well I might as well too, eh?

Hey there, everyone else is doing this blog thing, so I might as well too, eh?

Of course, those of you who know me well, will know that many of my blogs will have to do with sports. BUT, I will come up with a blog, here and there, about something that matters (my wife will be proud of me).

I will start my blogging career with a non-sport blog. It has to do with things I have been thinking about recently, and I guess I just feel like venting a bit. I have already vented about this, to people other than my wife, but now I will share it with you.

I work for Loblaw Companies East, here in Cambridge, at the distribution centre on Fountain St. N. Recently one of our DC's in the GTA (Erin Mills's) was in contract negotiations, because their contract expired in June or July or thereabouts. So, during this time we would hear about company offers, etc, etc. One of the offers, and the contract which they eventually voted in, included a few takebacks...which are huge...if you are thinking FUTURE at all. They were going to introduce a two-tier wage system in which any new hires would have a top rate of $4.50/hr (approx.) less than current employees, and instead of taking 5 years to get there it will take six. Along with that I had heard there will be no Christmas Bonus (usually we get one weeks pay) and no C.O.L.A.

So, after having heard all this, and eventually scanning a copy of the proposed agreement, I decided to do a little research on the financial well-being of Loblaw Companies Limited. So, I went to a business website and checked out the financial statement for LCL. Here is what I found:
From June '04 to June '05 - Total revenues were just under $26 bill.
- Total profit was 1.6 bill.
- Net profit was 948 mill.

After having seen this, It kinda burned me up inside. It also made me realize (maybe I just never really thought about it before) what real business is all about. I mean look how much their net profit was and then they offer their workers reduced wages, and other cuts. I mean give me a break. I don't mean you have to give us a huge raise, but share the wealth a little bit. We're the ones who have worked for you...give us a little respect. Autoworkers are making more than we are and the auto companies aren't making any money (although I guess a lot of those workers will be out of work soon) you guys are making huge profits and you offer wage reductions. WOW!

Anyhow, I will leave it at that...it feels good to vent. Thanks for reading if you got to the end.