Dear Sir:
A long time ago when the earth was still young, there was a thing called a union, which every one belonged to.
Time evolved, the union grew.
We needed a raise so we could buy gas for the car, so we went on strike.
In order to do that there was needed three different types of votes, and our signatures in blood on parchment,.
Only parchment would do and none other was permitted for government purposes.
Then there was a strike, legally sanctioned, that lasted for three months where we won a nickel an hour.
It was a deal that required another three votes to ratify before it showed up on the pay statements.
Time has passed and now the earth has matured, and there are lots of us who are on pension, graciously given by government.
It is lots of money to live on if one is a rabbit.
Now, when there is a need a raise to buy gas for the car, the seniors have to go to our MP (Member of Pork Chop Hill) and he/she has to grovel before the PM (Prime Monster) who then will send the request to the Committee of What for their approval.
Then it has to slide back down that chain (estimated turn around time, two glacial epochs) then the raise comes.
It is one nickel a month.
When the chief executive officer of one of the oil companies retires to the bed chamber, weary from counting the profits, and decides there needs to be a rise in gas prices so he can buy gas for his car, he calls the company comptroller and tells him to put another nickel per litre on the price, and do it tomorrow morning.
Poof, it’s done. That new nickel is there as the clock strikes 12:01 am. There is no need to justify that nickel to anyone, not even the janitor, or the governor – no need for a vote of any kind not even the shareholders. No parchment documents signed in blood or grease, just do it, we are the oil company.
All while the governments of the world, except Mexico and Saudi Arabia, sleep and wake up paying that extra nickel a litre.
Les Watmough,
Terrace, B.C.