Corrections Officers walk off the job in Alberta

[OttoVonBismarck]

Dont know this has been brought up, but why didnt the canuck govmint have a "No strike" clause in place.

Because Canadians are weak pussies with no spine? I can't imagine a Canadian government standing up for anything aside from the right to bend backwards for people.

[Barrister]

Dont know this has been brought up, but why didnt the canuck govmint have a "No strike" clause in place.

Because Canadians are weak pussies with no spine? I can't imagine a Canadian government standing up for anything aside from the right to bend backwards for people.

Again - it's as if I haven't been posting here for a dozen years or something.

This is Alberta.  We've had uninteruppted right-wing rule since the Great Depression.  Nobody is harder on unions than Alberta (at least in Canada).

The COs have a "no strike" clause.  They (along with everyone, union or not) have the right to refuse unsafe work.  And as such I supported their initial walk off the job.  But now, as it has crossed into all these sympathy strikes (latest ones - probation officers - paging Strix!), it has gone well beyond refusing unsafe work, and is now well into the territory of "illegal wildcat strike".

Tomorrow should be interesting.  I already had to email in a list of all prisoners I needed for court for Monday (for me the list was thankfully: nobody), with a report on witnesses / accuseds for the rest of the week due by noon on Monday.

[Grey Fox]

So-So-Solidarité!

[Barrister]

So-So-Solidarité!

[Grey Fox]

See what happens when they are no unions to keep everyone in line?

[garbon]

[Barrister]

Got back from the courthouse.

There is a largish "picket line" out front.  Weather today is incredibly crappy though - it's snowing.  The picketers were mostly just standing around in clumps and periodically going out for coffee.

When I got inside there were Edmonton police providing courtroom security.  But there was a new twist - court clerks have also walked off the job (at least most of them, there were a few inside).  Apparently the powers that be weren't expecting that.  Courts were set to start at 9am, but it wasn't until 9:45 that even some of them were getting started.  Seems as if they found some managers or whomever to take over the duties of the court clerk.

Message from government is that they will be happy to sit down and discuss issues - once people go back to work.  Otherwise they will not negotiate as it might 'reward bad behaviour'.

Here's the latest news story for the curious:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/story/2013/04/29/edmonton-sherriffs-guards-strike.html

[citizen k]

See what happens when they are no unions to keep everyone in line?

They have unions for the garment workers. 

[crazy canuck]

Wait! Its snowing today in Edmonton?

[Maximus]

See what happens when they are no unions to keep everyone in line?

The guys holding up the building went on strike?

[Admiral Yi]

The guys holding up the building went on strike?

[DGuller]

 

[fhdz]

We're going to need load-bearing scabs, STAT.

[The Brain]

I got scabs.

[Grey Fox]

See what happens when they are no unions to keep everyone in line?

They have unions for the garment workers. 

I didn't mean them.

As Maximus points out, I mean the Holder crew.