CANADIAN LABOUR-PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE:

PORTAGE POSTIES PROTEST PUBLIC PULL-OUT:

Postal workers in Portage la Prairie Manitoba, a small city about 50 kms west of Winnipeg, are protesting the recent decision by Canada Post to reduce public service at the main office in Portage. As the following from Portage On-Line makes plain this will not save Canada Post any money, but it is definitely in line with the long standing desire of the Federal Conservatives to destroy Canada Post, however much inconvenience that may cost smaller communities. Or, of course, is could be simply an example of "management muscle-flexing" whereby managers, who are usually as useful as tits on a boar, try to justify their existence by making a change, any change whatsoever whether it makes sense or not. Truly wise managers realize the futility of their work existence and cruise through to retirement while doing as little as possible and letting those who know the job get on with it. The Portage posties are represented by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW).

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Postal Workers Union Upset With Service Cutback
The recent decision by Canada Post to reduce the hours of its "Call For" services at Portage's main post office isn't sitting well with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

Todd Jarema, regional union representative for all CUPW offices in Manitoba, says they've been told the move is to bring the service in line with other offices around the province, but notes the union sees it instead as a blatant service cutback.

Jarema notes the folks who had been handling the "Call For" service will still be working in the building during those hours, so closing the wicket is of no real financial benefit to Canada Post.

He adds rural customers and business people who can't make it to the main post office between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. no longer have the opportunity to get parcels, registered letters or C.O.D. items after hours.

Jarema says CUPW has put together a mailer for affected customers, asking Portage-Lisgar MP Candice Hoeppner to try and reverse Canada Post's decision.

CANADIAN LABOUR-MANITOBA:

BIKES FOR FARM WORKERS:

As Molly reported earlier on this blog the UFCW Union recently won the first recognition of a farm workers' union in Canada, and it happened here in Manitoba. The migrant workers, located in Portage La Prairie, still have many difficulties, however, as the following item from the Manitoba Federation of Labour website makes clear. If you live here in Manitoba help out if you can.

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Bikes for Farm Workers:
UFCW Local 832 recently ratified a first collective agreement with the migrant agricultural workers at Mayfair Farms in Portage La Prairie. They are a group of approximately 50 seasonal farm workers from Mexico who come to Manitoba each year to work in the vegetable fields sending money home to improve the lives of their families.

Local 832 is trying to assist these people in more ways than just protecting their new rights in the workplace. They are also trying to assist them with their transition into the community.

Most of these Mexican workers came to Canada with little or no basic amenities. They live and work several kilometres outside of Portage la Prairie. Their transportation options are extremely limited and many walk into town each week for shopping, banking, etc.

These people would benefit from having access to bicycles. Union members who have a bike that is simply taking up space in the garage or shed are asked to consider donating it to this cause. It would be greatly appreciated and put to very good communal use on the farm.

The hope is that through this drive migrant agricultural workers can be provided with much needed transportation and a compassionate example of what being a member of the labour movement in Manitoba is about. If you can donate a bicycle, please contact Jeff Traeger at UFCW Local 832, phone 786-5055 in Winnipeg or 1-888-UFCW-832 from elsewhere in Manitoba. Or email Jeff.

LOCAL NEWS- MANITOBA:

GREYHOUND BUS MURDER- THE GHOULS MOVE IN:

As Molly has mentioned before it's probable that half the world has heard of the recent murder of Tim McLean by nutbar Vince Li on a Winnipeg bound bus. The murder had all the requisite cache- a totally random attack, beheading of the victim and even cannibalism. The story has provoked a spate of rumours, some of which have been disproved- such as the involvement of a female coworker of McLean's who he supposedly called Li out on for "hitting on". Another that hasn't yet been refuted is that the drug Ecstasy was being sold on the bus. Sounds like the good old "riding the dog" that Molly remembers from her youth. By itself Ecstasy is a rather benign drug, but because of the drug prohibition laws its sale reverts to the provenance of a criminal element that often cuts the samples with less benign substances.

