How Not To Buy Land

It is a good thing that the CUPE strike is over. The police are needed elsewhere.

There has been such a demand for luxury vehicles by Windsor Expropriation lawyers that the police are needed to direct the traffic around the car dealerships given the crush of traffic!

These lawyers have clients in the Brighton Beach area and along the DRIC corridor. They can see $$$ dancing in their heads at night for legal fees after their clients' land values have dramatically escalated after Eddie and Jeff Watson announced the obscene amount that the Feds are going to pay for the land at Brighton Beach.

Similar land in the area that the City had sold at amounts not exceeding $50K per acre was now fetching almost 7 times that amount when the Feds were buying it!

Remember when Eddie talked about the people buying land around the arena:

• "But it's better, he agreed, to have redevelopment in the Lauzon/Tecumseh area than a padlocked plant. "You want activity. You want action," said Francis. "The entire Lauzon Road corridor is going to come to life again. This just adds to and complements the activity at the WFCU Centre. Shrewd investors are already picking up properties."

I wonder how many of those really shrewd investors purchased land around Brighton Beach too. What a windfall profit they will be making. What a terrific amount of legal fees will be generated too.

Talk about the stupid way of purchasing real estate. When one accumulates property for a major project, one likes to keep the prices secret so that other landowners do not try and hold you up. Now that the price has been revealed, not only has Canada's costs increased but the Delray, Michigan costs have increased too! American attorneys will get rich as well.

I wonder if any Canadians bought in Delray. Really clever if they did.

Eddie's Office had been phoning Ottawa I am sure for the cheque handoff ceremony for a long time. No wonder though that it took place when Transport Minister Baird was out of the country in China. He was not going to take the hit for disclosing the sale price and costing the Government many millions more. That task was left to Jeff Watson who emphasized the outrageous amounts when he told everyone to hold their breaths as he quoted the number.

Poor, poor Sean O'Dell of traffic volume numbers fame. He came up with another doozer of a line that will come back to haunt him:

• "I don't think we have paid any significant premium at all."

Heck when you are wasting so many millions in a misguided effort to beat Matty Moroun, the premium is not "significant." It is a mere pittance compared with the other waste.

Ahhhh, Mini-Gord. He is learning that to get scoops, sometimes you have to front for the dumb decision and write a column that even you cannot believe that anyone will take at face value. You have to accept that you have to play the fool too in order to be given a crumb or two.

His column Thursday was priceless. Eddie owes him one now

• "Feds, city negotiate fair deal"

That this was a Francis-inspired column is obvious. Normally City outside expropriation lawyers would not talk to mere newspaper people without the express permission or at the instruction of the client. Mini-Gord was able to get the City's expropriation lawyer to give all the reasons why the City and the Feds price was so reasonable.

Yeah, right. Tell that to the landowners' lawyers as they pull out of their parking spots in their new Caddie or Lincoln or Lexus or Mercedes.

Another hilarious line, this time from Stephen Waque, the Toronto expropriation law expert hired by Windsor to negotiate the deal with the federal government:

• "a gruelling set of negotiations in which Ottawa was determined to pinch pennies."

What did you expect him to say---Baird wrote out a blank cheque.

Can you imagine though if Eddie had only hired a local lawyer who knows the area, not one who lives 4-500 KMs away. We could have had even more money given to us! $500,000 an acre or more would not have been unreasonable!

I am shocked that there was no Eddie is our hero column considering that his brilliant negotiating style earned us so much money. In fact mini-Gord's column is almost the opposite:

• "The $34 million Ottawa will pay Windsor for 94 acres of land for a new bridge plaza wasn't the huge windfall for city taxpayers it has been made out to be...
  
  Some people this week hailed the city's strategic genius for assembling the land. But the city's ownership was pure luck."

I am NOT going to fisk all of mini-Gord's column again--it could become a full-time career for someone--- but here are some comments that need mention:

• "The $34 million Ottawa will pay Windsor for 94 acres of land for a new bridge plaza wasn't the huge windfall for city taxpayers it has been made out to be." Oh yes it is!
  
• "Opponents of the Detroit River International Crossing project immediately denounced the price as obscene, an unjustifiable payoff, etc., etc." Oh yes it is.
  
• "The price it will pay to make history was relatively cheap, and the process relatively fast and simple, compared to expropriating hundreds of landowners.
  
  And Windsor taxpayers should be relieved to have a failed investment taken off the city's books." Failed investment...another one? Come on mini-Gord, that was exactly the thinking behind the Hurst/Tofflemire initiative regarding Brighton Beach years ago.
  
• "The fact the city just happened to be sitting on so much land situated in precisely the right spot for a plaza connecting an international bridge to a new highway also speeds up the process of building both by a year or more." It all just happened, never plotted in advance. Such a co-incidence. And you laugh at my conspiracy theories about the Governments working together for years to take over the Bridge Company business.! Wow, I wonder why the DRIC guys did not think of this excuse when announcing the DRIC bridge building will be delayed at least until 2015 if not later.
  
• "Waque is well-acquainted with Windsor's land values, having assembled the land expropriated for Caesars Windsor." Gosh did our Mayor at the time tell people about this deal in advance too so that the land values in the Casino area could sky-rocket for shrewd investors.
  
• "If any original owners of the land are kicking themselves today at the thought they might have hit the jackpot had they held on to their properties: Not likely." Hey, stop trying to kill the luxury auto business in Windsor!
  
• "In the end the price paid for Brighton Beach only matters to the users of the new bridge, who will pay every cent of it through tolls." Ho, ho, ho, ha, ha, ha. Taxpayers will have to subsidize the DRIC bridge if it is ever built and the other crossings that may go broke because of lack of traffic. Matty Moroun must hope that the Feds for the bridge and plaza and the Province for the DRIC road keep on paying these prices. No one would be able to afford to pay the tolls given the obscene amounts of money being paid out!

So how does one explain this clear mistake that will cost us as Federal taxpayers more as it goes to us as Windsor taxpayers to be squandered by our Mayor and Council. Nothing but pure politics:

• "Part of his [Eddie's] elation, no doubt, was finally having some good news to announce in the midst of a frustrating city strike."

Mini-Gord has to save Eddie's bacon and that of the Feds today by dampening the enthusiasm for this deal but then watch how down the road he will turn around and congratulate our Mayor for making the best land deal since Peter Minuit purchased Manhattan from the Indians for $24.

Hey, it just might win a seat for someone for the Conservatives here too. Take that Brian!

"Draft Me For Mayor" Campaign Started

Am I ever embarrassed [blushing]. Now who did that?

As posted on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-ujorZSn5M

• "Windsor, Ontario lawyer, activist, watchdog, and municipal gadfly Mr. Ed Arditti may also be the area's finest, if under-appreciated, "old-fashioned" journalist; that is to say, a man with no overt axe to grind, gifted with a nose for the 'truth', and the ability, energy and wherewithal to sniff it out -- try as it might to elude detection. And all this, much to the chagrin of the Windsor Star, the questionable regional news source that furnishes him with no end of material to transform into his critical, informative, entertaining and opinionated but always well reasoned copy. He writes a daily blog:
  
  http://windsorcityon.blogspot.com/
  
  which is the de facto regional clearinghouse for the story behind the story and the local thinking person's pit stop for their daily fix of all things related to the art of the state and the state of the art as it applies to the weird landscape that is municipal politics in the wild, uncharted territory that is the frontiertown of Windsor, Ontario.
  
  Certain members from CUPE local 543 suggested at a closed membership meeting held on July 16 2009 that ED ARDITTI run for mayor! As one of the only area pundits to objectively and adequately cover BOTH sides of the story in the 15 week long and running fiasco that has been the 2009 CUPE municipal strike, Ed has earned himself a whole new bumpercrop of readers and admirers, as this short video amply illustrates.

Wow, to the person who posted this, thanks for the compliments and vote of confidence.

I figure that, without the drama we have been experiencing under our Mayor and Council, most issues in Windsor could be resolved in about a month after taking office. What would I do for the balance of the 4 year term!

Seriously, we are a town of 200,000 people for heaven's sake. People actually working together would overcome our problems, put people back to work now and would make Windsor the #1 spot in Canada!

Unfortunately, I will follow the sage wisdom of US General William Tecumseh Sherman and that of my family:

• "If drafted, I will not run; if nominated, I will not accept; if elected, I will not serve."

However....

Stories That Will Astound You

Here are some more stories of interest

WHAT A WAY TO RUN A RAILROAD STRIKE

Seems civilized to me:

• "Via's 340 unionized locomotive engineers walked off the job Friday afternoon, after a noon deadline passed without a new contract.
  
  Early Sunday morning, less than 48 hours after the strike began, the company and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) issued a joint statement announcing an agreement to enter into binding arbitration to end the strike.
  
