Meet the new boss Same as the old boss

Well that didn't take long, did it.

Human Rights Watch denounces Egypt's ban on strikes and protests

Strike ban plan is a 'betrayal'

The International Trade Union Confederation has branded a plan to outlaw strikes by Egypt's military government "a betrayal of the revolution." It demanded on Tuesday that Prime Minister Essam Sharaf scrap the proposed decree.

Egypt urged to scrap draft law outlawing protests and strikes

Last week’s decision by Egypt’s military rulers to criminalize the kind of protests and strikes that drove Hosni Mubarak from office makes one wonder whether that country has just experienced a democratic revolution, or a military coup that rode into power on the coattails of the popular uprising.

The new anti-strike law does not prohibit strikes and protests, Minister of Justice Ahmed El-Guindy told a press conference today.

“We as a government believe in the right to protest as long as it does not disrupt work, cause chaos and are held through legitimate channels,” El-Gunidy said in the press conference held at the cabinet offices.

El-Guindy added that he wants to “assure” Egyptians that they still have the right to protest. He said that the ministry has noticed that chaos broke out during recent protests and strikes and that they ask the Egyptian youth to help stop some of the strikes, which are ignited by members of the old regime.

Since the law was approved by the cabinet last Wednesday, nationwide protests have broken out against a law that many believe violates the values of the January 25 Revolution. The Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions has organized a march for later today from the Journalists Syndicate to the cabinet offices in protest at the law.

Political groups and activists are angry about the law which bans strikes, protests, demonstrations and sit-ins which interrupt private or state-owned businesses and carry a maximum sentence of one year in prison with fines of up to LE500, 000 to anyone who calls for or incites these actions.

Many have claimed that the law violates all the values of the January 25 revolution, in which the right to freedom of expression was one of the core demands.

Another protest is to be organised in front of the Radio and TV headquarters in Maspero, in what protesters dubbed as the ‘Friday of Cleansing.” They are demanding that all media personalities loyal to the old regime be removed. Already three were arrested this morning in front of the building.

Protesters are also showing their solidarity with students from the Faculty of Mass Communications at Cairo University, who have been protesting for two weeks demanding that Sami Abdel Aziz, dean of the faculty, steps down because of his ties to the former ruling National Democratic Party.

On Wednesday evening military police stormed the university's grounds and forcibly dispersed the protesters and arrested and beat several students.

On the Facebook page of the Revolution Youth Coalition, the group announced that this protest will be to voice their anger over “the military police storming of the Cairo University campus, cutting off the electricity from the mass communication students, the physical attacks on students, their professors and those who joined their protests, and the use of electric batons to beat them and throw them out of their own university”.

The coalition added that “the Egyptian people have sacrificed many martyrs to get rid of Mubarak’s repressive regime and they are ready to sacrifice again if their freedom is taken away from them once more.”

Egypt

Protesters took to Egypt's streets in January, demanding the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. Mubarak supporters clashed with demonstrators in Tahrir Square, which became the focal point of protests in the capital, Cairo. More than 300 protesters were killed in the uprising. Although Mubarak pledged not to run again, fired his government and appointed a vice president for the first time in his three decades of rule, the protests intensified until Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that the president had handed over power to the military.

Protesters have continued to demand that the military rulers carry out reforms. On March 19, Egyptians voted in favor of constitutional changes that include limiting how long presidents can serve and determining who can run for office. However, many opposition leaders said the vote was rushed. The military government has said it will lift the country's three-decades-old state of emergency before parliamentary elections scheduled for September. Presidential elections are slated to be held by November at the latest. Bloggers and activists have called for 1 million Egyptians to gather in Tahrir Square on April 1.

Wont Get Fooled Again

Class War Returns

Once again the right wing in Canda has declared class war, on the heals of the attacks on public sector workers by the Harpocrite government.

Premier Ed Stelmach's government should expand no-strike legislation for public-sector employees to blunt the unions' main bargaining tool in contract negotiations, says the Alberta director for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. Such a move, said Danielle Smith, would help deflate public sector payrolls. A national CFIB study examining the gap between wages paid in the public and private sectors at all three levels of government shows on average, public employees earn considerably more, especially when pensions and benefits are included. Federal employees get 17.3% more; provincial 7.9% more
A hiring freeze to shrink public payrolls or expanded no-strike legislation could help achieve that, she said. Now the question arises how politically realistic such measures are, given at the federal level, expanded non-strike provisions, as suggested by the Tory minority government, helped precipitate a putsch by the Opposition.

Dannielle Smith is a Calgarian like the PM, a former Fraser Institute student, a scab during the Calgary Herald Strike, a fellow traveler of the Canadian Reform/Alliance/Conservative party, do ya think this survey may have been leaked to the Harpocrites earlier than its release today to justify their attack on the public service unions in the fiscal update?

Once again the right wing ideolouges promote class war while claiming to speak for taxpayers, who really are not taxpayers but business interests who pay little or no taxes. The real taxpayers are the working class, especially those who are unionized and pay the highest taxes!

SEE:
Harpocrites Declare Class War
Wage Controls

Ed Stelmach Hires Scab

Union Busting Alberta Style

Tags
Harper, Conservatives, deficit, Government, politics, Flaherty, CFIB, PSAC, politics,Canada, Danille Smith, Economy, stike, wage controls,

Harpocrites Declare Class War

While pundits of the right claim the governments downfall is due to its attack on the democratic reform of public financing of political parties they overlook the fact the Harpocrites declared class war in their fiscal update.

