Really Short Strike Comments

A few more strike items of interest.

EDDIE ALWAYS GETS THE LAST WORD

• "In the CUPE world there might be, but there is no such thing as a final offer," Mayor Eddie Francis told reporters after a flurry of back and forth discussions as the regular council meeting lurched on."

He'd never make it on the TV show!

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MEDIA BLACKOUT

If there still is one, is this statement by the Mayor breaching it? If so, what is the justification for doing so since if I was a CUPE member, I would take it as a threat to force me to do something or else:

• "Francis then met with reporters to divulge that talks were continuing Tuesday. He said the council vote on CUPE's final offer was 8-3 against. He said council formulated a new position which was accepted unanimously, 11-0...
  
  He wouldn't provide details Monday night but said council's unanimous position was "a signal that it's time to move forward."

It's also a signal that CUPE no longer has Councillor support!

I wonder now if CUPE can argue duress.

I don't get this statement either. How can this be done if there is a blackout? What are the consequences of it? Is Eddie following now what David Miller did in Toronto:

• "Francis said he would share details of the city's latest offer after it has been formally presented to CUPE on Tuesday."

SANDRA IS WRONG! SANDRA IS WRONG!

Windsor's MITI Minister made a bad mistake and needs to apologize again to citizens of Toronto.

Remember, she called Torontonians names:

• "Pupatello suggested earlier in the day people Windsor were coping better with their 10-week-old garbage strike than those in Toronto after just three days.
  
  In an off-the-cuff remark, she jokingly referred to Toronto residents as "babies."

Well Sandra, people who live in Toronto are a lot tougher than your constituents in blue-collar Windsor I am afraid. We get all hot and bothered about a 5 minute delay at garbage dumps. In Toronto, this is mere child's play:

• "The lineup at the Ingram transfer station on Monday was about three hours long as only one car was allowed in at a time every 15 minutes. At other transfer sites, people complained of five-hour wait times.
  
  Once a driver is allowed into the site, they are only permitted to throw out three bags of garbage. Bylaw officers were on hand to ticket anyone found dumping their trash before their turn had arrived.
  
  "These people stink more than the garbage," one frustrated man told CTV Toronto as he waited in line...
  
  "I'm 75 years old and no drink, no nothing," he said. "If I have to go (to the bathroom) where? In these lines?"

CALLING THEIR BLUFF

From 8-3 to 11-0.

The biggest losers in the CUPE file could be the three so-called left-wing or pro-Union Councillors: Jones, Postma and Junior. Or was Councillor Hatfield the third vote?

The City's offer better be something that CUPE members could reasonably expect to support or their political careers are over and so is Junior's attempt to replace Joe Comartin as Federal NDP MP if he was one of the votes.

If it is all one-way, pro-City, then the three are nothing more than vote counters. Talk tough for the Union when you know you are going to lose anyway so your vote means nothing but when push comes to shove, knuckle under to the Mayor.

The School Principal's comments (see below) have put the kindergarten children in their place.

BADMOUTHING YOUR COLLEAGUES

More drama. The Governor's Hubby should have taught the Mayor how to get along with his colleagues. So how does one explain such bitter language:

• "It keeps putting us back," Mayor Eddie Francis says of the extra hands in the kitchen. The meddlers are "a serious impediment" to reaching a deal, he says.
  
  Some of the bad advice is coming from a few members of council.
  
  At the council table, all 10 have voted unanimously to put a cap on the unfunded liabilities of post-retirement benefits.
  
  But outside council chambers, a few councillors keep saying they think a settlement can be reached with a compromise -- which isn't what they voted for in-camera. The mixed messages sent by these councillors is what repeatedly raises CUPE's false hopes, Francis says."

Now that the Council position on the new offer is unanimous, is this a signal from the meddlers that the union mmebers better take the deal?

Negotiating in the media. Such theatre.

TSUNAMI OF PRO-CITY COMMENTS

Expect the floodgates to open within a minute of the Star revealing what Eddie has made as the City's offer to CUPE. The letter writers are just itching to send in their comments for the world to see.

The responses are totally predictable. The vast majority published anyway will be anti-CUPE.

There will be some negatives but in a positive way---the City is giving away too much to the CUPE thugs. But the overall impression that readers of the Star Forum will be given is that this is a stroke of genius and generosity by the Mayor to get the CUPE members back to work.

Of course, there will also be the threat---if the CUPE workers do not accept the offer, fire them all!

Negotiating in the media. Such theatre