All that is water under the bridge, and I'm sure that a lot more rumours will fly and be either substantiated or confirmed in the days to come. But, as might be expected in such circumstances the ghouls are moving in to (at least in their own bizarre views of the world) take advantage of the situation. The first such "usual suspect" is PETA, the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals. Now, these people are not the flakiest breakfast cereal in a box, but they come close. Unlike some of my deluded "comrades" from the self-styled 'Animal Liberation Front' they hardly ever engage in violence. It would, after all, interfere with the serious business of making money, like the infamous Greenpeace (the one referred to by those who have split away from it as 'Greenpeace-INC'). But they sure are masters of the stunt. Their latest stunt was to try and run an ad in the Portage la Prairie 'Portage Daily Graphic' trying to equate Tim's murder with the eating of meat. You can read the full text at their website - they still are shameless enough to feature it- even though the Portage newspaper refused to run the trash. A little quotation follows-take your Gravol-:

"Manitoba...an innocent young victim's throat is cut...his struggles and cries are ignored...the man with the knife shows no emotion...the victim is slaughtered and his head is cut off...his flesh is eaten. It's still going on!"

OK, PETA is one sick set of puppies. But there is a method behind their madness. They know very well how to gain attention, whether it be by gratuitous nudity, by the 'celebrity endorsement', from the usual vacuous crew of celebrities who haven't thought an original thought in a decade, and, in this case by giving gratuitous offense. The trick is that there enough people with disposable income (and sometimes those without who send money anyways-hey people like PETA aren't big into either shame nor anything resembling morality beyond their "righteous cause") who can be tweaked by such foul tactics to part with their loot. Like Greenpeace PETA ideologues make their living off this sort of thing. If you want to place them in a circle of Dante's Inferno put them in along with the "hypocrites" of the tele-evangelist crowd. Very similar indeed, merely a different set of "marks".

But speaking of the evangelist crowd, another set of ghouls has promised/threatened to come to Winnipeg to-literally I shit you not- "protest" at the funeral of young Tim Mclean this coming Saturday. The Westboro Baptist Church has to be some sort of Academy Award winner for religious cultism, even down USA way in the "land of the nut and the home of the cult". If you want to read the full story of these crazies see the Wikipedia article on them. You can also access their own bizarre website at the following (hold on to your shorts) http://www.godhatesfags.com

.No, I'm not kidding. This is for real. This group, which seems to be mostly composed of a very inbred set of relatives, has made it a speciality to disrupt funerals. These have been the funerals of victims of gay bashing, of victims of AIDS, victims of industrial accidents and (wait for it) funerals of US soldiers killed in Iraq. Yep, once more I'm not kidding. The idea behind the latter two categories is that every death is evidence of God's punishment for America's sin of abandoning Christianity as defined by the cult. After the mass murder of 5 Amish girls last year the cult threatened to disrupt their funerals, but was "bought off" by an hour of airtime on radio. Needless to say local Baptist ministers here in Winnipeg are appalled by the use of the term 'Baptist' by this group. The various "demons" of the cult include not just homosexuals but also Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Canadians, Chinese, Billy Graham, blacks,Irish, "slant-eyes" and a quazillion other targets.

Well, the cult is, luckily, more than slightly full of bullshit. They have often announced their intentions to picket and never followed through. They have a rather "full slate" in the upcoming weekend as they also have promised/threatened to protest events in Toronto and in Red Deer Alberta at the same time. No doubt "with God all things are possible", but it would still be something of a stretch for the Almighty to arrange for them to be in three places at the same time- beats "two places at the same time" hands down. In the USA ex-servicemen who have become bikers (perhaps a logical progression) have formed the "Patriot Guard Riders' to protect the funerals of servicemen from desecration by these nuts. Should the cult come to Canada's 'Murder City' aka Winnipeg one might imagine that they would meet a rather forceful non-biker response from locals (most of Winnipeg's bikers are either in jail or laying very low). But still...it would be a considerable risk. Hey baby, this ain't Topeka Kansas !

