Tell the workers that if they don't take the deal, they'll be denied government assistance when their plant closes down.
While that's sounds cold, it's logic that comes right from the workers' mouths. I've seen it on evening news: 'Bail us out now or bail us out later!"
Meaning, pay to help us keep working or you'll have to pay us to not work later.
That has to work both ways. Give up a little to keep working or stop working and get nothing.
Certainly, ALL folks that are unemployed are not to blame for their situation, but in this case where you are given an option and you make a choice, you have to be ready to live with that choice. No?
Isn't it current law in Canada that if you quit your job, you get zero assistance from Employment Insurance? (or has that changed. sorry, I haven't kept up with that stuff.)
One could argue that holding out against a deal - that gives you a choice - until your workplace closes is tantamount to quitting.
What might be worse in all of this is that I suspect that not all workers are of the same mind with regards to what needs to be done. Those that are willing to give some things up to keep working, are not getting the same amount of air time as the union execs. I guess it doesn't make for good "news."
Surely, there is some concern that giving up a few things is a slippery slope: we give a little and they keep asking for more. That's a fair concern. But, as project74's case relates, if all the facts are on the table, a fair plan of action can be determined.
Action like that requires trust. If that's the biggest argument to taking that route, then the wrong people are in charge - on both sides of the table.