  "The process proposed by the mediator will allow the parties to resolve outstanding issues and, most importantly, will get Canada's passenger rail service up and running," said Paul Cote, Via's President and Chief Executive Officer....
  
  The 343 engineers have been without a contract since Dec. 31, 2006.
  
  Their key demands have been improvements in their work schedules and in the training of new engineers.
  
  Via spokesperson Malcolm Andrews told reporters Sunday that the company and the union have agreed on a list of outstanding issues to be submitted to the arbitrator, who will rule on them in the coming weeks."

GREENLINK IS DEADER THAN A DODO

• "Francis said council’s request for mediation on the parkway was to “show the willingness” to reach a compromise.
  
  The battle to win more changes to the parkway plan will continue despite Gerretson’s decision, the mayor said.
  
  “The process is still ongoing,” Francis said.
  
  “Just because they rejected mediation doesn’t mean we are going to give up.
  
  “We will try to reach out to the provincial government and DRIC team to see if we can arrive at a better solution. We have options available to us under the process.”

Wellllllllll, not quite as this exchange of emails with the Ministry of the Environment shows:

• "From: Ed Arditti
  Sent: July 09, 2009 1:26 PM
  To: McLennon, Catherine (ENE)
  Subject: DRIC project in Windsor
  
  Would you please confirm that there were 2 requests for a hearing under the Environmental Assessment Act in Windsor, one by the City of Windsor and one by representatives of Windsor Crossing.
  
  Would you please also confirm that the City has withdrawn its request."
  
  
• "From: McLennon, Catherine (ENE)
  To: Ed Arditti
  Sent: Friday, July 10, 2009 10:22 AM
  Subject: RE: DRIC project in Windsor
  
  In response to your inquiry, a hearing request was received from the Windsor Crossing Outlet Mall.
  
  In a meeting with counsel for the City of Windsor, it was clarified for the Ministry of the Environment that the City was not formally asking for a hearing but offering an explanation about how a hearing could be used to overcome the issues with the project."

I guess the City decided that there were no longer any issues with the project such as death and destruction since there has been a thawing between Dwight and Eddie.

As Gord would say: Unconscionable!

ARE YOU A GOOD WITCH OR A BAD WITCH

Only "good" citizens in Windsor are entitled to information from our City leaders. "Bad" ones have houses falling on them.

I am not quite sure what the criteria are to determine into which category a citizen falls. Perhaps it is in that 1,000 page CUPE strike manual that I am not sure if any Councillors have read yet.

Here is part of a press release with an exchange between Councillor Drew Dilkens and Victoria Cross, a member of "The Concerned Citizens Action Committee, an ad-hoc group of Windsor residents formed to seek a fair resolution of the on-going City of Windsor strike:"

• "We’ve been raising simple questions, trying to get clear, simple answers to questions about the sums spent by the City for lawyers, substitute workers, security guards, extra payments to employees who are handling extra work," said lawyer Victoria Cross. "To date, our questions have not only been ignored. They have been dismissed."
  
  In correspondence with the CCAC organiser, Councilor Drew Dilkens was firm in his rejection of the idea of providing such information, characterizing the CCAC as a group set on destruction rather than a fair resolution. "I am not, nor will I ever be prepared to ask for the release of information to a group that is interested in destroying the position of the City of Windsor," wrote Dilkens in electronic communication.'

Since I am a "good" citizen, perhaps the Councillor will have that information released to me now. Thanks, I appreciate it.

THE ONLY ANTI CUPE STRIKE STORY THE STAR HAS NOT PUBLISHED

I was so disappointed that the Windsor Star did not run a story as the Toronto Star did designed to destroy CUPE worker morale and to cause dissension in the ranks as the strike carried on. I saw it in the Torornto Star:

• "Hundreds of T.O. picketers head back to work
  
  Several hundred striking Toronto civic workers have crossed the picket lines and have returned to work as their unions continue to fight city hall by entering into a fourth week of job action.
  
  City officials confirmed that more than 520 municipal workers have gone back on the job. They could not confirm whether the employees were part of the inside or outside workers union."

BORDER TRAFFIC VOLUMES

Oh my, billions of taxpayers dollars in Windsor and Detroit are to be spent based on "hope" it seems. What a fiasco!

It just does not seem to get the kind of media coverage that it gets in other border cities. Oh I get it, if it did, then there would be no need for the DRIC Bridge. Silly me:

• "Bridge crossings are down
  Officials: Fewer traveling back and forth between countries
  
  By JASON ALEXANDER
  Times Herald
  
  Fewer people are traveling on the Blue Water Bridge these days because of the struggling economy, and bridge officials say those numbers were reduced further this past month with the new ID requirements.
  
  Car traffic was down about 13% in June from the same time last year both going into Canada and the United States. Traffic had slipped about 7% in April and May from 2008numbers...
  
  Traffic was down 16% for all vehicles in June 2009 compared with 2008 for both directions across the bridge...
  
  Morris Hall, who oversees traffic on the bridge for the Michigan Department of Transportation, said passage has taken a hit.
  
  "After June 1, a lot of Americans aren't going to Canada," Hall said. "We were pretty steady down, but now it's a little bit more..."
  
  There has been a sizeable reducation in commercial traffic, however.
  
  The number of trucks crossing the Blue Water Bridge has dropped about 24% from this time last year.
  
  "The truck traffic is a real barometer of the economy," Korosec said. "We started to see big declines in October, and the economy started to tank in November. The Dow Jones and traffic numbers are almost in sync. We will be able to tell when it picks up before anyone else."
  
  He hopes that is soon.
  
  "We are in the slump with everyone else. We take in everyone's predictions and we'll see how that translates," Korosec said. "We are hoping things pick up."
  
  Hall agreed.
  
  "Less traffic is less revenue," he said. "It's hard to tell what will happen, but we hope things will rebound."

HOW MAYORAL POLITICS IS PLAYED

This is how the game is played in the Big Apple according to the New York Times:

• "Mr. Wolfson claimed his first Democratic scalp in May, as Mr. Weiner — once a close ally in the Clinton campaigns — dropped out of the mayoral race amid a Wolfson-led behind-the-scenes campaign to force him to do just that.
  
  Working with a local press corps he had cultivated for years, Mr. Wolfson and his team dug up and then pushed a steady stream of politically damaging tidbits about Mr. Weiner, giving the congressman an early taste of what he might face come the fall."

And you wondered why Gord Henderson had been slashing Bill Marra so early on! Now you can understand why that weird term was inserted in the CUPE Protocol re New Beginnings to embarrass Bill. It was a message delivered to Bill and any other possible competitor to our Mayor IF he decides to run for a third term.

SPA PARTY

I attended my first one, set up by my daughter at our house. She took this photo of the snacks provided.

The lady who ran the evening said that I was the first male to ever attend at one of her sessions.

Hand and face creams, ointment for dry skin, foot massage, eyepatches and soft music that almost put me to sleep. Plus good food and wine...what a way to spend a Saturday evening!

Play It Again Eddie

Of course we have a new WUC fiasco. It is called the CUPE strike fiasco. And you know that the City's books are going to be audited again if some people have their way, this time by a forensic auditor whose hands will NOT be tied by restrictive terms and conditions!

Haven't we heard this exact song and dance before to justify an increase in order to minimize it in the minds of the public?

• When does an 86% WUC rate increase become a 36% one?

Now we hear this tune

• When does a 6.3% CUPE increase become a 5.7% one?

The name of the music is

• Play with figures and dates!

Eddie...........let it go. You lost. Get over it.

There is our accurate but narrow Mayor trying to protect himself against what he thinks will be citizen outrage because of the amount paid out to CUPE strikers. Add in the signing bonus and other City losses on benefits and the rate becomes even higher.

Remember this during the WUC fiasco

• "The Windsor Utilities Commission is coming under fire from critics who question whether the utility is engaging in a campaign of misinformation to downplay a recent water rate increase.
  
  "I feel I was duped," Coun. Alan Halberstadt said. "Obviously, they are trying to sell the increase and downplay the actual facts. I hate to say it's deliberate, but it appears to be pretty obvious they (were) trying to downplay the extent of the increase."
  
  Resident John Toth said he got angry when he pulled a shiny, blue pamphlet out of his utility bill last week.
  
  "It was extremely deceptive," he said. "It implies the water increase is in the range of $70, but it's actually ($187). It's trickery. They are only calculating a few months of the increase. On an annual basis, it's much higher."
  
  The pamphlet says an annual water bill will increase "from $219 in 2006 to $298 in 2007."
  
  The quoted increase is 36 per cent --but that's because the 2007 bill contained only five months of the new rate. The increase is actually 86 per cent...
  
  WUC chairman Ken Lewenza Jr. couldn't be reached for comment. WUC's acting general manager Max Zalev was unavailable Tuesday and his staff referred questions to WUC spokeswoman Sylvia deVries, who was on leave in the spring when the utility created the inserts.
  
