My New TecumsehCityBlog Story!

Well, here I am again! I am going to be writing again some articles that interest me and, hopefully, are subjects that you will enjoy reading.

I cannot believe that it has taken me so long to write another article on my website. I have to admit that I had no real interest in doing so. Deep down, I just could not do the writing required. I wanted to make sure that everything was fine with me after taking treatment at the hospital that ended almost 2 months ago for the Cancer in my body. It does take quite a bit of time for my body to come back to normal I was told. I am going to be finding out the results of my program in a couple of weeks. I do have to take tests shortly for my doctor so that he can make decisions about what my status is.

My fingers are crossed about what the outcome will be. I just attended the office recently of another doctor of mine and, wonderfully, the results of the tests for his work were fantastic for me. I am just hoping that an excellent result happens once more.

Of course, now that I want to start writing again I am faced with difficulties. Obviously, I write about a lot of issues that take place in the City of Windsor and the surrounding territory. Oh sure, there are a number of media outlets and websites that provide information that I write about. However, as should be obvious from what I have written previously, a lot of my postings are based on articles in the Windsor Star. Well, the Star has changed its appearance but more importantly has set up a system that is supposed to prevent a non-subscriber from reading more than ten of their articles a month. In order to read all of them, one must pay them a subscription fee.

Regretfully, as a retiree, I need to look after my money. With the stock market going down as it has over the last few days, sources of revenue for people like me are quite limited. Accordingly, I do not intend to take out a Windsor Star subscription even though I do want to read the articles so that I can write stories about them. I will have to try and figure out how I will obtain the information I need to write articles. I must admit that I do think that there is a solution now that does work but I will keep on trying to see if I am right.

Let me just talk shortly about one situation that interested me recently:

EMPLOYMENT IN WINDSOR

Or rather, unemployment in Windsor!

I do not follow subjects now as closely as I did in the past. If I had done so, I might not have been surprised the way I was when I read about the unemployment rate in Windsor recently.

I thought that the situation had improved remarkably in our area. I can remember our unemployment rate dropping magnificently recently. Then, I just saw the new rate. Perhaps my memory was not as good as I thought it was. Windsor was the worst area in the entire country with the highest unemployment rate:

“Windsor tops Canadian jobless rate at 8.3%

Last time rate was above 8.3% was January 2016

Windsor has the highest jobless rate out of any municipality in Canada, according to the latest Statistics Canada figures.

StatsCan's January 2020 employment data sets Windsor's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate at 8.3 per cent…

Windsor's January 2020 unemployment numbers show a 0.8 per cent increase from December 2019's 7.5 per cent figure…

Translated into more understandable numbers, Stats Can's latest figures show approximately 15,000 unemployed people living in Windsor. (CBC News, February 7, 2020) 

Huh, how was that possible? I thought everything was so wonderful in our area. I do not remember anyone being concerned about job losses, certainly nothing so bad to make us #1 in Canada.

If you think that was bad, dear reader, then, if you have not been following the media recently, you will have missed this story:

“Why life at Windsor Assembly will be 'difficult' for FCA workers still inside after loss of third shift

One-third of feeder plant workers to be laid off as well, says Unifor Local 195

About 1,500 workers at Windsor's FCA plant are expected to be laid off as of June 29, but the announcement has left those who will keep their jobs concerned as well...

On Thursday, FCA announced it had finalized a date for the elimination of the Windsor Assembly Plant's third shift — which has been in place since 1993. The termination date was previously given four extensions.” (CBC News, February, 28, 2020) 

Nevermind just these employees, how many workers who are employed by FCA contractors will be let go because these companies will not have as much business as they have now with FCA. What will the employment rate percentage for this area be when summer comes here? Take a look at that news article and see exactly what I mean.

Of course, this is terrible news. But if you think it is so bad, then read this that was also in the story. I find it completely and totally astounding. Why wasn’t anything done to prevent this from happening when a senior person in this area in the Government, Windsor’s Mayor, was supposedly so concerned and so long ago:

“Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said he was "not completely surprised" by the news of the third shift's termination "based on the information we had about a year ago."

He points to the company's move as a clear sign that the city needs to "redouble its efforts" in developing an economic diversification strategy.

"We're working on that right now. That will include widespread community consultation from the public and from city council," said Dilkens...”

Perhaps you will understand why I am back to writing articles again!