STM workers have “dream conditions”: TVA
TVA leans hard on the idea that the STM’s workers have working conditions that others can only dream of, clearly an attempt to stoke resentment among its readers.
Adding: TVA also emphasizes the fears of retailers that the strike will blight their Black Friday sales, which come late this year – November 28. To which I would say: we don’t have Black Friday in Canada, since it only exists as the day after American Thanksgiving, which we don’t have either. People here don’t have that Friday off to rush out to shop, so what’s the fuss?
If we do have Black Friday, it’s online sales, not massive shopping at physical stores.
steph 11:14 on 2025-11-10 Permalink
This manufactured consent is tiresome. It worries me that the relentless anti-union attacks is actually working.
All those temporarily embarrassed millionaires need to disconnect from their social media and get a more honest reading of where our society is headed.
Jim 16:30 on 2025-11-10 Permalink
Manufactured content is tiresome indeed. It’s not exclusive to one side or another. The tactic is effective in our current environment. It’s one of the reasons I love this blog. Even though I may not agree with all of you, it still looks like the most ‘source of truth’ about our city i can find these days.
Kate 18:11 on 2025-11-10 Permalink
Thank you, Jim. That’s one of the nicest things anyone’s ever said about it.
JP 22:42 on 2025-11-10 Permalink
Black Friday might not be what it is in the U.S….but it’s not negligible for stores here either. I’ve gone out on the Friday and even taken the day off intentionally. That’s not to say I don’t support the STM strike, I do.
Ian 22:00 on 2025-11-11 Permalink
When Black Friday started catching on here, I was working in the garment industry still, which is very affected by this sales cycle. We kept seeing out fall catalogue deadline pushed further forward every year until finally our styles for Christmas had to be ready by July at the VERY latest. Trade shows pushed a lot of that as the manufacturers first to deliver saw bigger orders. I began to notice it coming in through various other brick and mortar retailers locally and I honestly think it wasn’t so much the pressure from online US sales but manufacturers switching up their sales cycle to match the dominant consumer pattern. There’s 10x the population in the US and their economy is very, very driven by consumer purchases – it’s part of why their clothing is so inexpensive and cheaply made, you’re expected to buy into the fast fashion cycle. That other consumer goods follow the cycle is no surprise, and since the Canadian manufacturers are so tied into the American cycle it should be no surprise to see our retailers following the American example, in part due to Canadian manufacturer pressure.
I think consumers WERE happy with Boxing Day but that served a very different purpose – inventory reduction at the end of season, not sales boost to make up for the down season.