Canada's largest federal union is planning to join a national campaign for public servants to support a coalition government and topple the minority Conservative government.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) is joining a number of groups, including the Canadian Labour Congress, to back a Liberal and NDP coalition after accusing the Conservatives of failing to provide enough stimulus to kick-start a weakening economy.
The decision comes after the government of Stephen Harper backed down on a plan to take away the unions' right to strike when it introduces legislation to limit public servants wage increases to 6.8% over four years.
PSAC president John Gordon rejected suggestions such a campaign violates the bureaucracy's non-parti
Mr. Gordon said the union was willing to restrain wages and do its bit for the economy when it agreed to the government's 6.8% deal, but was incensed when Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's economic statement offered no stimulus package for the economy and then heaped "another slap" on federal workers by taking away the right to strike and collective bargaining, rolling back wages of workers whose contracts were already settled.


SEE:
Wage Controls


tags
Harper, Conservatives, deficit, Government, politics, Flaherty, Budget, PSAC, politics,Canada, Surplus, Economy, stike, wage controls,

Concessions Don't Work

Concession bargaining is always a defeat for workers, it never results in any real gains, and is always presented by the bosses as the alternative to unemployment and job loss. Want job security give us back wage and benefit gains you have made. It is an example of one step forward two steps back. And it is the contradicition which exposes the fallacy that business unions are weapons to defeat capital, rather they bargain workers labour for a seat at the table of capitalism, but that seat keeps getting kicked out from under them and they are shocked.

Trades Unions work well as centers of resistance against the encroachments of capital. They fail partially from an injudicious use of their power. They fail generally from limiting themselves to a guerilla war against the effects of the existing system, instead of simultaneously trying to change it, instead of using their organized forces as a lever for the final emancipation of the working class that is to say the ultimate abolition of the wages system.
Karl Marx, Value, Price and Profit, Addressed to Working Men, The First International Working Men's Association, 1865.


As these news stories show nothing has changed. Concessions are demanded and plants still close. And the current crisis of capitalist credit is used as an excuse to demand more from workerrs in order for the bosses to capitalize their bottom line.

The union representing 85 striking and soon-to-be unemployed workers at Mercury Graphics Corp. has filed charges against the company for poor bargaining practices.
A major sticking point of plant closure negotiations is severance pay, said Cossar. Under the collective agreement and the provincial Labour Standards Act, employees should recieve two weeks of pay per year of employment. For people who have worked for the company for 25 to 30 years, that means a severance payment between $40,000 and $50,000.
The company has offered its employees $2,500 in severance, she said.
"It's an absolute insult to offer someone twenty-five hundred bucks for someone who has invested 25 years in a company," Cossar said. "It's appaling behaviour on the part of a company who didn't need to close down in the first place."
At the company's request, the union agreed to some concessions -- worth $300,000 -- to keep the plant open, Cossar explained. Mercury Graphics, however, wanted more, she said.

Court Rules in Favor of Wage Concessions for Frontier Airlines
Bankruptcy Court today granted Frontier Airlines relief it requested regarding its collective bargaining agreement with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT). The court granted Frontier's request for wage concessions from the IBT and adopted the airline's proposed heavy maintenance plan. Frontier's plan allows the company to furlough its heavy maintenance workers during periods Frontier does not require heavy maintenance work and recall these workers during periods Frontier has work available.
"Our inability to reach agreement on outsourcing heavy maintenance, given our reductions in fleet size, would have put Frontier at a competitive disadvantage and required heavier operational outlays than we feel are appropriate in this competitive market and in these difficult economic times," Collins said. "This ruling allows us to continue to perform heavy maintenance with our trusted employees, while providing us the option to outsource if court-approved milestones are not met."

Toronto workers to fight for 'sick bank'
Unionized City of Toronto workers will strongly resist any attempt to take away a perk that gives them up to six months' pay from cashing in unused sick days when they leave the job.
The issue of the "sick bank" – a relic of the days before short- and long-term disability programs – came up in 2005 contract talks, and management is expected to raise it again in talks due to start soon, said Brian Cochrane, chief negotiator for the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 416.
"We understand that they are going to try and take away the sick banks," Cochrane said. "To what extent we won't know until we hit the bargaining table."

Issaquah school unions file unfair labor charge
“The Issaquah School District is not negotiating with their employees,” Powell said. “The district is not negotiating in good faith. The district is demanding language concessions in our agreement that has nothing to do with economics and that our members will never agree to.”
If district officials are found, regarding either of the unions’ charges, in violation of state law by not passing through the cost of living adjustment and added health benefit increases, commission investigators can mandate that district officials pass through each, dating back to Sept. 1.
Neither union’s employees are receiving their cost of living adjustment nor their health benefits increase this year.
Each employee is paying an additional $25 per month to compensate for district officials not passing those through, in addition to their out-of-pocket medical expenses, Powell said.

