ECP STRIKE AND TEMP AGENCIES Letter to Editor

I received a copy of a letter sent to the Brantford Expositor. As far as I am aware it was never published. So, here is the letter that I think is good enough to go on the blog.

So here is the Letter to the Editor.

I can see how some people think that others are making too much money and should be willing to accept clawbacks. Usually it is people who work harder than most for a lot less that are the ones complaining about these "overpriced" labourers. Fact is we are jealous. Do we want to make minimum wage and be whipped like dogs? I have seen worker after worker put in the hard hours in hopes of moving up. Accept less than safe working conditions so they weren't labled as a non-team player. Accept year after year at the temp agency because they were on the cusp of getting hired on full time at their placement.Can I see why these workers are feeling slighted by others who make more money? Of course I can. Can I sympathise with their jealousy of those with job security? Absolutely.

I have been the guy at the bottom trying to work his way up. I have worked for the temp agency and got sent home and told to never return because the placement was upset that I complained of unsafe working conditions (chemical exposure without protective gear). I have seen corporate greed run rampant in Brantford. What excuse is there for an employee to work 3 years 40 hours per week every week at a placement for a temp agency and not get hired on full time? If he was not good enough I think 3 years is enough time to figure it out.

I am a Millwright. I no longer live in Brantford for one reason. It simply doesn't pay to live there anymore. When people in my field who have worked hard to obtain their "tickets" and worked as an apprentice at lower wages only to see jobs dry up and the only NEW ones are through a temp agency I see a huge problem. Some Millwrights with decades of experience in Brantford make less than FIRST YEAR APPRENTICES in other areas of Ontario. They make so little because employers are ONLY hiring through agencies now.

Is it wrong to fight to keep the same wage you made yesterday? I don't think so. I know my mortgage won't drop by 25%. My hydro won't drop either. My gasoline is .80+ but the cost of crude is the same as it was when I could buy gas for 50 cents. Think long and hard before you tell ANYONE they should accept a lower wage. Would you vollenteer to take a 25% cut to show any of these people that it isn't a big deal? Maybe you want to throw away your chance to move up to one of these better paying jobs. Think about it. If licenced TRADES are working for $12 an hour at a temp agency what does that mean for all of the cheap labour? I can hire a WELL QUALIFIED employee for cheap so why hire anyone else at any price? A University grad might make head fry chef after 10 years. That is the reality if workers don't strike and fight to KEEP (let alone prosper and grow their income) what they have now.

Having a clean place to live and food on the table shouldn't be the only thing a paycheck can buy. But what else is left at min wage with temp agency job security?

Steve Bailey