Well, ain't this the 1970s?! What's your line of work, ann?

Education - Polytechnic. Revenues come from public purse, grants and are also earned seperately (privately) through some programs.

I think it's very 1970's that you can't opt out. I'm in HR so my position is actually exempted from the unions (which they are not happy about) so I'm alright Jack.

How can supposed professionals (lecturers) expect to be respected when they voluntarily box their abilities into a pay grade structure? Is a lecturer with 10 years experience always better than one with 5? Ridiculous.

Its definitely not the 70s but the odd bit of clothing in my closet might suggest it is.
As adults we know we need a job that will pay us money to live and pay the bills. Now what job we choose is sometimes a personal preference as we all know not everybody can be a lawyer, doctor, engineer or a scientist.
Do we choose the job because of the salary or because its something we want to do. Im guessing the average priest is not pulling in the same wage as a CEO of a bank.
So now we choose the job on our career path. We can agree that all workplaces dont have unions whereas others do so why is that?
The police, fire fighters, paramedics and air traffic controllers have unions but workers at WalMart don't.
Public sector workers usually work for Government entities who are providing services and their employers are not for profit as opposed to WalMart who are solely profit driven. Good sales means more stores bad sales means store closures.
Who decides what a person should be paid and if its fair or not.
Again using a copper as an example why is one getting paid on average $37 an hour in Halifax as opposed to as opposed to $19.25 an hour in Montreal
http://www.livingin-canada.com/salar...rs-canada.html

Where would you sooner work if you were a copper and why?

Id be interested to know why you took your current job was it because you love your job or the fact that you will be making a shit load of money compared to other places you could be working in.

I'm afraid I didn't really get where you were going with that last post. Not sure what point you're making.

IMO, public sector unions & collective bargaining are a good thing where the workforce is in a position of relative weakness - not well educated, highly replaceable etc. For other people - professionals - the justification is less obvious.

So....ok for border control ?

Yup we are the not well educated chosen few

Professionals in the private sector usually have a wage scale dependent on their skills, experience etc.
In the basic terms you have a job in the oil patch. You get paid X amount to do it. Your company knows it needs a worker so they offer what they believe is a decent salary. You either accept it or look for another employer.
Are you saying that someone isnt willing to do your job for less pay?
Do you see a job advertised and say I wouldnt work for that?
Why is rural Canada having problems finding doctors to work in these areas.
Is it because of the wages or that nobody wants a job in the middle of nowhere.
To attract them municipalities are paying higher than normal wages or giving them generous benefit packages.
My job is salaried and unionized. If say a port of entry in rural Saskatchewan was having problems staffing that port they could not offer me a higher wage or benefit package as its standard across the country whereas in your job an employer can offer you whatever they want to be it wages or benefits.

All that is perfectly obvious, but I still don't understand if you, as someone with first-hand experience, are for or against public sector unions?

Im for them to a certain degree. Why is there all of this hullaballoo about foreign workers at the moment. Is it because employers know that people need jobs and desperate people will work for X amount and will bring in cheap labour to do these jobs and has been shown getting away with it?
Even unionized workers are not exempt from having their jobs outsourced to companies willing to pay less.
So answer me this can your boss come in tomorrow and say Jings times are tough so we will have to terminate your contract?
The Feds did that to 19,000 of its workers just over a year ago so even unions cant protect those job losses.
Unions have a place. Some are good and some are bad.
Cheapest isnt always the best unless your business is in the profit making area whereas public sector employers provide a service and their jobs are not profit driven. Hence all the new cost recovery fees like Passport Canada or Nav Canada.

My experience of public sector employment here is being required to join the union as a condition of contract (education, like Ann). My contract indicated I was entitled to yearly increments up the pay scale grades based on satisfactory performance. Unfortunately the government chose to cut/freeze funding to universities, so the increments went by the wayside. A small local union have no means of challenging government successfully, so their value is negligible. The contract of employment has little value, and the govt effectively enforce whatever suits their political or economic purpose.

I hear you on that one

As you can too

I left. Too many other instances of the contract being proven worthless.

Of course they can! No notice period, no pay in lieu, nothing. I could be let go at a minute's notice. No holiday pay, no pension, no sick pay, no payscales to go up... I am utterly dispensible.

Don't get me wrong, I'm perfectly happy with that arrangement, and wouldn't change anything about it. But I think you seriously understimate quite how protected you are.