Skilled Trades Association, CAW Local 199 St. Catharines (General Motors Unit) | ||||||
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January 6, 2006 The Beat Goes On... Well the beat goes on. I hope everyone had a good year. I guess if it doesn't kill us it will make us stronger (I'm not interested in being stronger). It concerns me that GM still has not brought any long term laid off people back to work. However it doesn't surprise me. Everyone's life experience is different. Some of us are holding on in hopes of rehire and some of us have moved on. If our decision becomes to move on, there are some realities that we may need to face. Most of us are not as young as we used to be. That is not to say that we can't do the work, but the perception in most companies is that younger is better. They want young and experienced? (go figure). Another reality is that GM workers are perceived a bit negatively. We are considered less aggressive in our work habits and we are perceived as wanting too much money. (Since when did a decent income become excessive). Try to raise a family on $12.00 to $22.00 per hour. A high wage in Niagara for trades would be $28.00 per hour. I have tested the employment within Niagara and there are a lot of jobs paying the low end wages. Sadly our children are having to fill these needs. Like you I am not willing to give myself away. There are a lot of decent jobs out there but not many in Niagara. There are local trade unions but they are not as willing to take on members because of the shortage of work in Niagara. The unions in the bigger cities are more receptive but it means traveling. There are numerous head-hunters out there and across Ontario there are literally hundreds of good paying trade jobs but we must travel. An excellent job search can be found in this area among many on Workopolis.com Workopolis will actually create phone calls from head-hunters for jobs. I am continually turning down work. LOL The Government of Canada Job bank is another good place to look for our area and Ontario and Canada. Osprey careers http://www.ospreycareers.com/ is another place to look for our area. It is newspaper adds and changes daily as do the others. And of course there is help on our Skilled Trades Association site in the Right now there are a lot of trade jobs in Alberta and across Ontario and with a good income. I'm not saying that there isn't any hope for Niagara but our industrial days are numbered. Oshawa has employed some of our people for years now. I can't imagine that 4 hour daily drive. I am driving 2.30 hours each day to Nanticoke and that can be tiring but the money is good and I don't need many years work. If we want good jobs there are lots of them out there but it is my experience that we may need to travel a bit. Keep your chin up. The way we perceive our life is the way we will experience it. My attitude about who I am and what my worth is and where I'm going is totally within my personal control.
GM can rightfully take responsibility for their poor management which initiated our current discomfort. It is our responsibility to take control and move ourselves forward. For those of us who are content with our current situation we will choose to remain the same. Those of us who are not content with our current situation will change it. The problem is when we are not content but we are stifled by inaction. We brood and complain but take no action.
The good news is that we have a choice. We choose to act or we choose to be content with our current situation. Both of these actions will comfort us because we will recognize our personal choice and the control we have over our response to the situation. Happiness is a frame of mind that we choose to have. It can only come from within ourselves. Be any way we want to be, act any way we want to act, do anything we want to do but remember that we have made the choice and it is our responsibility. Take control and be happy.
Kindest regards Papa Dez | ||||||
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