Unions Infuriated By Governor General's Conservative Lifeline
Thursday December 4, 2008
CityNews.ca Staff
They heard about the decision from Ottawa and they hung their heads.
But it wasn't members of the Opposition parties thinking about what might have been.
These were reps from the major labour unions, who now fear what will become of their members as the economy and their job prospects take a dive and the government takes a holiday.
The news that the Governor General had agreed to prorogue Parliament for seven weeks may have put smiles on the faces of Conservatives, but for those seeking aid to the rapidly melting auto industry, it was the worst result possible.
They accuse Harper of not caring about the industry and the thousands of jobs associated with it. And they were desperate for the coalition to win, after the three leaders promised immediate help.
"Quite frankly, this prime minister has given those communities and our workers, their members, the back of the hat," gripes Dave Coles of the Communications, Energy and Paper Workers.
Ken Lewenza of the Canadian Auto Workers bowed his head in disappointment (top left) after learning of the announcement. "I think it's a very sad day for democracy in Canada," he proclaims, the pain evident on his face.
"I would say to the Governor-General today with the greatest amount of respect, that you made a very poor decision on behalf of Canadians," Coles chides.
The Tories are expected to hand down a budget in late January, but the union leaders say that's far too late for many of their workers.
Still, there was some good news for a few in the industry Thursday. Toyota opened its new plant in Woodstock, complete with dignitaries from the home office in Japan, Premier Dalton McGuinty and Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement - but not the Prime Minister, who was getting his request answered in Ottawa.
It's one of the few bright spots for autoworkers, with 1,200 new jobs and hundreds of other spin-off positions created as a result of the plant's presence.
But experts concede it's the rare silver lining in an automotive sky filled with clouds. "Unions had their peak employment at 1.6 million workers," reveals industry analyst Dennis Desrosiers. "And today it's under 400,000. So unions are going the way of the dodo bird."
But it's the Conservatives who the unions want to see extinct. Thanks to what happened at Rideau Hall on Thursday, that's not going to happen - at least for the next month.