#ellisdon

Traffic in the Greater Toronto Area, particularly downtown, has become so horrendous in recent years that it’s a challenge to go anywhere either by car or public transit without wanting to slit your wrists. I avoid going downtown whenever possible, but when the occasion is a childhood friend’s 79th birthday, it’s worth the hassle. For my big trip downtown, I was fortunate enough to snag a seat on…

EllisDon and Renzo Piano Team Selected for New Ontario Court of Justice Building Totonto_

On URBANTORONTO http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2018/01/ellisdon-and-renzo-piano-team-selected-new-courthouse

Salaries Bloated Under Wynne @OntLiberal @OPSEU #SunshineLise

Warren Smokey Thomas. Photo courtesy of OPSEU. (TORONTO, ON) – While the province has just released its so-called Sunshine List, the names and earnings of all civil servants who earn more than $100,000 annually, the president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union says it isn’t enough. It doesn’t show the whole picture, warns Warren (Smokey) Thomas. He accuses the premier, Kathleen Wynne,…

"Liberal and NDP MPPs have crushed controversial Progressive Conservative legislation that would have helped construction giant EllisDon."

"When [Conservative MPP Monte] McNaughton (Lambton-Kent-Middlesex) proposed it, [Premier Kathleen] Wynne said the legislation corrected a historical anomaly binding EllisDon to a 1958 agreement requiring it to use unionized workers only, which left the firm at a competitive disadvantage."

"But under pressure from union leaders, New Democrats, and some Liberals, the premier changed her tune, citing a recent Ontario Divisional Court ruling that quashed the decision by the Ontario Labour Relations Board tying EllisDon to the 55-year-old arrangement."

"Bill 74 is a private member’s bill put forward by Monte McNaughton, Tory MPP for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex, which would amend the Ontario Labour Relations Act to end the bargaining rights recognized by certain working agreements entered into before May 1, 1979 between an employer and a council of trade unions."

"This amendment would address the absolute bargaining rights electricians and sheet metal workers currently claim with EllisDon through a 1958 agreement."

"The Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) upheld the unions’ position in early 2012".

The Globe and Mail, September 26, 2013: Ontario Liberals, Tories seek to ‘ram through’ bill benefiting construction firm, Horwath says," by Adrian Morrow

Daily Commercial News, September 12, 2013: "Queen’s Park support builds to change agreement which ties EllisDon to using unionized workers."

"PC bills that would be pushed through include a measure that would free construction company EllisDon from having to use unionized labour."

The Globe and Mail, September 22 2013: "Ontario PCs aim to back Liberal bills in bid to set agenda," by Adrian Morrow

TheStar.com, August 30, 2013: "Ontario bill would give EllisDon relief from union deal: EllisDon is looking to the Ontario legislature for a law giving it the right to hire non-unionized workers and well as union members."

TheStar.com, September 9, 2013: "Kathleen Wynne and Tim Hudak agree EllisDon legislative change needed: Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne and Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak agree on one thing: helping EllisDon is about boosting business not campaign fundraising."

"That big-business political parties take their marching orders from the financial elite will come as no surprise to class-conscious workers. Nor will it raise many eyebrows that politicians and business executives circulate through a revolving door between legislative chambers, political back rooms, and corporate executive suites. But there generally has been an attempt on the part of big business, the politicians and corporate media to maintain a pretense of “distance,” so as to promote the fiction that government policy is determined by fair-minded august lawmakers weighing up the public good."

"Today, however, as the ruling class gorges on an ever-larger share of the national income and repudiates ever-more openly democratic principles and norms, such pretenses are more and more seen as relics.

"Thus, Matt Gurney, editorial board member of the National Post newspaper, cynically writes that the exposure of the Conservative’s pandering to a major construction firm is really no big deal. That Conservative support for Bill 74 was tied by senior party officials to corporate donations from EllisDon is not “as bad as it sounds,” writes Gurney. “The worst that can be said is that the Tories saw an opportunity to ingratiate themselves to a large company that traditionally favoured a rival party and thought it would be a good idea to take it.”

World Socialist Web Site, September 14, 2013 : "Ontario: The EllisDon affair, worker rights, and the political charades at Queen’s Park," By Carl Bronski