Hey Canadians,

[tothemax93]

Whats the holiday this weekend. I'm working on the thruway near PA/NY border and we can't work on the road monday, because of the Canadian holiday. The job is about 80 miles from the nearest border crossing. It seems you guys really have some pull with the NYS thruway authority. I just can't figure out what the holiday is.:ummm:

 

[Miles Long]

My Birthday.

 

[veebooster]

First Monday in August is the Civic Holiday. AKA "Simcoe Day" in Ontario. In honour of one of the early British Governors. You know the ones that repelled those ambitious colonialists to the south during the War of 1812. :biglaugh:

Dale #2592

 

[tothemax93]

My Birthday.

Happy Birthday:eusa_dance:

 

[tothemax93]

First Monday in August is the Civic Holiday. AKA "Simcoe Day" in Ontario. In honour of one of the early British Governors. You know the ones that repelled those ambitious colonialists to the south during the War of 1812. :biglaugh:

Dale #2592

So it's kinda like getting a day off for George Washingtons birthday. You know that early colonialst that helped remove those early British Governers, south of the border:biglaugh:

 

[EvilD]

Canadians have more meaningless holidays than anybody. Seriously, didn't you just have a family unity holiday or some crap like that?

 

[Thevmaxrider]

Family day is in February.:eusa_dance:

Gotta love those useless holidays!!!unk:

 

[Rusty McNeil]

It always annoys me to see here in the States that Federal Employees get to enjoy twice as many "Federally mandated" holidays paid for by private sector (read me and you) tax dollars when the bill paying private sector that funds these holidays for Fed Empl. can't get these kind of Holidays.........:bang head:

If some one get's something for nothing.......Then someone else got nothing for something...........aka "Tanstaafl"

 

[veebooster]

So it's kinda like getting a day off for George Washingtons birthday. You know that early colonialst that helped remove those early British Governers, south of the border:biglaugh:

Exactly!! Gotta love those "hero" holidays. :eusa_dance:

Dale #2592

 

[Redbone]

Exactly!! Gotta love those "hero" holidays. :eusa_dance:

Dale #2592

:rofl_200:http://youtu.be/1lctluOHZhg

 

[Fire-medic]

It always annoys me to see here in the States that Federal Employees get to enjoy twice as many "Federally mandated" holidays paid for by private sector (read me and you) tax dollars when the bill paying private sector that funds these holidays for Fed Empl. can't get these kind of Holidays.........:bang head:

If some one get's something for nothing.......Then someone else got nothing for something...........aka "Tanstaafl"

Rusty, you sound like a hard-working kinda guy, I read your posts and you seem to have some good work experience and longevity in a demanding field. You volunteer your time to contribute to our net discussions and try to assist those of us w/problems.

We make choices in life, and one of those choices is where we work. Historically, government employees are unionized unless you are in senior executive service. Part of that is because when your employees choose to be represented by a union, you get to participate in collective bargaining for wages, terms of empolyment, and benefits. People who work in jobs where the recognized bargaining agent for employees has not been chosen to be a union, (no union representation) have to put-up with a "take-it or leave-it" mentality from the employer. Another way to dodge having to honor paying benefits is to hire people as 'consultants,' where you are on timeframe contracts ro provide services within the boundaries of a specific employment document. When the timeframe expires, of course so does your employment. That may or may-not be renewed.

Whether local, state, or federal employees, the representation may or may not be unionized. In "open-shop" states, FL being one, you do not have to be a member of the union to receive the benefits, but if you choose that path (the "scab") the union does not represent you in any job action. You are on your own. The National Labor Relations Board recognizes the term "scab" as a legal term describing such a situation, and not as a derisive name for someone who benefits form collective bargaining but does not contribute financially to its cost.

Over time, benefits accrue to the employees. They see benefits come and go, and now there are benefits being changed as the economy staggers along, a primary change being a switch from "defined benefits" pensions to "defined contributions." Also, costs for health care are being paid for in greater part by the gov't. employee compared to in the past.

The whole idea of who is your employer forces all types of dynamics. When the economy was moving ahead, wages in the private sector usually outstripped public sector compensation. One way of compensating the public sector employee was by paying a greater share of health care insurance costs, retirement plans, and yes, paid holidays. Still, many people chose private sector employment because they could make more money there. Did the public sector employees demand that the private sector surrender their pay in-excess of what the compensation was for a similar job in gov't? So, now why do private sector employees demand that benefits be stripped form the public sector employees? The longevity of employment in gov't. service has always been an attraction. Now, with revenues declining compared to before the housing bubble burst circa 2005, many public employees are also voluntarily agreeing to wage and benefits concessions to avoid wholesale layoffs. Meanwhile, the tax breaks for businesses continue, jobs which paid middle-class salaries to private sector employees keep getting shut-down as companies choose to "embrace the world-economy" and get their work done overseas rather than stay here. Companies are not hiring new employees, new manufacturing facilities are no-longer being built domestically, and "information stocks" are valued more-highly than bricks & mortar businesses which actually produce concrete goods instead of spreading data among those who consume it. Corporations and financial institutions are sitting on great reserves of money and are not re-investing in the communities. That is their choice. Is it the right choice? We all have opinions.

