Recall of the Saskatchewan Legislature Demonstrates Premier Brad Wall's Irrational ANGER Towards Organized Labour
Saskatchewan Crop Insurance workers are conducting a rotating strike because after 2 years of bargaining, they have been unable to reach a collective agreement with the Saskatchewan provincial government.
It just so happens that a lot of the province's farmland is under water as a result of spring flooding and heavy summer rains. In the midst of this scenario, Saskatchewan's Right wing Premier blew a gasket and has now decided that the people who check the forms for a crop insurance claim should be deemed as an essential service and the Legislature has been recalled to force them back to work and likely, impose a contract 'settlement' on them.
Brad Wall's letter to the Saskatchewan Government Employees Union borders on irrational:
"Call off this strike - at least until all claims for unseeded and flooded out acres are processed. During that time, the management of Saskatchewan Crop Insurance will continue to bargain in good faith and work to reach a negotiated contract settlement."
Even the Right leaning MSM in Saskatchewan is questioning Wall's irrational snit:
"Contrary to Wall's provocative assertions about protecting flood victims, crop insurance adjusters have no responsibility for health or public safety. In fact, we likely have never legislated back to work a bargaining unit that has so little responsibility for the public's well-being.
And having crop adjusters walking the picket line for slightly more than 24 hours doesn't constitute a provincial catastrophe.
The main duties for the province's 470 crop insurance adjusters' are to help farmers with three forms: the unseeded acreage benefit claims; the stored grain declaration; and the benefit establishment claim that counts the number of plants per square yard that have germinated.
While the forms are somewhat annoying and difficult to fill out, it's something farmers can do themselves. As happened last year, adjusters could do spot checks later. Given that the government also announced Wednesday that the deadline for all these forms would be pushed back to June 30, there is also no urgency.
Wall could have taken a more measured approach. He could have appealed to the better nature of people to do the right thing.
Instead, he chose to demonize union members as untrustworthy and to order them back to work - a move that was drastic, unnecessary and not all that politically wise.
After all, any calculated gain there is in showing a willingness to get tough with unions would be offset by the unease created among urban unionized voters. But Wall was clearly not thinking about the need for a big tent.
Instead, he let his anger get the best of him."
Acting In Anger Bad Policy
Regina Leader Post
Brad Wall's over the top snit is nothing but pre-election theatrics!
I'm not from Saskatchewan, and have never lived in the province.
During a visit to Saskatoon in the fall on 2007 I asked a long time resident to tell me about the Saskatchewan Party. He paused, looked me in the eye and said "same pig, new lipstick"
Posted by
sassy |
7:15 pm, June 24, 2011