About 400,000 people in Ontario are just about to lose their jobs. And that is in the auto sector alone. Thousands upon thousands of people are worried that they’ll be jobless within the year. I myself am worried if I still have a job (or a company for that matter) at the end of next year, since our company supplies, amongst others, GM and Chrysler (I am btw disappointed the government has a bail-out plan for the big three AMERICAN companies operating in Ontario–throwing money at a bad company isn’t going to save it, they will have to change structurally first, starting with the unions).

Against this depressing backdrop, several unions are currently on strike for things ordinary people would only wish they had access to: PSAC @ Canada Post is striking for a better benefit package (and wage increases), and OC Transpo, Ottawa’s transit company, is on strike for the right to keep scheduling their own shifts (and wage increases). The auto workers’ unions will not talk about decreasing wages, because they say the wages are not the problem, and lowering wages would admit some sort of guilt.

As to the title of this post: I know we tend to blame unions and their bosses like Layton-pal Buzz Hargrove and the incredibly moronic  Andre Cornellier, however, I am wondering why union members continue to vote in favour of these strikes with overwhelming numbers: Canada Post voted 88% for a strike, OC Transpo voted over 98% for a strike. In this day and age, where people have to fight to even keep their job, these members are on strike not to keep their jobs, no, they are on strike to be able to work less and get paid more. Union members must know about the recession. They read the papers. They watch the news. They must know ordinary people in this country are fearing for their jobs? Do they not know that striking for higher wages will only jeopardize their own jobs or even an entire industry?

So, would people with a fully working brain vote to go on strike at the eve of one of the biggest recessions this country has ever seen?