Okay, so it was Spanish cyclist Carlos Sastre who actually won the race, but he was riding a Canadian-made bike. Toronto based cycle manufacturer Cervélo designed and built the bicycle that Carlos Sastre pedaled through 3,500 grueling kilometers to win the crown jewel of cycling championships this year. Although it's unfortunate that this is as close as a Canadian will ever get to winning this contest, it's still great to see a local company do so well on the world stage.
The next challenge for Cervélo will be next month in Beijing, where 45 athletes from various countries will be attempting to go for gold. Good luck Cervélo!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Cash, Cars & Pink Slips
It seems that General Motors Canada has decided to soften the blow dealt when they recently announced the upcoming closure of their Oshawa truck plant in 2009. Apparently workers are being offered cash retirement and buyout incentives up to $125,000 along with vouchers of $35,000 for the purchase of a car (I wonder how many will try and buy an Toyota with them).
This settlement was reached after the valiant efforts (threats & intimidation) of the Canadian Autoworkers Union (CAW). Chris Buckley, President of CAW Local 222, was quite pleased with the deal, although he will probably miss drumming up the rhetoric on the picket lines and blockades. Of course where would the workers be without the hard work of folks like Chris and CAW union boss Buzz Hargrove? Employed, maybe?
While General Motors shares a liberal amount of blame in this closing, especially after signing a new contract with the workers shortly before the closure announcement, I think that the union members should take a long, hard look at their leadership before they agree to anything. The CAW is not a charity and the leaders do not work for free. They are paid very handsomely from the dues paid by union members and want to make sure that they justify their existence. Doubt my word that union leaders are well paid - a recent Report On Business salary survey indicates that Buzz Hargrove makes a base salary of $131,000 alone. They thrive on justifying their existence through rhetoric and bombast - there's nothing like a good old fashioned strike to help make them look like heroes.
Buzz and company like to paint themselves as champions of the workers - protector of the little guys. They hammer relentlessly on unionized employers, squeezing every last dime possible out of them - for the good of the workers of course. Then they wonder when companies plead poverty and are forced to close or relocate their businesses to Mexico or Asia. When this happens they blame the companies for these actions, claiming they are done in the name of profit and survival.
Guess what guys, unless you've unionized the United Way, these companies are FOR PROFIT organizations, NOT charities and they are transparent about it (try and find the union leadership salaries on the CAW website). They have a responsibility to investors and shareholders to be profitable and show a return on investment. There is absolutely nothing wrong with profit - that's what makes free enterprise and our society run. Squeezing the last nickel out out of a company will get you just that - the last nickel available before the company is forced to close their doors.
The CAW has managed to make Canada the most expensive place in North America to produce cars. When companies like GM are forced to choose where they produce their cars, they are likely going to pick...surprise - the least expensive location! It is unfortunate that GM management are in the position to need to make this choice (through factors like the price of oil and their gross ineptitude at running a car company), but one can hardly blame them for the choice they made.
The United Auto Workers (UAW), American counterparts to the CAW have woken up to this reality and have helped drive concessions from their members and put their industry on a competitive footing again. This type of leadership is sorely needed (and soon) in Canada.
It's unfortunate that the real losers in this entire debacle are the auto workers. I have a real and genuine sympathy for their plight. These people are the salt of the earth and don't deserve to lose their jobs and I truly am glad that they are at least getting something out of this mess. What they should also do; however, is serve as a lesson to the rest of the CAW members. While Chris Buckley praised the deal to compensate the workers, he also emphasized that things could continue to get worse for the industry. Unfortunately, he and his fellow union leaders are largely to blame and unless the union members wake up and clean house, there will indeed be more of this in the near future.
This settlement was reached after the valiant efforts (threats & intimidation) of the Canadian Autoworkers Union (CAW). Chris Buckley, President of CAW Local 222, was quite pleased with the deal, although he will probably miss drumming up the rhetoric on the picket lines and blockades. Of course where would the workers be without the hard work of folks like Chris and CAW union boss Buzz Hargrove? Employed, maybe?
While General Motors shares a liberal amount of blame in this closing, especially after signing a new contract with the workers shortly before the closure announcement, I think that the union members should take a long, hard look at their leadership before they agree to anything. The CAW is not a charity and the leaders do not work for free. They are paid very handsomely from the dues paid by union members and want to make sure that they justify their existence. Doubt my word that union leaders are well paid - a recent Report On Business salary survey indicates that Buzz Hargrove makes a base salary of $131,000 alone. They thrive on justifying their existence through rhetoric and bombast - there's nothing like a good old fashioned strike to help make them look like heroes.
Buzz and company like to paint themselves as champions of the workers - protector of the little guys. They hammer relentlessly on unionized employers, squeezing every last dime possible out of them - for the good of the workers of course. Then they wonder when companies plead poverty and are forced to close or relocate their businesses to Mexico or Asia. When this happens they blame the companies for these actions, claiming they are done in the name of profit and survival.
