Saturday, February 8, 2014

BRIGITTE BONNER GIVES HER OPINION

With an election coming up, it is as important as ever that voters inform themselves before they vote. The by-election in Niagara is very important. Brigitte Bonner sent this letter to various media in the area. I have not seen it published anywhere else, so I offer it to you here:


We have been hearing alot in the news about Tim Hudak’s “Million Jobs Act”.  But what is it, really?  From what I understand, Hudak wants to limit funds to unions in the hopes of eventually destroying them all.  His plan is a copy of the “Right to Work” scheme that is prevalent in the U.S.  He touts this as giving “rights” to workers, that is, the right to refuse to pay union dues.  But how will that actually help the average worker in Ontario? In South Carolina, where Right to Work laws have existed for over 50 years, the minimum wage is only $7.25 per hour.  People there refer to the act as the “Right to Work for Less Act”.  Is this where we’re headed?  Implementing the Right to Work Act will make it more difficult for unions to survive.  Unions help workers by fighting for things like fair wages, good working conditions, job safety, job security and benefits.  Not only do unions help those workers in a unionized workplace, but they fight for legislation that can benefit all workers in Ontario. In other words, the average worker in Ontario will suffer. Of course Tim’s plan will help big business because they will have more power and more profit.  In Fort Erie we have already seen hundreds lose their jobs over the past years.  In one case an American company in Stevensville simply shut their doors and walked away from their employees without any prior notice or assistance to help them deal with so suddenly being jobless.  Some had worked at the plant for over three decades.  Hudak’s plan will certainly cause more events like this.  Without unions, workers will have more difficulty getting fair wage increases. With rising costs for necessities such as food, gas and hydro, many people today already work two to three low paid, part-time jobs just to get by. How are we to pay for these things with lower wages?  How will the average person be able to raise a family and live decently? We won’t.

Hudak says his plan will create jobs and “modernize” employment.   Perhaps by this he means companies won’t have to build their industries thousands of miles overseas.  They can build their industries in Ontario, where there will be an abundance of cheap, powerless labour for them to exploit and profit from.

The right to say no to a union is much less important than having no right to fair wages, job security and safe working conditions.

 If Mr. Hudak thinks he will have an easier time of getting his party into his “hometown”, he can think again.  People around here know what he’s like and don’t want him back
Brigitte Bonner

Editor's Note:
I concur with Ms. Bonner regarding the Right to Work philosophy.  It is union busting, plain and simple.  Met up with it when I was a union organizer in the States.  Organizing people into a decent union has always been a challenge but, Right to Work laws make it near impossible.  Any worker should be very afraid of this trend.  
Like many have come to realize, the PC party is unrecognizable from what it was just a few years ago.

8 comments:

  1. I haven`t always agreed with Ms. Bonner but her heart has always been in the right place and that has always been what is best for the town....... Unlike a lot of politicians and their clingons this town seems to produce. (definition of clingon anyone......from an old joke about the planet uranus)

    As for Hudak`s wild and mysterious plan to produce a million jobs, it sounds much like he has been downwind from martin for too long and his old mantra of jobs jobs jobs, while producing nothing but hot air and support for his own agenda. (His new mantra is ``not my fault``)

    With 13 million people in the province and about a 7% unemployment rate, this would mean virtually no unemployment. Something that has rarely been seen since WW2.

    Fantasy, magic or a deliberate ``untruth``......you decide. Personally I think voters here like to be told ``untruths`` imho.

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  2. We'll have made progress as a community when the race track goes the same way that marine land and sea world and all those sorts of places ought to go i.e. extinct. And when preserving natural heritage assets like Bay Beach is not scoffed at as a utopian ideal but rather, is a widely shared priority.

    As for Hudak et al ... don't they all seem particularly desperate and transparent this time around ?

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  3. That Schlange has taken to poaching senior administrators from other municipalities is the fault of our four councillors really illustrates how inane the ninjas are. You don't think Schlange is going to do whatever he can to assemble a loyal team at the region regardless of the impact on municipalities ? You don't think aspiring municipal managers might look beyond Fort Erie to advance their careers where the political elite sues itself and has a freaking juvenile ninja army for God's sake ? Fort Erie - come see all the fun in dysfunctional !

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    Replies
    1. Why was Thibert unable to give an exact figure as to the Reserve Fund at the EDTC when at council last month? His CFO was there, in attendance. He wanted the council to take it on faith that he needed an additional $150K for the reserve fund, yet he would not verify how much was already in the fund. Just gave the lame excuse that he did not have that information at hand. He did the same thing when Ann Marie Noyes requested information about the EDTC and had to go to court to get a ruling to get the information which, I've heard, is still not complete. Again, it seems that it is difficult for the EDTC to provide information requested. Such a lack of transparency leaves many to believe that there is a cover-up in progress. At best, it would appear that the EDTC has been sloppy at bookkeeping. There's still a question of where $2 million from the province went and how it was spent.

      Thibert has twice insulted the people of Fort Erie in his attempt to distract from giving direct answers to questions. First, Fort Erie was a "hooker" for accepting money from its "john" the province. Secondly, Fort Erians that are out of work are so because they have no skills. Tell that to a skilled laborer who lost his job because the plant he worked at for thirty years just closed. Go ahead. Kick them when they're down.Call them stupid just to take attention away from your failure as the GM of the Economic Development and Tourism Corporation. Yeah, take a bow, Jimmie. The Liberals gave the race track a reprieve because it is an election year. It's that simple.

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  5. Its no wonder Schular is one of TBirds loyal followers....he was supported by the EDTC in a preelection letter telling workers who they should vote for.He won but by a short majority.How does the Town get an answer about the true financial expenditures of the EDTC. We the taxpayer give them over $600,000 every year to do business. Can Council not ask for accountability via a forensic audit or" anything"
    that will account for their expenses.Any ideas ?

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  6. Come on cokie, there you go using common sense again. I mean really, if ol jimbo shows up asking for money you have to give it to him simply because he expects it. Don`t ask any questions though as you might upset him and he may use said $$ to sue your common sense A$$.

    I think tonight I might try the same, just show up, throw a few insults around and demand some $$. Don`t ask me to explain or anything as I will get upset and I may even cue my trained monkeys in the peanut gallery to act up at the appropriate moment. It works for ol jimbo!!

    ONLY IN FE could this level of stupid come to council let alone get paid for it.

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  7. Here's a heads up about tonight's meeting: there will be a resolution to ask the region to come on board to urge the Niagara Parks Commission to fast track the big marina project that started in 2006. Back in 2012, the NPC dropped the plan. There were many reasons for this, the main one being no money forthcoming from the Kuwaiti backers. Back then Jim Thibert railed against the decision. Since 2012, there has been nothing new regarding the marina. Hello election time! Thibert is riding high on the race track funding, courtesy of election year politics. He thinks that he can force the issue on the marina. Stay tuned.

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