Morning Brew: March 12th, 2009
Photo: "Pushing the TTC Around" by ariehsinger, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.
What's happening in the GTA (and sometimes beyond):
Unionized GM workers voted overwhelmingly in support of proposed cost-cutting measures that include a wage freeze (average pay remains at $34/hr), reduction in paid time off (from 80h down to 40h), and saying bye-bye to special bonuses. I'm thinking it's not nearly enough. In related news, Chrysler is talking tough and threatening to pull out of Canada entirely if the government doesn't come up with a massive bailout and workers agree to major wage cuts. I'm thinking it's too much.
Once every few years we get to observe to an act of lunacy at Niagara Falls. While yesterday's rescue of a man who went over the falls and survived pales in comparison to the 1995 fatal attempt that involved a Jet Ski, this one did have a rather cool helicopter finish.
Governments are scrambling a bit, trying to figure out if and how to regulate the newest in smoking technology. The Star has an interesting piece on tobacco-free "electronic cigarettes", a plastic tube gadget that emulates smoking and delivers nicotine without the smoke and tar.
--
A major operation targeting crack houses and drug dens on Queen East between Leslievile and the Beaches has netted a whack of crack and meth and guns, and has resulted in a bunch of arrests. The Post looks at the reactions of residents and local business owners to the cleanup effort by police.
The Toronto District School Board has voted in favour of cutting staff as a means of dealing with a projected budget shortfall for 2009-2010. About 150 positions (mostly educational assistants, librarians, and a few regular teaching positions) may be on the chopping block.
Ads depicting scenes from a violent video game are being yanked a week early from bus shelters across the city after concerned teachers and parents in Scarborough and Regent Park filed complaints. Sony has stated that they didn't have precise control over where the ads ended up, and that they're sensitive to community concerns.
Comments (34)
The electronic cigarettes are a major health improvement; hopefully after smoking one of these daft things for awhile, the smoker is embarrassed enough to quit.
@chrysler - k thx bye. It's getting to be where we could pay the workers AND suppliers to do nothing rather than prop up a brand which people just aren't buying. Throw the same money at Honda and Toyota on the other hand...
@crackdown in Lesliville - I'm not surprised, I've seen some pretty sketchy things going on at 8 in the morning on my way to work. Even just down the road from me, one whole strip off of Greenwood seems to be run with shady deals.
As for Chrysler...ugh. I'm getting sick of hearing about their bailouts. how about management cut their pay and take the hit for once. I look at companies like Ford who are putting out great vehicles, what's the big three's problem?
"A major operation targeting crack houses and drug dens on Queen East between Leslievile and the Beaches "
Also in the news, Toronto Police continue to ignore problems in Scarborough. Toronto's police chief issued a statement today:
"Project Banana has proven to be an imense success. We've ultimately acheived our goal of doing nothing to address the violent crime issue in certain parts of Scarborough. So far Project Banana has resulted in zero criminal charges at a cost of $0 and the hard work of 0 officers. We feel our 'we don't wanna' strategy has been key to making absolutely no progress in that region and hope we can continue this strategy in the years to come."
Okay, but in all seriousness, this just goes to show what some community involvement can have in reducing crime. Residents in places like Malvern need to read this and stop treating police as the enemy. You'll never see the situation below until then.
Residents’ complaints, police said, were directly responsible for the sweep, which put 17 people behind bars, laid 117 drug and petty crime-related charges and shut down at least four drug dens operating in the Queen and Coxwell area.
People were not comfortable living in the area because of all the criminal activity. It bothered the community to the extent that we had to do something about it,” said superintendent Sam Fernandes.
When we did many takedowns, we had the community cheering the police, because they were frustrated that nothing was done in some of the crack homes and crack houses in the area.
YOU'RE AN IDIOT IF YOU ENJOY GM SLASHING THEIR WAGES.
They make up only 7% and it's clearly an assault on the middle class. You might be a little jealous the factory workers make a good wage despite little education, but if you get rid of those jobs they are going to be sent overseas along with our economy. High wages weren't killing GM, making crappy cars was. You won't be too cool for school when you're competing against some East Indian brick layers for work.