Michael Russo's Sunday Insider: NHL players brace for concessions
Goals and assists, wins and losses are issues NHL players care most about, but Paul Kelly is giving his players a lesson on economics.
As the NHL Players' Association executive director began his second fall tour last week, one key topic was explaining why the union has decided to put 13.5 percent of each player's salary into escrow.
Under the collective bargaining agreement, players put money into escrow in case salaries exceed 57 percent of hockey-related revenues. If that happens, money is refunded to the owners from the escrow account after the season.
NHL revenues reached a record $2.6 billion last season, but because of the uncertainty in today's economy and the decline in value of the Canadian dollar (down to 83 cents against the U.S. dollar Friday), Kelly proposed the record escrow number.

It was the tactic of the bosses during the recession of the eighties. A recession directly caused by the neo-con agenda of Reagan and Thatcher. And both of them challenged the unions with state power giving the signal to the bosses that concession bargaining was ok.Reagan attacked PATCO air contollers and Thatcher the powerful Mine Workers Union. And again during the debt nd deficit hysteria in Canada during the ninties concession bargaining was demanded by Bob Rae and the NDP in Ontario of public sector workers, and in Alberta with Safeways demanding concessions and a 5% roll back from UFCW leading to Ralph Klein calling for wage and benefit cuts to Alberta's public sector workers.

Canadian unions, like their counterparts in most other developed countries, were on the defensive from neoliberal policies of wage restraint and fiscal austerity long before the crisis hit. Struggling with hostile employers – whose anti-union repertoire includes shutting down locations where workers are involved in organizing drives, to back-to-work legislation against public sector strikers, the re-organization of work processes and the deployment of organizational forms that are resistant to the control of industrial and craft unionism – unions were pushed back and forced to accept concession bargaining. Thus, they may not be in a position to successfully resist employers' pressure for wage-cuts

During the fifties and sixties wages and benefits for private sector and public sector workers, who actively fought for the right to unionise, increased. With the oil crisis and post Viet-Nam war downturn in the economy a recession occurred and the State attacked workers rights through wage and price controls. The latter being far less effective than the former.

Taking its lead from the state right wing think tanks like the Cato Instititue and Fraser Institute promoted the idea that their neo-con state could reduce workers wages and benefits increasing the bottom line by attacking the uniion movement. Their ultimate plan has always been to smash unions but when this could not be done, the bosses demanded concessions and claw backs from workers. The bottom line was to increase profits, the threat was plant closure or lay offs.

Even as the economy boomed workers were asked for concessions and as taxpayers were asked to bail out companies like the Big Three automakers. Who came with cap in hand in the eighties to ask taxpayers (workers by any other name) to bail them out. And returned again over the past two years as the market for their SUV's and Trucks collapsed.

The recent downturn in the economy is only an excuse to demand more concessions, and whipsaw workers by moving jobs out of Canada. Here is another reason we need to nationalize the auto industry under workers control. Clearly tax investments as well as concessions do not mean job protection nor are they an industrial strategy.

Navistar to slash jobs at Ontario truck plant
TORONTO, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Navistar International Corp confirmed on Thursday it will lay off as many as 499 workers at its Chatham, Ontario, truck plant early next year due to deteriorating market conditions.
The union and the company squared off in 2003 when Navistar said it was going to close the plant in Chatham, which is about 65 kilometers (40 miles) east of Detroit and has a population of about 100,000, and move production to Mexico.
In the end, the CAW said it agreed to significant concessions to keep the plant in Ontario and the federal and provincial governments kicked in C$65 million ($54.6 million) to sweeten the pot.
"We had an incredible struggle five or six years ago in that community to save that manufacturing plant," said CAW President Ken Lewenza.
"We believe it (the layoff announcement) violates the spirit of the agreement that we struck," he said, adding that the company now plans to increase production in Mexico.

Ontario could claw back investment in Chatham truck plant
Navistar International Corp. "will pay" if hundreds of job cuts at its truck plant in southwestern Ontario violate the terms of a government bailout agreement it signed five years ago, Economic Development Minister Michael Bryant vowed Thursday.
The Illinois-based company (NYSE: NAV) received millions of taxpayer dollars to keep open the plant in Chatham, Ont., and will have to pay some of that back if it fails to live up to its end of the deal, Bryant said.
"There is an agreement in place. Taxpayer dollars have been spent," he said.
"Navistar has to fulfil their obligations, which is what we want them to do. But if they don't, we will enforce that contract and we will make them pay."
The job cuts announced Wednesday will affect 470 employees at the Navistar-owned International Truck and Engine Corp., which faced closure in 2003 during a downturn in the heavy-truck market.
The layoffs start Jan. 31 and will leave the plant with about 400 employees.
Bryant didn't provide any details Thursday about the amount of money the company received, the terms of the agreement or how much it may have to repay.
But the Canadian Auto Workers union says International Truck received a $60-million government bailout package to remain open, along with $44 million in annual concessions from workers.
Bryant called the job cuts "totally unacceptable" and warned that Navistar would face repercussions if the layoffs breach the contract it signed back in 2003 under Ontario's previous Conservative government.
"I'm sure that Navistar would not want to damage their international reputation by not responding to a government – provincial and federal – that provided millions of taxpayer dollars in exchange for investments and jobs," Bryant said.
"What's important here is that taxpayer dollars are spent as they are supposed to be. But there is no free lunch, I say to Navistar, when it comes to investments in the province of Ontario."
NDP Leader Howard Hampton dismissed Bryant's remarks as "nothing more than media spin" as the province continues to be hammered by massive job losses in its troubled manufacturing sector.
The governing Liberals invested $235 million to help General Motors (NYSE: GM), only to see thousands of workers laid off, he said.


