[PEN-L:1950] Miscelaneous

[PHILLPS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

To Bill M,
  Bill, one of the reasons I haven't been on the net for some
coupleof months is that I was chief negotiator for the U of M
faculty in our negotiations with the administration.  We settled
a few weeks ago and I have been trying to catch up with my research
and teaching because we were on the picket line for three weeks.
At the beginining of the strike, I put a message on pen-l and
pkt explaining our situation.  Many of you responded from around
the globe petitioning our university president and our provincial
premier to respect academic freedom and negotiate.  In the end,
thanks in large part to the support of the international community,
we won.  We didn't win money -- we gave up decreases for three
years except for junuior faculty who got what we think was a
significant wage in recognition. (I should point out, that after
income taxes, some of our juniour colleagues made more on strike
benefit than they did in wages.  They would hav e been prepared to
stay out all year.)
  What we did win was the right and dignity, that when the axe falls
from our conservative government, we have the right to negotiate
what gets cut.  Now this might not seem like much -- but at least
we can protect individuals from being targeted -- like the economics
department (like yours) that was declared to be dominated by
Marxist-Leninists by the vice-president of the university (I was
insulted as a member of the department and a dedicated anarcho-
syndicalist (:-)).
  The interesting thing was that, when we asked support from
the other unions -- the bus drivers, the auto workers (who represent
our janitors), the municipal, provincial, and federal civil servants,
the city labour council, the provincial labour council  -- who did I
miss __, they did not question what us overpaid, underworked,
over perked were asking -- they just asked, are you being targetted
by the Conservatives -(well they knew that already, since all public
sector workers were).  When we asked for their support, they said
yes -- do you need money.  We said no, just support.  When we put
up picket lines we were joined by workers from around the city, from
amoung our janitors, our secretaries, our bus drivers, who took off
their lunch hours, coffee breaks and weekends to join us on the line.
They never asked us what our wages were -- many of us make in a week
what they make in a month.  Some of the bus drivers even got
suspended when they refused to drive their buses through the
picket lines.  While some of our conservative academic colleagues
crossed the lines because they did not feel it was coposetic for
professionals to  strike (what crap!).
  I was never so proud of my fellow workers in my life.  They did
not ask for justification -- just, were we sincere in our beliefs
that academic freedom was threatened -- i.e. were our demands
justified.  When we said yes, they said, we trust you, how can we
help.  In all the years I have taught, worked, spoken at
conferences, etc., I have always felt more comfortable with my
labour friends, often more comfortable than with my academic
colleagues, and always more comforable than with business and
government officials.  Labour, ever when wrong (in my opinion) have
a dignity, nobility and purpose that I don't see in many other
segments of society.
  So maybe the French strikers aren't perfect.  Maybe we weren't.
But thank God they had respect for us as I have come to have
respect for workers, here and around the world.

To Doug,
  I don't think you understand the generation of the deficit in
Canada.  I am working on a book with a couple of my colleagues on it
at the moment but to be brief:  The deficit in Canada can be traced
to two causes (as, in fact, Statistics Canada did), to a reduction
in taxes to corporations and the rich, and to a rise in interest
rates on government debts due to monetarist policies by the
Bank of Canada.  Though the debt appears large, it would
decline rapidly with relatively moderate changes in fiscal and
monetary policy -- see the econometric projections proposed by
alternative economists in the alterntive budget from last year
with this year's version out shortly.  The long and short of it
is that Canada's debt problem is a deliberate creation of the
rentier/multinational class -- and is suseptible to relatively
easy reversal.  As to your comments upon the dependence of
Canada for its standard of living on American largesse, well
perhaps we should say, what a crock ...(:-))

It was - 37C yesterday, though a baumy -13C today in a blizzard,
so we can't complain about dirty streets.

Keep warm,

Paul Phillips,
Economics,
University College,
University of Manitoba.

If you like this weather, keep in touch.  The University of
Winnipeg may be going out on strike on the same issue some
in the new year.  We would welcome you on the picket lines.
Join the working class!