Striking Sick
The City of Toronto recently reached a contract agreement with two union locals that had been on strike for a little more than a month. There were a number of issues on the table during the strike, but the one that gained the most salience with the media and, therefore, with the public, was the employees’ sick leave benefits.
Before the strike, union members got 18 “bankable”? sick days a year, accumulated at the rate of 1.5 days per month. “Bankable”? means that, if the employees don’t use them, they can accumulate them over the years and then cash in up to six months’ worth on retirement.
Other municipalities had given their workers similar benefits, but most have already gotten rid of it. And the benefit is, at best, rare and, for all I know, possibly nonexistent in the private sector.
In the end, the settlement reached by the union and the City of Toronto allowed existing workers the choice of keeping the old sick day plan or giving up that plan, immediately cashing in a portion of their accumulated sick days and transferring to a short-term disability plan at that point. The short-term disability plan is designed to cover sick employees, if necessary, until they’ve been off long enough to qualify for their long-term disability plan.
The old bankable sick day option will not be available to new employees. They will all go on the short-term disability plan.
After the strike, it came out that employees continued to accumulate both sick days and vacation days while they were on strike. Excuse me? Is that a joke? They were given their normal allotment of sick days and vacation days for the more than a month they refused to work for city.
Huh? Benefits for not working? Sounds sweet. How the hell do I get in on that deal?
I’m 56 years old; I’ve lived in Toronto all my life; and I’ve never worked for the city. By now I should have accumulated enough sick days and vacation days to retire.
Categorised as: Toronto
Sounds like the union has a nut hold on the city gov’t. there. You can bet your butt, if you want to do that, nobody in negotiations went home without something in their pockets-good or bad. Only the citizens get screwed on that deal, but at least your garbage is being picked up now.
Redraider: Yes, the streets were cleaned over the weekend–with plenty of overtime paid. And the first regular garbage pick-up was today for those whose regular day is today (yesterday was a holiday here). And, yes, us good citizens probably got screwed on the deal.
But, no, I’m not going to bet my butt. I only bet things I’m willing to lose. Now, a pound or two off my butt … that I might bet.
Aren’t unions just fantastic?
Chris: Yup, can’t live without them, can’t … wait … how does the rest of that go?
I truly believe that unions once did great things, that they provided a mechanism to undo oppression for people who didn’t realize the power they really had.
I’ve thought, for some time, that their day has come and gone.
Stephanie Barr: Agreed.
I agree with Stephanie Unions once balenced the playing field for the working class now its just used to blackmail companies. Its no wonder so many move their factories to other countries to get cheap employment.
April: That makes three of us.
Why can’t these idiots do what everyone else does and *pretend* to be sick to use up their allocation? At the very least?
Tiggy: Idiots? They’re the ones that were able to get this sweetheart deal in the first place. And, at least for existing employees, they were able to hold on to their benefits and increase their wages, while all around them workers elsewhere are losing theirs. I’d say it’s not them who are idiots, it’s the city that’s an idiot.
megscole64: Sounds like you’ve got a great employer. Then again, there is that layoff thing. On a personal note, my employer is an absolute bastard. He doesn’t give me paid sick days or vacation days. If I don’t work, I don’t get paid, regardless of the reason for me not working. If business turns down, he immediately cuts my pay or eliminates it completely. I’m self-employed.
i’m pretty lucky in that my work does the accumulated sick leave thing and we also have short term and long term disability. But I’m also not part of a union and don’t work for the government. My private employer offers these things as one way of attracting good workers. I can’t imagine any of us even talking about “striking” … it would be too ridiculous to even talk about.
We’re also not as lucky as the union workers … we get laid off. They laid off 400+ workers in April. But we’re now leaner and meaner and hopefully will be able to maintain our market presence and succeed. That’s what efficiency does.
I hate unions. Even my husband’s union.
hey wait Joel – about what you’re telling megscole64 – isn’t small business supposed to be the miracle of the business world for job creation and innovation and the greatest place to work?
David: Oh yeah, I forgot.
I like the concept of bankable sick days; I don’t think such a system exists in the UK. However I use to appreciate the extra 4 weeks sick holidays I use to get every year and didn’t I deserve them. I suppose that’s one of the perks of having a good union, without them most employers would just try to screw employees as much as possible.
William Wallace: Then again, with unions the employees’ union just try to screw employers as much as possible.
My first experience with unions came three years ago. I’d moved up in the college to Partial Load, which meant I now had the protection of the union. As I signed the papers I told the HR woman, “Watch — I’ll be on strike in six months.”
It took five.
I almost lost my apartment, and during the strike a professor at another college got so worked up by the union rhetoric he threw himself onto the hood of a car that was inching its way into the parking lot for an evening class (not connected to the union at all), rolled off, cracked his head on the pavement, and died later that night. Just to be clear, the driver had his young child with him and the security footage shows that his car was barely moving — but the union leaders had told their minions that all cars had to be delayed at least five minutes, no matter what. (At the parking lot I was “guarding” I kept change in my pocket in case they needed it to open the gate.)
The next semester I was dropped down to part time again, and hence had no union protection. This lasted until this year when once again, come September, I will be partial load and have the power of the union protecting me. And of course, they’re talking about going on strike again. If they do, I doubt I’ll be able to keep the apartment. We’re going to try moving to some cheapo place before the strike while we still may have money to move.
With protection like this, who needs enemies?
During the 2006 strike I wrote a series of commentaries — until the increasing failure to pay my rent stripped me of my remaining sense of humour. In view of your recent post, I’ve reprinted them on a separate page in my blog (Strike Days)
Frank Lee MeiDere: Good luck with that strike–or rather in avoiding a strike. Maybe you could get some work up at York. So, remind me again, who are the unions protecting?