Ayone who has recently tried to get a mortgage, a home-equity loan, or another individual loan, including a small-business loan can attest to the difficulty of attaining financing.

Come Labor Day, I say prayers for the hard-fought battles whereby all members of the workforce saw their jobs become safer, where government involvement has helped to address environmental issues endemic to the population, and where all people whoever their employers are, can look back on a path of advances in labor management and with hopes for a better future for our children, something that has many parents feeling pessimistic about that.

I don't begrudge the government worker his holiday. I have worked through many holidays in my profession, and was compensated for doing it. I am glad to be employed.

 

[Rusty McNeil]

Rusty, you sound like a hard-working kinda guy, I read your posts and you seem to have some good work experience and longevity in a demanding field. You volunteer your time to contribute to our net discussions and try to assist those of us w/problems.

We make choices in life, and one of those choices is where we work. Historically, government employees are unionized unless you are in senior executive service. Part of that is because when your employees choose to be represented by a union, you get to participate in collective bargaining for wages, terms of empolyment, and benefits. People who work in jobs where the recognized bargaining agent for employees has not been chosen to be a union, (no union representation) have to put-up with a "take-it or leave-it" mentality from the employer. Another way to dodge having to honor paying benefits is to hire people as 'consultants,' where you are on timeframe contracts ro provide services within the boundaries of a specific employment document. When the timeframe expires, of course so does your employment. That may or may-not be renewed.

Whether local, state, or federal employees, the representation may or may not be unionized. In "open-shop" states, FL being one, you do not have to be a member of the union to receive the benefits, but if you choose that path (the "scab") the union does not represent you in any job action. You are on your own. The National Labor Relations Board recognizes the term "scab" as a legal term describing such a situation, and not as a derisive name for someone who benefits form collective bargaining but does not contribute financially to its cost.

Over time, benefits accrue to the employees. They see benefits come and go, and now there are benefits being changed as the economy staggers along, a primary change being a switch from "defined benefits" pensions to "defined contributions." Also, costs for health care are being paid for in greater part by the gov't. employee compared to in the past.

The whole idea of who is your employer forces all types of dynamics. When the economy was moving ahead, wages in the private sector usually outstripped public sector compensation. One way of compensating the public sector employee was by paying a greater share of health care insurance costs, retirement plans, and yes, paid holidays. Still, many people chose private sector employment because they could make more money there. Did the public sector employees demand that the private sector surrender their pay in-excess of what the compensation was for a similar job in gov't? So, now why do private sector employees demand that benefits be stripped form the public sector employees? The longevity of employment in gov't. service has always been an attraction. Now, with revenues declining compared to before the housing bubble burst circa 2005, many public employees are also voluntarily agreeing to wage and benefits concessions to avoid wholesale layoffs. Meanwhile, the tax breaks for businesses continue, jobs which paid middle-class salaries to private sector employees keep getting shut-down as companies choose to "embrace the world-economy" and get their work done overseas rather than stay here. Companies are not hiring new employees, new manufacturing facilities are no-longer being built domestically, and "information stocks" are valued more-highly than bricks & mortar businesses which actually produce concrete goods instead of spreading data among those who consume it. Corporations and financial institutions are sitting on great reserves of money and are not re-investing in the communities. That is their choice. Is it the right choice? We all have opinions.

Ayone who has recently tried to get a mortgage, a home-equity loan, or another individual loan, including a small-business loan can attest to the difficulty of attaining financing.

Come Labor Day, I say prayers for the hard-fought battles whereby all members of the workforce saw their jobs become safer, where government involvement has helped to address environmental issues endemic to the population, and where all people whoever their employers are, can look back on a path of advances in labor management and with hopes for a better future for our children, something that has many parents feeling pessimistic about that.

I don't begrudge the government worker his holiday. I have worked through many holidays in my profession, and was compensated for doing it. I am glad to be employed.

VERY well thought out response, thank you!
I have been schooled and you have actually given me something to think about...

