Original article, by Keith Jones, via World Socialist Web Site:
Toronto’s 24,000 city workers, now in their second week of strike action, have been the target of a concerted, venomous attack by Toronto’s corporate media.
When workers stand together, the oligarchy shudders.
Day after day, the Globe and Mail, National Post, Toronto Sun, and Star have churned out columns and editorials castigating the modestly paid inside and outside workers for "enjoy[ing] perks that others can only dream of"—perks like the "notorious" paid sick days that they "selfishly" refuse to give up.
Paid sick days are perks that others can only dream of? C'mon. If the writers at the papers don't get paid sick leave, then they should be on strike, too!
Columnists earning six-figure salaries writing for dailies that serve as mouthpieces for some of Canada’s wealthiest capitalists—Ken Thomson (Globe), Karl Péladeau (Sun), the Aspers (National Post)—are railing against the purported "injustice" of city workers balking at the city’s demands for concessions— a wage freeze, benefit cuts, the weakening of seniority rights, and an increased workload—while others have lost their jobs or had their savings wiped out by the capitalist crisis.
A lesson to be learned here in the States. The media is not on your side, since they are 'owned' by the capitalists. Your working conditions are subject to their whim, that is if you don't stand up for your rights.
The scope and tenor of the press campaign against the Toronto city workers must be taken by them and by the working class as a whole as a warning as to what is at stake in the current strike.
I'll let you read the rest of the article and allow you to ponder a bit. The bosses blame you for the economic collapse. They blame you for cutting into their record profits. The government is there to serve their whims, not to better the lot for you and yours. Keep that in mind.
The only way to fight the bosses, the bankster frauds and the oligarchs is to stand together and fight them through united labor action. Solidarity is the key to standing up to the bosses. We've seen this time and time again. When workers stand together, they help make for better working conditions and fairer wages for their fellow workers. When they knuckle under to the bosses, their wages get cut and their workload increases. Learn this lesson. Stand in solidarity with the workers in Toronto and wherever strikes about takebacks are occurring.