Don't Scrap CUPE.......

.....But give employees a choice on whether they wan to join or even better negotiate under a "pay equity" criteria meaning civic employees would be paid at the same rate as private sector employees.

Rudyard Griffiths: CUPE makes a good case for eliminating CUPE

As Toronto’s public service strike enters its fifth week, with no end in sight, an interesting social phenomenon is starting to unfold in Canada’s largest metropolis: In bars, over dinner tables and around water coolers, Toronto’s tax-strapped and recession-conscious denizen are all talking about how little their day-to-day lives have been effected by the strike.

Yes, there is the inconvenience of having to pay $5 a bag to have garbage hauled away by the enterprising businessmen who come to your door. Yes, the city’s main thoroughfares are starting to look like the gritty set of a CSI: NY episode. And, yes, if you are a parent with limited means who was counting on city summer camps and daycare, the last month has been downright awful.

But for the vast majority of Torontonians, this summer is much like any other. Given this state of affairs, more and more people are asking themselves: What exactly were the 30,000 strikers doing before they took to the picket lines?

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