tags
MGuinty, GM, concesssion bargaining, unions, trade union, Marx, Ontario, Corporate Welfare, Canada, cars, automobilie, production, taxes, taxcredit, investment, environment, hybrid, self-valorization,, self-management,, workers control,, autoworkers,, Buzz Hargrove,,CAW, Big Three Auto,, libertarian socialism, automobile, Frank Stronach, Magna, business unions, auto parts, workers, layoffs, plant-closings, workers-control, unions, labour, Canada

Daveberta Smears NDP

Daveberta the liberal blogger thinks he has found a scandal in the NDP calling for an end to corporate and union donations to political parties in Alberta. He reports in high dudgeon on his website that the NDP raised $100,000 from unions during the election campaign of 2004.

However the majority of funds raised during the campaign, as is usual with the NDP, came from individuals for a total of $180,529.35 slightly less than twice as much as raised from union contributions.

Something he fails to mention. Now why might that be?

Because unlike his former employer the Liberal Party of Alberta, the NDP gets the majority of its donations from individuals. And of course unlike the Liberals none from the big corporations in Alberta. So he has to pretend that union funding of the NDP is somehow scandalous.

Elections Alberta > Financial Disclosure > Parties > Alberta New Democrats

2005
POLITICAL PARTY
CAMPAIGN RETURN
ALBERTA NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY

SUMMARY OF CAMPAIGN PERIOD REVENUE AND EXPENDITURES
FOR THE PERIOD October 25, 2004 - January 24, 2005

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM CORPORATIONS

ALBERTA BUILDING TRADES COUNCIL INC.

EDMONTON

$7,000.00

Cash

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM TRADE UNIONS
ALBERTA & NWT REGIONAL COUNCIL OF CARPENTERS	EDMONTON	$1,000.00			Cash
ALBERTA & NWT REGIONAL COUNCIL OF CARPENTERS	EDMONTON	$2,400.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$3,400.00
AREA CNCL PAC STEELWORKERS TORONTO	TORONTO - ONTARIO		$500.00		Cash
AREA COUNCIL C E P	EDMONTON		$1,000.00		Cash
C A W CANADA			$8,000.00		Cash
C E C U	EDMONTON		$1,000.00		Cash
C E P NATIONAL	EDMONTON	$4,000.00			Cash
C E P NATIONAL	EDMONTON	$7,000.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$11,000.00
C L C	EDMONTON		$10,000.00		Cash
C M P L			$5,000.00		Cash
C S U	EDMONTON		$1,000.00		Cash
C U P E	EDMONTON		$5,000.00		Cash
CANADIAN COUNCIL A T U			$2,500.00		Cash
DISTRICT # 3 U S W A	BURNABY - B.C.		$500.00		Cash
EDMONTON FIRE FIGHTERS UNION	EDMONTON	$2,000.00			Cash
EDMONTON FIRE FIGHTERS UNION	EDMONTON	$2,000.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$4,000.00
EDMONTON LABOUR COUNCIL	EDMONTON		$750.00		Cash
IRONWORKERS LOCAL 720	EDMONTON		$3,000.00		Cash
LOCAL 1118 U F C W	RED DEER		$500.00		Cash
LOCAL 183 U N A	EDMONTON		$1,000.00		Cash
LOCAL 1900 C E P	EDMONTON		$500.00		Cash
LOCAL 569 ATU	EDMONTON		$3,000.00		Cash
LOCAL 6034 U S W A	CALGARY		$500.00		Cash
LOCAL 855 C E P	HINTON		$2,000.00		Cash
U T U	EDMONTON		$1,500.00		Cash
UNITED ASSOC OF PLUMBERS & PIPEFITTERS - LOCAL 488	EDMONTON		$14,000.00		Cash
UNITED NURSES OF ALBERTA	EDMONTON		$500.00		Cash
UNITED STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA PAC	TORONTO - ONTARIO		$500.00		Cash
WORKERS UNION TELECOMMUNICATIONS	EDMONTON	$10,000.00			Cash
WORKERS UNION TELECOMMUNICATIONS	EDMONTON	$50.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$10,050.00
YELLOWHEAD LABOUR COUNCIL	HINTON		$500.00		Cash
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATIONS
MEDICINE HAT LABOUR COUNCIL	MEDICINE HAT		$1,500.00		Cash

But what daveberta does not he tell us is how much corporations donated to his former employer the Liberal Party of Alberta during the election campaign. Count all the oil companies. Which you will not find donating to the NDP. Which of course is the whole point ain't it Dave.And note the corporate donations to the Liberals far exceed the union donations to the NDP for the same election campaign.

