Frustrated by Delays?

[messenger]

I got tired of complaining to my wife, so I made a change.org petition. If the signatures are there, I am going to try to get more detailed answers from CIC as to the reason for the most recent delays, and hopefully have more of a dialogue than, "Please be patient and wait", that many are hearing when they call CIC regarding the issue. I hope the 500 signatures will be more of a pressure to speak frankly and directly.

https://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/canadian-and-immigration-canada-process-family-class-permanent-residency-applications-in-a-timely-manner#

Ηι sounion

I copied the petition url on a Greek language Facebook group "Immigrating to Canada" http://www.facebook.com/groups/GreeKanada/
We are more than 500 members there. Maybe some people will sign it eventually as I did


Edit: few hours later and so far about 8 people from my group have signed. We will get more!

Good luck

messenger

 

[sounion]

Delays due to CIC offices being on strike, and swamped. All my paper work is in order and at CIC.

 

[shortymac]

I would also like you to mention Outland applications as well.

I applied Jan 7th Outland, hubby got approval letter Feb 13th, after that it got sent to Ottawa CPP and we haven't heard anything. Despite paying all the fees and a complete application.

A part of me wants to counter-picket them in Ottawa. I do feel their pain and they should get equal pay for equal work (plus better wages = better employees). Ottawa was already slow as hell before the strike happened because it's mostly newbies.

 

[CrazzzyCatLady]

The petition is great!

Just posted this in another thread and thought it might be appropriate here.

So I went to look up what they are striking for. 3-14K/year. So most of them are on strike to get a couple hundred dollars extra a month (best case a bit over a grand). When you take taxes into consideration, they are on strike for actually very little. Now, while on strike they are not getting paid, so it will take them quite a bit of time to even recuperate the losses the strike entails. Thus, they are on strike, making lives of quite a few people miserable and impeding business of foreign business people (which Canada, like any country, needs) for a few 100 bucks. That is hard for me to justify. Strikes were relevant for coal miners who got blown up every now and when, but office workers with amazing benefits etc etc, does not make any moral or practical sense. Morally, they are increasing and/or prolonging the suffering of many people who are basically in the immigration limbo, many of whom chose the immigration route due to random chance of their partner living in a different country, not financial or any other selfish gain. Practically, as I mentioned above, they are not gaining much at all (if anything). Completely ludicrous.


I have sooo much more to say, but I promised to the cats I will be nicer .... damn :'(

 

[CrazzzyCatLady]

By the way, I am not saying that they should not get equal pay. I am saying that going on strike for this does not make any sense and there are other options out where ....

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

The petition is great!

Just posted this in another thread and thought it might be appropriate here.

So I went to look up what they are striking for. 3-14K/year. So most of them are on strike to get a couple hundred dollars extra a month (best case a bit over a grand). When you take taxes into consideration, they are on strike for actually very little. Now, while on strike they are not getting paid, so it will take them quite a bit of time to even recuperate the losses the strike entails. Thus, they are on strike, making lives of quite a few people miserable and impeding business of foreign business people (which Canada, like any country, needs) for a few 100 bucks. That is hard for me to justify. Strikes were relevant for coal miners who got blown up every now and when, but office workers with amazing benefits etc etc, does not make any moral or practical sense. Morally, they are increasing and/or prolonging the suffering of many people who are basically in the immigration limbo, many of whom chose the immigration route due to random chance of their partner living in a different country, not financial or any other selfish gain. Practically, as I mentioned above, they are not gaining much at all (if anything). Completely ludicrous.


I have sooo much more to say, but I promised to the cats I will be nicer .... damn :'(

So really then why is the government reluctant to settle this if it is only a matter of a few hundred dollars? Strikes are an outcome of management's unwillingness to effect and moral application to the human equation. The human equation which is responsible for the profit and products/services the company sells. Why were miners dying? Because there was no desire by management to take safety into consideration as it added costs to the operation. The desire on any CEO or management type is to achieve a number regardless of how achieving that number impacts the people in their employ. You seem to take the approach as many people do, "These FSW's make a lot more than I do and have better benefits then I do so they do not deserve what they already get." You should not be trying to drag down others to meet the model of the private sector who opts for profits over people every time.

