Canada Ping!
Posted on 09/15/2014 2:02:39 AM PDT by Squawk 8888
Someone is pulling our leg. This has to be a joke.
And the government needs to call their bluff on it.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada has come forward with some pretty tall demands for their employees.
These include an extra week of paid holiday every year and one cent for every hour worked by their members to be contributed to a “social justice fund” that the union would control.
The government must say no to these.
But they’re not even the headline material. They’re just the opening act.
No, the real doozy is they want employees to be able to take off paid days to grieve the loss of an “aboriginal spirit friend.”
What is that? you ask. Good question. We’re still not sure.
Here’s how the Canadian Taxpayers Federation put it in a press release sounding the alarm on this ridiculous demand: “While the term ‘aboriginal spirit friend’ appears to be a creation of PSAC, ‘spirit friends’ are commonly considered to be religious spirits or ghosts and can take a human or animal form.”
If an adult working at the government is seeing these ghosts, they’ve got bigger problems than taking grief days off when the ghost, er, gives up the ghost.
A PSAC spokesperson, however, explained it differently: “it refers to the loss of a spiritual leader in the community, such as an elder.”
Then why not just say elder in the first place?
Besides, if we’re just talking about the passing of a community leader then the request should be denied. It would certainly be an unfortunate loss, but it shouldn’t qualify someone for paid leave from work.
Let’s be honest here: something doesn’t smell right about this whole thing.
As a QMI Agency story reported, Gilles Benoit of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples said he’s never even heard the term before.
Carting out this odd demand is actually a little insulting to Aboriginal culture.
Every year union demands get more and more absurd. It’s like they’re trying to mock the generosity of every day Canadians.
Or perhaps they’re just daring each other to see how far they can push the envelope while keeping a straight face.
We’ll say one thing though: The Canadian public should not be amused.
Canada Ping!
The PSAC sounds like kooks...try that with a private company and see if you have a job.
In negotiation, an ambit claim is an extravagant initial demand made in expectation of an eventual counter-offer and compromise. In labor union negotiations, this is called a Blue Sky demand.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambit_claim
The problem is that in the public sector, ambit claims are often won. Back in the 1980s, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers demanded and won paid maternity leave.
“.......they want employees to be able to take off paid days to grieve the loss of an “aboriginal spirit friend.”....
And we all thought the American’s are bat ass crazy!
LOL - true. Great picture - looks like the dream catcher I have in my bedroom...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.