Elections Alberta > Financial Disclosure > Parties > Alberta Liberal Party

2005
POLITICAL PARTY
CAMPAIGN RETURN
ALBERTA LIBERAL PARTY

SUMMARY OF CAMPAIGN PERIOD REVENUE AND EXPENDITURES
FOR THE PERIOD October 25, 2004 - January 24, 2005

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM CORPORATIONS
ALBERTA VIEWS	CALGARY		$15,000.00		Cash
ALL WEATHER WINDOWS LTD	EDMONTON		$500.00		Cash
AMEC INC	OAKVILLE - ONTARIO		$2,500.00		Cash
ATCO GROUP	CALGARY		$5,000.00		Cash
BELL WEST	CALGARY		$3,000.00		Cash
BREWSTER TRANSPORTATION AND TOURS	BANFF		$500.00		Cash
CANADIAN NATIONAL	MONTREAL - QUEBEC		$3,000.00		Cash
CIBC	TORONTO - ONTARIO		$5,000.00		Cash
COHOS EVAMY	CALGARY		$1,000.00		Cash
DAVID B. ROSS PROF CORP	EDMONTON		$500.00		Cash
DAVIS & COMPANY	EDMONTON		$1,000.00		Cash
DON WHEATON LTD	EDMONTON		$5,000.00		Cash
DOW CHEMICAL CANADA INC	SARNIA - ONTARIO		$5,000.00		Cash
EDCO FINANCIAL HOLDINGS LTD	CALGARY		$2,500.00		Cash
ENBRIDGE PIPELINES INC	EDMONTON		$6,000.00		Cash
ENCANA CORPORATION	CALGARY		$5,000.00		Cash
ESPRIT EXPLORATION LTD	CALGARY		$1,000.00		Cash
FIELD MANAGEMENT SERVICES	EDMONTON		$2,500.00		Cash
HOLE'S GREENHOUSES AND GARDENS LTD	ST. ALBERT		$883.00		Valued
HUSKY OIL OPERATIONS LTD	CALGARY		$1,000.00		Cash
JAMES A. BUTLIN PROFESSIONAL CORP	CALGARY		$750.00		Cash
KATARINA O. STERLIND	VANCOUVER - B.C.		$1,000.00		Cash
LAFARGE CANADA INC.	CALGARY		$500.00		Cash
LOVINK MEDIA INC	CALGARY		$3,300.00		Valued
MADACALO INVESTMENTS LTD	CALGARY		$1,000.00		Cash
MANCAL PROPERTIES DEVELOPMENT INC	CALGARY		$2,500.00		Cash
MANCAL PROPERTY VENTURES INC	CALGARY		$2,500.00		Cash
MCDANIEL COMPANY INC.	CALGARY		$500.00		Cash
MCNALLY CUMING RAYMAKER	CALGARY		$2,000.00		Cash
NEXEN INC	CALGARY		$5,000.00		Cash
NOVA CHEMICALS CORPORATION	CALGARY		$3,000.00		Cash
OCTAGON CAPITAL CORPORATION	CALGARY		$2,500.00		Cash
P.J. PERRY	EDMONTON		$500.00		Valued
PETROVERA RESOURCES	CALGARY		$5,000.00		Cash
PHS HOLDINGS	EDMONTON		$500.00		Cash
PRECISION DRILLING CORPORATION	CALGARY		$2,500.00		Cash
PRICE WATERHOUSE COOPERS LTD	CALGARY		$1,000.00		Cash
RBC CAPITAL MARKETS	CALGARY	$5,000.00			Cash
RBC CAPITAL MARKETS	CALGARY	$5,000.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$10,000.00
READ JONES CHRISTOFFERSEN LTD	CALGARY		$500.00		Cash
REIMER LAW OFFICE	CALGARY		$500.00		Cash
ROCKWELL SERVICING PARTNERSHIP	CALGARY		$2,500.00		Cash
SCOTIABANK	TORONTO - ONTARIO		$4,000.00		Cash
SUNCOR ENERGY INC	CALGARY		$3,000.00		Cash
TD SECURITIES INC	TORONTO - ONTARIO		$1,000.00		Cash
TORONTO DOMINION BANK	TORONTO - ONTARIO		$1,600.00		Cash
TRANSALTA UTILITIES CORPORATION	CALGARY		$2,000.00		Cash
TRANSCANADA PIPE LINES	CALGARY		$5,000.00		Cash
WESTERN FINANCIAL GROUP INC	HIGH RIVER		$1,000.00		Cash
WEYERHAEUSER COMPANY LIMITED	VANCOUVER - B.C.		$2,000.00		Cash
WILL CALL OILFIELD SERVICES LTD	SPRUCE GROVE		$500.00		Cash

Total: 99 Receipts

$206,496.74

Total Campaign Period Revenue $241,438.34

Corporate donations to the Liberals were twice as much as union donations to the NDP for the election campaign in 2004! Something dave forgot to mention.

During that campaign individual donations to the Alberta Liberals totaled $34,941.6 Ouch. Not even close to the individual donations the NDP raised, and this is the real reason for daveberta's faux outrage.

His party and former employer, relies heavily on corporate funding for their election campaigns. Unlike the NDP. And so his attempt to do a bit of political slight of hand, look over there NDP gets union donations. The reality is that if the NDP policy of no corporate or union donations was the law, it would hurt the Liberals more than the NDP. And it is a policy the NDP has adopted as provincial governments across Canada.

Daveberta was outraged that Ray Martin wrote a letter last fall soliciting funding from unions for this pending election campaign. However what he does not tell his readers is that the Liberals on an annual basis raise more funds from unions than the NDP does.