..............I.E. "total compensation comparison"

My Dad was IBEW for 38 years, he was born in '28, both as an employee and a shop owner, he went through the 70's oil crisis, (we were mostly an oil field electrical service company) and camed out of it owning a non-union shop, it was quite simply the only way to keep the bills paid, the Union, which he was an old school die hard member of, simply priced themselves out of the market in regards to his ability to run a union shop and compete...
When he sold his union shop he did so with a 5 year non-compete clause for the local area and "went on the road" on big Union projects all over the country. He came back with a whole new idea of what the Union was and how it operated compared to his small 10 man West Texas oil field shop.......It could be summed up simply by his statement...

"I'm going to strangle the next son-of-a-bitch that says "that's not his job" "

...the whole thing soured him greatly on the Union and gave me a lot of my attitudes about it, which I admit are not always quite accurate....especially when making the "apples to oranges" comparison between private sector unions and public sector unions.......public sector does sacrifice wages for benefits.......

The company I work for now, Dashiell, has a Union construction group called Dacon (Dashiell Construction) who build this stuf (High Votage and Extra High Voltage Substations, for Utilities and Industry), my group just comes behind them and makes it work correctly...lot of testing and field re-engineering.......These Dacon guys are some of the most commited workers I've ever been around so that has changed my attitiude about the IBEW as well, back in the "good" direction......Dacon makes a boat load of money, most of them in the mid $30/hr to mid 40/hr range, plus gobs of O.T., but get''s almost no benefits as a result..........I don't begrudge them their money that's for sure.........

Thank you for your insightful and thoughtful comments in regards to my "knee jerk" comments...you could have been much harsher and still be right:biglaugh:

But if I go down town to the City of Houston and have to deal with City Departmental (almost 100% divesrity hires) employees who could not give two shits about doing anything right, and treat the customer with nothing but disrespect and surliness, and get twice as many holidays as I do.......... willI probably go right back to my earleir attitudes, regardless of thier pay.......Anyone who has been to the DMV ever in thier life will probably feel the same................for some reason I NEVER think that way about thier maintenance, fire, police or public works departmant, I have worked with too may of them, and been helped by so many of them, to feel anything but good about them... They do "give two shits"

 

[Fire-medic]

"Rusty," thank-you for reading my comments in the spirit of how it was composed. I have had my own share of experiences with recalcitrant union stewards and a lack of grass-roots support seemingly because of not being in the 'favored' clique. Not supposed to work that way, it's supposed to be about merit and fulfilling the contract. In the public sector, my opinion is that the combination of unions and civil service regulation provides a safety net for solving issues in the workplace. Most of the time, it works. When it doesn't, you 'suck it up,' and go back to work (hopefully), glad for employment.

My parents are older than yours, born before or during WW I. They both were college grads who were fortunate enough to be able to get an education while the country was clawing its way out of the Depression. Though my father was management in the heavy industry job he held, he was a supporter of the unions because they provided stability in the workplace and allowed less educated individuals to enjoy a middle-class standard of living whle allowing upward mobility for motivated people who chose to accept more responsibility in their technical jobs.

I became an AFL-CIO member at an early age and now am a retired union member from a branch of the AFL-CIO. I continued to pay my union dues after I retired because I considered it a repayment for the benefits which I enjoyed and continue to enjoy in retirement.

I fully understand how you need to do what you have to do in-order to survive, especially as a small businessman. My mother was an enterprise specilaist for the MI Employment Security Commission (MESC) during the 1970's when the country was again struggling with the economy. She used to tell me stories of generations-long companies brought to their knees by the economy, and how the government would provide financial support to try and allow those with merit and adaptability to weather the hard times until they could once again succeed. Of course, not all did. At the time, "small businesses" were <$2 million.

It's interesting that your family and your careers evolve from energy production and management. My wife is an E.E. and is responsible for 'settings,' where all that stuff Dacon builds is put to use, including "W's" favorite energy resource, "nu-cu-ler." She is not union, works horribly-long hours, and is well-compensated, but it (the workload) has taken it out of her personal 'energy-level.' It seems that once people who are E.E.'s get into their 50's they start to have heart attacks from the lifelong stress. I hope you avoid such health issues and get to see your great grandchildren.

Dealing with government can be an incredibly-frustrating process. I hope you never get that kind or experience, it seems most people have stories, I know I do! Still, some of the most dedicated people I know are in public service, and I have many friends who receive their pay from a branch of government who daily go beyond the norm to accommodate the public. When I did that as a plans review person, I was told, "let them hire an architect, don't waste your time, you need to do other work." Such is work.

Anyway, it was interesting to hear of your Dad's experiences, and I hope you have him around for many years to come.