Union Demands Cause a Loss of Jobs

I recently got to the office this morning after sitting in traffic an hour longer than I usually do because of a transit strike that has paralyzed Ottawa. As I was sitting in traffic, I was hearing on the radio to one bus driver after another explain his or her thoughts on why they should be on strike. At the same time I cursed out loud that I hated unions and members of unions and now I know why. So here are some of the reasons why I hate unions.

Unions are adversarial. They do not work in the public interest, they work for their own interest. These conflicts add to the overall world situation that forces others to believe in a cause through intimidation.

Unions are not realistic. We are in one of the world's toughest financial situations in some time and we have transit unions having a strike right before Christmas and affecting small business. For example, even though I have a car I cancelled a chiropractic appointment because I was worried about the traffic. The auto sector is on the edge of Chapter 11 and unions will not give into concessions needed, then why should the tax payers. Screw the union.

Unions force companies to relocate to other countries where there are not any unions. For example, Mexico just became the largest country in the Americas to produce cars. You want to know why? No damn unions.

Unions are selfish and breed generations of selfish people. An example during our recent transit strike had single mother with two kids holding down three part-time jobs so as not to go on welfare and as she said to teach her kids that one needed to work hard for a living. She depended on the bus. A comment by a bus driver is that he did not want to be on strike because he had a mortgage and just bought a new truck. What's with that? He has a good job, he has benefits, he has a new truck and this was all built on the back of someone else less fortunate that depends on him. -- so Unions are selfish and breed this mentality.

Unions are greedy. Rather than realise a specific situation and try to make it work, they want to just take the best and leave the rest. Yes my friends, unions are extremely greedy.

Unions bully workers and bully the public. I am not sure why we spend all this money on trying to educate young people in the school yard about bullying other kids. Unions are a perfect example of those who bully. They push their rank and file to vote for major proposals that are not realistic or they don't present there offer to the rank and file. They hold up signs, they scream and shout at people and places, they stop traffic, push others, threaten and do it as a mob. Unions are bullies and bullies my friends are passe. Bullies are right up there with every group or organization that threatens others through intimidation. I am sure you can think of some historical bullies. Unions are one of them.

Unions are also whiners. I never heard more fat cats with good stable jobs whine more when you ask them to do an honest day's work for an a fair wage. They are the biggest babies in the world. They whine about wages, they whine about days off, they whine about not getting enough, when they get what they want they whine about getting more. Unions are a major pain in the butt and they whine. Would you like to join that group. Nice job, whine, whine, whine.

Unions last of all are passe. Its time to put this way of working out to pasture or develop a town near Fort Mc Murry where we can send anyone that wants to be a member of the union. ( sorry Alberta) That way you could have unionized everything. Sort a Pleasentville for union people.

They would all be waiting for someone else to do their job, they would all be on holiday. There would be lineups at the doctor to justify sick days, they would all be on vacation, they would all have new trucks and they would be all going around town bullying each other. It would be a unionized utopia. Union folks with union folks. Cement talking to cement. All greedy, selfish and whining -- what a utopia

So, if you belong to a union good luck in life. You are not a nice person to know.

Pretty Excited About the Future

I decided today to write in my blog on this day October 21, 2008 that I am pretty excited about the future. Rather than whine and snivle about all the fear, greed, hate and anger in the world, I am going to be positive. I have a lot be thankful for. I mean where else but in Canada can almost everyone be a millionare and have all we have with not very much effort. For example, anyone that bought real estate in Vancouver, Toronto or Calgary in 1968 is pretty much a millionare today. Its a good example of how things in this country are. We have the best country in the world and the most amazing set of values of any country on the planet. More people should be happy today and thankful for what they have.

On that note, so what if my RRSP's are worth 40% less than when I started. Its all about timing and now is not the time to cash them in and run to cash. Its time to support our economy and be thankful because as you know what goes up comes down and what goes down goes up. Just sit back pour yourself a glass of single malt and smile because you have a lot to be thankful for today.

Canada's Next Great Leader

Well its election time in Canada once again and I don't mind telling you I am concerned as most Canadians should be about who is going to run this great country of ours.