And what does it say about you if you start your comment with "you're an idiot if..." in caps? ;)
I hope GM won't get bailed out. Nor the other manufacturers. It sets a bad precedent.
Let it die a natural death, the successful manufacturers like honda and Toyota will take over and fill the gap.
Bailing them out would just encourage them to make more shitty cars.
Also the GM workers aren't special, they are like anyone else in this economy (or should be) they don't need to be sheltered because they make more.
@Car Companies.
More Bailouts and Incentives. Getting $3500 cash back for turning in your old car for a new one? The $3500 is coming from the government, therefore from us. What are the car companies doing? How about you drop the price of a new car by $3500 instead of the government paying us $3500 of our own money to hand over to you.
Remember Studebaker, AMC? There are many many many car manfactures that have gone under do to ressions, hard times and bad management and we're OK. We've survived and the strong have survived. We'll be OK with out the BIG 3.
Check out this list
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_United_States_automobile_manufacturers
It's a little scary. Little by little signs of emotional and economic meltdowns are visible everywhere(*ie. Niagara story)
Woaw.. Andrew needs ta' chill. Go watch a comedy show or something! Here.. here's 10 bucks. Go!
I'm divided on the whole Ad shelter campaigns. On the one hand, i hate violent video games, i think they do warp kids minds. But on the other, they're the same as violent Film ads. Just that this Ad is "darker".
Whatever. Ultimately, the issue of parents involving themselves more in their kids lives is crucial. Advertisers have freedom of speech right?
The sooner we cut our losses the better. Great you found links to other news stories of negative times in the auto industry!!! What search engine did you use? Hotbot? AltaVista? Ask Jeeves? Google?
The best way for us to pull ourselves outta this is to be the first to cut our losses and drop the dead weight pulling us into this hole. The other countries and companies can continue to go down while we can be at the top of the hole ready to lend a hand to the rest.
Yes but Andrew...while those companies have posted a loss doesn't mean that they need a) a bailout and b) to restructure.
I get that this is a sensative topic for you and it should be. Domestic manufactoring is important and our economy and livelihood depends on it. BUT...there's a way to debate a topic (like this) and there's a way not to debate a topic (yelling, typing in caps etc).
People are fed up with the big three making ineffective vehicles that drink a lot of gas. That is starting to change. Ford is quickly realizing this. The other two need sometime.
This also doesn't mean that they should be allowed to continue the way they have continued. Bloated salaries, ineffective products and management that will not take the blame should be highlighted and changed in order to survive.
What a great suggestion! Any other generic tidbits you got for us? Maybe we should pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, because a penny saved is a penny earned and if's and but's were candies and nuts it would sure look a lot like Christmas!
P.S. It was Google.
So Chrysler is threatening Canadians that it will shut down its Canadian operations if we don't pay it a big enough bailout? And they'll skip out on paying all the money they owe us already?
I say we shut down Chrysler ourselves, then give ownership of all their Canadian plants and all their Canadian assets to the Canadian auto workers to run as they please.
Honda won't need the support.
Let a few of the manufacturers die and suddenly supply meets demand again. Why prop up an unsustainable business model, let it balance out.
I heard vinyl press shops are doing crappy, why not get the government pay $5 towards every record we buy.
Chrysler really made a terrible gaffe with this latest threat, I think.
Their intended message was: "We need the loan badly."
But all they've done is remind Canadians that the Big Three are NOT "domestic" companies. Canadians should now wonder why Honda and Toyota are not attempting to extort taxpayers in the same way.
Note: Even if these auto companies declare bankruptcy, at least two of them will re-emerge. It will be painful, and the resultant companies will be smaller, but they will be back.
I am also torn. Advertisers DO have a right to free speech. I don't want my child, however, seeing those games, TV ads and posters. So, i make choices to make sure she doesn't. But i can't escape her seeing ads on bus shelters.
