Thursday, February 10, 2005
Andromeda Shutters Quebec Office
"We were hoping it wouldn't come to this," said Andy, a spokesperson for Andromeda Blog. "Despite nine days of meetings over three months, we've been unable to reach an agreement with the union that in our view will allow the blog to operate efficiently and profitably."
"Admittedly, it wasn't nine FULL days of meetings," Andy acknowledged. "It was just that we did have meetings on nine different days. And on several of those days, the meetings were WITH the union!"
Asked why it was necessary to call the staff to the front of the office, pull the well-known Andromeda vests off each of the workers one by one, and burn them one at a time, wailing, "You MADE me do this! You MADE me do this!" Andy pointed out that Andromeda had been more than generous, agreeing to pay employees at the full minimum wage.
"Look, I KNOW these people, I've met their families, been in their homes, hugged their children, and there is simply no doubt in my mind that many of them would have agreed to kick back a portion of the minimum wage just to keep their jobs -- but we didn't ask them to do that, not in writing and not in front of any witnesses -- we're just not that kind of company!" explained Andy.
Although the union had asked Quebec labor officials to appoint a mediator, Andromeda felt the discussions were unlikely to be fruitful because "our approach to negotiation is not facilitated by the use of mediators." Speaking off the record, Andromeda officials admitted their approach to negotiating with unions consisted of holding their hands over their ears and shouting, "I can't HE-E-AR you! I can't HE-E-AR you!"
"Admittedly, it wasn't nine FULL days of meetings," Andy acknowledged. "It was just that we did have meetings on nine different days. And on several of those days, the meetings were WITH the union!"
Asked why it was necessary to call the staff to the front of the office, pull the well-known Andromeda vests off each of the workers one by one, and burn them one at a time, wailing, "You MADE me do this! You MADE me do this!" Andy pointed out that Andromeda had been more than generous, agreeing to pay employees at the full minimum wage.
"Look, I KNOW these people, I've met their families, been in their homes, hugged their children, and there is simply no doubt in my mind that many of them would have agreed to kick back a portion of the minimum wage just to keep their jobs -- but we didn't ask them to do that, not in writing and not in front of any witnesses -- we're just not that kind of company!" explained Andy.
Although the union had asked Quebec labor officials to appoint a mediator, Andromeda felt the discussions were unlikely to be fruitful because "our approach to negotiation is not facilitated by the use of mediators." Speaking off the record, Andromeda officials admitted their approach to negotiating with unions consisted of holding their hands over their ears and shouting, "I can't HE-E-AR you! I can't HE-E-AR you!"