Its quite interesting really. Having been an old Progressive Conservative and watching our new combined party ( reform and conservatives) at work, I have been pretty disappointed with the showing of Mr. Harper. In fact he made quite a few major mistakes in this campaign. You may be a great leader, but make a few mistakes and perception becomes then becomes reality. That is the case with our boy Stephen.

The first mistake was on the approach. I think hammering your competition is not the wisest move in the old book of marketing. As a marketing coach I look at an election like its a war. First thing you need to do in marketing is establish your brand. The conservatives never did that. If Stephen Harper is the brand and not the party then you leave yourself open to all kinds of issues that are personal about the person and not the party. So who the hell is the PC Party -- its a lot more than Stephen.
The second thing in marketing is to establish your key value proposition. Harper as the brand did not give me a small "c" conservative the confidence that he actually had a value proposition.

His value proposition was presented that the other guy is not much of leader. Well, tell me why you are the better leader and why I should vote for you. Harper really did not give me the confidence that he presented a better alternative. His key blunder was waiting too long to release his platform and then when he did, it was a weak list of things that he wanted to accomplish. The competition called it a brochure. That pretty much sums it up. Remember the Red Book. Confidence, Confidence Confidence. I think this was the turning point. As someone that was unhappy with the other parties and waiting for more information on which to make the choice, well it never came. In marketing the key to selling any product is to build confidence with the target audience. I am not sure who Harper had giving him his advice, but he did not even get to first base in building confidence with his audience.

What politicians need to realise is that they are basically selling a product -- a leader. Leadership is not about ripping others apart but demonstrating to the audience that you are actually a better leader, giving confidence and presenting a better value proposition than the next guy.

Harper may have thought that by cutting the arts, taxes and showing Canadians that he knows how to go to the office everyday,that he can lead a country, but he did little on these three fronts to really make a difference.
For me,I still be voting for the Conservatives even if it means holding my nose. In reality, Harper has the tools to lead Canada. I just wish he had spent some more time telling Canadians about his vision for Canada.

As someone who has sold tons of products to lots of people its simple enough. Tell me again why I should buy your product, whats in it for me and how confident am I that the purchase will pay off for the job its being purchased to do.
I think people spend the same time researching a new car, telephone, a television or a computer as they do on who to vote for in an election. Most politicians just don't get it. They don't know how to sell people what it is they want.

We just want a honest person, with strong leadership skills that will give us the confidence that they know what the hell is going on and that they can do the job. Its that simple. Don't give me too much dirt on the other guy because if you give me enough or more information on what you will do then I am going to spend my time learning more from you and then voting for you. Its pretty simple. Why is it that everyone working in politics in North America has forgotten that.

Kensel Tracy is The Marketing Coach. This blog is written as my own personal opinion on a variety of topics. It may or may not mean anything to anybody. It does however give me a chance to say what it is I really think in the hopes that one day it may just give someone the confidence to do something a little different.

The Great Melt Down Or Greed and More Greed

This week I must admit I had a sudden panic attack when I heard the 5:30 news on CFRA talking about the markets. I thought this is it the end is near. As I sipped my morning coffee and listened to all the doom and gloom I decided that I would take a step back from the radio and the hype and really think about the situation.

My wife has an expression in which she says " all will be well". I thought about that for a moment and decided, the hell with it. All will be well. I instantaneously felt a heck of lot better and decided that it would, regardless of how much the media told me I would soon be out on the street. Wouldn't you know it. The market is up today and oil is down and we still have an election on and the cat still wants to go outside for a walk. Ground hog day once again.

I stepped into the shower and as I was washing my face I heard the little voice in my head. It said " all will be well". I know I married an amazing women and now I know why. When she looks at me and says those four words I feel much better.

To this great planet of ours, even those greedy bastards that took us for a ride, those over promising politicians and those of us who are just working stiffs that go to the office each day and grind out more hamburger I give you this thought. When life hands you a bunch of lemons, make lemonade and remember " all will be well".

Now to finish I have to laugh out loud and wonder. How is it that the President of Merell Lynch can make $197 million in one year and his company goes bankrupt the next and nobody, not even his shareholders say a word. If the markets are in a mess then we have no one to blame but ourselves and if we own shares in any of those companies it time to take stock and perhaps get your money out and buy Whole Foods or donate it to some great charity or buy a kid a new bike.

