Challenge Issued to Dalton McGuinty
For the past week, Sonny has been part of the OPSEU strike against the provincial government and Community Living London. Sonny has been part of the picketing brigade.
This is all old hat to Sonny Drysdale. Some eight years ago he went thru the same thing in the OPSEU strike against London's Salvation Army Community Living in the now-legendary 'Battle for The Village.' That particular unwanted lesson in labour/management relations was a disaster from beginning to end.
But the current strike is a different story. Community Living associations are simultaneously going on strike together in solidarity throughout southern Ontario. The momentum is growing. By the time it reaches Toronto, the provincial government will have little choice in diverting money to Community Living budgets to pay its frontline workers more than the usual two per-cent raise we always get offered. And pay us the equivalent of what others doing the same work are being paid elsewhere.
The fact that there is a provincial election scheduled for early October only helps. When the Salvation Army Community Living went on strike there was about 100 of us out there on the picket lines. No one in the provincial government even noticed we were there. Mike Harris was the Conservative premier at the time and this man is a well-documented heartless bastard.
This time around, Liberal Dalton McGuinty is Premier and in preparation for this fall's election, he has been going around handing out millions of dollars like a drunken sailor. Unlike Harris, Dalton wants everyone to think he's a nice guy. And that ain't gonna happen if he doesn't come to the table with his wallet open and do some negotiating with the people who work with developmentally-challenged or intellectually-disabled or people with behavioural shortcomings. If Dalton ever expects to be re-elected Premier of this province again, he's going to have to do something and do it soon before he damages his already wishy-washy public image even more.
So morale on the picket-line is high. The will of management is weakening. It's all in the hands of the provincial government.
Not that it's needed right now but back in the days of the Battle for The Village, some of the strikers would try to boost morale on the line by making challenges to their fellow picketers.
Many men did so by vowing to stop shaving for the duration of the strike. I tried that but no one noticed so instead I stopped shaving my legs and armpits. I understand that in the Solidarity movement over in Europe, many of the women also do this whenever there is labour/management conflict. After a hard day of picketing, they will even show up on the beach that way. And not only that - but topless as well. It's a very European look that perhaps some of their Ontarioian brothers and sisters might think of adapting.
But that tradition of challenging your union brethren still continues today. Yea, it is as old as those eternally-burning flames in the ever-present fire-barrels themselves.
One young brother recently told me that he planned to wear the same blue OPSEU tee-shirt for the duration of the strike and not wash it once until it was all over. I was going to one-up him by treating my blue OPSEU underwear the same way. But I don't wear underwear. I like the freedom.
So instead, I am going to issue a challenge directly to Premier Dalton McGuinty himself.
Yo, Dalton! For people like myself, who live paycheck to paycheck, this strike is a matter of life and death. To the people we support in group homes, who are now being attended to by replacement-worker scabs with no experience, it is a matter of life and death.
So until you come to the table Dalton and make this strike your priority in your dream to be re-elected, every day until this strike is over, I (a non-smoker,) vow to smoke one entire cigarette every time I show up on the picket-line.
Think about it, Mr. Premier, do you really want your part in my death on your conscience and in the newspapers while going into an election campaign?
One cigarette for every strike shift I pull.
Another nail in the coffin for every picketing shift I do out there on the line.
That's my contribution to help end this strike. Due to the health risks, I don't suggest my fellow picketers follow my example. Some things you just have to do alone.
So there you go, Dalton. What will it be - life or death for Sonny Drysdale?
The ball's in your court, Premier.
This is all old hat to Sonny Drysdale. Some eight years ago he went thru the same thing in the OPSEU strike against London's Salvation Army Community Living in the now-legendary 'Battle for The Village.' That particular unwanted lesson in labour/management relations was a disaster from beginning to end.