  "I came back after it was all decided," deVries said. She said the flyer was accurate, although it doesn't reflect the full impact of water rate increase over 12 months.
  
  "The 36 per cent is accurate for 2007," she said. "Rate increases are always difficult. It's not a good news story. I don't think it's misleading. As for 2008, communication hasn't been determined yet."

Now we have this in the CUPE strike fiasco:

• "WINDSOR, Ont. -- Mayor Eddie Francis has taken issue with the way the wage increase in the city’s new contract with CUPE has been reported, saying it is lower than 6.3 per cent over four years.
  
  When CUPE workers ratified the labour deal Friday, announced details included annual wage hikes of one, 1.5, 1.8 and two per cent, adding up to 6.3 per cent over the life of the agreement.
  
  But Francis says the overall wage increase is actually 5.7 per cent because the first year of the agreement will go into effect Aug 1. and will not be retroactive to January.
  
  “As a result of that, when you annualize that number, that translates into 0.4 per cent,” he said. When that first-year increase — which will save the city $400,000 — is added up with the rest, the overall figure is 5.7 per cent, Francis said.
  
  “Those are the numbers,” he said. “That’s the deal. … Those are the facts. That was what was voted on by the union and city council.”
  
  But Jean Fox, president of CUPE Local 543, which represents the city’s inside workers, said Francis is “spinning numbers to make himself look like ... he didn’t give CUPE enough of a raise. It’s creative math if he wants to do it that way.”
  
  “It’s still a one-per-cent raise on my paycheque,” Fox said of the first-year wage increase. “I don’t know what (Francis) is arguing about.”
  
  City treasurer Onorio Colucci said the issue is confusing and can be looked at in two ways, with neither number wrong."

As for me, I do not care. I am waiting for the audit results. The figures and dates will need to be looked at closely to justify my tax rebate!

CUPE Strike: Little To Do With PRBs

My ace daughter/photographer captured this pile of garbage at a neighbour's home, waiting for CUPE workers today. How many other homes and businesses will look the same way making a mockery of the claim that 75-80% of the garbage had already been dealt with by citizens.

CUPE workers and other union workers get hammered; Government Motors' new directors get a $200,000 retainer and a company vehicle for a part-time job.

Thought I was telling stories about this being an AMO/FCM/Provincial Government joint effort to go after Unions:

• "Although reluctant to preach any lessons learned, Mr. Francis said his council was willing to share its experience from the strike with any other municipalities who wanted it.

Hmmm, if he charges for this anti-Union expertise, do we get that income back as part of our tax rebate?

Our Mayor had the time as well to:

• "wish all the best to the residents of Toronto and only hope that it doesn't go as long as ours did"

And a few days before it seems, while we were still in the midst of negotiations, he could call Toronto's Mayor since he was kept out of micro-managing negotiations and could say:

• "Listen, my thoughts are with you and your family."

And even when he was cooking, our Mayor had presence of mind:

• "Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis expressed his support for Miller while making pancakes with his young daughters last night.

So we were all suckered after all. From our newest BLOGGER in town quoting a rep from Standard and Poor's
http://lineosight.blogspot.com/2009/07/we-werent-told-truth.html

• "In answer to your questions about the city's PRBs: contingent liabilities, such as this, are one of many factors that are part of our analysis, other factors that we look at include the economy, operating performance, and debt and liquidity levels (both present and future) to name a few. Since we already factor the PRBs as part of our analysis of a number of different factors, we would not expect the rating to change based on just that aspect."

Our Treasurer tells us that there is no immediate impact:

• "It's been said there is no benefit to this for 30 years," said treasurer Onorio Colucci. "That's true, but this liability was really something not sustainable for us...
  
  City leaders anticipate it will take between 40 and 50 years before current employees are completely grandfathered out and the $291-million price tag is eliminated."

In fact mini-Gord tells us that

• Mayor Eddie Francis and council responded by delivering the first significant reduction in city labour costs in memory: $35 million in unfunded liabilities for post-retirement benefits will be off the city's books within 10 years."

That huge unfunded liability sky-rocketed under Eddie's financial watch both as a Councillor and for his years as Mayor:

• "The city's unfunded liability --the bill owed for lifetime retiree coverage -- had grown by 67 per cent in nine years because of higher drug and hospital costs, reaching $291 million this year for all employee groups."

PRBs was the issue picked for PR purposes to crush the Union even though it could have been negotiated long before the collective bargaining process started as was done with the Windsor Public Library. However in that case, Eddie would have had to acknowledge that Steve Salmons was better at being the head of an Organization than he was since there was no strike over that issue with the CUPE Library workers. That could never happen!

What the fight was really about from the labour relations pespective was the City's demand that CUPE make major concessions. From that perspective, Eddie failed. Even mini-Gord was forced to concede that:

• "Windsor's property tax hawks will be complaining bitterly today that city council flubbed the best chance in a generation to get labour costs under control.
  
  We had CUPE on the ropes, they'll howl, and they still get a 6.3 per cent wage increase? And they get all their vacation plus a signing bonus of two grand for nothing? Outrageous!
  
  They have a point. If a struggling corporation can't cut costs during bad times, when can it? But taxpayers should thank their councillors today -- well, most of them, anyway -- for sticking to their guns during a strike that turned into a nerve-racking staredown for both sides.
  
  There isn't a shadow of a doubt taxpayers won this strike, even if they didn't get the wage and job cuts so many of them think were deserved in CUPE's case."

That failure is even greater when one considers that the City had a $24M and counting strike fund and that many of the workers on strike were low-paid women employees , often single mothers. Yet the City winds up paying out money.

Hardly a lesson that Eddie should be teaching any other City Mayor along with the OLRB complaints and the disastrous Caboto Protocol fiasco that cost taxpayers dearly in the end. The legs were cut off from under Eddie once that happened. He had no choice but to settle!

I'd tell you how much it cost taxpayers except the Star keeps changing the numbers:

1. Strike-busting CUPE deal costs City of Windsor $287 million [I cannot find this story now just the headline on Google]
   
   
2. Strike-busting CUPE deal costs City of Windsor $17.2M over four years"
   
   
3. Strike-busting CUPE deal costs City of Windsor $12M over four years

The City wanted a "net zero" approach, concessions in 8 different areas according to the Union ie if CUPE wanted an improvement in one area, it would have to be taken from another

I received a very extensive summary of what happened from a "Ghost Blogger." Let me give you some excerpts. It demonstrates the City victory that wasn't. In reading this as well, think about whether the issues were that difficult to resolve such that it took 15 weeks to negotiate a settlement. I will address one more issue at the end:

THE REACTION

In contrast to the ratification meeting last week, when there were few questions but a lot of angry comments, this time more of the speakers simply put forth questions for clarification.

The recreational workers liked the fact that they are now included among those who will qualify for PRBs if and when they are successful in obtaining full time employment. Previously they were excluded.

However, their anger arose over the lump sum amount. In the last proposal they were grouped together with the part-timers/temporaries and offered the $650 lump sum (which was half of the $1300 that full-timers were offered); this time the part-timers and temporaries once again got an amount based upon half of what full-timers received, namely $1,000 lump sum, but the recreational staff were categorized into a separate group and received only $500.

Okay, now a few comments about the new contract itself. Keep in mind that when the negotiations first began way back when, the city was asking for 8 major concessions and offering net zero wages. The offer that we ratified was a gain that definitely improved upon a net zero package and in the end we only conceded one major item...PRBs. Even that concession contains very beneficial language that had not been previously won from the Corporation until this last round of talks.

MONEY

The percentages remain the same....1.0%, 1.5%, 1.8% and 2.0%. There is a difference though. The current year percentage now begins as of August 1st, whereas the previous one was retroactive to January 1, 2009. So the city saved some money there but they applied that saving toward the lump sum incentive, increasing it from the previous $1300 to $2,000.

Furthermore, the union won its demand that the lump sum be paid out to the employees in a timely manner. We had requested that it be paid to us within 5 days of returning to work; we were willing to bend a bit on that and stretch it as much as 10days but not more. We knew that the city would drag its feet and it could be months before we would see the money. The city agreed to the rapid payment schedule. The lump sum will be paid out in the last week of July or first week of August.

JOINT JOB EVALUATION

In the beginning the city sought concessions on JJE language that would have seriously affected the process. The union successfully swept that off the table. Our JJE language remains unchanged from our previous contract.

BUMPING

The city had originally sought significant changes in "bumping" language. They were so significant that it was the primary reason that I gave the union a "yes" when they called our strike mandate vote months ago. If the city had got what they first asked for with regard to bumping, contracting out would have become a much easier process for the city than it is now. In the end, the union whittled the bumping language down to a few minor language changes but all the significant aspects that the city had sought were dropped in this contract that we just ratified.