There is not much that can be said about greed only that it makes human kind do some pretty stupid things. Now if you had $197 million, bought the best BMW, a condo in the city of your choice, the villa in a warm climate and could do whatever you wanted. Don't you think you would be doing something better than stealing other people's money. Its pretty sad really because most of us can live quite nicely on $500,000. Pretty said really. Its really pretty, pretty sad.

Well don't worry we will just suck it up as " living the old American dream" and hope that " all will be well.

Kensel Tracy.com is a blog that records the musings of me Kensel J. Tracy. Its my legacy to the Internet and perhaps someday it may make some sense to someone who cares about what I write. In the meantime you can get some real meat at my other blogs. Until next time, have a nice moment.

Views and News

It is with great excitement that I start this new blog. Kensel Tracy.com will focus in on my personal views about a variety of topics. In some cases I will have a lot of information and in other cases I won't have anything other than an opinion. The key to this blog is to discuss a series of broad based life activities and perhaps share more of myself with the reader.

I know that many blog sites focus in on specific topics. I already blog on The Marketing Coach, Coaching Ezine and The Ten Commitments to a Better Life. These blogs all focus in on a specific topic.

Kensel Tracy.com is really just about what I am thinking about at any point in time in my life and thought it would be good to have a place to keep this information.
Here is an example. Right now we have major elections going on in Canada and the United States. I have really become to loath elections since they are the ultimate in B.S. I say that because candidates that participate in these things will say and do anything to get elected. Take Harper's plan to reduce the cost of truck fuel for example. Its a fine and noble idea and makes sense if you own or drive a truck. Its great window dressing only it really won't make a big difference. Check out today's gas prices, they just went up $.13 in one day.

So I say to you Mr. Harper do this. Give the two cents to the oil companies if you want but give another $.02 to the municipalities to help with infrastructure. If you were to do that you may just be able to help municipalities lower taxes which would put another $100 in the hands of consumers.

I have really become to loath how municipalities do business though. I have seen over the years how great little city organizations have fallen into a state of confusion and dispair. It it sad to watch great organizations like the City of Ottawa crumble into confusion all the while taking more money from the poor home owner.

Like just this week, the City of Ottawa wanted to hire 7 people ( count em 7 ) to become pot hole spotters. When I first came to Ottawa, I heard the joke "what's white and sleeps 7", A City of Ottawa Public Works Truck.

When I used to work for a municipality in the summer, I did wind shield surveys which ment just driving around and waisting time because there was nothing to do. So why couldn't every resident in Ottawa become a pot hole spotter. That way you could run contests with the media on who could spot the biggest pot hole. As apposed to A-hole.

I think it would be really great to be a pot hole spotter. First off you would get a brand new shiny municipal vehicle to drive around. The first thing you would do is go to the office and get your territory for the day. Kensel today you will be working the west end. I have heard that there are a number of pot holes loose in the west end. I want you to go out there and make sure you spot and record em.

Don't get to close to them though they are armed and dangerous. The next thing you would do is then plan your spotting day. I am going into the west end and drive around. I will record the streets I am going drive on and have my spotters outfit.

This would need to be union and safety approved because being a pot hole spotter is dangerous work. Hard hat, safety gloves, tool box, safety glasses, binoculars, hole tester ( a ruler) and spotters guide. The spotters guide is another great tax spend as it could include 150 pages that would outline every type of pot hole you would need to spot.

There's the Jim Durrell. Its round and smart and knows what its doing. Theres the Larry O'Brien that is square and thinks its round and does not know what its doing. You know you could go on and on and on and spend a whole lot of money on the overall book.

Well -- pot hole spotters of the world unite. I think I am going phone my friend Nigel Beale so we can get the lowdown on pot hole spotting. I think theres a book in there somewhere. The Pot Hole Spotters Guide to the Galexy. Who knows it could be a million seller. TA TA for now.

Kensel Tracy.com is a site dedicated to just talking about things and ranting and raving with a focus on common sense. Lets hope for a better tomorrow and be good to everyone.