But the current strike is a different story. Community Living associations are simultaneously going on strike together in solidarity throughout southern Ontario. The momentum is growing. By the time it reaches Toronto, the provincial government will have little choice in diverting money to Community Living budgets to pay its frontline workers more than the usual two per-cent raise we always get offered. And pay us the equivalent of what others doing the same work are being paid elsewhere.
The fact that there is a provincial election scheduled for early October only helps. When the Salvation Army Community Living went on strike there was about 100 of us out there on the picket lines. No one in the provincial government even noticed we were there. Mike Harris was the Conservative premier at the time and this man is a well-documented heartless bastard.
This time around, Liberal Dalton McGuinty is Premier and in preparation for this fall's election, he has been going around handing out millions of dollars like a drunken sailor. Unlike Harris, Dalton wants everyone to think he's a nice guy. And that ain't gonna happen if he doesn't come to the table with his wallet open and do some negotiating with the people who work with developmentally-challenged or intellectually-disabled or people with behavioural shortcomings. If Dalton ever expects to be re-elected Premier of this province again, he's going to have to do something and do it soon before he damages his already wishy-washy public image even more.
So morale on the picket-line is high. The will of management is weakening. It's all in the hands of the provincial government.
Not that it's needed right now but back in the days of the Battle for The Village, some of the strikers would try to boost morale on the line by making challenges to their fellow picketers.
Many men did so by vowing to stop shaving for the duration of the strike. I tried that but no one noticed so instead I stopped shaving my legs and armpits. I understand that in the Solidarity movement over in Europe, many of the women also do this whenever there is labour/management conflict. After a hard day of picketing, they will even show up on the beach that way. And not only that - but topless as well. It's a very European look that perhaps some of their Ontarioian brothers and sisters might think of adapting.
But that tradition of challenging your union brethren still continues today. Yea, it is as old as those eternally-burning flames in the ever-present fire-barrels themselves.
One young brother recently told me that he planned to wear the same blue OPSEU tee-shirt for the duration of the strike and not wash it once until it was all over. I was going to one-up him by treating my blue OPSEU underwear the same way. But I don't wear underwear. I like the freedom.
So instead, I am going to issue a challenge directly to Premier Dalton McGuinty himself.
Yo, Dalton! For people like myself, who live paycheck to paycheck, this strike is a matter of life and death. To the people we support in group homes, who are now being attended to by replacement-worker scabs with no experience, it is a matter of life and death.
So until you come to the table Dalton and make this strike your priority in your dream to be re-elected, every day until this strike is over, I (a non-smoker,) vow to smoke one entire cigarette every time I show up on the picket-line.
Think about it, Mr. Premier, do you really want your part in my death on your conscience and in the newspapers while going into an election campaign?
One cigarette for every strike shift I pull.
Another nail in the coffin for every picketing shift I do out there on the line.
That's my contribution to help end this strike. Due to the health risks, I don't suggest my fellow picketers follow my example. Some things you just have to do alone.
So there you go, Dalton. What will it be - life or death for Sonny Drysdale?
The ball's in your court, Premier.
posted by Sonny Drysdale at 2:27 AM
20 Comments:
Sonny good luck with it, but if I were you I would be getting the puddy knife out, you are going to need it to scrape your underwear off.
I remember Community Living London pushing to have the regional care facilities shut down, and the mentally disabled cared for in the community. They felt they could do it better, and cheaper.I remember Sanda Pupatello stating that they would be looked after. I knew then it was bullshit. The government (the people)do not want to pay to look after the most fragile in society.
All you have to do is look at the horrid inadequate treatment of the mentally ill living on the streets after they shut down the mental health care facilities, and realize it is a repeat.
I have a brother who is mentally disabled. I come from a large clan and we are able to provide for him, and look after his needs. We are very fortunate to have him. He has given us more, than we will ever be able to give him.
I know that not everyone can look after a mentally disabled family member. Society as a whole would prefer they didn't exist.
I do wish you luck, and I honk my horn in support when I drive by you guys.
Thanks H.P - horn honking is always appreciated.
