<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">I was in Ontario last year on holiday and I seem to recall that teachers were working to rule after not having had a pay increase in something like 9 years.</font>
The work-to-rule and illegal wildcat strikes have nothing to do with pay (they've all had regular raises that beat inflation)- it's a power struggle between our elected officials and the union bosses, with the teachers having very little say in the matter. The union honchos are upset that (1) they are no longer setting education policy and (2) the reforms put in place are making schools accountable to parents. Many parents are publicly condemning the reforms but privately supporting them- they've learned the hard way that openly criticizing the unions will destroy your kids' chances of getting into university. The teachers are even worse off- many oppose the union brass but can't opt out (union membership is mandatory) and those who didn't toe the party line have had their homes & cars vandalized. BTW when a union boss whines about "no increase in nn years", the truth is that the
position pays the same, but the
person is still making plenty more- think airlines where one starts as a CRJ FO and advances to 747 captain- if the salary scales are frozen the union would claim "no increase" even though most of the drivers are making lots more.
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">in Canada the health system is free</font>
That is the most dangerous myth about socialized medicine ever created. In Ontario the system is financed by a 5% payroll tax (one of the reasons we have chronically high unemployment) plus other revenue, so that "free" health care cost me well over $4,000 last year. I could get a full-coverage plan in the US for about 2/3 of that.
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">In Canada, you had better have a drug plan of some sort, either in your company benefits plan or out of your own pocket (at around 50 bucks a month I think) because drugs are expensive.</font>
I pay $7.50/month for 100% drugs, 100% dental, $120,000 term life and disablity (benefit $2600/month).
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Nuke the rainforest- it's more efficient than logging.