Thread by @NoLore

I'm going to do a live take two on how this article is propaganda now that I have a different paywall bypass and I can read the updated version. The version I read before was short and only referenced a random tweet and CFIB opinions.

thestar.com/business/2021/…

And because it's live and I am extremely humble, if I am wrong, I will identify this throughout. Let's see...

1. Better start -- no reference to a tweet from a random journalist. But oop! Leading with the guy that owns Toronto's most boring chain of pubs the Firkin and who thinks -- wait for it! --- CRB is killing his employee base.

2. Buddy says "Larry Isaacs, president of the Firkin Group of Pubs, said he believes the CRB is “definitely hurting” the company’s ability to bring workers back, both in the front- and back-of-house roles." def hurting in quotes because, you know, this isn't actually proved ...

“When we’re reaching out to some of our employees to come back, they’ve got a lot of excuses,” he said.

Yes like maybe they have long covid/went back to school/ left town/ started their dream store/ decided that working in a bar sucked / had a kid/divorced /became caregiver .?

3. lol ok there is the reference to that tweet. More propaganda and we have not heard how these assumptions are literally baseless/just talking points for bosses who are mad that people are being given EI.

4. "Isaacs said it’s “easier said than done” for some businesses, especially restaurants with their already low margins, to raise wages, and noted that most restaurant workers also receive tips."

tips? fuck right off Isaacs. Does he get paid in tips? Or server minimum wage?

5. "Restaurants and bars are dealing with mountains of debt, and aren’t likely to return to normal revenues for a while, he said." except they all got grants, loans, rent relief *and* a massive subsidy to cover staffing costs. What about people? Oh right, they're abusing CERB.

6. Third voice -- another anti-CERB intervention! Waiting for the part where this isn't propaganda.

"Bognar said he’s certain that CRB is a big factor — he said some employees have admitted that they came back to work once their benefits dropped from $500 a week to $300 a week."

CAN WE HEAR NOT FROM SOMEONE WHO BUTTERS THEIR BREAD OFF EXPLOITING LOW WAGED WORKERS PLEASE.

7. Finally! A chef who says that CRB is being scapegoated here. But it's "she isn't sure" rather than "definitely hurting" so you can see how language here is still being skewed towards the anti-CERB activists' arguments.

8. Back to Bognar, who says that pay should be increased now. Great. From what to what? What kind of increase are we talking about?

Oh, we don't know -- it goes right into .... CFIB!

9. Ahahaha *another* industry voice! Come on! Also worth noting that so far, everyone is white and only one woman has been quoted. Again, this is clearly propaganda as who was on CRB most? Who are lowest income? Disproportionately racialized, women workers.

10. Finally, CCPA. With this bangup quote: "“It’s one thing to complain about an issue. It’s another thing about putting your money where your mouth is,” he said."

... I know what side CCPA is on on this issue. This quote is meaningless in the context of everything that came before it. One sentence that references US data and we are right back to CFIB!

(thanks @RosaJSaba for asking me to find the most recent piece to see how absolutely not propaganda this is. I really do hope you read this carefully. Sorry for the snark but this shouldn't actually be my job, it's your editor's)

11 (?) ... this is a really insidious comment: "“Once things are back and fully open, I think it makes sense to scale (CRB) down in the same way that it makes sense to scale down the business support programs,” he said."

Bitch no, winding down EI does not make sense.

This is CFIB's Mallough quoted here. I don't feel like finding buddy's first name.

12. "Isaacs agrees that the federal business subsidies should be extended while businesses get back on their feet, but said he thinks the CRB should end in the meantime to incentivize workers to return to the job market."

... i mean ... are you fucked, Isaacs?

There is no incentive to return to a job that doesn't exist! What they want is for people to be extremely desperate because a desperate workforce is a workforce that can be beaten down.

This is obvious but for some reason, we are expected to eat this bullshit with a fork.

EI exists for many reasons that are not related to the pandemic, and some of those reasons are going to be even worse as things start to recover. And theses ghouls (with the help of their trusty scribe) are making it sound as if people just need a push to get back to work.

13. "Bognar agrees with Isaacs."

Haha of course he does! They are on the same side! This doesn't even need to be said. What happened to MacDonald? Is he just hanging around the wing waiting to be quoted again?

14. "“The (CRB) is not working,” he said. “It’s not getting people back to work. What they should have done is give incentives for us to hire and train people to actually come back to work.”"

OF COURSE HE SAID THAT now remind Canadians how much more businesses were given....

Oh weird, there's *no mention* of how much money businesses were given during this pandemic. That's so weird!

15. Oh MacDonald is back for a quote that isn't even accurate -- "Both business owners and workers have received millions in support from the government, said Macdonald, and to extend support for the former but not for the latter wouldn’t be fair."

Billions, not millions.

Wow I am so glad I got to read the whole piece. That was such a fulfilling exercise in seeing a journalist pretend that something is fair, accurate and balanced and instead it's like 90% pro-owner with some little comments sprinkled in about workers.

At least my pizzas are finished.