Here is the 2004 corporate donations the Liberals received, during their regular operational year. And lo and behold you will find unions donating to them. Including the Building Trades Council Inc. who donated more to the Liberals than they did to the NDP. And AUPE the provincial government union which did not donate at all to the NDP. And even personal donations from the Alberta Teachers Association president Frank Bruseker who was once a Liberal MLA.

BRUSEKER, FRANK	AIRDRIE	$500.00			Cash
BRUSEKER, FRANK	AIRDRIE	$100.00			Cash
BRUSEKER, FRANK	AIRDRIE	$20.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$620.00

Total donations from unions to the Liberals for the operating year 2004 was $47,675, while total union donations to the NDP was $14,000. So sorry no the NDP are not being hypocrites, they are calling for legislation that daveberta and his Liberal pals fear because it would limit their corporate fund raising including from their pals in the union movement. If any party benefits from union donations more than the NDP it's the Liberals. Because they lack the NDP's financial support which is based on individual contributions.

Mind you the NDP benefits from more unions donating to it, while the Liberals rely on their pals in the Building Trades, ATA, and AUPE to support them. These are unions and associations aligned politically to the Liberals as their donations show.

Elections Alberta > Financial Disclosure > Parties > Alberta Liberal Party

2004
POLITICAL PARTY
ANNUAL FINANCIAL STATEMENT
ALBERTA LIBERAL PARTY

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM CORPORATIONS
AINSWORTH LUMBER CO LTD	GRANDE PRAIRIE		$3,000.00		Cash
ALBERTA BLUE CROSS	EDMONTON		$550.00		Cash
ALBERTA BUILDING TRADES COUNCIL INC.	EDMONTON	$2,200.00			Cash
ALBERTA BUILDING TRADES COUNCIL INC.	EDMONTON	$12,000.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$14,200.00
ALBERTA FOREST PRODUCTS ASSOC INC	EDMONTON		$550.00		Cash
ALBERTA MOTOR ASSOCIATION	EDMONTON		$550.00		Cash
ALBERTA ROADBUILDERS & HEAVY CONST.	EDMONTON		$550.00		Cash
ALBERTA VIEWS	CALGARY		$15,000.00		Cash
ALLIANCE PIPELINE LIMITED	CALGARY		$875.00		Cash
ALTAGAS SERVICES INC	CALGARY		$525.00		Cash
AON REED STENHOUSE INC	EDMONTON		$550.00		Cash
APEGGA	EDMONTON		$550.00		Cash
ARTTEC ADVERTISING INC	EDMONTON		$550.00		Cash
ASSOCIATED ENGINEERING ALBERTA LTD	EDMONTON		$500.00		Cash
BOMBAY PALACE RESTAURANT	EDMONTON		$500.00		Cash
BREWSTER TRANSPORTATION AND TOURS	BANFF		$500.00		Cash
BURLINGTON RESOURCES CANADA LTD	CALGARY		$1,200.00		Cash
CANACCORD CAPITAL CORPORATION	VANCOUVER - B.C.		$1,750.00		Cash
CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF OILWELL DRI	CALGARY		$1,100.00		Cash
CANADIAN ENERGY PIPELINE ASSOCIATION	CALGARY		$875.00		Cash
CANADIAN NATURAL RESOURCES LTD	CALGARY		$1,100.00		Cash
CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY COMPANY	CALGARY		$550.00		Cash
CANADIAN SALT COMPANY LIMITED	POINTE CLAIRE - QUEBEC		$1,000.00		Cash
CAPITAL PACKERS INC	EDMONTON	$500.00			Cash
CAPITAL PACKERS INC	EDMONTON	$100.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$600.00
CARLYLE & ASSOCIATES	EDMONTON		$550.00		Cash
CARMA DEVELOPERS LTD.	EDMONTON	$550.00			Cash
CARMA DEVELOPERS LTD.	CALGARY	$200.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$750.00
COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS & SURGEONS	EDMONTON	$275.00			Cash
COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS & SURGEONS	EDMONTON	$525.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$800.00
CORIL HOLDINGS LTD	CALGARY		$2,000.00		Cash
DOUGLAS A. LYNASS PROF CORP	EDMONTON	$550.00			Cash
DOUGLAS A. LYNASS PROF CORP	EDMONTON	$350.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$900.00
DRAGICH DESIGN	EDMONTON		$850.00		Valued
DYNACARE KASPER MEDICAL LABORATORIES	EDMONTON		$1,000.00		Cash
ENBRIDGE PIPELINES INC	EDMONTON	$2,200.00			Cash
ENBRIDGE PIPELINES INC	EDMONTON	$1,000.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$3,200.00
ENER-WEST PROJECTS LTD	CALGARY		$550.00		Cash
FIELD ATKINSON PERRATON MANAGEMENT	EDMONTON		$2,200.00		Cash
FIRSTENERGY CAPITAL CORP	CALGARY		$1,000.00		Cash
FWD STEP RESOURCES	CALGARY	$500.00			Cash
FWD STEP RESOURCES	CALGARY	$25.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$525.00
GENERAL ELECTRIC CANADA INC	MISSISSAUGA - ONTARIO		$1,000.00		Cash
GRAHAM GROUP LTD	CALGARY		$1,000.00		Cash
HAMILTON HALL SOYES/RAY & BERNDTSON INC	CALGARY		$1,000.00		Cash
HEMISPHERE ENGINEERING INC.	EDMONTON		$550.00		Cash
HOLE'S GREENHOUSES AND GARDENS LTD	ST. ALBERT	$836.74			Cash
HOLE'S GREENHOUSES AND GARDENS LTD	ST. ALBERT	$50.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$886.74
HUSKY OIL OPERATIONS LTD	CALGARY		$2,000.00		Cash
IMPERIAL OIL LIMITED	CALGARY		$3,500.00		Cash
IMPERIAL OIL RESOURCES LTD	CALGARY		$3,500.00		Cash
INLAND LEHIGH CEMENT LIMITED	EDMONTON	$2,200.00			Cash
INLAND LEHIGH CEMENT LIMITED	EDMONTON	$1,000.00			Cash
