Shortly before Christmas last year, my group at work was informed we would, as of January 2, become members of the CAW. After literally years of negotiations, the internet support people were deemed to fall into the unionized job category of my company.
Which pleased me somewhat. I grew up up in a left-wing household and not even my adolescent rebellion (such as it was - greeting the ol' man with a hug and a kiss never fazed me) saw me lose my pre-union prejudices. And pragmatically, one could do a hell of a lot worse than to become an Auto Worker.
Thursday, I cycled in to the office on my day off for a meeting with our union reps, an information session in effect - "What does being in the union mean for you sort of stuff. Day to day, there isn't much of an effect - my company, or at least the section I am in - has been run fairly decently since I've been there: not too much in the way of arbitrary firing or other unfair management practices.
But - irony of ironies! - I was asked to stay a little late yesterday.
Turns out there's another round of layoffs in the offing. (In the 3 years and a bit I've been with the company, my department has shrunk from around 130 people to, er, something like 25.) In its infinitude of corporate wisdom, Allstream has decided that growth will best be achieved through further shrinkage of its work-force.
And there's fuck-all the CAW can do about it. Except, rather than some of us suddenly experiencing the tap on the shoulder and the security guard escorting us from the premises, we've been given 90 days' notice that it will happen; and that the firings will occur based on seniority.
For various reasons, I am probably safe, but I suppose I shouuld think about updating my resume.
