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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1985-03-27, Page 27uying or Selling DO IT WITH CROSSRCA CLASSIFIE • .. •• •. • .r. .IMM•• IMEMEMIND .. • w i ry• •• •- o 0 o # 0 o o # 0 o 0 o o r 0 0 0 o o o o o 0 io o Reach o i i i i 00 i i S � i The Listowel Banner 291-1660 i � The Wingham Advance -Times 357-2320 i j The Mount Forest Confederate 323-1550 � 0 I 20,000 Iomes- with oneaction ad. 20,000 � one ad. To place an ad, call: The Milver-on un 5958921To lace an ad call:pThe Sun. 595-8921 END OF SOLE SOURCING Before we throw our hats in the air to celebrate the split up of the United Auto- mobile.Workers and the for- mation of a separate Cana- dian union, the long-term effects should be considered. Canadians quite justifiably are pleased whenever Cana- dian autonomy is reinforced. This time, however, re- joicing seems inappropriate, even though short-term benefits could accrue. In the bargaining with the automobile companies last year, the Canadian UAW was able to negotiate more concessions than its United States' counterpart. It must be acknowledged that our workers lagged behind previous U.S. wage in- creases. However, by hold- ing world-wide automobile operations hostage to a settlement here, all kinds of problems will ensue. World-wide bargaining evolved as it was the most important tactic for trying to overcome the structural dis- advantages of the world cor- poration. It enableduni.ons to internationalize demands, and to reduce ideas for im- provement in working condi- tions in one country that Crossroads—Mar. 27, 1985—Page 15 Canada's Business by Bruce Whitestone would have given that nation. an advantage. Companies too liked the idea of a cen- tralized control `over bar- gaining. A single contract termina- tion date was achieved by accident in the United States when contracts in various companies „ expired one by one, while workers continued on their jobs without any contract. The union found that the common contract greatly enhanced its overall bargaining position. Before the common, world-wide contract was worked out, Ford in Britain was faced with a strike at the plant that was it 5 sole sup- plier for a critical compon- ent. The company then re- claimed a die used m its manufacture from a struck plant and had it flown to a German plant within five days. A global corporation, which certainly all the auto- mobile companies have , be- come, can now protect itself from a strike by establishing what is called "multiple sourcing", i.e., plants in dif- ferent countries producing the same component. It is a strategy by which the cor- poration can .make itself in- dependent of the labor force in any one facility or nation. Now Canada is the sole cource of many integral parts of cars and trucks, Under the Canada -U.S. Auto Pact, this trend was rein- forced as manufacturing operations here were com- bined with those in the United States. Robert White, head of the Canadian UAW, has stated that he can be trusted to be "reasonable" and aware of the sensitivity of Canada's position. However, no one knows if the rank and file will go along with that ap- proach. Furthermore, the successors at the helm of the Canadian UAW may not con- tinue to be moderate. Capital investment in the automobile and related in- dustries over the long-term will be depressed by these developments.. The major corporations will be reluct- ant to commit their funds to an area where so many un- certainties persist. Unless the Canada -U.S. Auto Pact is scrapped entirely, an alert political leadership in Ontar- io and in the Federal Gov- ernment should do what they can,, to have the split re- versed. Otherwise, the economy generally and On- tario's particularly could be very seriously affected over the next few years. Bill Smiley Municipal Politics If you have never been in- volved in municipal politics, you should have a. go. Run for anything from dogcatch- er to mayor. If you lose, it will be good for your ego. If you win, it will be good for your humility. I speak, as always; from personal experience. For two years I served on a town council. It was illuminating, if not very enlightening. I was elected, of course, by., acclamation. As was every- body else on the council. So keen were the citizens to serve that some years, on nomination eve, we had to go down to the pub, drag a couple of characters out, and guide their hands while they signed up. When I was elected, I was present as a reporter. There were only five other people in.the council chambers, so it was decided that I would be elected as the necessary sixth. Since I -had already served on the executives of various moribund organiza- tions which had died forth- with, I agreed. It didn't die, as I'd hoped. The next year we were all re-elected. By acclamation. It was pretty heady