INLAND LEHIGH CEMENT LIMITED	EDMONTON	$500.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$3,700.00
J.E. (BUD) MILLER CONSULTING LTD	KITSCOTY		$500.00		Cash
JAMES A. BUTLIN PROFESSIONAL CORP	CALGARY	$275.00			Cash
JAMES A. BUTLIN PROFESSIONAL CORP	CALGARY	$500.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$775.00
K P ACCOUNTING & TAX SERVICES	EDMONTON		$1,000.00		Cash
K P M G	EDMONTON		$550.00		Cash
LOCAL #8 SHEETMETAL BENEVOLENT FUN	EDMONTON		$750.00		Cash
LUSCAR LTD	EDMONTON		$3,000.00		Cash
LUTHRA LAW OFFICE	EDMONTON		$500.00		Cash
MANSELL PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSULTING SE	EDMONTON		$500.00		Cash
MCDANIEL & ASSOCIATES CONSULTANTS LTD	CALGARY		$500.00		Cash
MCNALLY VALUATIONS INC	EDMONTON	$550.00			Cash
MCNALLY VALUATIONS INC	EDMONTON	$350.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$900.00
NEXEN INC	CALGARY	$550.00			Cash
NEXEN INC	CALGARY	$2,200.00			Cash
NEXEN INC	CALGARY	$12,000.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$14,750.00
NICHOLAS PERELES PROF CORP	CALGARY	$1,000.00			Cash
NICHOLAS PERELES PROF CORP	CALGARY	$350.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$1,350.00
NORTHLANDS PARK	EDMONTON		$550.00		Cash
PARKER FORD & MACKAY SPECIALTY OPT	EDMONTON		$550.00		Cash
PAUL ZIFF & CO NATURAL GAS CONSULT	CALGARY	$275.00			Cash
PAUL ZIFF & CO NATURAL GAS CONSULT	CALGARY	$250.00			Cash
PAUL ZIFF & CO NATURAL GAS CONSULT	CALGARY	$250.00			Cash
PAUL ZIFF & CO NATURAL GAS CONSULT	CALGARY	$500.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$1,275.00
PCL CONSTRUCTION GROUP INC	EDMONTON		$5,000.00		Cash
PETERS & CO. LIMITED	CALGARY		$1,000.00		Cash
PHARMACISTS ASSOCIATION OF ALBERTA	EDMONTON		$550.00		Cash
PIPELLA AND COMPANY BARRISTERS AND SOLICITORS	CALGARY	$550.00			Cash
PIPELLA AND COMPANY BARRISTERS AND SOLICITORS	CALGARY	$350.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$900.00
QUALICO DEVELOPMENTS WEST LTD	EDMONTON		$550.00		Cash
ROYAL BANK OF CANADA	EDMONTON	$1,100.00			Cash
ROYAL BANK OF CANADA	EDMONTON	$2,000.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$3,100.00
SCHUMACHER & ASSOCIATES	WETASKIWIN		$825.00		Cash
SCOTIABANK	TORONTO - ONTARIO		$2,000.00		Cash
SECURITY LIFE AND INVESTMENT	CALGARY		$400.00		Cash
SHAW COMMUNICATIONS INC	CALGARY		$550.00		Cash
SHELLY'S ENTERPRISE LTD	EDMONTON		$1,000.00		Cash
SUNCOR ENERGY INC	CALGARY		$6,500.00		Cash
T. BOWEN & A. ROBERTS PROF CORP	CALGARY	$275.00			Cash
T. BOWEN & A. ROBERTS PROF CORP	CALGARY	$175.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$450.00
TALISMAN ENERGY INC	CALGARY	$550.00			Cash
TALISMAN ENERGY INC	CALGARY	$5,000.00			Cash
TALISMAN ENERGY INC	CALGARY	$1,000.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$6,550.00
TAURUS INVESTMENTS LTD	EDMONTON	$825.00			Cash
TAURUS INVESTMENTS LTD	EDMONTON	$1,000.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$1,825.00
TECHNA-WEST ENGINEERING LTD	EDMONTON		$550.00		Cash
TELUS	EDMONTON	$2,200.00			Cash
TELUS	EDMONTON	$2,200.00			Cash
TELUS	EDMONTON	$700.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$5,100.00
TERASEN PIPELINES INC	CALGARY		$1,225.00		Cash
THE COHOS EVAMY	CALGARY	$275.00			Cash
THE COHOS EVAMY	CALGARY	$275.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$550.00
THE TORONTO DOMINION BANK	EDMONTON		$2,200.00		Cash
THURBER ENGINEERING LTD	EDMONTON		$550.00		Cash
TRARION RESOURCES LTD	STONY PLAIN		$500.00		Cash
VINTERRA PROPERTIES INC	EDMONTON	$1,100.00			Cash
VINTERRA PROPERTIES INC	EDMONTON	$50.00			Cash
VINTERRA PROPERTIES INC	EDMONTON	$750.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$1,900.00
WEYERHAEUSER COMPANY LTD	EDMONTON		$550.00		Cash
WILL CALL OILFIELD SERVICES LTD	SPRUCE GROVE		$550.00		Cash
WILLIAM E. SEVICK PROFESSIONAL CORP	EDMONTON	$550.00			Cash
WILLIAM E. SEVICK PROFESSIONAL CORP	EDMONTON	$500.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$1,050.00
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM TRADE UNIONS
ALBERT & NWT REGIONAL COUNCIL OF CARPENTERS AND ALLIED WORKERS	EDMONTON	$1,000.00			Cash
ALBERT & NWT REGIONAL COUNCIL OF CARPENTERS AND ALLIED WORKERS	EDMONTON	$275.00			Cash
ALBERT & NWT REGIONAL COUNCIL OF CARPENTERS AND ALLIED WORKERS	EDMONTON	$1,000.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$2,275.00
AUPE LOCAL 50	EDMONTON		$2,000.00		Cash
AUPE LOCAL 9	EDMONTON	$500.00			Cash
AUPE LOCAL 9	EDMONTON	$200.00			Cash
AUPE LOCAL 9	EDMONTON	$10,500.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$11,200.00
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF BOILERMAKERS IRON SHIP BUILERS	EDMONTON		$15,000.00		Cash
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMST	CALGARY		$500.00		Cash
INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING EN	EDMONTON	$3,000.00			Cash
INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING EN	EDMONTON	$750.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$3,750.00

