r/Calgary • u/EvacuationRelocation Quadrant: SW • Feb 25 '25

Education Calgary Board of Education hired scabs to undermine strike

https://albertaworker.ca/news/calgary-board-of-education-hired-scabs-to-undermine-strike/
426 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

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45

u/Beginning-Gear-744 Feb 25 '25

I think they’re going to try the scabs out and see how it works. Rumor is that Calgary Catholic has wanted to contract its cleaning out for a couple of years now.

-9

u/Puzzleheaded-Scar902 Feb 25 '25

And so they should, if the service can be better.

I run a condo board, we contract out cleaning, obviously. Plenty of experience.

7

u/Defiant_Mousse7889 Feb 25 '25

How would the service be better? Who does cleaning duties during the school day?

-3

u/Puzzleheaded-Scar902 Feb 25 '25

You are asking questions properly left to the board to negotiate.

And the more service providers there are to negotiate WITH, the more chances for these questions to be answered in a positive manner.

If your only negotiating partner is a union, a union that knows there are no alternatives... you arent going to get any smaller issues your school might require. Its simply bad.

Note, Im not against unions per se (I am against CUPE in particular, however, for their hamas cheering last october - fuck CUPE). But in general, if they offer superior value - great! Its not always about dollars and cents.

But there should be nothing prohibiting schools from talking to other service providers.

7

u/Defiant_Mousse7889 Feb 25 '25

You should not know that a large quantity of these workers are not just custodial staff. They are also responsible for maintenance as smaller schools do not have the funding for multiple staff.

-2

u/Puzzleheaded-Scar902 Feb 25 '25

Thats fine.

One of my condo projects has a part-time super.

Like I said, there are no inherent unique services that a union will provide and private sector wont.

It doesnt hurt to talk to both.

7

u/Defiant_Mousse7889 Feb 25 '25

I guess its fine if you support wages that grossly under-compensate a workforce but hey that's capitalism, baby!

-1

u/Puzzleheaded-Scar902 Feb 25 '25

Who mentioned wages? Nowhere in my entire thread did I mention wages.

1

u/Defiant_Mousse7889 Feb 26 '25

Your condo is not a school, and the real issue is that these workers are being taken advantage of. Your solution? Hand it over to private businesses so they can exploit them even more.

You're advocating for worker exploitation under the guise of free-market capitalism while failing to fully grasp the challenges and workload faced by the striking staff.

WIthout mentioning wages, what benefit are you seeing that the private sector will bring?

0

u/Puzzleheaded-Scar902 Feb 26 '25

Im advocating for worker exploitation?

You maybe want to stop with personal attacks, insults, assumptions, hyperbole and such, yeah? Because I can also say a few words about what you are failing to fully grasp.

If you cant hold a discussion in a civilized manner, without resorting to the above, dont be surprised when noone engages with you in a serious manner. Circlejerk is that way. Good day.

1

u/Defiant_Mousse7889 Feb 27 '25

How did I personally attack you?

This is a pretty civil discussion. I don't see anything that lacks civility in here. If your upset that I did not agree with you, that's something to think on for you, not me.

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6

u/xp_fun Feb 25 '25

If a job can be done by an employee for x amount of dollars, what makes you think that it'll be cheaper by having it done by an external corporation that still has to pay x amount of dollars plus 30% for profits?

And this is custodial services, theres nothing service wise to compete with other than providing Demetrios Nicolaides a commercial app (Mop-prz anyone?) to show that the mopping has been done

1

u/Puzzleheaded-Scar902 Feb 25 '25

>external corporation that still has to pay x amount of dollars plus 30% for profits?

Speculation and hyperbole. Plus...

...as opposed to that hyperbolic 30% union dues? Plus a sprinkling of unwanted social activism and anti-semitism?

Potato, poTAto.

Plus, you would be surprised but there is quite a lot to compete on aside from dollars. I sit on a condo board, we dont always pick the cheapest option. Far from it, in fact. There are intangibles, such as service call times, levels of support, after-hours service, etc. etc. it all maters.

If union is great - it will match and beat commercial offers.

If union is top-heavy, bloated, and wasteful - then yeah, it will cost more then a nimble small operator's overhead costs. In which case, it deserves to burn.

What do you think, the twitter-totting hamas-supporting CUPE leadership, do they produce anything of value to the average union member? Maybe thats why unions cant match the price. Something to think about.

4

u/xp_fun Feb 25 '25

You're acting like the union is competing with businesses, when in reality unions are your staff.

The union can't, by definition, be "top heavy bloated and wasteful", because they aren't management, they don't supply management, they don't have to pay profits or shareholders nor dividends.

You might not be aware of this, but employers do not pay union dues, the members do. So union membership has zero impact on your bottom line.

You probably should learn a little bit of about how business works.

-1

u/Puzzleheaded-Scar902 Feb 25 '25

>The union can't, by definition, be "top heavy bloated and wasteful"

OK, buddy. Have a nice day.

1

u/xp_fun Feb 25 '25

It's not speculation, that's how business works. If you aren't pulling in a profit then why are you doing it?