These nuts have inspired a lot of parody efforts. My favourite is the 'Eastboro Baptist Church' site (http://www.godhateseveryoneexceptforus.com ), but there are others ie

God Hates Fags (an English site)

God Hates Figs

God Hates Shrimps

MOLLY'S WICKED SUGGESTION:

Don't let this be a mere exercise in viewing the freaks at the circus. Look above. Molly has given the websites of the two ghoulish organizations that want to denigrate the tragedy that has occured here, and to profit from it. These buggers are open to protest on their sites, and Molly has already done her little bit. No doubt little of the response will be published in the case of PETA and none of it in the case of the Westboro Baptist Church, but you can still bug the bastards and give them a few hemorrhoids. Is this "mean" ? Well yes, but both groups have a modus operandi of always bugging and torturing others. It's all they do. It's about time this was turned back on them . Send your protest to PETA and the Westboro Baptist Church. Tell them Molly sent you, and pass this appeal on.

LOCAL NEWS/CANADIAN LABOUR:

GREYHOUND BUS DRIVERS' UNION RAISES QUESTION IN WAKE OF GRISLY SLAYING:

By this time half the world's population who have access to the mass media have heard of last Wednesday's grisly murder on a Greyhound bus near Portage La Prairie Manitoba. The details- a completely random killing, decapitation of the victim and eating body parts of same are just the sort of bizarre news that captivates the mass media. Sells papers (and TV shows and magazines,etc.) big time. Add the captive audience of passengers on a prairie bus, and you have the news media equivalent of the perfect storm. Friends of the victim, Tim McLean, who have set up a website for condolences have had to shut the open posting access down due to the number of ghouls who drop by to exercise their sick attitudes. The nutbar who did the act, Vince Weiguang Li of Edmonton who was reportedly (maybe) going for a job interview here in Winnipeg, appeared before a judge yesterday and was remanded until some poor court appointed lawyer had the chance("chance" says it all) to interview him. Li maintained a complete silence during the court appearance, refusing to verbally answer any questions posed by the judge. A psychiatric assessment was also ordered. As one radio news reporter commented, "go figure". Molly's first response to the news was her usual graveyard humour, but here is a more measured response.

It's been some time since Molly has had the "pleasure" of riding the dog, but she did it quite frequently in her youth. I doubt that the general picture has changed. If the bus is packed it's was a sure fire guarantee that at least one passenger was flagrantly psychotic (often up to 3), but these people were usually 110% harmless. Mostly they'd sit staring into space absorbed in their own delusions or, at worst, annoy anybody unlucky enough to sit beside them with incomprehensible babble(nuts never sleep by the way). They were always outnumbered by the drunks and the "generally nasty". The insane were usually the least of the worries.

Incidents ? Yeah I saw a few, usually quickly (or slowly and painfully over the course of 100s of miles of annoyance) resolved without the need for the bus driver to take a risk. Occasionally I participated in the "solution". But I did see a few times when the bus driver had to screw up the courage to intervene in the case of a drunk or a nasty(never with a nut). Sometimes the poor drivers have little chance. On February 16th, 2007 a gang of people in their 20s attacked the bus driver near Lloydminster Saskatchewan. This is one of the few incidents that have been reported, but, if things haven't changed since I was young, then actual incidents that are "handled" rather than "reported" are much more common.

The Amalgamated Transit Union represents bus drivers on the Greyhound lines, and they have been calling for improved security on buses for some time. See their website for a complete overview of this incident and what it means. See also the following article from the CTV News about what the company claims and what the union says. Greyhound's main arguing point when discussing security on buses for the last 1 1/2 year with Transport Canada is that such security is "impractical". So is getting off the bus minus your head !!! Isn't it about time that the Dog smartened up to what has been going on for decades ?

The article....