Elections Alberta > Financial Disclosure > Parties > Alberta New Democrats

2004
POLITICAL PARTY
ANNUAL FINANCIAL STATEMENT
ALBERTA NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM CORPORATIONS
629075 ALBERTA LTD	EDMONTON		$400.00		Cash
ALBERTA BUILDING TRADES COUNCIL INC.	EDMONTON		$4,000.00		Cash
ALL WRIGHT INFOTECH	EDMONTON		$600.00		Valued
LYLE S R KANEE PROF CORP	EDMONTON		$420.00		Cash
P GILL CNC INDUSTRIES LTD	EDMONTON		$500.00		Cash
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM TRADE UNIONS
AREA COUNCIL C E P	EDMONTON		$4,000.00		Cash
C E P NATIONAL	EDMONTON	$1,000.00			Cash
C E P NATIONAL	EDMONTON	$5,000.00			Cash
C E P NATIONAL	EDMONTON	$4,000.00			Cash
		Subtotal:	$10,000.00

So nice try dave, guess all those blogging awards and the ensuing publicity you get now as a political blogger have gone to your head. Next time you try a drive by smear full of righteous indignation get your facts straight. And before making allegations about union influence over political parties look in your own back yard.



SEE:

Diotte Endorses Mason and NDP


tags
Alberta, Premier,
Alberta NDP, Brian Mason, Ed Stelmach,
election,PC, Edmonton, politics, Conservatives,media, politics, Kevin Taft,
Alberta, Liberals, Paul Hinman, Taft,
blog, daveberta, Dave Cournoyer ,

Fire Democrats?

If they had done this; Fire employees that can't speak English? there would have been far fewer Democratic voters in the Nevada primary yesterday.

The Democratic Caucuses held in Casino hotels had to scramble to provide translators yesterday for the predominately Spanish speaking hotel workers members of the Culinary Workers Union.

The candidates have competed hard for Hispanic voters, who make up 40% of Culinary members and 11% of registered voters in the state. This week, Clinton and Obama unveiled dueling Spanish-language TV ads and dueling endorsements: Richard Chavez, brother of the late labor leader Cesar Chavez, for her, and Maria Elena Durazo — a top Los Angeles labor official — for him.

That is the reality of immigrant labour in America. It is predominately Latino's and not all of them are illegal. But the reality is that English is not their first language either. The nativist anti-immigrant movement of the Republican Right and Lou Dobbs and Company lump all Latino workers together, whether they are American citizens, guest workers or 'illegals'.


SEE:

Horse and Carriage

West Side Story

Sub Prime Exploitation

Farmer John's Robot


Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
US, illegals, aliens, migration, migrants, immigration, Latino, America, Mexico, latinos, , Lou Dobbs,
Congress, Congressman, CNN, Republicans, US Presidential race,
Barack Obama, Democrats, Hillary Clinton, Nevada, Culinary Workers Union,

Huckabee Scabs

Some pundits compare Republican Presidential wannabe Mike Huckabee with Democrat Presidential wannabe John Edwards, claiming they both are pandering to blue collar populism. Well no matter what else you say of him Huckabee is definitely a Republican.

Huckabee Will Cross Picket Line
to Appear on Leno

His blue collar populism does not extend to unionized workers just their unborn children.


SEE:

Huckabee: Paul is Dead.

Lieberman Endorses McCain

Huckabee A Red Tory

Republican Presidential Paul-itics

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Republicans, Leno, writers strike, union, scab, US Presidential race, Mike Huckabee,