Although those in the embrace of neo-liberalism would have us believe that unions and worker solidarity are but a quaint historical artifact, the size of yesterday's rally in London, Ontario protesting the predatory practices of Catterpillar Inc. suggests otherwise.
In response to the company's attempt to halve the wages of its workers at Electro-Motive Canada and severely reduce pensions and other benefits,
A crowd of more than 10,000 descended upon this city’s Victoria Park to support local workers who have been locked out of their jobs since the new year. They came from all over, from Timmins, Sudbury, and Pennsylvania in scores of buses. They came to protest corporate greed and Stephen Harper.
Ken Lewenza, president of Canadian Auto Workers, offered a sobering warning to the Harper government, which permitted the sale of the company to U.S.-based Caterpillar, and now seems egregiously unconcerned about the disastrous consequences that decision has wrought:
“If the government doesn’t step in, Canada will become a low-paid workforce .... We need to protect the middle class if we want a more equal society.”
Apparently any concern for the fate of the middle class is trumped by Mr. Harper's ideology, an ideology which seems to believe that unfettered capitalism can do no wrong.
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