[Prof_Chomsky]

Zipperfish Zipperfish:

I completely support the workers here. Unions have to make a stand or they'll be gone. Who better to make a stand against?

And while the buttons may be controversial, they are also accurate. That should count for something.

This isn't a private business, it's public. Technically the workers, as Canadians, own the company. Harper works for them. As Canadians they are entitled to make a political statement.

Stop confusing private corporations with public ones.

[Zipperfish]

doublepost

[Regina]

I think it's human nature to react like this, people are bitter.
My brother in-law is a CMA and a manager in the Edmonton office where many of the cuts were made. He survived but was told he needed to be back in town for Wednesday, so at the time he wasn't sure. He's mentioned plenty of times the entitlement many of them have and how little they feel they need to do once their protected. Last night he said many of them won't be missed but there are a few that were cut that shouldn't have been. Unfortunately with the unions as they are you can't pick and choose who stays based on performance and work ethic.

[Bodah]

Zipperfish Zipperfish:

Egg-zack-ly. Bodah probably is a civil servant, too. Must be tough to live wiht that kind of self-loathing.

Sorry but when a union tells me to vote for the Bloc Quebecois, from a union who is representing the Public Servants of Canada working for f'n Canada. It has nothing to do with self-loathing. But disgust.

Why do you hate Canada Zip ?

It's a rhetorical question don't bother answering.

[Alta_redneck]

I guess if they can keep the Country rolling and still have nearly 20,000 phone in sick every day, a few can be let go.

$1:

Fed absenteeism rate is sickening

Not only is this sick, it has to be fraudulent.

How else can it be explained that more federal public servants book off sick every day than there are employees at Ford Canada and GM combined?

Some 19,500 of them phoning in ill. Every day.

But are they really too sick to work, or are they working the system? The latter would seem to be the answer.

If this is not the case, and therefore not out-and-out fraud, then how is it that this rate of absenteeism -- (the majority blamed on, get this, workplace stress) -- is 250% higher than the average rate in the private sector, and almost 200% the level of sick leave and disability claims in the rest of the public sector?

The actuarial odds on this don't compute. They're totally out of whack.

According to a confidential report leaked to the taxpayer-funded CBC -- which coincidentally didn't include Crown agencies -- this epidemic level of sick days within the federal civil service annually costs taxpayers more than $1 billion in work not done.

That's an amount equal to the cost of the Liberals' boondoggle national gun registry that the Harper Conservatives finally killed off, or the HRDC scandal that rocked the Chretien government in the late '90s, or a little less than the yearly subsidy taxpayers give the CBC to stave off bankruptcy.

It's a huge pile of money.

And here's a little nugget from the internal Treasury Board report that will drive the private sector and the self-employed mad: In most federal departments, employees can bank their unused sick leave and cash it out whenever they feel the need.

The result now has federal civil servants sitting on a powder keg of $5.2 billion in accumulated sick leave.

Imagine the leverage that gives them and their union masters if they suddenly decide, en masse, to come down with the "flu" to orchestrate a palace coup.

The Harper government, which has budgeted eliminating 19,500 federal jobs over three years -- ironically a figure equal to the number of employees daily calling in sick -- has to deal with this rampant absenteeism hard and fast.

It's not only fraud, it's a time bomb.

And one that's already ticking.

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/06/22/fe ... -sickening

[Regina]

Again this is something my BIL has mentioned in the past and I believe Corrections Canada leads the way in this area.

[bootlegga]

2Cdo 2Cdo:

bootlegga bootlegga:

RUEZ RUEZ:

Imagine if soldiers had been allowed to wear pins like this directed to the Liberals after their cuts.

They went one better - they went to the media and complained about the "decade of darkness". That got far more exposure than some stupid little pins would have.

Having said that, if someone is dumb enough to wear it to work, they probably shouldn't expect to work at that organization much longer.

They went to the media when Chretein was no longer the PM. Quite a big difference.

Fair enough - but I seem to remember all sorts of complaints to the media by the CF while the Chretien was still in office (about helicopters, the MGS, ships, etc).

And let's not forget how stupid the CF made Chretien look by letting him be photographed with a helmet on backwards.

Sure, two wrongs don't make a right, but the crew on that vehicle should have been more professional and helped him.

