Raise the Hammer

Dear Jack, my husband worked for the Ont. Civil Service, & was out on the picket lines 3 times within less than a decade. For the last 4 years of his employment with the Ont. Gov. we actually didn't know from day to day if he had a job.

(He was in his 60's & a cat's whisker away from a pension. Or maybe a pension, or no pension, or part of a pension, depending on if he got the axe today, or next year, or the year after that. It was pure hell living without any idea of what tomorrow would bring for a period that extended into years.)

Our daughter was in primary school at that time. No music lesson, sports, or other extra activities. We didn't know what tomorrow would bring. No holidays, spare birthdays, & lean anniversarys that consistented of a cake & little else. We knew that in spite of being a skilled tradesman, my husband's job propects were slim indeed because he was over 60. (That later proved to be true.)

When he finally job his 'walking ticket' we move to Hamilton to try & make the best of what money we had, since Toronto had amalgamated, & no sooner had moved here than Mr. Harris broke his promise & amalgamated Hamilton too. So much for 'downsizing' your expenses, when you can't predict that a Party's word is worth less than the paper it was written on.. This even took the local Tory Federal M.P. to the point of resignation over that flip-flop.

So, my husband got his old job back at part salary, no holidays, no seniority. (Imagine that if you will. Working in the same place, doing exectly the same job, at 1/2 the salary.) Overtime called with no notice, termination of contract with no notice, & having to wait months for the overtime pay that you worked. And a demand for employees with No Specified training to do asbestos removal! My husband died 2 years ago, ditto the other fellow who worked with him from Cancer. In both cases, it appears to be from exposure to industrial pollutants, quite possibly asbestos.

We got up every work day a 1:45 a.m. to get him to the Go station for the 3 a.m. train & bus to his old job. Thanks to the problems with the train service in Hamilton, sometimes he didn't get into Hamilton until 8 p.m., which by anyones' standards is one Looong work day! (We were also trying to save on car insurance by using the train & bus..)

So Jack, please don't decide to tell me what our lives were about. We lived it, you didn't, & the arrogant way you make you statements is a bit hard to take. Yes, Ray Days were a cakewalk next to the living hell that followed after them. You can state your own viewpoints, but don't even think about trying to tell us what happened to us. We were there!