Since coming to Canada, I never worked a day in a unionized environment and that is a blessing for me.

The unions must be outlawed!!! Starting with the government servant unions!!! We do not need to pay taxes, part of which will be funneled into the union bosses pockets via union dues.

What do you expect in our Happy Socialist Paradise??

Unions have their place but there is not enough legal protection for a small business to stave off union gooning and closing the doors.

The a=holes who would destroy their employer for a couple of cents rais have to realize there are a bunch of grasping salavating profittering commies in China that are more than happy to take those job when the local business/industry fails.

Which party will go as far as declaring, that it will outlaw govt employee unions and lower the civil servant salaries by the amount of union dues, and lower the taxes across the country by that amount?
I'll vote for that party.

Things like this and the forced unionization of anyone who wants to work on the Red River Floodway Expansion are the reason Manitoba lags behind almost everyone in job and economic growth.

When I started my career in the Coastal forest industry in BC 33 years ago there were 40,000 IWA employees in the woods and mills. Today there are 7000 and when the existing strike ends that trend will continue if not accelerate. I have analysed a plotted bar chart of that consistent decline and observed that the slope of the decline increases perfectly with the timing of intransigent "agreements". I now live in Washington State where forest unions have been all but extinct since 1982 and where a thriving industry operates on private land.

The average BC union member, thanks to the politics of the British confrontational labour model, doesn't believe in much of what management says until the day that they arrive for work and find the gate closed for good. BTW, that same model doesn't make for great management either.

One solution would be to interpret our 'freedom of association' to include 'freedom FROM association.' In other words: 'right to work.' Compulsory union membership should be considered a violation of the Charter, as it is in many countries.

We don't take 'freedom of religion' to mean 'you have to belong to a church' so why should freedom of association mean 'you have to belong to a union?' I think a Conservative government would be the best vehicle to interpret the Charter to mean what it says. I believe that unions would improve and be more oriented to serving its members if those members had the freedom to quit.

Migrant workers aren't really white, so they need to be treated differently: Take the seats out of a minivan and shove about 20 of them in because seatbelt rules don't apply to non white foreigners (like it's done in BC); make them work more than 40 hours per week without overtime pay because labour regulations don't apply to non white foreigners(3w.canpay.com/manitoba.html); then, blame unions for interfering in how the plantation is being run. Pre-emptive floggings would have put a stop to this travesty.

lberia
Did you read the article? It appears that it was the union that tricked the workers not the farmer. They signed without understanding and are now fighting not to belong to the union. The workers will lose on their paychecks and/or the employer will lose and therefore reduce his ability to employ foreign workers. Seems to me that only the union wins by taking home the union dues. I fail to see how the union is assisting the workers in this particular case.

Lawrence Beria was shot by Zhukov so that the country could be spared from further slaughter and torture and I applaud Zhukov's courage. Your choice of a nick is nauseous.

Yeah, lberia, you sure nailed this one. Good luck with that line of reasoning. Farm workers, whatever their colour, are not covered by overtime rules.

The UFCW used english/french cards, employed a deceptive Spanish-speaking representative, and preyed upon people in their moments of weakness. Yeah, but according to you, those poor migrants (who fight to come back to Manitoba every summer) are sure being exploited.

Plantation? Whippings? You disgust me. Then again, you do worship a mass-murdering communist, so naturally you approve of the KGB tactics of the union.

UFCW

Have they ever engaged in a labour negotiation that they didn't lose? Gainers, Safeway, Lakeside and the casino in WEM all cost the members jobs, pay and the enjoyment of a constructive workplace. I think de-certification needs to be much easier to institute.

Yukon Gold:

Exemption — standard hours of work and overtime

2(4) Division 2 (standard hours of work) and Division 3 (overtime) of Part 2 do not apply to any of the following:

(a) an employee who performs management functions primarily;

(b) an employee who has substantial control over his or her hours of work and whose annual regular wage is at least two times the Manitoba industrial average wage, as defined by regulation.

Application to agricultural workers

2(5) Except as otherwise provided in the regulations, this Code applies to persons employed in agriculture.

http://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/statutes/ccsm/e110e.php

The LRB ruled everything was in order, and no doubt they have more info than the biased website with the Orwellian sounding name "migrantworkersrights" has provided.

I used to work in the construction industry as a member of the IBEW (international union of electrical workers). I tend to agree with the attitude about unions from the people posting here but I was happy being a member of that union. It worked for me, it worked for the employers and it worked for the customers. For a start, it was voluntary on my part. I did my apprenticeship as a union member and was well treated and well trained. I went to trade school with apprentices who were non union who had to quit there jobs to go to trade school, because their employers didn't want to have to pay them more money after they had been to school, and loose the cheap labour when they were gone.