Guess what guys, unless you've unionized the United Way, these companies are FOR PROFIT organizations, NOT charities and they are transparent about it (try and find the union leadership salaries on the CAW website). They have a responsibility to investors and shareholders to be profitable and show a return on investment. There is absolutely nothing wrong with profit - that's what makes free enterprise and our society run. Squeezing the last nickel out out of a company will get you just that - the last nickel available before the company is forced to close their doors.
The CAW has managed to make Canada the most expensive place in North America to produce cars. When companies like GM are forced to choose where they produce their cars, they are likely going to pick...surprise - the least expensive location! It is unfortunate that GM management are in the position to need to make this choice (through factors like the price of oil and their gross ineptitude at running a car company), but one can hardly blame them for the choice they made.
The United Auto Workers (UAW), American counterparts to the CAW have woken up to this reality and have helped drive concessions from their members and put their industry on a competitive footing again. This type of leadership is sorely needed (and soon) in Canada.
It's unfortunate that the real losers in this entire debacle are the auto workers. I have a real and genuine sympathy for their plight. These people are the salt of the earth and don't deserve to lose their jobs and I truly am glad that they are at least getting something out of this mess. What they should also do; however, is serve as a lesson to the rest of the CAW members. While Chris Buckley praised the deal to compensate the workers, he also emphasized that things could continue to get worse for the industry. Unfortunately, he and his fellow union leaders are largely to blame and unless the union members wake up and clean house, there will indeed be more of this in the near future.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Homer Simpson Comes to Ontario
It seems that Homer Simpson has taken a break from being a famous animated character to come and work at a real world nuclear power plant in Ontario. While he wasn't actually named in news accounts, who else but the beloved and befuddled Homer could have managed to misplace a radioactive reactor component for over 2 months?
All kidding aside, it's kind of frightening that workers with Atomic Energy Canada Limited (AECL ) could manage to "misplace" a radioactive component for over 2 months at the Bruce nuclear plant. Apparently the calandria tube, which contains radioactive heavy water, was stumbled upon by a working walking through an area called "the vault" when his radiation detector went off. Luckily the worker was not exposed to serious levels of radiation (about the same as a chest x-ray) and nobody was injured in the incident.
Believe it or not, this is not even the worst part of the story. Apparently AECL (a crown corporation) and Bruce Power (the private operator of the plant) knew that the part was lost and failed to notify the Canadian nuclear regulator until it was accidentally discovered over 2 months later. When asked for details about the incident, Duncan Hawthore, the CEO of Bruce Power said "It's not a story, it's a bullshit story. There is no issue." Nice attitude Duncan, although a more appropriate response may have been - d'oh!
It's unfortunate that this sort of attitude seems to be systemic in the Ontario nuclear industry. I do believe that nuclear power has the potential to provide a clean and relatively safe alternative to coal and natural gas generated electricity, just not with the AECL and their Candu technology. Over the years they have proven themselves inept at being able to provide reliable and cost effective nuclear power in Ontario. The Candu technology has been plagued with problems, frequently requiring costly repairs and refurbishment (which is why AECL was at Bruce Power).
The Ontario Government has recently announced that 2 new reactors will be built in Ontario, a move that I applaud (it was long overdue). The invited vendors are Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL), AREVA NP of France and Westinghouse Electric Co. of the United States and I for one hope the government does not give undue preference to AECL simply because they are Canadian. They have a long history of ineptness, with the Bruce incident and last year's Chalk River debacle merely the latest problems and certainly don't deserve any favouritism.
I'll be keeping a close eye on this one.
All kidding aside, it's kind of frightening that workers with Atomic Energy Canada Limited (AECL ) could manage to "misplace" a radioactive component for over 2 months at the Bruce nuclear plant. Apparently the calandria tube, which contains radioactive heavy water, was stumbled upon by a working walking through an area called "the vault" when his radiation detector went off. Luckily the worker was not exposed to serious levels of radiation (about the same as a chest x-ray) and nobody was injured in the incident.
Believe it or not, this is not even the worst part of the story. Apparently AECL (a crown corporation) and Bruce Power (the private operator of the plant) knew that the part was lost and failed to notify the Canadian nuclear regulator until it was accidentally discovered over 2 months later. When asked for details about the incident, Duncan Hawthore, the CEO of Bruce Power said "It's not a story, it's a bullshit story. There is no issue." Nice attitude Duncan, although a more appropriate response may have been - d'oh!
It's unfortunate that this sort of attitude seems to be systemic in the Ontario nuclear industry. I do believe that nuclear power has the potential to provide a clean and relatively safe alternative to coal and natural gas generated electricity, just not with the AECL and their Candu technology. Over the years they have proven themselves inept at being able to provide reliable and cost effective nuclear power in Ontario. The Candu technology has been plagued with problems, frequently requiring costly repairs and refurbishment (which is why AECL was at Bruce Power).
The Ontario Government has recently announced that 2 new reactors will be built in Ontario, a move that I applaud (it was long overdue). The invited vendors are Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL), AREVA NP of France and Westinghouse Electric Co. of the United States and I for one hope the government does not give undue preference to AECL simply because they are Canadian. They have a long history of ineptness, with the Bruce incident and last year's Chalk River debacle merely the latest problems and certainly don't deserve any favouritism.
I'll be keeping a close eye on this one.
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