Labour resolution is getting closer with health-care workers as deals in principle are reached.
I saw the FAE members lined up Saturday afternoon on Jarry for what Global describes as “food, clothes, toys and more” for the union that offers no strike pay. Didn’t want to take photos after promising never to photograph people again.
Here’s a list of what’s open and closed over Christmas. And another.
Toula Drimonis has tweeted a photo with the news that the pink house on top of Canada Malting has once again been decorated for Christmas.
In this weather I’m amazed they didn’t throw a potluck 😀
Natural outdoor rinks may be a thing of the past.
The Jarry Park pond, a popular skating venue when I first moved to the neighbourhood (2005), will be closed this year because the ice has been too unstable in recent years, and climate change probably means it’s over for good.
On a related note… why does the city (or arrondisment) not do something about the Phragmite reeds that hide that lake every summer? You can’t even see the lake after mid-July because of them and the lake is an important landscape feature.
It could be chopped every few weeks and other plants could be deployed to eventually replace it. Have you noticed this Phragmite problem yourself Kate?
I’ve seen them, but assumed they were part of the pond’s ecosystem. Should landscaping aesthetics be prioritized?
I’m happy to see reeds when so many parks cut them back. Wildlife loves it. There used to be a whole nesting colony of mallards on beaver lake.
The reed that has taken over Jarry Pond isn’t an indigenous plant. It’s an invasive non-indigenous plant that no animal or insect in Canada can use.
And Phragmites destroy the soil for any local indigenous plants. So not only is this an environmental catastrophe, it’s also very bad *metaphorically.* And ugly.
qatzelok, so have a word with Les Amis du Parc Jarry.
The Accueil Bonneau in Old Montreal is having to reduce services, no longer offering free meals on weekends. It needs more money from Quebec, but instead is falling into deeper deficit.
Part of one of the entrances to Joliette metro station has been fenced off because it had become a hangout. Allegedly, passengers and STM workers were having things thrown at them by the habitués. RAPSIM finds it hostile.
The ‘it’ that RAPSIM finds hostile is apparently not the assault against employees and customers.
The word “hostile” has been used widely to describe architecture and other means, like this one, to deny public spaces to the homeless.
I’m not defending the people throwing stuff. There’s no simple solution here, but the STM has to protect its workers and passengers from assault. Maybe it has some kind of social duty to shelter the homeless but that has to be second to its main role of providing safe transit.
Ian 01:16 on 2023-12-24 Permalink
Still nothing about pay though, so the Front Commun is still on. Despite the best efforts of the CAQ we still have solidarity. “UN seul voix”, as we chant in the streets.
Tim S. 10:47 on 2023-12-24 Permalink
Some parents from my son’s school were out collecting donations last week, it was a really nice show of solidarity.
Progress is good, but a part of me worries that the CAQ is aiming to take away the moral high ground of working conditions/service to public so they can turn around and accuse the workers of being greedy on the wage issue.
One thing I recently learned about wages is that unions prefer 3 year deals, so they’re not so easily caught out by changing economic conditions. The government wants a 5 year deal (I guess they don’t want negotiations in an election year), to which the unions are agreeable, as long as there’s protection against inflation. That seems to be at the heart of the wage battle.
steph 14:50 on 2023-12-24 Permalink
I know people who signed their 2020-2023 conventions in 2022… inflation was painted on all the walls, yet the raises the weak CSN’s fought for just ignored these realities “we’ll get the raises at the next nego in 2023”. If they don’t get what they promised, I think the centrals are in for a huge internal shuffle as well. I hope the front commun holds and doesn’t let itself be picked off with divisive CAQ promises.
Ian 15:38 on 2023-12-24 Permalink
There were a lot of grumblings that the last deal was not a good one, because the coalition was faltering.
If it happens again, THINGS WILL GET UGLY. I know that since Bills 21 and 96 being blandly accepted by our parent union there have been a lot of teachers wondering aloud if we wouldn’t be better off with CUPE than CSN.
Tim S. 19:40 on 2023-12-24 Permalink
Huh, I could get behind a switch to CUPE.
In the meantime, happy holidays all.