In defense of publicity

Well Ottawa should be relatively quiet now that the liberal musical chairs leadership campaign is over. Looks like the music stopped and the winner has his chair. Unfortunately for Bob Rae he followed the rules and kept standing as the music played. He lost his bid for leadership as Ignatieff managed to stay seated during the entire sonata, a hearty congratulations for a well run (or sat) campaign.
So… let’s get back to trucking!
The primary reason I’m abandoning politics is I wish to keep this blog an industry specific topic. One of the only reasons I deviated was that a coalition would have possibly threatened the application of subsistence allowance (per dium).
I’m going to make an assumption about our political future that will indeed be a stretch for some. I will move on and assume Ignatieff and the NDP will not get along (as opposed to Bob Rae or Dion). That’s my story and I’m sticking to it… until things change of course… then I’ll simply modify my position.
There have been several situations and conversations recently that have brought up the topic of the class action law suit. Though most opinions are anti-government or anti-court, I do have people still disturbed at the lawyers and promoters of the action. In my opinion this is a shallow response to a court loss.
The truth or facts of the case have not changed. The duplicity is still present (for those self-employed). Those participants in the action should be proud of their contribution to the entire Canadian trucking industry. Even though the case was lost in December 2006 (from a legal perspective) the publicity and national exposure was incalculable. For five years the class action kept the issue in the front of people’s minds. The issue became a place of reference for drivers. There have been very few issues (if any) that galvanized an industry as did the class action.
There were several reasons I wrote my book, one of them was the supreme court’s failure to hear the case (five months later my book was published). The end of the class action brought much despondency at the truck stops. The silence was loud, even louder than the cussing. The lunch bag let down campaign picked up the publicity but not the numbers, for clarification check out the actual after tax difference on our web sight.
Using the Tl2, 2008 provided 10.80 and will now rocket to $11.63 in 2009 giving a whole $.83 more per day (don’t spend it all in one place).
Publicity and conformity will keep subsistence allowance as a safe, equitable and profitable opportunity for Operators coast to coast. For those useing it stick together!