 

[shortymac]

So really then why is the government reluctant to settle this if it is only a matter of a few hundred dollars? Strikes are an outcome of management's unwillingness to effect and moral application to the human equation. The human equation which is responsible for the profit and products/services the company sells. Why were miners dying? Because there was no desire by management to take safety into consideration as it added costs to the operation. The desire on any CEO or management type is to achieve a number regardless of how achieving that number impacts the people in their employ. You seem to take the approach as many people do, "These FSW's make a lot more than I do and have better benefits then I do so they do not deserve what they already get." You should not be trying to drag down others to meet the model of the private sector who opts for profits over people every time.

It's a Conservative Federal Government, they are not going to budge and are going to drag this out, just like they did with the postal workers.

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

It's a Conservative Federal Government, they are not going to budge and are going to drag this out, just like they did with the postal workers.

Postal workers were lockout first by Management then legislated back to work illegally. You are right that this Government is all about bashing unions as if they are somehow separate from the people that vote.

 

[sounion]

let's hope they don't drag this out, though my confidence in that isn't very high. Thanks for the extra info also!

As for making it Outland, the only issue is that I don't really have any experience with that application type. I am hoping to get a more direct and honest answer, and I'm not sure I can talk confidently with CIC if I am talking about a process I am unfamiliar with

 

[CrazzzyCatLady]

So really then why is the government reluctant to settle this if it is only a matter of a few hundred dollars? Strikes are an outcome of management's unwillingness to effect and moral application to the human equation. The human equation which is responsible for the profit and products/services the company sells. Why were miners dying? Because there was no desire by management to take safety into consideration as it added costs to the operation. The desire on any CEO or management type is to achieve a number regardless of how achieving that number impacts the people in their employ. You seem to take the approach as many people do, "These FSW's make a lot more than I do and have better benefits then I do so they do not deserve what they already get." You should not be trying to drag down others to meet the model of the private sector who opts for profits over people every time.

Government is not the private sector.There are no profits. It works on absolutely different economic principles (The principle of a "Giant Drain"). It is mandated that the government can not be "profitable". Thus, your argument is inapplicable. Also, what gives you an impression that I have a minimum wage job with no benefits; thus, making me jealous of government workers? Furthermore, you should note that I did say that coal miners needed unions and strikes, as their treatment was truly unfair. Here, I don't think the human rights of the workers are affected in the slightest. It is fine to support Unions, but would you put you family's financial well-being and go support the IOs in compassionate solidarity? There are a lot of people who are potentially deeply affected by this strike and they are not the workers. Some people on this forum had to wait atrocious amounts of time already, the families are separated and are unable to see each other, hold and comfort each other, tuck in their kids in bed and kiss them goodnight. The government won't budge because they cannot accomodate every demand and setting a precedent is not a good thing. Why? There will be more demands and eventually someone has to pay for that. The numbers I got were from a news feed and dividing the number by 12 does not take much; hence getting the result that they are striking for a few hundred bucks per month. Please try to assume less next time.

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

Government is not the private sector.There are no profits. It works on absolutely different economic principles (The principle of a "Giant Drain"). It is mandated that the government can not be "profitable". Thus, your argument is inapplicable. Also, what gives you an impression that I have a minimum wage job with no benefits; thus, making me jealous of government workers? Furthermore, you should note that I did say that coal miners needed unions and strikes, as their treatment was truly unfair. Here, I don't think the human rights of the workers are affected in the slightest. It is fine to support Unions, but would you put you family's financial well-being and go support the IOs in compassionate solidarity? There are a lot of people who are potentially deeply affected by this strike and they are not the workers. Some people on this forum had to wait atrocious amounts of time already, the families are separated and are unable to see each other, hold and comfort each other, tuck in their kids in bed and kiss them goodnight. The government won't budge because they cannot accomodate every demand and setting a precedent is not a good thing. Why? There will be more demands and eventually someone has to pay for that. The numbers I got were from a news feed and dividing the number by 12 does not take much; hence getting the result that they are striking for a few hundred bucks per month. Please try to assume less next time.

Hmmm.....government cannot make profits? I guess they need to give back the billion dollars they have made in profit from the Post Office over the previous 17 years. How do you explain "tax surplus" if a government is supposed to operate a zero gain balance sheet? Governments do make profits. Don't fool yourself.

You were the one who mentioned that the net outcome of what the FSW's are striking for was only a few hundred dollars at best and seem to think the government cannot afford to make that amount since that cost will inevitably be passed on to the applicants. Its the same thing as business complaining about having to pay taxes. They don't really pay taxes since the cost of the business is factored into the cost of the goods or service. Taxes move through them. The consumer pays the taxes.