JOB SECURITY

I cannot recall what the city was offering in the beginning, but in their offer last week they offered us the typical "one for one"...the date at which an employee obtains job security was moved forward by one year for each year of the four year contract. This was the previous offer...

No member who is presently employed and was employed as of December 31, 1991 shall be laid off for any reason. As of January 1, 2009 the date became 1992, as of 2010 it became 1993, as of 2011 it became 1994, as of 2012 it became December 31, 1995.

The new contract that we just ratified has improvements to that...

No member who is presently employed and was employed as of December 31, 1991 shall be laid off for any reason. As of January 1, 2009 the date became 1993, as of 2011 it became 1995. Both the 2009 and 2011 years leap forward by TWO years. Given the upcoming Service Delivery Review and subsequent changes that could occur as a result of it, this will give job security to more members in a timely way at a time when it will likely be very beneficial for them.

NEW HIRE MEDICAL EXAMINATION

In the settlement offered last week "All necessary medical examinations, including x-rays, shall be arranged by the Corporation and paid for by the new hires." In the contract which we ratified, the Corporation will pay for these examination and x-rays.

BENEFITS

Originally, the Corporation had sought concessions. I can't remember everything they were trying to take away but it did include an increase to the employee's co-pay from the current $2.00 per prescription to $5.00 per prescription. In the contract just ratified, there are NO concessions, not even with the co-pay...it remains at $2.00 and everything else remains the same as our previous contract.

DENTAL RATES

The union successfully negotiated that current ODA rates will be covered by our benefits plan as of August 1, 2009 and that each subsequent year of the contract will be covered as of January 1st of that year. In other words, the ODA rate that our benefits plan will pay is exactly aligned with the date the rates take effect.

POST RETIREMENT BENEFITS

Bet you thought I would never get to this one, eh?

Yes, we gave up PRBs but we got significant language that no other CUPE local has ever achieved when they gave up PRBs.

As you know, the city has been adamant on the PRBs. In the beginning they wanted no PRBs whatsoever for new hires. The union succeeded in getting PRBs for new hires but capped at age 65, after which they would no longer have these benefits.

But the really significant gain that the union made in this last round of negotiations was in language that enshrines the PRBs in the contract and allows the union to come back to this issue each time a new contract is negotiated. As Ken Lewenza Jr. pointed out weeks ago, over time the union may be able to gradually negotiate employer contributions to the new hires benefits fund over the years. By the time 30 years is up, who knows how much we may have negotiated back in the form of employer contributions to that fund?

Furthermore, contract language guarantees that no future negotiations can take away the PRBs for current employees. In addition to the contract language, a separate contract with each employee will also legally guarantee those PRBs for lifetime for employees and spouses and qualified dependants.

And, there is contract language that now says that even recreational employees, in addition to temps and part-timers, are now entitled to PRBs should they be successful in obtaining fulltime employment with the Corporation.

That PRB language was fought for hard and the membership was very appreciative of the result. Most of us were already resigned to the fact that we were going to have to concede on the PRBs. Our executive tried every possible way to present compromises on the PRBs in the form of various cost share scenarios but the Corporation refused to consider ANY cost share plan whatsoever.

The Corporation has also agreed to allow the union to select their own benefits provider for a self-funded plan for new hires. The Corporation will have no vote on the board. And employees will have various options that will allow them to opt in or out in a variety of ways. Very flexible.

RETURN TO WORK AGREEMENT

We now have very clear language as to who will return to work and when.

No mention of "New Beginnings" this time.

No prorated loss of vacation time as a result of the three month work stoppage.

Very specific language regarding the handling of vacation schedule between now and the end of the year, including the option for some employees to request a two-week payout of vacation IF they meet certain criteria - we can only request the payout if our department head cannot give us the actual time off that we are entitled to before year end and, of course, it is subject to budgetary approval, and the request must be made within 30 days. So some employees will not have the option.

There is no interruption of benefits due to the work stoppage but CUPE National agrees to fully reimburse the Corporation for any benefits paid out during the work stoppage.

Employees have the option of purchasing both portions of the OMERS pension plan (employee/employer) but at the employee's expense. (The union is arranging for an OMERS rep to hold a meeting ASAP with interested members to discuss their options with regard to buying back or not.)

Overtime shall be administered according to the terms of the Collective Agreement excepting that banked overtime caps shall be waived until the end of 2009.

Finally, all disciplinary action of any sort shall be dropped and removed from personnel files, excepting those which involved police charges. All documents, letters, photos, videos, recordings, films etc BY EITHER PARTY shall be destroyed within 72 hours of mutual ratification.

One other point not mentioned by my reader...the OLRB complaint against the City can move forward.

If there are errors, I am sure that readers will let me know.

The final point. If you agree with me that this strike should never have lasted so long, then you have to ask why and what the workers really lost. The obvious answer is that they lost all of their salary for the strike period. Is that fair and what should be done about it? Let me remind you what Councillor Postma Blogged once more and the answer about why and what steps CUPE workers should consider should jump out:

• "Last week was rare with a unanimous motion not to go to binding arbitration and to reaffirm faith in our bargaining team.
  
  Last week we made the decision to allow our team more freedom to negotiate a contract that is fair to both parties and we also agreed that binding arbitration is not the right path for us. I strongly believe that for the past 7 weeks council has not given our negotiating team the tools to truly negotiate. We have set parameters for them but have not given them the autonomy required to get a contract. In essence they have been negotiating with themselves...
  
  I am not sure what the next steps are other than to get back to the table and negotiate the contract. CUPE Local 82 provided a proposal last and the City must respond to it, so the ball is in our court now...
  
  I know we can get a contract, for me it is not soon enough. I just want the negotiating teams to return to the table and get it done. Enough already!

The real war may only just have begun. Except now CUPE workers have a paycheque to sustain them and their families and to help finance their struggle should they choose to move forward.

The Mail Keeps On Coming

That photo of hope was taken by my daughter who has become the BLOGMEISTER'S photographer of choice!

Here are more emails from readers. I am trying to clear out the mail so you, dear reader, can start afresh. Lots of people with lots to say.

Clearly, I do not expect many to read all of the emails but you ought to read a sampling.

You will note the volume of mail that my BLOGs have generated over the CUPE/City strike in this posting and in previous ones. I thought you ought to know that. There are many more that I have not posted because of sheer numbers. If I have not posted yours, I trust you will forgive me.

You will obviously discover that the number of negative emails is very low. That is the way it was. I just did not receive very many.

The response is gratifying to me regardless of your position and has been overwhelming. My hits have gone through the roof and I am told that my BLOGs were even printed out so that people could discuss them when they were picketing.

I am glad that many readers felt that my BLOG presented an alternative perspective and that what I Blogged was accurate and fair. My purpose has always been to make you think, dear reader, by presenting you with information that you might not know about, presented in a way that you might not have considered. Whatever your conclusions are after reading my BLOGs are yours alone.

I trust that my new readers will stay around and keep on reading and sending me their notes. That is what makes this all worthwhile!

1) I was going to write you as soon as I got home on Friday, which was about 6:45pm but I checked your BLOG and discovered that you had already been fed the news that we had ratified the contract. Given the time on that BLOG, it does indeed appear you were fed first before other media. The membership was given the results only about 5 or 10 minutes before you were. When I left the building to come home, the rest of the media were corralled in a room downstairs waiting...

Everyone is very appreciative of your BLOGGING during this ordeal. You were read by a vast majority of members and often your thoughts were topics for discussion on the lines. Your insights, your creative writing and ideas, and your disdain for His Warship were huge morale boosters on many, many days when we were really worn down.

I personally thank you!

2) Ed - this morning's blog was worth two cups of coffee. The Star would be a great paper except for its writers - love it!

3) The City has failed miserably on their IRIDE program, Next time I get something in the mail I will send back "address unknown". Maybe what they should do is get a new program, iweigh.

I don't know about other members, but due to the change in my lifestyle, I have gained about 10 or more lbs. I will be starting a program starting MONDAY, to reduce that.

They have no respect for the employees...

And if there is EVER another IRIDE meeting, I will NOT be attending.

4) we seriously need to get something going legally and find out the TRUTH about what is exactly going on here!!

5) We had a bunch of seasonal, rec. workers sitting behind us. University/College students. And one got up to the Mike, he was upset that they only get $500 signing bonus (because last weeks offer they would have gotten $650).

But the language had changed, last week even temporary FULLTIME employees would have only got $650. This week they get $1,000.

The kids were not happy,. They said they lost half their pay for being out on strike in July (a key month for them). Jean tried to clarify to them, there was IMPROVEMENTS to language that if say, they want to be caseworkers, they will NOW have a better chance than the person coming in off the street. They have been added to the "pecking order". They were mostly satisfied I think., but still, about 500 kids and part-time worker? I'm sorry, but I do not believe they should be in the same uinion local as us, they have different issues. But another member had a good point when we were down in the lounge (I wish she would have gone up to the Mike with this). But the fact is, the rec. workers mostly work July and August. Yes, they have not worked in July. But they were paid the SAME strike pay as us FULL-TIME workers (this is our career(). They got the money since the middle of April, which normally, they would NOT have been working in April or May or even most of June. They still got the SAME amount of money that all us full-time members got. So they really have STILL got their tuition, whether they realize it or not.

