will they have marching bands and floats?

Seriously though, aren't these folks employed? Should they not be at their employers?

They are protesting how the liberal government seems to think they can fly in the face of labour law world wide while forcing people to work major over time, travel large distances between work sites at the employee expense, sleep in ambulances as there is no hall and in general compromise the entire paramedic system in BC. All the while the politicians have voted themselves on average a 40% wage increase in 3 years and even have fully indexed pensions, yet they want to deny that to the average worker.

That is why they are protesting. Come on out on people. If you truly know the reasons, you would be behind this. It is isn't just a union thing, it is a basic human right struggle.

This march will probably be the most work CUPE members will do all week.

I wouldn't want to be a paramedic. Which is why I'm not.

Loki and faxman your quality of life comes directly from unions. I feel sorry that you don't understand that.

Quality of life does not come from unions. It comes from what you put into it.

You're absolutely right seamutt. I'd have a lot more disposable income if I didn't have to support the lazy people that make up a large part of CUPE.

"This march will probably be the most work CUPE members will do all week."

roflmao :-)

Well if this is the most amount of work a CUPE person does, then politicians are even less !

Granted, the paramedics got screwed over on this one.

If my quality of life is due to unions, then I strongly suggest we dissolve every last one.

I have never wanted stretch marks around the lips bad enough to join a union.

This is gonna get EPIC!

When you are out of a job, what do your unions do for you? No union dues, no connection. The big ol' government gives you money. i.e. unemployment insurance and eventually welfare. Who's yer friend? Solidarity forever only if you are still working and paying union dues.

Public service employees make 35% on average more than employees working in the private sector.

Now much more can the taxpayer afford?

Is there anything that can't be accomplished by waving signs & chanting slogans?

diplomat while the private sector boss makes off with the money like a bandit.

lots of luck people... if she is anything like Bell, she wil not be there and will be hiding out somewhere else spending her big paycheck....

"while the private sector boss makes off with the money like a bandit."

That boss invested substantial resources to that enterprise along with substantial risks. That is why he gets the "profits"
Who do you think created those jobs in the first place? Unions feed off the business' they are attached to like any other parasite in the natural world.

The only bandits I see are union members and big finance.

Where else can one take home excessive pay for menial labour with very little actual skills. How much schooling do you need to operate a shovel or pull off the green chain? Equipment operators are trained in house. So where is the significant investment? Almost every thing is industry and plant specific so professional development is limited to that plant.

At one time, employers abused their employees. It still happens to some extent. That was what caused employees to form collective bargaining associations that we now call unions. Today, they are just as greedy as any one else except now they have the collective power to impinge on a business. It is in effect a form of bullying. One might even say it is a form of terrorism. "Do as we say or we will shut you down!"

Allah Akbar CUPE!

Loki,

Unions are not completely made up of unskilled labour. In many places you will find people with plenty of skill, experience and education in unions and their wages are being held back lower than what they would earn in the private sector because they're unfortunate enough to have a union classified job in a union which is largely made up of unskilled labour.

Unions like CUPE realize this, and use their smaller pool of skilled labour to pull up the wages of their ocean of unskilled labour. This way they get more union dues without having to do anything, and their minority of skilled workers get the shaft.