This government has closed VO's and set about to invoke labour unrest at every union they can get to. They have eradicated over 19000 government positions and will continue to slash and burn the public sector until it can no longer function. I would gladly join in to support PAFSO. I have already approached my union to see how we can add any pressure to get the government back to the bargaining table.

I had to wait 13 months to get my wife here and it was a battle all the way.

This strike could well have been avoided if the government conceded that the PAFSO members are being treated unfairly and corrected the pay rate. A pay rate you claim is only worth a few hundred dollars to less than 2000 members.

 

[steaky]

Hmmm.....government cannot make profits? I guess they need to give back the billion dollars they have made in profit from the Post Office over the previous 17 years. How do you explain "tax surplus" if a government is supposed to operate a zero gain balance sheet? Governments do make profits. Don't fool yourself.

I second CanadianJeepGuy. Government make profits.

 

[hucards]

1st- governments make profits. Just look at the LCBO or the post office.

2nd- the government isn't all to blame and neither is the union. Just like GM going bankrupt a few years ago wasn't solely because of the union or the management. It's always somewhere in the middle.

3rd- you'll probably find that many, if not most of unionized public servants don't want to be in a union or strike but they have to. The middle aged people with seniority and power want the strikes and unions.

4th- the government has closed down a lot of visa offices and increased the workload for other offices. Why is my wife's application being processed in Manila instead of Tokyo? Because the Tokyo office is closed. That was a government decision which added to processing times. Not the union.

5th- unions do need to stop pretending that these strikes are "for all workers". Unions get power by restricting membership. Thus these strikes only help that union...not everyone.

6th- unions can and do help non unionized workers in the private sector in regards to large companies. Look at Stelco and Dofasco in Hamilton.

7th- most of the people who are striking are hard working, decent people who have families and are trying to provide for them. Don't criticize them and call them greedy and overpaid. It is my belief that public servants are not overpaid. The private sector is underpaid (with a few exceptions). Wages in the private sector haven't risen as much as they should have over the last 20 years. That's the only reason why government jobs pay more than non government ones.

Btw, I'm not a union lover. I'm an economist...with a heart

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

1st- governments make profits. Just look at the LCBO or the post office.

2nd- the government isn't all to blame and neither is the union. Just like GM going bankrupt a few years ago wasn't solely because of the union or the management. It's always somewhere in the middle.

3rd- you'll probably find that many, if not most of unionized public servants don't want to be in a union or strike but they have to. The middle aged people with seniority and power want the strikes and unions.

4th- the government has closed down a lot of visa offices and increased the workload for other offices. Why is my wife's application being processed in Manila instead of Tokyo? Because the Tokyo office is closed. That was a government decision which added to processing times. Not the union.

5th- unions do need to stop pretending that these strikes are "for all workers". Unions get power by restricting membership. Thus these strikes only help that union...not everyone.

6th- unions can and do help non unionized workers in the private sector in regards to large companies. Look at Stelco and Dofasco in Hamilton.

7th- most of the people who are striking are hard working, decent people who have families and are trying to provide for them. Don't criticize them and call them greedy and overpaid. It is my belief that public servants are not overpaid. The private sector is underpaid (with a few exceptions). Wages in the private sector haven't risen as much as they should have over the last 20 years. That's the only reason why government jobs pay more than non government ones.

Btw, I'm not a union lover. I'm an economist...with a heart

"5th- unions do need to stop pretending that these strikes are "for all workers". Unions get power by restricting membership. Thus these strikes only help that union...not everyone."


Gotta disagree here. Unions need members because the membership is where the strength is. Employees on strike do not pay union dues until the strike is over and the employees go back to work. Strikes hurt everybody and any management that refuses to negotiate is irresponsible.

 

[hucards]

"5th- unions do need to stop pretending that these strikes are "for all workers". Unions get power by restricting membership. Thus these strikes only help that union...not everyone."


Gotta disagree here. Unions need members because the membership is where the strength is. Employees on strike do not pay union dues until the strike is over and the employees go back to work. Strikes hurt everybody and any management that refuses to negotiate is irresponsible.

Sorry I should have been more clear. You are right that a union with more members is stronger than one with less. What I was trying to say is that once a union controls a certain industry or sector it is beneficial to increase the requirements to enter. Otherwise wages will go down. Also, unions such as the carpenters union exert their power to make sure only union members get work. But if everyone with two eyes can join the union then the overall wages go down.
My example was more for specialized unions.