They should not be in our Local.They should be CUPE LOCAL 543.2?? They have separate issues and to think that 500 KIDS could rule our future, is REALLY SCARY.

Anyhow. the kids settled down, and the vote was yes. THANK GOD.

6) You were so supportive! Thank you!!!

7) The blogs on the Windsor Star this morning (and last night) are very hateful towards Eddie. Sorry, seems like he "sold the farn". In their opinion anyways.

8) You know, people do not Understand what DRIVES the economy. They are all talking about THEY took pay cuts, etc. why did they do that? We should all be fighting for more...

You NEED good paying jobs in order to drive the economy. I feel sorry for all the folks who blogged on Windsor Star and hate us and the money we make. But hey, anyone could apply for a City job. You just have to have the education, qualifications, past testing and interviews. NEPOTISM/ Yeah right, H/R is operated by NON union people, they give us NO favours. I for one, really appreciate your non-prejudiced opinions on everything. It's just too bad, this town is in a slump, but things WILL pick up, they always DO. This community is RESILIENT. And this WHOLE strike and everything else (jail, bridge, etc.) has really opened my eyes to what is happening, how us taxpayers are being TAKEN by politicians. Keep up the good work Ed.

9) Well it's now old news but the CUPE strike is over but I want to extend my gratitude to all of those who did support us during the strike.

A while back one of your letter writers wrote that we have more support than we know.

I for one do know that we have a lot of support. I try to talk to those who are generously waiting in line without compliant to dump their garbage. It is tough to sit in your vehicle with the smell of garbage permeating throughout. I know from many years of having to haul trash from the cottage back into town because there is no dump in the middle of the bush unless it was an illegal dump site.

I have learned a lot from those citizens and I like to think I made a new friend or two for the few minutes I spoke with them. Lots of dogs bark their support and children smile and wave. I have also learned a lot about Eddie and most of it is not so nice.

This strike has taught me many lessons. I will never forget the random acts of kindness ... nor the horrors of picketing (but chose not to dwell on that), to act the way I would like to be treated in the same situation and I will always help out with someone else's strike. I will also remember how people made me feel good during this horrific time and how it brought tears to my eyes beause I was overwhelmed by their generosity.

We had several local businesses, organisations, charities and individuals contribute food and money to the strikers. We also had more support from the general public than the star would lead us all to believe.

For all of those citizens, businesses, organisations, charities etc. who generously contributed ... a kind word, some hope, food and snacks to a picket line, donations of all types to the union hall ... to the CUPE (and let's not forget our brothers and sisters from CAW Local 195 aka Vet's Cab) strikers a great big thank you. Most of the time we never know how our actions affect others but rest assured anything you may have done will be rewarded tenfold. The Universe has a way of giving you back what you deserve. Thank you.

10) we knew they had private contractors picking up garbage from the dump sites and all over really. We would be picketing, and an unmarked white truck would come in to pick up the bins, while we were there!!... Also other people said they put out mounds of garbage on their street with our Arbitration sign, and by morning, the garbage was gone. Gee, maybe I should have tried that, because it seems like there was a nightly pickup crew going around the City, except I live on a quiet street in Riverside and none of my neighbours have their garbage out and only my closest neighbours know I work for the City, god I wouldn't want that to get out there, I could have my house vandalized if they ALL knew!!

Still I have 14 weeks worth in my garage. It will be VERY INTERESTING next week when garbage pickup resumes, to see exactly HOW MUCH there is out there. I'm betting there is alot. More than the "75%" that Eddie says were taking it themselves to the dump. I don't think so!! He says no O/T for those guys. I think that's going to go by the wayside too, once they see the amount of garbage people have been hiding away. Anyways, we will live to fight another day. We had our moment, it's over, we are going back to work Monday.

11) Hi Ed, just read your blog, dead on again as always. Another thing I have to wonder once our garbage pickup resumes next week (and can't wait for that) it will be interesting to see HOW much garbage there is out there. I know I have held my garbage for the past 14 weeks because I'm a CUPE member. But I have to wonder, how many others have done so? I think MANY. Not everyone was willing to take their own time and money to go to a private drop off spot or cross a picket line. I have TONS of garbage, and some of it over weight from what they would normally take.

But I will put my picket sign right on top of the pile of garbage, and hope that our brothers in local 82 will pick it all up in honour of the fact that we HELD OUT FOR 14 WEEKS. GO CUPE.

12) But husband and I did go to our local watering hole (within walking distance). And our favortite waitress who was against the strike when she found out a few weeks ago, that I was a CUPE worker, but tonite, she's all like "glad you guys are going back to work". So it was good, she had a smoke with us, I gave her a bigger than normal tip (after all, she is a taxpayer, the paybacks have to start somewhere!!)

13) shame on all of the scabs and strike breakers. no wonder they covered all
our jobs without difficulty. they just hired other people to do all the
work. betting this is just the tip of the old iceburg.

i am incenssed. another one to add to the very long list of unfair labour
practise and the non existent labour relations the city will have for the
coming decades.

14) Has anyone found out what Eddie or whatever his alias is this week has done with Skorobohacz

15) I will put my political views this way. Normally I am definitely right of center. I am normally not a big union person. I have always appreciated the gains they helped bring in the past....we have all benefited ...however...usually I end up thinking they have gone a little far in recent history. The 100 day strike has turned me a little left and made me realize we still need unions! The utter disrespect that the mayor and most councillors have shown to good hard working people sickens me!

16) We might be back to work but why were we off so long and why is it that they dont talk about how the mayor did not want to continue talks. WE might be back to work but the battle will continue I am sure.

17) The back to work protocol did not mention Marra’s program. Putting that in the last protocol was nasty!!! Maybe Francis is seriously planning to run for Mayor again. Perhaps the big parties told him he is to polarizing and argumentative and they do not want him as their candidate for higher office!

18) its in the 80s for 543 [for approval]

19) you can count on me too. i am not ready to give up the fight.

20) you were first with the news see all the friends you got!!!!!

21) anyway...I think the membership will probably vote to accept this ... I think it's as good as it's gonna get... we've lost WAY TOO MUCH money already...lots of hardship cases out there...many lost homes...many broken marriages...

22) We appreciate all your input during the last few months

Don t stop digging we appreciate the alternate voice

23) There was a positive feeling after this morning's vote. The contract will pass. You were mostly right in your prediction on what will be included in the new offer. However, 1 thing was excluded from the back to work protocol which I believe was a major victory for CUPE. You will find out more later.

24) I agree with you about a silent fight from city emplyee's with the gutts to fight against the Mayor and Council and the City of Windsor I welcome you to our vote today knowing you will not be allowed into the meeting room for the vote but afterwards I sure there will be plenty of Cupe member that will be interested in having you in our corner

25) I look forward to meeting today before the vote and after

26) Do you know of any lawyers who would want to take this case?

27) [Copy of a note sent to Anne Jarvis of the Star] Really sorry to read this Anne. It is a good article but again only scratches the surface. What everyone keeps failing to realize is that all a worker needs is dignity in performing their job. In order to win, the corporation engaged in a PR war to rob this dignity. To strip and humble workers who are already humble in that they serve as public SERVANTS. Workers for the City invest their hearts into SERVING the people of Windsor. To be forced into the street and marched in front of all of the people we have been serving and caring for all of these years. Well that is about the dirtiest, most clever, and clearly, the most successful way to beat the SERVANT. But in beating the workers who have been SERVING with their heart & soul, do any of us win? SHAME UPON US ALL. Every resident who has not stood up and shouted, "THIS IS WRONG!" Every resident who does not have a garbage can at the end of the driveway or a poster in the window to welcome back our humiliated garbage collector does not deserve to have a garbage collector - private or public. And should this
terrible public shaming of our public servants end today, well God help us that we have a healing circle or town hall of some kind that we can ALL enter to forgive and try to forget what we have done.

28) Thank you-I am sure someone will get to you before I get home from the Caboto Club. I am anxious to see what all the negative comments will be from those people in the community who want to do our jobs for ten dollars an hour.

29) I am sitting here waiting to go to the Caboto club at 4 p.m. today and I am reflecting on some of the conversations I had with fellow picketers at city hall yesterday. I couldn't understand why people were so upset that councillors were voting on the contract before we were.

I was told that historically, when there is a tentative contract, the striking workers get to vote first. I must therefore assume that is one more "shot across the bow" at us and CUPE. It is one more turn of the knife in the backs of us "so called civil servants". The lack of respect shown from this mayor knows no limits and I firmly believe that it is far from over for him.