Hang in there, Sonny. My brother also works for Community Living, and he's a little pissed right now. Even though he loves his job, he's been punched in the face by charges with anger issues, and when he tells me what he deals with over the course of a shift, I just stare in awe. I couldn't do it. I bow in respect to those who can.
Sonny Drysdale for Middlesex-London Medical Officer of Health!
Honey Pot Sugar Scoop for Executive Director of the Intercommunity Health Centre!
Kid Dork for London Regional Senior Proctologist and Personal Masseuse to Anna Maria DeCheeko!
Butch - I'd love to have Dr. Graham Poulet's job. First thing I'd do is ban bats from baseball (including at Labatt's Park) - because they can be used as a potential weapon in domestic violence situations. I've seen 'The Flintstones.' I'd also ban frying pans for the same reason.
KD - I know the group home your brother works in. He and his colleques have the patience of saints.
I've met Dr. Pollett on several occasions and like him.
Being the Medical Officer of Health for any community is an onerous position as it carries an added statutory responsibility (that few people know about or understand) to protect the health of the people within the jurisdiction by taking advance precautions before "the shit actually hits the fan."
This statutory responsibility is over and above the normal professional standards of most other public officials.
And trust me, Sonny Drysdale will live on regardless of the outcome of the strike.
Talk to Herman about precarious career positions and many other individuals for that matter, who've had to literally scramble to make ends meet month to month for most of their working lives, without the comfort of the same job for 30 years.
Once you've survived such conditions for a few decades, anything else thrown your way seems like a fucking cakewalk.
I used to be fearful of 800-pound Gorillas. No more.
Happy Canada Day, Sonny. Salute the flag or your're going to the Gulag!
Geez, this is what happens when I make an innocent crack about banning baseball bats at Labatt ("the oldest ball-park in the tri-county area")Park?!?
Well, for starters, Dr. Graham Poulet may be a heck of a nice guy. But he is also an annoying busy-body know-it-all media-whore second only in this town to Dr. Peter Jaffe. I'm tempted to throw Me-agin Walker into the comparison-mix too, but for some reason the media in this town actually seek her out.
As for being on strike, yes - I, Sonny Drysdale will survive. But also remember that a few years ago, I spent four months on a picket line and lost my job of almost 20 years at the end of it.
Until you've actually been on strike, walked a picket-line daily not knowing when it would be over and put your sole source of income at risk, spare me the lectures about how life-and-death a strike may be.
What Herman has to do with any of this is beyond me. Herman chose to live that life. He works hard at it and I've never heard him whine about it.
Geez, I didn't really sound whiney did I?
I didn't think you sounded whiney. I am thinking how long they will pay the scabs that wage to keep this strike going. Not an easy job you have,and there are only a few that could do it. It is an essential service as far as I am concerned. The problem is that the majority of the public would much rather see euthanasia practised at birth, or before for the severely physically or mentally disabled, than pay to keep them. That is a brutal truth, but still a truth.
Put it this way, Sonny. I've put my job at risk by actually organizing unions in the workplace on several occasions -- losing my job once as I was a volunteer union organizer
Employers don't like unions and have a nasty habit of firing those who try and organize them.
So pickets line are a piece of cake.
Regarding Dr. Pollett, his job is to be an advocate for protecting human health, yet you criticize him for doing his job?
You're a pussy, Sonny. A lovable one, but a pussy just the same.
I suppose you're against the mandatory use of seat belts, motorcycle helmets and warnings about West Nile Virus, eh?
And Honey Pot, cut the horseshit about the majority of people wanting to euthanise disabled people at birth or any other time. It's simply not true and you know it.
P.S. Union members would be wise to realize a few things about strikes.
1. We all know that employees never make money from strikes, but ...
2. They're building a collective agreement on which future workers in the field can build on.
And yes, I've heard Herman whine (publicly) about the precarious postions of freelancers in London, such as himself, "jumping from ice floe to ice floe" to try and make a living (after listening to spoiled Free Press staffers whine and snivel about their future).
