"Public" Transit?
TTC workers are once again holding the entire City of Toronto hostage. Nice. Now this is the reason I savour riding my bike to and from work almost every day. My solution for avoiding situations like this in the future? Crush the union and their whining, unorganized executive by declaring public transit an essential service. Now I know you sickle-hugging lefty espresso-sippers will be cringing behind your copy of Hegel's Phenomonology of Spirit at the thought, but how else do we protect this city from chaos and shut down?
You tell me, you big pink bunch of smarty pantses...
You tell me, you big pink bunch of smarty pantses...
Labels: Regional, Urban Anecdotes
posted by K-Dough at 7:12 AM
45 Comments:
Three cheers for K-Dough:
crush the union like pomegranates destined for syrup.
I may be(l)iberal by fancy, but I'm a cold-hearted Tory when I feel threatened!
Just for the record, there is a union to be crushed here, but I don't think it's the union of TTC employees, as many probably assume.
The reports I read were of TTC employees showing up to work and being blocked by picket lines. I could be wrong, but I took that to mean that the majority of TTC employees, covered by the TTC union, were surprised by this action by the maintinence workers, who, as I took it from the stories, are represented by a different union.
None of the stories made this too clear though, which is a disservice to readers, and a disservice to the Union of TTC Employees if I'm right on this. If I'm wrong... well, I'm surprised workers showed up to work only to be surprised by a walkout of their own union.... that just doesn't make sense to me...
You're right that the TTC should be an essential service (I would have assumed it was) but I'm not sure what that has to do with busting the union.
Who is striking? It is starting to sound like the TTC employees couldn't cross another union's picket line.
Where's Ronald Reagan when you need him?
K-DOUGH: Well then, I guess we'll have to rely on Mayor Miller to take decisive action and fix things, now won't we?
Anyone got any advice on how to climb over that $#@&$^%#@ fencing on the Bloor Viaduct?
Lord Kitchener's own,
Union head Bob Kinnear has given mixed messages on various radio outlets. He told the cbc that employees were locked out by maintenance workers, as you said, but later on CFRB said "we were painted into a corner and had no choice". Hmmm. Pick a story, and stick with it Bob.
The union has the option for a legal strike at contract negotiation time(which they always threaten to implement...and sometimes do) but apparently that's not enough...they have to spring illegal ones on the city, without notice and on impulse apparently, to keep making their unhappiness known to everybody.
The rescheduling and/or potential lay-off of 50 maintenance workers is at issue. I'd say illegally fucking up the lives of 700,000 workers, students, old people, pregnant women, etc. on the hottest day of the year just MIGHT a bit of overkill.
If they think fare disputes and being insulted and spat at was an issue before today, well....
They picked a nice day for a strike and/or lock-out (depending on who you listen to). 30 degrees, sunshine, warmth, pollution, exhaust, congestion, death. Lovely.
Why not crush the union's feeble attempt at justifying it's existence for taking so much money from the hardworking employees (who actually work!).
Screw the TTC and unions.
That's my Monday rant. Now I want to go back to bed.
leather- that was very succinct analysis!
It's a case of a couple of kids spoiling it for the whole class- and everyone has to stay after school!
Question is: Why doesn't the union-which is horribly managed- have a handle on it?
Good question. It's an illegal strike and I'd bet most of the TTC workers are not too happy about it, either.
Jesus. I moved all of my worldly possessions for THIS?
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Damn those lazy workers.
I mean some of them have 9-5 jobs, get benefits and stuff, and they think they have a reason to be upset when they get told they are working nights. Grow UP! I know if my boss tells me I'm working 1AM-9AM I'm gonna suck it up, I can just make the kids dentist appointments for my lunch hour, enroll them in a night school and everything will be cool, hell my hydro bill should go down as I won't need to heat or light the house as much.
And damn that union must have a lot of money, I mean the weatherman can't predict shit with all his degrees and dopplers, but those TTC maintenance workers and their union knew this would be the hottest day of the year for months and have been planning this.
Down with unions and the damn minimum wage they stuck us with.
Anonymous trolling rocks.
Anonymous,
I assume the "lazy union workers" thing was tongue-in-cheek. Some of those ttc jobs probably suck, and dealing with the general public can be a very special thing...no question.
HOWEVER, this Union contracts are a mutual thing though....they get certain protections, etc. (including the right to strike at contract time) and in return, they have to SHOW UP FOR WORK EVERY DAY while mid term. Now, they have a "back-to-work" order from the labour union, and as of right now, there are still no buses on the road. Fucking cock-smokers, all of them.
When is the last time you didn't show up for work on a day that one or two people were really counting on you for something that day? Probably never. Multiply that by 700,000 or so, and that's what cock-smokers union tm is doing today.
Re: the weather; last night, when they decided to fuck with everyone's lives by stealth, they all knew it was going to be a hot fucking day.
And how Alfalfa!
LOL leather,
Cock smokers union. I wonder what the union dues are...
NON POST RELATED
Just went out for a business lunch, thank God I brought a sportjacket. Who in the restaurant industry decided that from mid May until October, we all want to sit in a meat locker? There's half your Kyoto problem right there!
Pam,
I love bringing back expressions from my past. "Cock- smokers" was our generic name for all record company people.
One day I'll share "playing our cunts off" with you. Oops, just did...
OK, I'm not crabby anymore.
Just for the record (again), clearly the early reports were confused, and there's still a lot of confusion as to how this all started, and even what it's really all about. But it's clearly the amalgammated transit workers union that's doing all of this, so I stand corrected!
