Even in the daffy world of municipal politics, where satire is difficult because it seldom lives up to the reality, there is the occasional event that makes you rub your eyes and wonder if you’re seeing straight.
Such is the news that the sum Toronto owes its workers for sick days they don’t need is $450-million, not the $250-million originally believed.
You will recall the issue of sick days. It was the central area of dispute in the strike that dragged on for five weeks this summer, producing mounds of uncollected garbage and neighbourhoods full of cranky Torontonians upset at closed pools and shuttered daycares.
Public opinion sided heavily against the strikers, especially after people learned that the city’s unionized workers get 18 sick days a year and can save up the unused ones until they retire, collecting a fat payoff. Mayor David Miller insisted the city could no longer afford such generosity, repeatedly citing the heavy cost in justifying the city’s refusal to cave to the strikers.
Eventually the city did cave, letting the workers keep their sick leave (or get bought out), but eliminating it for new hires.
Now it turns out the sum is far higher than Mr. Miller admitted, even though he knew the real figure well before the strike.
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Don’t they open the union meetings with the playing of Abba’s “Money, Money, Money.” or Pink Floyd’s “Money”.
mid island mike
I thought they sang the Communist Internationale…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suVB3YGIUk0
Mac. I watched the video you posted. Communists eschew personal possessions and benefits for the sake of the collective. These union types seem to be gathering up as much personal benefits as they can.
mid island mike
Torontonians love their corrupt inept political leaders, Miller, McGuinty et al. Sheer stupidity.
mike, it’s funny how Communism is supposed to be about collectivism (shared goals and rewards) but never comes close to achieving those laudable goals, serving instead to impoverish the vast majority of the population while the elites become massively rich… which are the perennial complaints against capitalism.
The difference between the two systems, however, are stark. Communists are intolerant of individual rights and punishes anyone who asserts themselves whereas capitalism encourages individual rights and rewards those who assert themselves.