There will be may people in his sights from now on. We can only wait and pray that the job losses won't be huge.

Thank you for the opportunity to express myself. I was told that the Windsor Star is hurting and that they are ripe for another paper to come into the city. We could only hope for another paper to give us the other side of the coin. I didn't realize that four months of journalism could be so one-sided or that it could be controlled from within. After speaking with reporters I found out that once their stories are filed, they have no control how that story is presented to the public or how simple words are taken out of context. Keep give us the other perspective.

30) [From a traveller just back] It was nice down there and great to get away from Windsor to a clean third world country LOL I was out of town last week on vacation ...Its funny how the people there want to fight for there rights to get ahead in life and we are fighting to keep ours.

31) Four years from now we will still have this strike fresh in our minds and we will be shy about going out again so soon. We will also not have had time to replenish our strike fund which means we will not have the extra monies available for a protracted fight. We will then be ripe for the plucking because the corporation knows these things as well. If they decide to go after sick days for example we may capitulate without a fight. And then what will they go after next? If prb's are not addressed fairly in this proposal think twice before casting your ballot as this may be the beginning of a long nightmare.

32) And keep up the good work, the bridge, jail, money spending left and right!! Boy, it has sure opened up MY eyes and alot of others I am sure.

33) I know that for myself, and others I have talked to, we will be taking part more in union actions/meetings from now on... If anything, we are more motivated than anything. I would like to know what law firm you would recommend.

And you have made a definite impression on our lives and how we think about things.

33) I wish I had the authority to get you into the vote. If any member of the public deserves to go you do! Perhaps you could volunteer to count the ballets and observe the vote making it a supervised vote as per the mayor’s threats!

So long as Francis is our mayor I have no doubt but that you will have plenty of material for your blog.

34)They should have given serious consideration about when, not to mention what, they were striking about in the first place. This era is not the old. The outcome of this idiotic strike has become evident today. The time is 12:25 A.M. July 24. I'm hopeful that people that want to be union supporters, will still support unions if they can still afford the obvious risks that come with it? SIGNED; TAXED TO DEATH CANADIAN CITIZEN WITHOUT ANY MONEY LEFT FOR UNION DUES! What Has Been Gained By All of This? NOTHING BUT STUPIDITY! Let us be thankful for the few great jobs that are still left in this country.

35) i think it will be a yes. i am dreading going back.

36) I would love to see you at our meeting – I guarantee that YOU would receive a STANDING OVATION!!!!

Hope to see you there – 4 pm meeting of course – the BIG ONE.

Thanks for all your help – you certainly made the strike bearable for me – to finally see “our side” in print is something that we very rarely see – especially without repercussions!

I will continue to follow – I thoroughly enjoy your blogging – and check it at least twice a day! You have become part of my “everyday routine”.

37) Just a quick thank-you for your insight and advice on this strike.
Still believe settlement tomorrow is going to be a sell out for what I found faith in fighting for.
It is a shame that it takes a socialist publication to offer insight on the bigger picture of what is going on in Windsor and the World.
If I am right Cupe sold the farm, not Eddie.
Thanks and keep that blog going. You have a following and if you grow bored with law a political career could gain momentum.
Just my thoughts

38) To stick his nose in once again? Obviously Helga keeps Preston on her Blackberry speed dial instead of following "process", but even worse is: why would he drive to the hotel in the middle of the night to be physically present as soon as he hears a deal is close at hand? Isn't his deal vetting process in council chambers?

39) We were on the picket duty at City Hall at 7:00 a.m. Because my sister listens to "country music" (which I hate) in her car, I was not apprised of the fact until we arrived at 7:00, that a tentative agreement was reached.

Everyone I talked to was elated. We just want to get back to work...

The mood today was VERY happy, people were happily digging into their $200/week strike pay to buy a couple of beverages, those of us that had a little more were putting in a little more for beverages for fellow members and coworkers, we were just happy to know there may be an end to this tomorrow. Have a nice night Ed, I for one, might actually sleep tonight.

40) I found out about your website first week into the strike and have passed you on to all family members and other cupe members who were not aware of you.

I know of a few who have been emailing you – the accuracy of the info is very impressive,

Anyway – here is some food for thought – or not - I know that [Name of Manager]has taken this past week off – vacation - just listening to the Lynn Martin show – Rona Warash is speaking – she is the “Acting CEO” –

Very interesting to me - you have 2 of the “top people” off during the “major week of negotiating”? I was under the impression that “no vacations” were allowed for management during the strike.

41) [Re mini-Gord] Laughing OUT loud! Ed, your too much...and I learned another Latin phrase. Thanks

42) [Re mini-Gord] Thanks for another laugh. I sure hope Chris reads your blog, on second thought, I'm going to email this one to him.

43) The employees would be disciplined if used incorrectly or for any personal usage. Everything we do on our computers is monitored, ie. every click of our mouse, what we have viewed, entered, altered, etc. There are many programs on our computers and if suspected of any wrong doing, the supervisors et al automatically sift through our daily work and use for a period of time to determine if any mis-conduct has been performed. In other words, management can trace our every action from login to logout. We are not allowed to access the internet unless it is either part of our work requirement or we are on our own time, lunch or break and even then the sites visited are subject to approval. When I was taking a course at St. Clair College and they use the "Blackboard" to forward info between instructor and student, I was required to obtain approval to access this site as it is not part of my normal work usage.

Isn't working for the city wonderful????

44) "Those words were reputedly uttered by slain union boss Charlie Brooks, who is honoured in Coventry Gardens with a memorial Peace fountain that remained in storage this summer, a casualty of a bitter city strike in its 99th day on Wednesday — which is how long Windsor’s historic Ford strike lasted in 1945." - Windsor Star

A decision was made WELL before the strike began that the Peace Fountain was not to be put into the water because maintenance costs were too high.

45) I think some of your humour is rubbing off on me ED.

This strike is starting to remind me of those holiday inn select commercials.

CUPE Executice: We may not know how to get a decent contract for our members but we did stay at a holiday inn select last night.

46) You want to consider running for mayor

47) Postponed the contest???? AWWW... and here I was just getting ready with my suggestion

48) Thanks Ed, I haven't had such a good laugh like that say, in about 15 weeks. The names were HYSTERICAL. And the song was HILARIOUS. I think whoever wrote that song, definitely deserves a reward. Maybe someone with a little talent could record it and send it to Eddie as a gift from CUPE. Wow, I really needed a good laugh like that today. Thanks again!!

49) sign me up for your blog

50) Oh yea, I am one of those greedy, overpaid, lazy, no good CUPE members. We are also responsible for:

The death of Michael Jackson
The Shuttle Delays
The Red Wings Loss
The Economy
Swine Flu

Hope I didn't miss anything.

51) I send this with thanks to you and to the lone man in the photo standing
in front of the Windsor Star. It is incredible to think that we live in
a union town and have so little vocal support. There have been many
people who have expressed their anger at the Mayor but few that will
speak up.

So, thank you Ed and thank you to the sign carrying supporter. We
appreciate your dedication to our cause.

While I have your ear, I have to express my outrage at the CFIB
(Canadian Federation of Independent Business) members. According to the
president of CFIB, they have polled their members and they support the
ads run on CKLW. I cannot believe that they would be so vocal in
supporting the mayor and condemning CUPE members. Do they not realize
that CUPE members and their families will once again start spending
money? We are compiling a list of CFIB members and I will personally
visit the members that I USED TO support, to tell them why I will no
longer be a customer.

I must say, her name certainly doesn't reflect her actions. The radio
ads and her comments on last week's news were appalling!

52) I have to share this story about our "Black Angel" with you today. He comes religiously every day to bring hope and sustenance to our picket lines. Most of us don't get to see him every day because we are moved around a lot and are on different shifts so often but he comes. Little does he know how he has helped each one of us to survive. We, in our population do not even know how he has impacted each one of us, each individual. We line up and reach into the car for a sandwich and a water. When it is happening it is like a miracle being performed. My mind goes to thoughts of early England when women would come to feed the waifs on the streets. Venturing into the darkest of alleyways to feed the ill and downtrodden. Yes, I know that I am making a drama of this. And yes, I realize that a logical person would say that he does it for whatever drives him from his mind. But he has come to us every day for over 14 weeks! In my mind, however feeble and dramatic it may seem to be, and in my heart of hearts, he is our "Black Angel" to the Windsor CUPE workers.

53) I am hoping the union pursues the bad faith bargaining charges. I believe we have more than enough evidence to move forward. I am hoping that the truth about Eddie Francis comes out during this trial / investigation. CUPE made many mistakes during this strike, but from my viewpoint, this whole strike could have been avoided with a different mayor or a stronger council.

It's really too bad for everyone. Windsor doesn't need another black eye. I'm not sure why the Conservatives want him to run on behalf of their party.