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Greyhound murder raises security questions
The brutal murder of a Greyhound bus passenger is raising questions about the bus line's security practices.

"It should be like at airports, everything gets checked, even your body gets checked," Maria Dueck told CTV News. She was using Greyhound for the first time on Thursday. "It should be the same thing for buses -- people should be safer on the bus; because now I don't feel safe."

Greyhound says the brutal stabbing and decapitation that happened on a bus headed for Winnipeg Wednesday night was a rare and isolated incident(anything to THIS level is, of course, "rare"but day to day "incidents" on Greyhound buses are hardly "rare", as I have pointed out above-Molly).

Right now in the U.S., the company does random wand checks, but they don't have that kind of security in Canada.

The company says it has been discussing ways to improve bus security with Transport Canada for the past year and a half.

"A lot of people have talked about airport style security; but the rural nature of our network doesn't allow us to have that type of security," a spokesperson told CTV News. "It's not practical for us."

The union representing Greyhound bus drivers doesn't agree. It says all passengers and their luggage should get screened before being allowed on a bus. The union says bus drivers would feel more secure and so will passengers.

Drivers and passengers commended
On Thursday afternoon the RCMP commended the driver and passengers of the bus where the murder took place.

"I also want to acknowledge the driver and the other passengers on the bus," Sgt. Steve Calwell said at a news conference.

"What you saw would and what you experienced would shake the most seasoned police officer, yet I'm told that each of you reacted swiftly, calmly, and with bravery. We commend you for your level headedness and strength in the face of truly extreme circumstance. "

CANADIAN LABOUR:

FIRST EVER CONTRACT FOR MIGRANT FARMWORKERS IN CANADA:

The following item is from the IUF. It seems that many attempts to organize seasonal migrant farm workers here in Canada(yes, we do have more than you might imagine) have finally born fruit- and it's in Molly's own home province of Manitoba. The United Food and Commercial Workers here in Canada have endured almost two years in the courts because the company, Mayfair Farms, of Portage la Prairie tried to argue that the people that they employed were not "employees" because their workers were supplied to them via the Canadian and Mexican governments. it didn't fly. On June 20 the workers at Mayfair Farms voted 93% in favour of a three year contract that their union had negotiated for them. Here's the announcement.

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Landmark Contract for Seasonal Migrant Farmworkers in Canada

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The first-ever collective bargaining agreement to apply to seasonal migrant workers in Canada has been overwhelmingly ratified by workers at Mayfair Farms, a fruit and vegetable producer in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. On June 20 workers voted 93% in favor of a 3-year agreement negotiated by the UFCW Canada, capping a 21-month struggle for union rights and representation.

The UFCW applied for official certification of the Mayfair workers' union in October 2006, when two-thirds of the workers - nearly all Mexicans recruited and employed through the Canadian federal government's Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP) - signed up for union representation. Mayfair Farms challenged the certification, arguing that the Mayfair Farm workers were not employees of the company, nor was the company an employer, since the labour was contracted by the Canadian and Mexican governments. The workers were therefore not to be considered as employees for collective bargaining purposes. The Manitoba Labour Board in a comprehensive decision last year rejected these contentions, invoking the language of the federal Labour Relations Act that “employee means a person employed to do work and includes any person designated by the board as an employee for the purposes of this Act.” Mayfair functioned as an employer in, for example setting hours and conditions of work. "Viable and meaningful collective bargaining” was therefore possible, the Board ruled, and certified the union last June.

The ratification vote for the collective agreement means, in the words of the UFCW Canada, "That for the first time a group of migrant agricultural workers in Canada have a grievance procedure, a right to be recalled each season based on seniority, as well as other contract language to protect them from being evicted from their employer-owned lodgings, or expelled from Canada until their case is heard by an independent arbitrator.

"Equal labour rights for migrant workers is now more than a concept. It's a contract," said UFCW Canada National President Wayne Hanley. "It shows the way for thousands of other migrant and temporary workers brought to Canada for agriculture and other industries."