How soon you forget.
Honey Pot - thanks for the support. Considering the family background you mentioned, it means something.
As for Butch - re:Graham Poulet - I don't need cigarette nazi's closing down patios outside bars where the smokers are ghettoized. As for his last brainstorm - banning fist fights from hockey? The man is becoming a laughing-stock.
As for Herm and whining about freelance writing. I've never heard him once whine about the career path he has chosen. He may occassionally complain about the pay, the unpredictablility, etc. But in any line of work - who doesn't?
As for you organizing labour unions. Sure you tried. How many of them got off the ground? How many people joined? Please don't include dealing with Brent Down in your resume about such things because that guy is strictly chump change.
By what you just posted, it's apparent that you've never been on a picket line. So walk a mile or two in my shoes on a daily basis not knowing how things will turn out before you open your mouth. You talk the talk, Butch but can you walk the walk?
You know, I have less than five years seniority at Community Living London. That's not much of a guarantee of job security. Not to be too melodramatic but I honestly don't know if I'll have my job to go back to when this thing is over. And YET, I voted to go out on strike. How's that for taking a gamble and living life precariously?
But today is a good day. I made it to the picket line on all green lights this morning. Got home without hitting a red one. And to top the whole thing off - I got my first pay-cheque for a week of strike pay - $125. And the Labatt's Retail Store was open on a statutory holiday. Can life be any more sweeter?
We're picketing MPP Chris Bentley's office tomorrow (Tuesday, July 3rd) from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. In the No Frills plaza, corner of Baseline & Wharncliffe.
You're welcome to join us, Butch. But I guess it would be easier just to watch it on the 6:00 News.
You're a wanker, Butch. But a loveable one. I guess that's why I'm so crazy about you.
Sonny, you've obviously been into the sacred mushroom patch again.
1. Herman's written about the precarious position of freelance writing (published articles in the Free Press). You've forgotton about the column(s) or didn't read them.
2. There was never an organizing drive at SCENE. What a bargaining unit of three editors? Possible, but not workable or sustainable.
I did organize Checker Limousine in 1992-93, signing up more drivers to union cards than any other organizer.
Unfortunately, the RWDSU did a piss-poor job of representing the drivers because they didn't really understand the business and the unit subsequently de-certified in 1997 -- years after I left the company.
Sadly, the drivers themselves didn't even understand what a union offered them and how important it was to get involved.
Two other union drives that I was involved in were unsuccessful.
But rest assured that organizing a union in the workplace is 10 times more difficult, time-consuming and stressful than exercising your rights as a unionized employee. It's the differnce between building a car and driving one.
How little you know Sonny before you start flapping theose mambo lips.
You whine and snivel about your lack of seniority at CLL, yet constantly refuse the lucrative gigs that I've booked you in the Catskills.
Shit or get off the pot, Sonny. Your name could be up in lights. Fuck CLL.
Butch - you neglect to mention that all those Catskill gigs involve nudity.
Sorry, but I'll always refuse unless it's integral to the script.
I have my standards.
And what with your 10 per-cent agent fee-commission, none of those gigs are up to my usual level of standard.
Look, Sonny, is it my God-damn fault that you've got the biggest shlong in show business since Milton Berle and Ron (The Hedgehog) Jeremy?
Is it my fault that you were caught running buck-naked from Faye Dunaway's bungalow by a film crew from Paramount and the president of Astral Wang Dang Doodle Films now wants you to star in a few porno flicks?
Who bought up the film to prevent it from being splashed all over the Internet, eh?
Besides, 15 per cent (not 10 per cent, bucko) of $475,000 per flick sure beats the hell out of working for CLL.
You could be a huge, huge star ... but no, you wanna listen to Art Bell all night in this backwater they call Melonville.
What a fucking waste ...
Butch, until you can get me some scripts with Spielberg or Scorcese or any one of those boys where nudity is integral to the plot, then I'm afraid 'Dick Divine' has hung up his jock strap.