54) If I were the Mayor and I used a pseudonym to conduct my business how could I satisfy my oath and be accountable to the electorate, let alone ensure FOI requests are lawfully responded to ?.

55) have made repeated requests for information regarding PRB's. To date neither of you has provided the information that I deem critical for me to make informed decisions within the context of the democratic process. I will reiterate that I am a constituent of your's and a taxpayer in this city. I have every right to know the facts regarding this issue.

I'll repeat the questions one last time. How is this program currently funded? Is it "pay as you go" or is there a fund set aside to cover these benefits.

Additionally the mayor and council have led residents to believe that somehow the pain of this recession for those unemployed in this community will somehow be eased by removing this benefit from our workers. How?. How will removing a cost that doesn't exist yet provide savings today?

Keep in mind I'm just an "uneducated autoworker" so if you could spell it out in simple terms that would be greatly appreciated.

I've decided to make this very easy on you. Below I've set up a small table for you to fill in the blanks. You must have these numbers at your finger tips or memorized by now considering you both have backed the mayor and his tactics from the start of this dispute. It would be crazy to assume you've done so without indepth knowledge of the numbers involved.

Keep in mind that while I'm trying to remain as respectful as possible my patience is wearing very thin. I'm not asking. I am demanding!

56) Your argument re the Gateway project was reinforced with the news this
morning of a 23% drop in cross border traffic at the tunnel. Interesting that
the report also mentioned a drop at Bluewater, but I don't recall any mention of the Ambassador bridge stats.

57) I wish to stand beside the fellow you have a photo of standing outside of the Windsor Star. The Windsor Star does not speak for me and the mayor does not speak for me either. How appropriate to show this photo right below your comparison of the CUPE Strike behaviours to the Border File behaviours. When we have allowed ourselves to be in the precarious position of having four-year elections without recall or ability to impeach and media unwilling to honour their own code of
ethics what do we wind up with?

May I say a sincere thank you for this service that you do for us

58) No one I talked to blames Scorbie for Thursday. They just loath Eddie more. One of the managers sent has had a few heart attacks in the last few years. If anyone should take the fall for this strike it should be Eddie... not Scorbie or Helga. There are rumours going around that Scorbie is going to leave us for the States. Imagine if he ends up in a city that is run properly!

59) my husband is becoming quite despondent. I am sure there are others feeling the same way. I am a little concerned. Maybe this will make him retire.

60) Thank you and please keep blogging you are the light on the picket line!

61) this strike has been the topic of discussion at many places, between many people. I have to tell you that NOBODY I have ever talked to you, either here at work or anywhere else (even just casual comments to various people) supports CUPE. They all think they should accept a reasonable offer (with a raise, by the way, at a time when most of us are giving concessions), and get back to work, and also stop their ludicrous antics. If Jim Wood thinks they deserve respect, then they should give some respect; I don't even think the leaders are giving their union members respect.

So there it is - looks like it could go on for a long, long time. I hope I'm wrong, because I'm sure there are lots of intimated CUPE members who would love to vote yes and go to work, and are enduring extreme hardship because of this.

62) How can you automatically believe Jean Fox, and not the Star, when she and her buddy Jim have lied as much or more than anybody else in this whole fiasco!! But that's obviously what you always do, and you seem to publish more comments from pro-CUPE people than otherwise. I'm sorry you apparently have some kind of beef with the Mayor and the local paper (which, I do agree, is somewhat wishy washy at times), but it doesn't mean they are always wrong/lying.

[Part of my answer---You missed my point.

The correction was posted on the CUPE website and the Star chose to ignore it and not pin down Fox. If she lied, the Star should have called her out on it. Surely the Star owed it to their readers to report that fact. That is called journalism...

I publish more notes from Pro-CUPE people than others because that is all I receive. I post just about every note I receive except when it is clear that the writer wants it kept confidential or if the email is nothing more than slander. Sorry.

There are lots of interesting events that take place in this City that have never been reported. I am sure that you can think of some of them.

63) [Copy of a note sent to Lynn Martin at CKLW] Lynn,

I have to take you to task regarding the bargaining process and how you seem to think how it works.

Simply put, you are wrong. In the past (pre Eddie) Council and the Mayor would give the Corporation's negotiating team parameters for a deal to be made. They were free to negotiate within those parameters. If circumstances dictated going outside those parameters the team would go to Council for direction. Once a deal was struck the vote would be put to Council as well as the members for ratification. At no time in the past were the Mayor or Council directly involved in mircomanaging the negotiations as they are now.

As a member of 543's negotiating team before this one I can TELL you this is how it works, (well how it used to work when there was a healthy employer/labour relationship) not the way you have stated. Frankly the last set of talks (previous to this one) where Eddie first came on the scene were one of the most frustrating things I've ever done as negotiations were in the early stages of being micromanaged by him.

64) Ed, read the Star Story: One large obstacle stands in way of settlement: How
much?

This is by far the lowest of the lows for Windsor Star. I'm humiliated.

65) Ahhh come on running for office would be fun in a really stressful sort of way and then you would have the pleasure of having to listen to a bunch of whiners for 4 years. I think you should run for Mayor. Mayor Arditti has a nice ring to it (LOL).

This City is very sad. We lack an identity and we whine to the province and feds because we are so poor. We have such a rich history here (underground railroad, war of 1812 & 1814, prohibition etc) and so many festivals that it should be easy to attract businesses of all types. But because we believe that we are the butt of Ontario we don't act. We need to become a proud city that boasts those beautiful rose gardens of my youth, that believes in themselves and then and only then can we have a city that is proud of our accomplishments and stops treating the middle class like they have done something wrong.

66) I have recently been introduced to your website and have been amazed at the content: there is an actual forum for people to discuss divergent points of view other than mayor francis’s. How refreshing! In regards to the union’s stance…there are so many CUPE people that need to get back to work that unfortunately this latest injection of the union’s defiance over PRB’s is probably moot. But…who knows!

67) waiting for the mcguinty government to legislate us back is not happening. I really beleive that Windsor is the starting point to bring down organized labour.
This is the same gov. that ordered concessions on Chrysler and GM. Submit workers or loose everything.
There is more to this, there has to be. Toronto was in worst shape after one week than they were in 2002 when they got legislated back. So unless there is a death to be blamed on the strike Mcguinty is not moving and Windsor will not piggy back a back to work order.

It is a race to the bottom... The rich will get richer and we will kill our selves for crumbs.

68) Maybe I should retire from the job of strike predictions. Hmmm...if I do retire from strike predicting, I wonder if I'll have any PRBs?

69) Actually, we are 26 out of 29….two cities were not ranked

70) I would like to thank you for being a voice of truth in the city of Windsor. As I read Vander Doelen's article today I could hardly contain my anger at what he was turning out. He even went as far as to point out all the anti cupe comments in the Star. So i tried to post a comment about how the star mostly posts only the anti cupe comments in an effort to sway public opinion and in no surprise to me it was not posted. All through the strike I have tried to post comments to the star but as most of my posts were in favour of cupe i would say around 90 percent of them were never posted to the website how is that a true evaluation of public opinion. So once again thank you for being a voice of truth.

71) Sly Devil!...May the Force be with you, Nanoo, nanoo.

72) Ed, you are not from the dark side, so you must be on the Cupe side,don't fight it. Cheer on us underdogs. Use the force and will a labour lawyer to Jim and Jean.
Thanks again,an opinion that allows thought. Keep up the good work.

73) Amazing stuff, Ed. An entertaining and really good antidote long overdue on the Windsor media scene. I may have another little brown envelope for you

74) Those stupid, solemn pictures of dejection by Eddie Francis are comical. He should pack his bags and now! This entire strike is a shame and farce and kudos to you for keeping at the blogging in support of the CUPE workers and taxpayers of the City. God, I will be so happy when all of this is over and people get back to work. I will be so happy when he is out of office, it was only a matter of time before he buried himself - just wish it would have been sooner.

Thanks Ed for being there.

75) Hi Ed, I adore your blog. In fact it inspired me to write my own, so thank you so much for your writing, your passion and, most of all, your insight.

So, on the topic of the day? Once this thing is over (and it has to end at some point) who's going to be the sacrifical lamb to Eddie and council's reputations? Eddie will not take the fall for this, and likely neither will council. It's only a matter of time before the politicians start saying "we're only as good as the advice we're given by our Administration" and who's the pointman there?

I suspect the next tactic will be to try to regain the moral position, which the unions now have. Jean & Jim need to keep their members calm. Violence would lose them everything.

76) Hello there,
I am a city of windsor employee and I have been reading your blogs during this bitter strike. I wanted to thank you for the point of view you are presenting and the questions you are bringing up that should be answered!! It's clear this whole process has been poisoned by Eddie and he needs to be removed from the negotiations or we need to go to binding arbitration IF this is ever to be resolved!

I have a few support sites I update on Facebook and I have posted alot of your blogs!

