$1000 dollar bonuses for all CWB Staff

[cowman]

Just one quick question? Does Adrian Measener get this bonus too? If not could he take his case to the Labour board? He is probably fairly stressed out with the rest of the crew?

[parsley]

rbrunel,

''''wheat/barley and their products''''

The term products is in the NATIONAL Licensing part of the Act.

Barley is not a "product"
It is a grain.

Feed barley is not a "product"
It is a grain.

Yet the CWB have Designated Area managers marketing "product".

Some CWB employees sell farmers' grain, Fine.

BUT, I want to know what the "product" is, that these employees are being paid to sell.

I see none. I see no product pooled either.

What product/products does the CWB sell, Vader?

No more dumb-ass Wheat Board-type answers either.

Parsley

[rbrunel]

Parsley, phone 1-800-275-4292 and aske them, or email farmers@cwb.ca or do you hate the board that much you can't talk to them directly?

maybe that will answer you "products" question.

[parsley]

rbrunel,

They don't answer because they don't market products.

But they hire staff to market 'products'.

Money out of your pooling accounts to pay that staff.

Unauthorized-by-the-Act $$$$ out of the pooling accounts.

Parsley

[parsley]

rbrunel,

If Agricore hired a bowtie marketer, would you ask questions?

Parsley

[AdamSmith]

The CWB's bogus bonus

National Post

Published: Saturday, December 23, 2006

There are some conservatives who grouse every time politicians vote themselves a pay raise. We aren't in that camp. As we see it, government won't attract good talent if the salary and benefits provided aren't comparable to those of, say, a senior manager in the private sector.

It is on this ground, for instance, that we are not distressed about the 25% pay raise voted in this week for Ontario MPPs. It is hardly a scandal that members of the province's legislature should earn a base salary of $110,000 a year; or that the premier himself should make $198,620, a sum comparable to that earned by many lawyers on Toronto's Bay Street still in their 20s. Smart people won't run for office if they have to sell their house to pay the bills.

But we take a very different view of this week's announcement that the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) will be handing out $1,000 Christmas bonuses to its 500 employees.

These sums aren't being paid to reward high productivity, or improve staff retention. Rather, they've been doled out in recognition of the "stress" and "strain" endured during the board's recent feud with the government.

At best, this is a waste of money premised on the idea that grown-up government workers have the emotional disposition of five-year-olds who burst into tears when Mommy and Daddy argue with each other. At worst, it is a propaganda move aimed at bribing the board's rank-and-file into supporting the organization's leadership.

The most galling aspect is that this $500,000 is money that rightfully belongs to Western Canadian wheat and barley farmers. Since they are forced to sell their produce to the CWB -- at pain of criminal prosecution -- they are the ones who fund the CWB's operations, including its wasteful Christmas bonus scheme. The gesture adds insult to injury for farmers who have for decades been forced to endure a monopsony that has somehow been permitted to survive since its creation during the Great Depression.

Stephen Harper's Conservatives would like to end this Soviet-style anachronism. The CWB, naturally, is fighting any such move. And earlier this week, the conflict claimed a victim when the agency's president, Adrian Measner, was fired by Chuck Strahl, the Agriculture Minister. Thus the "stress" and "strain" that are the purported basis for the $1,000 handouts.

The pretext is telling. In the private sector, management shake-ups, feuds, coups, hostile takeovers and various other top-down shenanigans are common -- and rare are the workers who get "bonuses" for enduring them. Only a statist mindset would embrace the view that change is somehow an aberration.

It is, in short, just one more exhibit proving how outdated the Canadian Wheat Board has become.

© National Post 2006

[rbrunel]

parsley
If AU hired a bowtie salesperson I would know what they were selling bowties, I simply said that maybe if you are concerned what products the CWB is marketing you should ask them, maybe you are taking the "products" out of context. And if they are marketing a product which is neither barley or wheat, then there might be a concern. Just because the Canadian Wheat Board only has wheat in the name, doesn't mean they only market wheat and not barley, right?....I guess if you don't want to ask them, I will. I know a few people down there that could probably give an answer. To me someone like yourself who is all bent out of shape over the word "products" would ask the right people for an answer.

[AdamSmith]

In the category of;

Politically Stupid Things Said and Done.

I think this one ranks right up there with Liberal strategist Scott Reid's infamous "Beer and Popcorn" quote during last years federal election.

Here's a quote from a unnamed cwb staffer in todays globe and mail.
--------------------------------------
A board employee who asked not to be named said he wouldn't be surprised if some staff refused to accept the Christmas bonus.

"The optics are just atrocious for us," he said. "What are farmers going to think of this? Because at the end of the day, it is their money."
-----------------------------------
The plebicite numbers for a voluntary cwb just increased by 5 to 10 points.

[silverback]

If those employees had any sense of right or wrong, they would probably either refuse it or give it to a worthy charity.

(And not the Liberal Party of Canada!!!)

(Maybe Sheila Fraser should keep an eye on where the money goes just in case!)

[SASKFARMER3]

Wow great discussion now here is my two cents.
There taking my money yes My money and paying stress bonus to staff who work for me.
I am the owner of the product their job is to sell it for the best price, I got my final payment for last year and after evaluating their job I would not give them one red cent. And after reading their latest PRO I would not say they are extracting a premium from the market. Stress now that's another part of this Bonus, Hell farm in Saskatchewan with a NDP Govt and go through the last 5 years with frost drought frost and finally a good crop with No GOVT SUPPORT (CASIP)and tell me about stress.
This is a simple reason why the CWB has become what it was suppose to replace so long ago. Its time is done stick a fork in her shes done. Merry Christmas to all!

[cottonpicken]

So you think the people of sask. tax dollars should be put into your business but when it comes to cwb bonuses its your money?

[mbgrainfarmer]

I would only be favour of the Christmas/Stress bonuses if all the
persons on the CWB voter's list payed toward them equally. I mean one man one pay, not the weighted, 1500 tonne man pays and the 40 tonne man goes a long for the free ride. In the socialist hook stepping way, it is always easy to be in favour of spending your nieghbors money and not your own, so this Christmas it is time for the cheap brother/sister (and we all have one) that gets to put his/her name on the X-mas card to pay their fair share.
Merry Christmas and may we be free in the New Year.

[wilagro]

Might equals right. Those with the largest farms should have the most say in all CWB matters.

That is how most bullies operate.

'Nuff said.

[Ron]

if the cwb is a business then more bushels equals more votes, if it is a democracy then anybody who might ever grow, eat or drink barley or wheat should have a vote.
which is it?

[just_wondering]

Wilagro
some bullies operate in other ways
Its not those with the largest farms that should have the most say it's those who use the services of that company more.
I would compare it to the dividend cheques of your local credit union or Co-op rather than the one member one vote. With the CWB as with these organizations it's membership list can be manipulated.
Untill the CWB can act like a business it should not go around claiming that it is one and not an act of parliment.
the idea of Manitobagrain's that all should pay equally is one of the best that I've heard lately I think I might use it unquoted if you do'nt mind.
Idea
Every permit book holder will pay a $10,000.00 (or $5.00 whatever) membership fee, for the right to use CWB services. Have a one book one vote system and make it voluntary in the new year that would make it a great new years present.