Monday, June 22, 2009 4:07 PM
Those who forget history...
Adam Radwanski
A quick question for the members of CUPE locals 79 and 416, many of whom were presumably in Ontario in the mid-1990s: Remember what role unions played in the fate of Bob Rae's NDP government?
While we're at it, a second query, equally easy to answer: What did those unions think of the government that followed Rae's?
Like Rae was provincially, David Miller is just about the friendliest Toronto mayor unions are going to encounter. He has, most notably, resisted pressure to outsource or privatize - something you can bet a more conservative mayor like Karen Stintz or even John Tory would be much more eager to do.
If they're not careful, that more conservative mayor may be exactly what the unions wind up with. Although it's somewhat logically inconsistent to blame a mayor for a strike after years of complaining that he's unwilling to fight the unions, Miller's critics are already seizing on Toronto's new surplus of garbage as emblematic of his mismanagement. If the city workers' strike drags on, and Miller doesn't wind up getting a pound of flesh from the unions, it could turn out to be the beginning of the end of his mayoralty.
If I were a city worker, I'd be inclined to give up my ability to bank sick days - definitely the hot-button issue at the centre of this dispute - take a few concessions from the city in return, and hand a political win to the mayor who doesn't have it in for me. From a union perspective, better that than paving the way for Toronto's version of Mike Harris.
