The Ghost of Maggie Thatcher?

This is a purely political rant.

Civic employees of the beautiful city of Vancouver are on strike. The libraries are closed for the first time in a seventy-seven year history. And the city has a magnificent library system which not only provides for the reading and research needs of citizens, but actively reaches out to those who are most in need of encouragement - the poor, the disabled, the non-English speaker, and the immigrant.

Their librarians are amongst the most committed of employees, with a sense of mission and passion for their work. Without going into all the details it is clear that their treatment has been shabby to say the least.

But why? This comment from the management on August 13 suggests that the bosses want it that way.

Vancouver's four-week-old civic strike could stretch past Labour Day and into the fall, a city spokesman predicted Monday.

"Our past strikes have lasted on the order of six to eight weeks and if that's an indication of where we are this time then that's how long it might last," Jerry Dobrovolny said.

Was this an event planned by the city administration to recoup money overspent in the run-up to the Winter Olympics 2010?

More information:

End of rant!