In closing, Ed Arditti for Mayor!! LOL! IF you want to run, I can make some campaign posters for you!!

Thanks again,

77) Great job allowing people who can't get a letter published in the Windsor Rag to have a say. I am the spouse of a CUPE member and a teacher who for many years sat on our local union executive and on our collective bargaining committees. I wish that that the citizens of Windsor who do get their letters published in "The Rag" would step back and see the big picture.

The problem from the start of this process has been Eddie Francis and his super-sized ego. In contract negotiations both sides appoint a collective bargaining team and give them the mandate AND the authority to bargain until a tentative deal is reached. This tentative deal is then presented to the employees and the employer for ratification. CUPE has tried to let this process work and Eddie has done everything in his power to derail the process. When the process fails we have binding arbitration in Ontario. Despite what Eddie would you have you believe, both sides agree to submit to the process and risk a ruling that they may not like. Eddie won't let this option unfold. He won't have anyone tell him how to run his city and NEVER admits that he may have made a mistake.

Citizens, please see what is so obvious...Eddie is the reason this contract dispute has evolved into the absolute debacle that it has. Here is the simple solution. Demand that Eddie completely remove himself from any further involvement in the dispute. Oh, he'll kick and howl and pronounce how that would be an abdication of his responsibility to his "membership" but don't listen. Tell him he can vote on the tentative agreement like the rest of council and abide by the result. If you could make that happen the problem would be solved. Period.

78) There are a lot more but that should do. Sorry if I have not posted yours!

Responsible Blogging

Thanks to CUPE for providing to me the information about the acceptance by their members of the proposed contract first amongst all the media in Windsor! I was informed that I received the first phone call so that I could BLOG officially that the strike was over. I did so at 6:25 PM on Friday.

I appreciated that because it means to me that I have succeeded in presenting a balanced view of the events in the strike, as many readers have written to me, and in providing a perspective that some in the traditional media chose to ignore.

Check this out from a comment by a Star reporter last week to understand what I mean:

• "By now, you're likely aware CUPE rejected the city's offer, and the dispute is more polarized than ever.
  
  You really should check out this video made by Star photographer Jason Kryk, who was at the scene of Thursday's 10 a.m. vote at the Caboto Club.
  
  To quote someone in our newsroom: "Cooler heads are not prevailing."
  
  Jason had to take a lot of crap to get that footage. CUPE members were shouting at him, swearing at him, blocking him.
  
  I hate the unreasonable mentality that holds all Windsor Star staff responsible for the newspaper's editorials and columnists."

If that is not a terrible indictment of the Star's strike coverage out of the mouth of one of their own then I do not know what is!

What I dislike is the Star's arrogance, that they are so much better than we mere Bloggers as an example. Remember this remark when the connection between the Star and the Mayor's Office was disclosed by the Star during one of their online Forums (but never published for their general readership as far as I know)

• "The Windsor Star: The Windsor Star editorial opinions are developed and finalized in the Publisher’s Office. They are developed in a group setting by a group usually composed of Publisher Jim Venney, Editor-in-Chief Marty Beneteau, Editorial Page Editor John Coleman and Karen Hall.
  
  We believe that even if one member of our group has a bias or conflict, the remainder of the group is in a position to offset that bias.
  
  We also believe this method in an organization setting actually results in opinion formation that is far less open to conflict of interest that is more possible in the world of say – individual blogs."

Pompous Twits!

It is not only the Star but the BLOGMEISTER who is subject to Editorial control. I have two people who watch over what I write and on several occasions have made me rewrite a BLOG or change the wording or change an image I wanted posted or in certain cases have forbade me to write a BLOG in the first place!

I go to these people when I have a concern about something I am doing as well and when I want a second opinion. Invariably, their opinion is correct.

I give you this background because of a BLOG I could have written before the strike vote. My concern was that if I BLOGGED it, the comments I would quote in it by the Mayor could be again be considered so inflammatory by strikers that it could prejudice the vote and result in a "NO" vote as happened with the Caboto fiasco.

What I had to balance was getting a BLOG out in public so people could read it as against waiting until after the vote. Were people going to be so angry that they would perhaps vote against their interests as happened last week or was it my duty to BLOG regardless of the consequences?

I made the decision not to BLOG. My decision was that CUPE workers should vote based only on whether the proposal was good or not. If I Blogged subsequently, CUPE members still had ways to satisfy any grudge that they may have.

I took the issue to my Editorial Board and sought their opinion. Fortunately they agreed with me. Their view was that "labour peace" in Windsor was more important at this time. The BLOG need not be run before the vote and the consequences of not doing so were the lesser of having people remain on strike for the wrong reasons.

I am not going to write the BLOG but just give you the gist of it.

Here is the email sent to me and the video posted on Youtube by Gavin

• "From: Gavin Michael Booth
  To: windsorcityblog@yahoo.ca
  Subject: Garbage is....GONE!!!
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKobc4R-gPw - maybe this is interesting for your blog. Who hired them? Or didn't hire him... or who is doing this?

Here is the video

He asked in his posting:

• "How Many Days? Day 833
  
  I could be wrong but I thought with the CUPE strike ongoing, and not being settled on June 16th, that this 3AM garbage pick up from the downtown Windsor Municipal trash containers seemed a bit out of place. What do you think?"

I remembered this National Post story:

• "It is a stark contrast to the city of Windsor, which is more than two months into its own strike by about 1,800 municipal employees, including garbage workers. According to Mayor Eddie Francis, citizens frustrated by the striking union are tacitly supporting the city by managing their own garbage, paying to dump bags of trash at private sites, and in some cases even mowing weed-strewn parks that have been abandoned by striking staff...
  
  and since then, the bulk of residents have started disposing of garbage through legitimate alternative means, the mayor said. The city advertised private disposal services, which have become a popular option, and eventually opened up a couple of free public dump sites.
  
  Mr. Francis cited a "tremendous result," saying the city has been able to account for nearly 80% of all garbage - a factor that strengthens the city's position at the bargaining table, as citizens are not faced with the prospect of trash-strewn, foul-smelling streets.
  
  "A lot of people ... understood the city's position and in a show of support took it upon themselves to dispose of their own garbage," Mr. Francis said. The message to the city from residents, he added, is: "Don't cave. Don't capitulate. Represent us and we'll make sure the garbage is not an issue."

Pretty strong stuff and a wonderful endorsement of the City's postion I thought and a lot of trouble for CUPE. Citizen power at its finest was what I read into this. Citizens action on their own.

Then I saw this in the Toronto Star and I was shocked. It was published on July 24, the day of the ratification vote. I saw it online a few hours before the vote.

• "Even though Windsor's 101-day civic strike could end today with a "yes" vote by union members on a new deal, the border city is way ahead of Toronto and its much shorter walkout on one contentious issue: stinky trash.
  
  Windsor's two temporary drop-off dumps have been cleared up nightly.
  
  "We're different from you guys," Mayor Eddie Francis told the Star yesterday as he outlined Windsor's back-to-work priorities, noting that it was expensive but worth it to have private haulers take garbage away after workers walked off the job in mid-April.
  
  "At the end of the day it's a service we need to provide. You can't have garbage in residential areas."
  
  As Toronto residents increasingly hold their noses going past scores of temporary dumps with more expected to open soon, the main concerns for getting Windsor back to normal are less visible – relieving exhausted non-union staff in the "key pressure points" of welfare offices, water treatment and water pumping stations."

Private haulers...what happened to citizen actions that the Mayor described so eloquently before? My immediate reaction was why would he say such a thing today of all days. Didn't he learn from last week? Was getting a quote in a Toronto newspaperpaer more important to him than being quiet until after the vote?

The story seemed to me to answer Gavin's questions of who the CUPE Garbage Angels were, who hired them and was it an illegal pick-up or not.

It also seemed to me to be rubbing it into the CUPE workers' faces to say that private haulers took away garbage not just in business areas but in residential areas as well. I wondered where that took place--the same area that hired its own security force as an example since they did not want to rely on Windsor Police alone--since I did not see it happening in my area of the City!

I certainly did not like the word "expensive" being used since that extra money could have gone to helping to settle the strike or formed part of my rebate. I also found it somewhat ironic since the City made a point of saying:

• "The City of Windsor will NOT reimburse fees paid by you to dispose of your waste."

Again, just like with the CAO apology, the concern seemed to be with the non-union staff only, one of whom in a measure of complete disdain for his colleagues on strike flaunted one of his huge pay-cheques with all of the overtime money in the face of CUPE picketers as reported by Eh-Channel I believe.

Would that have made CUPE members angry if I had Blogged it? Absolutely YES. Could it have meant another NO vote. At the time I read it, and not knowing what was being offered, I was concerned that it might.

I could not take the chance and neither could my Editorial Board.

I think we made the right decision. And I think that is why I was contacted first!