stuff, at first. As a partner in a printing plant, and a news- paperman, I was im- mediately appointed Chair- man of the Printing, Adver- tising, and Public Relations Committee of council. This meant that our firm auto- matically received the con- tract for the town'siprinting and advertising, which we already had. The public rela- tions part meant that I had to stop suggesting in the paper that the town council was made up of nitwits, nincom- poops and nerds. Another chap, with a pretty good heating and plumbing business, was named Chairman of the. In- terior Municipal Modifica- tion Committee. Heating and plumbing. A third, who had a tractor, a back -hoe and a snowplow, was appointed Chairman of the Public Works Depart- ment. He immediately intro-. duced a by-law raising the rates per hour of such equip- ment, It passed, four to two. The opposition was from another councillor, a retired farmer, who also had a trac- tor and a threshing -machine, which he thought could be converted to plowing snow. His brother-in-law voted with him,. But these moments of power and glory soon faded. The conflict of interest be- came -apparent, and there was no way out .fdr a man of. - 1ionor except to resign. It took me only two years to teach that conclusion. You may think that a fair time, but it's not easy t� walk away from a $75.00 a year stipend. The mayor made $150.00. As.a reporter, I had been more interested in the con- flicts than the interests. I had delightedly .heard, and printed, one councillor call another councillor a "gib- bering old baboon." And watched the victim of the pejorative, a stripling of 78, invite the name -caller outside, stripping off his jacket during the exchange. Cooler heads prevailed. It was thirty-four below out- side. Well, as you can see, as a member of that august body, the Town Council, I couldn't print that sort of thing. I had to report that the two coun- cillors "had a difference of opinion." When I wrote that phrase and had to omit that one of the councillors was. obviously in his cups,'I knew I had to quit.. All of this is a preamble to a thickish document I got in the mail the other day. It is a by-law printed and dispersed (at what enormous cost I shudder) by our local town council. There are 39 num- bered pages of legal in- anities, and about an equal number of pages of maps of the town, equally unintelli- gible. As I said, the mailman de- livered it, regardless of ex- pense. A dozen kids could have covered the town in two hours, or stuffed them in the sewer. Despite my wide ex- perience as a municipal councillor, or perhaps be- cause of it, this by-law com- pletely -baffles me. The first thirteen pages are definitions. They tell us what is a lot, a yard (front) and a yard (rear), a garage, a building. They also inform the ignorant citizenry what a school is, a person, a restaurant, a motel, a board- inghouse. All alphabetically. There was no mention of "brothel" under the B's. - The by-law tells us how high our fences or hedges can be. It tells us how high our houses can be. How many square metres of floor space we must have if we decide to ask Auntie Mabel, crippled with arthritis, to share our dwelling. How many parking places we , need for each establishment. Again no mention of either brothels or bootleggers. For. most of the document, the by-law dwells in metres, squared and decimaled. I know very few people over thirty who would know a metre from a maskinonge. Somebody on council must have cornered the market on metre sticks.' Then this bafflinkby-law moves into "hectares". What the heck is a hectare? To me, it's an ancient French (Canadian) piece of land about as accurate as an acre., which nobody under- stands either. .Here's an example: "RM2 uses are permitted as specified to a maximum of 550 persons per hectare." Is it a square mile? Is it a "H! - acre" wit' an accent? This is crazy. When I was a councillor, we could knock off three or four by-laws in a meeting, and everybody un- ' derstood them. "Moved and seconded that there shall be no loitering in the cemetery, except by those iwho are among the dead, not the quick." That sort of thing. This big fat by-law is for the birds. Or the lawyers. Not for us old municipal poli- ticians. Remember what I suggested at the beginning of this column? Forget, it. Otherwise you might end up in a "Detached dwelling unit", which allows"3.2 per- sons per unit standard." Not two. Not four. 3.2. KHMER NAMED On Oct. 9, 1970, Cambodia proclaimed its statehood as a republic and changed its name to Khmer. MAGNETIC SIGNS For Cars, Trucks, Offices, Mailboxes Eliminates costly lettering. Removable when tracing or painting. The Listowel Banner 188 Wallace Ave N 291 1660 The Wingham Advance -Times Josephine St 357 2320 The Mount Forest Confederate Main St 323 1550 The Milverton Sun Main Si 595 8921 1