[OnTheIce]

[ShepherdsDog]

The fact that he couldn't figure out which way a helmet went on his head.....speaks volumes.

[Zipperfish]

Regina Regina:

I think it's human nature to react like this, people are bitter.
My brother in-law is a CMA and a manager in the Edmonton office where many of the cuts were made. He survived but was told he needed to be back in town for Wednesday, so at the time he wasn't sure. He's mentioned plenty of times the entitlement many of them have and how little they feel they need to do once their protected. Last night he said many of them won't be missed but there are a few that were cut that shouldn't have been. Unfortunately with the unions as they are you can't pick and choose who stays based on performance and work ethic.

Well, I like to think that I as in the latter category. I was an environmental scientist working for the feds, so I knew my days were numbered. That's why I took my one-year leave of absence to serve here in Afghanistan. Sure enough, as soon as I got here, I got the letter that I'm out. Still, the severance package isn't bad. They said there may be work for me (I like to think that I fall into the your latter category of those who actually work hard and produced).

Anyway, despite the indexed pension (or "golden handcuffs" as it is sometimes referred to), I'm not keen about going back. It's just soul-destroying working at a place where many Canadians assume you're just sucking the public tit, and--yes--you get the distinct impression that those you work for don't particularly like you.

So, lots to consider when I get home.

[Zipperfish]

Bodah Bodah:

Why do you hate Canada Zip ?

.

U\Yes I do. That's why I moved to Afghanistan.

[bootlegga]

ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:

The fact that he couldn't figure out which way a helmet went on his head.....speaks volumes.

That no one bothered to help also speaks volumes...

[2Cdo]

bootlegga bootlegga:

Fair enough - but I seem to remember all sorts of complaints to the media by the CF while the Chretien was still in office (about helicopters, the MGS, ships, etc).

Other than troops bitching on sites like this I remember one person going to the media and he was punished accordingly by the military.

$1:

And let's not forget how stupid the CF made Chretien look by letting him be photographed with a helmet on backwards.

He made himself look stupid, it's not like putting on a helmet is figuring out quantum physics.

$1:

Sure, two wrongs don't make a right, but the crew on that vehicle should have been more professional and helped him.

Maybe they tried and were rebuffed by his security detail. We don't know if they did or didn't.

[ShepherdsDog]

oh ppffffttt. you'd have snickered, shot the pic and then informed him of his faux pas too

[bootlegga]

Zipperfish Zipperfish:

Regina Regina:

I think it's human nature to react like this, people are bitter.
My brother in-law is a CMA and a manager in the Edmonton office where many of the cuts were made. He survived but was told he needed to be back in town for Wednesday, so at the time he wasn't sure. He's mentioned plenty of times the entitlement many of them have and how little they feel they need to do once their protected. Last night he said many of them won't be missed but there are a few that were cut that shouldn't have been. Unfortunately with the unions as they are you can't pick and choose who stays based on performance and work ethic.

Well, I like to think that I as in the latter category. I was an environmental scientist working for the feds, so I knew my days were numbered. That's why I took my one-year leave of absence to serve here in Afghanistan. Sure enough, as soon as I got here, I got the letter that I'm out. Still, the severance package isn't bad. They said there may be work for me (I like to think that I fall into the your latter category of those who actually work hard and produced).

Anyway, despite the indexed pension (or "golden handcuffs" as it is sometimes referred to), I'm not keen about going back. It's just soul-destroying working at a place where many Canadians assume you're just sucking the public tit, and--yes--you get the distinct impression that those you work for don't particularly like you.

So, lots to consider when I get home.

Well, as I see it, you've got a few choices - go work for the private sector and make much more than you did for the government, but also work more hours and expect to be on call 24/7 - or go work for a non-profit, accept less pay and enjoy a job that is probably much more meaningful to you.

Another choice is to work in academia - like the government you won't make as much as the private sector, but the work can be much more meaningful. That's the choice I made and so far I haven't regretted it one bit.

Finally, the last choice is to become an entrepeneur - find something that you can market and sell. If you work hard enough, you might be able to gather a lot of wealth, but you won't have a vacation for a few years.

Either way, as Yoda once told his student - choose wisely...