But, being 5, she hasn't even glanced at them. And if she asked, I would just explain that it's fake, like Hannah Montana and Disney Princesses.
Parenting is the key, I mean, we can't control the message, but we can help put a healthy spin on it. Monitoring their intake, and helping them understand is our job.
----
Also, @Andrew, SOOOO not constructive. don't you know you are undermining your own comments and opinions?
I thought Chrysler was offering a free mechanic course to get free labour at their Brampton branch, but now they are pulling out? oh well..guess they are not happy in canada.
Why not educate your children to read ads and marketing materials intelligently? Trust me, you can't shelter them (pardon the pun) from these ads forever... and by the off chance that you do, the moment they are exposed to it at a friend's house or beyond your protective gaze, they won't know how to properly interpret it.
Children are INCREDIBLY intelligent, and can understand bias and marketing messages better than you'd image. That is, if adults give them the credit where it's due.
Andrew autoworkers and the auto industry are just like the rest of us and the rest of our industries they put thier pants on one leg at a time just like you and I.
What they need to do, is quit putting the horse before the cart and focus on learning to crawl, before they start walking or running with bailout money. But they've already got a leg up on us and are running too fast with an ace up thier sleeve and want this bailout money to keep going.
BUT they're gonna find out pretty fast what happens when you put your feet to the fire.
$34 bucks an hour for people with hardly an eduction. Stop complaining you unionized pigs and just feel lucky you make more than the average canadian.
@somechick
the $34/hr does not include benefits which bring them closer to $70/hr. See the problem?
These are NOT cuts of any kind. They are non cash future items which are of no help right now if the union wants to keep the company going for their jobs. True they aren't totally responsible but they share in the problem and as demonstrated yet again they ain't interested.
For my taxes let them solve their own problems. Left to their own devices they may find the incentive to do so.
That's what I'm trying to say.
But really, it's my job to filter. There is LOTS of stuff out there she need never see. And i'm ok with setting a standard of appropriatness in my home.
We are also organic, local food only, vegetarians.
She will run into lots of stuff I don't personally approve of out in the world, at school, at friend's houses. that's ok. it's ok for her to understand that we all have different rules and experiences.
I support the right of free speech in advertising. Will never call for a ban on any movie, book, game or Ad.
But we vote with our patronage and our dollars. Not participating sends a much stronger message than yelling and screaming about it.
In my opinion, of course.
If Chrysler is threatening us now, what is to say they won't once do it again once they get more money? F them, they're lineup is so poor they're not going to make it anyways. GM and Ford's offerings are miles ahead (specifically Ford's).
Oh and to the CAW members. Its nice that you made concessions, but its rather annoying to here about how much you are "suffering" by not getting a pay raise. I believe the 93% of the workforce that is strangling their employers via unions don't consider that "suffering".
@auto makers.
I am all for good wages for good hard working Canadians, but sometimes things are ridiculous. A girl I knew worked in a Ford auto plant as a summer job and made somewhere around $25/h from what i can gather. Her job: Paint inspection for the frames/floor panels. She was not part of the union and obviously had an 'in' to get the job, but $25/h to stare at frames passing by for paint defects should not warrent that kind of wage. My entire student career i have worked summers doing landscaping for various Canadian companies and townships and was happy to be making what i consider to be well above minimum wage at (maximum) $15/h. I think this is just another exaple (see: York U.) where union members want high wages but dont realize that they wont have a job at all in the future. Bottom line: its not sustainable. If the Big 3 die, think of all the indie auto makers that might pop up with cool designs specifically for city living?! electric powertrains!
Yes I know a few like that as well. Parents high up at Chrysler, bring thier sons and daughters in for the summer to be parts pickers 30/hr
Chrysler is DEMANDING $2.3 Billion.
To put that into perspective, thats enough to give $5,000 to 460,000 Canadians.
Why give that to a company that seems so hostile? They're probably going to end up like AIG and ask us for even more 2 months from now.
View More Events
Suggest an Event
Join the blogTO Flickr group
Join the blogTO YouTube Group
RSS