My job security as a unionized construction worker was two hours notice. Usually the foreman would come at afternoon coffee give you your check for the week and send you on your way. This worked for the employer because they could adjust their labour force as the demands of the job dictate. We would then go down to the hall and get on the out of work list and wait for a new job. Might be days, weeks or months.

A non union construction worker is statistically about ten times more likely to be killed on the job, than a union guy. partly that was because we were familiar with our rights under the OHSA.

It can cost a lot more money to hire a union contractor than some non union contractors, but when you hire a union contractor you know the workers actually have a trade license and are not unskilled illegal immigrants being supervised by one or two people who know what they are doing.

The unionized contractors are losing business in the simpler types of work, but the complex large scale jobs are still done by union contractors, because to do those jobs you need people who know what they are doing.

Like I said at the start, in general I agree with the anti union sentiment for some of the same reasons as people here. I have worked in other unionized environments where the union lived up to all the bad stereotypes of unions, but I would not work in construction non union unless I was staving.

If anyone wants to flame me I would be happy to rebut them, but I'm going to bed now.

mbaron

I agree with you and your take on construction trades unions. I have a son (pipe fitter) that is in the union and it is exactly as you say. As soon as he is laid off his name is on the board and in short order has another job (with benefits). I work non union and had opportunity to do a bit of work at the son's hall. I was pretty much ignored as I worked until I mentioned that my son was a member. Suddenly I was invited for coffee and snacks. Nothing too good for the father of a 'brother'.

Joe and mbaron, I can only imagine your glee and pleasure when your choice of party and representation is reduced to one, your choice of groceries from one nearly empty aisle in a state run grocery store, and you can do whatever you want as long as it is a state sanctioned career choice. It may be tranquility in the flock, but eventually the sheep gets shorn, or one or two end up in the Shepard's pie. Delegate your life to others if you want, but I prefer to think for me, myself, and I.

Citizen Wilson
Yep, www.iheartregina.com

Citizen Wilson

I don't know if you noticed or not but I don't work union and hold UFCW in particular disdain. In an earlier post I recommended that it become easier to de-certify a union. However in heavy industry constuction where hiring and firing are a necessary part of life the union serves a very useful purpose. You see I really believe in choice. If you want to pool your labour at an agreed on rate of pay then you have that choice. If you prefer to rely on your own wiles and wit then that is your choice. What I think you and I agree on is we don't want to see a monopoly formed by either government, business or labour legislated or otherwise.

Citizen Wilson

I never said I supported this union in this case. I just said that not all unions are the same, even my experience with unions has been mixed,and in construction they serve a useful purpose for all involved.

Hey lberia, check your stats again. Seasonal workers do not get overtime. "Farm workers", as stated by the Manitoba code you provided, are not seasonal.

From the Manitoba Labour code website:

"Are people employed in agriculture covered by employment standards legislation?

Employees working in agriculture are excluded from most employment standards legislation. Employers in agriculture must follow the equal pay provisions of the legislation and must pay the wages they have promised to their employees."

Selective cutting and pasting is fine, but don't be surprised if someone calls you on your crap, lberia.

The Manitoba Labour Board, a leftist wing of a leftist government, ruled that one of its largest leftist supporters, the UFCW, can recruit union members using deceptive tactics under the leftist laws of Manitoba. Surprise.

Doesn't make it right.

Yukon:

My point is that now they will be able to negotiate the same workers rights as residents of Canada. I'm disappointed that the government doesn't automatically give them the same rights as Canadian workers. Or is it that you prefer exploitation to fair treatment?

3w.gov.mb.ca/labour/labmgt/emp_standards/submissions/oblate.pdf

Twenty five years ago, while in university, I had a summer job working for a car rental company and had to join the UFCW. Once my union dues were deducted I was making less than minimum wage. The don't seem to have gotten any better.

lberia, your point is wrong. There is nothing racist about seasonal workers. I've been one, and my skin is pasty white as the driven snow. You making this a racial issue shows how far out of touch you are.

Drop it. You're out of your element, and out of your league.

Geez, you're so full of yourself, Yukon. Just because there is basically no labour legislation covering seasonal workers doesn't make it right. As a pasty white seasonal worker you can tell your employer to piss off if you don't like the way you're being treated, and then go find a job elsewhere. Migrant workers don't have that option. But that's how out of touch YOU are.