... also a change in plans for today's protest - Dalton is coming to town to give more money away before he officially hits the campaign trail.
We're greeting him at the Stronach Arena at 9:30. Hope to see you there.
I went there Sonny. I would have sussed you out, but I don't know who you are, or what you look like.
A couple of times I just yelled "Sonny!" out loud, and the people around me would just say, "yes it is"
I got to be the paper passer outer. Someone just passed me a whack of papers and asked me to pass them out, so I did.
I got to say something to all the politicians except for Dalton McGouger, who was driven right to the door.
I said to Bentley, "you do something for these people, you cheap sons-of-btiches," and he replied "absolutely". I think that is just his standard answer to everything. He is a liberal so it doesn't mean anything.
Steve Peters, was welcomed by the Opseu head gal, so I didn't say anything to him. I think they like him.
I got in a little media scrum with Khalil, and others. Khalil kept blaming it on Mike Harris, and had to be informed Dalton was now the premier. He kept going on about him and Dalton having nothing to do with it. I asked him how much he got for a raise, and he gave me a dirty look. I told him the CCL workers job was much more important for the good of society than his. I don't think he liked me much.
I had tears, and was glad I had my sunglasses on. I was talking to one of the parents. She was older and her daughter, who is 21, cannot be looked after at home any longer. The woman was small, and she said it was too much for her to lift her daughter now, so she put her in the care of CCL. She told me there was no one else in the family who could look after her. She had kept her home for 20 years with her. The mother told me how her daughter was used to routine, and there is no routine now. Her daughter was moved to another place, without most of her belongings. She said her daughter was scared and she spends as much time as she can with her.
Dalton had refused to meet with the parents. She wanted to meet with him to explain to him that her daughter was scared. She wanted to explain to him that although her daughter was disabled, she was still a person, with feelings.
As I was standing there handing out flyers, a van full of the clients of CCL, got out of the van and came over to get a flyer from me. One guy said to me, "that Dalton guy, he don't care," in a matter-of-fact sort of profound way.
All in all I enjoyed it. I liked all that hooping and hollering. Ran the whole gauntlet of emotions in that one hour and a half I was there. The police and secret agent presence was abit of an overkill I thought.
I was thinking the secret agents all dressed in black, more than likely sent there to intimidate, was just so comical. If it were a protest rally of steele workers, you might be able to see it. The secret agents might as well just paint a target on their forehead they were so obvious.
Really, think about it. You have the kindest of the kind, just protesting for a decent wage. People who do what other's can't, or won't. What did they think they were going to do?
If you are going to have another one, let me know Sonny. I got a good set of lungs on me, and do enjoy a good yelling session.
See, Sonny, you've got London's #1 ball breaker working in your corner and you wouldn't even answer her cries of "Sonny?"
HP, in the future, look for the guy that looks like he's carry two bags of groceries in his pants.
That's Sonny Drysdale.
Wow, thanks for coming out, H.P.
Sorry I missed you. It was actually quite the moving experience. Particularly when Dalton showed up to a chorus of "Shame on you!/Shame on you!" Followed by "Our work matters/Our work matters!" And the loud wall of sound BOO's as he went into the building. Hopefully he got the message.
Too bad I didn't hear anyone yelling out "Sonny" but you may see me on the TV news coverage tonight.
I was the one holding a sign and wearing a blue tee-shirt.
And a white straw 'Barney Fife' hat, if that helps.
See you next time and lots of luck to you and yours.
Well Dalton did meet with the parents.
Sonny, explain to me if the money is there for salaries, as Dalton states, why is it not being used for salary increases? Where is that money?
H.P. - as I understand it, the provincial government has pledged a $20-million increase in funding for the developmental sector
- but over a four-year period - which is why it amounts to a two per-cent raise per year - if management choose to spend that on wages.
But I'm not an accountant and could be wrong about some of that.
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