Bank, but also the International Monetary Fund.

I suspect that these GDP calculations highly overestimate the output value of the industrial and agricultural sectors (say the exports of Uranium from the Prairies, or the lofty lifestyles of Oil company headoffices in Alberta) and, in so doing, construct a false image of "growth" or "product" (Alberta being at the top for a second year now), that is not proportionate to lived experience and "real" measures of standards of living, and so on. I would like to see an integrated "green" GDP accounting method, which, as far as my sources state, still needs more arduous efforts and has a long way to go.

My example is this: Including financial information about (1) illegal services (such as drug sales and trafficking), as well as the (2) sex trade, or (3) environmental pollution costs, or (4) the costs of forming a new ministry and moving money around in the government by changing the titles of one or two ministers (whilst doing nothing) -- while all these are represented as Costs and expenditures in the fiscal budgets, it is difficult to accept them as National "products" as such. Or at least, very simply, the nature of that industry must be expanded and unpacked and only then included among the taxed dollars and disposable incomes it generates and introduces into the economy.

I hope it is clear that the numbers I find at Statscan are tarnished, limited, or contested at best. Apologies if this analysis comes across as snobbish or theoretical, but I think it is necessary.

Jark.

I hate paying for a parking spot when I have to, but, fuck, the APC needs to grow up.

"Theoretical" isn't quite the word I would use - it sounds like an excuse for making it up as you go along, with a side-order of tinfoil hat thrown in for good measure. The numbers show you to be wrong, so obviously the numbers must be faulty, oh, and by the way, they are all rigged by the trilateral commission. Give me a break. Sorry, is that a bit uncharitable?

Didn't the union say they'd settle if it was a 4-year term. Intuitively, that makes more sense than 39-months.

On the parking meter thing, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if people just got ticketed for parking in front of a busted one.

Actually Mark -- based on your first comments, i wouldn't expect anything else. And, as a statistician/economist i'm sure you wouldn't have it any other way.

Quinn -- agreed, I'm pretty sure parking in front of a busted meter IS an offence. Unbelievable. Evidently it pays to have even... broken ones. Jark.

Meoww. Haha, It'll be news to my employer that I'm an economist, maybe I can ask for a raise myself.

It's nice to see everyone lighten up about their positions and points of view -- I think some compliments are in order. In spite of the stab in the heard with the tinfoil hat comment.

Heh, I think we all deserve a raise -- I'll give myself one, I'm self-employed. Suckers. (w/ tongue in cheek)

Interesting comments on the "funny" nature of GDP. Totally true, I would say that GDP growth generally doesn't reflect the reality on the ground. It can show some wide trends if analyzed over a number of years, but the fact that GDP growth is 2.2% this year is hardly an indicator of much at all.

CPI also has its flaws - what's with food and gas prices being too volatile to be included in core inflation calculations. It is, however, more reliable, and that's what bothers me with the deal. 3.25 per year is quite a ways above general inflation levels. Can anyone point me to the justification of this number?

Does anyone know the wages for the respective city positions. Like Sewer people, versus the Permits people, or the clerks inside the front desks? Or, if any of you don't know exactly, I'd like to know where I can find out this information. Hans

Labour wages are 20.25-21.50
Forman get 25.00-28.00

Go to the COV webpage take a look at the jobs section-it will give you lots of details.

In the meantime you can always take your trash to City Hall.

I can understand the union's point of view. The city desperately wants this extended contract to ensure things are kosher during hte olypmics - so what is the city willing to give the union in exchange? Last I heard contracts such as this were negotiated, not dictated.

that being said - for those who have problems with the 9.75% -> if my boss told me that i could only possibly increase my current salary by less than 10% over that time period, I'd be looking for work somewhere else.

I love how everyone expects these guys to accept terms that they probably wouldn't themselves agree to. 10% if you are making $10.00 an hour is only $1. A one buck raise in nearly 4 years only? Are you kidding me? Sure, garbage men make more than $10/hr but put it in perspective here! Would you agree to that? Probably not.

Sam Sullivan says that the strike is not on his priority list of issues to address, that he's got other things on his plate. He's being unco-ooperative and the truth is this could have ended before it started.

Besides, based on the 54 and 29% wage hikes that MLAs and Cabinet members gave themselves earlier this year, there is a huge precident set for wage increases from tax payers pockets. If the politicians deserve it, certainly the guys who literally clean up their crap to do.

Jeanette -- I agree with you. Not only are we NOT discussing the salary hikes of the delegates, MLAs, and Cabinet Ministers, but we're also NOT talking about the pension plans that are attached to ANY MLA or Cabinet minister, whether they serve their entire lives or for just one term.

These are profound dollars, not nearly comparable to the slight wage increase discussed in the present strike.

I also think it would be cheaper and way more prudent for the Mayor to deal with this issue in a more timely way -- after all the expense and inconvenience is always passed on to those on the people, especially those living outside Point Grey.

Wonder how many more mortgage payments the strikers can miss? I'm guessing - none!