Econ 101: civic strikes and oil spills
Jul 25th, 2007 by nancyzimmerman
We have a red hot economy, a sustained red-hot real estate market (just because it’s not white hot doesn’t mean it’s anything like ‘normal’… whatever that means, these days), the olympics coming, and we’re starting to come apart at the seams.
Vancouver city staff are on strike. One of the biggest provocations – and frankly, I’d be choked too – is that in today’s tight labour-market, the city wants to offer significantly higher salaries to attract new workers, while keeping current staff at the same rate.
And meanwhile, disaster, utter disaster, in Burnaby. For 25 minutes, a ruptured pipeline shot oil 30 metres into the air. It rained down on homes and also Burrard Inlet. Kinder Morgan, an energy transportation company, broke the line. The Tyee pointed out Kinder Morgan as having a history of negligence way back in 2005, when it was attempting to take over Terasen Gas. Kinder Morgan is blaming city contractors for poorly marking the line.
These are the ways in which the bigger economy is directly impacting our backyard.