I think it is AWFUL what the union did today, and there's no excuse but I do think I'd be outraged if I came to work one day, and me and 100 of my fellow employees were being switched to the night shift. I'd be equally outraged if my company asked me to put my body (and possibly life) on the line to enforce the payment structure of the service my company offered... especially if my "office" was a wheeled tin can, possibly pretty much in the middle of nowhere, with no one there to back me up. I've seen bus drivers demand payment from riders who refused to fork over the $2.75 and in several cases I was fearful that I would have to intervene if the prospective rider took a swing at the driver, which I have often thought was about to happen. After some of the things I've seen, if I were a bus driver, I'd never say "boo" to anyone who didn't pay. Some people are nuts, and I don't envy the horrible, and sometimes dangerous position transit operators find themselves in this city. (Of course, after today, I'm afraid tomorrow's going to be one of their worst days in a long time... if they though people were rude and abusive before...).
All that said, there's no excuse for this illegal and disruptive strike. And all it's going to do is turn the public against the union, and dilute the legitimate concerns that the union has about the mistreatment of their members, both by the TTC management, and the (non)paying public. A stupid, counterproductive and anti-social move by the union.
I hope I can figure out how to get to work before 10:00 tomorrow!
I may be(l)iberal by fancy, but I'm a cold-hearted Tory when I feel threatened!
Fickle fucker...
Question is: Why doesn't the union-which is horribly managed- have a handle on it?
Cause it's run by fickle fuckers like you.
See your true tory feelings coming out K-Dough, use the Darkside to help you crush the Union.
Once you've done that, you can trade in that bicycle for a true tory ride... an original Hummer baby... that's what I'm talking about.
One big, bad ass, wipe the streets with courier blood, gas guzzling monster off-road vehicle that will make deforestation seem like a day at the fair.
The girls will like you, the guys will hate you, your kids will brag.
Be the Hero, be a Tory, drive a gas guzzler.
Whoo hoo.
Okay, too much coffee this morning. It's all leathers fault.
I'd ride a bike to work if I could... but then I wouldn't be able to slam on the brakes when bike couriers hold try hitching rides on the back of my 4x4.
I just love the sound of screaming first thing in the morning as a courier goes flying over the top of my jeep... or smashes into the back of it.
God I love driving.
Ah, leather. Glad you are in a better mood. I thought you sounded a little tense in your posts. It's hotter than hell here too, but at least I'm not dealing with transit or traffic.
Yer on.
I drive Downtown in TO all the time... parkings cheaper than in Calgary.
Quebec is the best though... I want to know why they even bother with Stop signs in Quebec. Nobody stops.
Reminds me of Costa Rica. Fuck the light, just honk and hope they hear ya.
I've never ridden the Subway in TO. 6 times in Montreal, cause it's the only way to get to and from the Formula race. Once on the LRT in Calgary. Otherwise, never.
Something about public transport that makes me feel dirty. Maybe because it's so damn dirty.
Also, most Calgary drivers are as nuts as I am, so it's really not safe to ride a bike here. I did ride a mountainbike in Vancouver for a week, but their even fucking crazier there than we are in Calgary, so I went and bought a 73' Pinto for $75 bucks.
Damn thing seized after 3 months in the center lane of the Petula Bridge at 3 in the afternoon. That was before they positioned tow trucks on either side of the bridge.
Grabbed my beer, took my plates off, walked to the far end of the bridge, had a beer and waited for rush hour to start.
Better than the movies for sheer entertainment value.
Transit doesn't dare strike for long in Calgary... we'd never even notice.
JC, TTc isn't really a factor for me anymore since I moved to the sticks, but the subway is pretty good. Bus/Streetcar transferring is a different story.
They don't stop in Quebec because they're all in a hurry to get to those fine restaurants and workplaces where glorious, sexy, comfortable-in-their-own-skin francophone women openly flirt with Anglophone drummers...errr...men.
BTW, did the Pinto explode?
Pam,
Sorry...I'm not usually testy, and it didn't feel natural. I have no excuse, I had a great weekend filled with barbecued delights, substance abuse and spontaneous sex. I even painted my garage and deck. I'm having a good hair day. No excuse.
K-dough... I hate to ask, but... could I get an anacronym for that... it's too much to type.
Nah... threw a rod. For $75 bones it was a good deal.
Hey, sounds better than my weekend.It was Race Weekend here and I ran/watched races all weekend in the heat.
I need a weekend of substance abuse and spontaneous sex.
Pam... your french aren't you:)
French father, english mother. Does that count?
Sounds like the Toronto transit workers are back to work.
Pam: ER: "I need a weekend of substance abuse and spontaneous sex." Where I grew up that was what you got in a place we called "the joint" OR in Cochrane, Ontario.
JC: IDGAFWAT
K, that's even more awkward than "Blalgked".
I had to go to Cochrane once, in January. I DID NOT have any spontaneous sex or mind-altering substances, though I would have welcomed either.
You should have put on spandex and hung around the arcade- worked for me.
Actually, it was so damn cold in Cochrane that I wouldn't have unbottoned or unzipped any clothing, even if I did run into some hot young thang in spandex in an arcade.
K-Dough, try roller blading from North of Toronto to Downtown on a day like today. You will end up making your own curse words for the TTC. I went through two bottles of water and I had to rest once every half hour. I am happy I didn't go in the afternoon or I would have died by now.
k-dough: "I may be(l)iberal by fancy, but I'm a cold-hearted Tory when I feel threatened!"
I knew there was a reason I liked you!
JC: "You're French, aren't you?" What sort of racist shit is that, you CPC-supporting goofball? Ukrainian women can appreciate a weekend of substance abuse & spontaneous sex - you just pick wrong.
leatherhands - crabby, not crabby, you're always a good read. Not better than sex, but a good read.
PS: Pam - I have every intention of stealing your line, hope you're ok with that? Send me an email & I'll give you the line guaranteed to get past the idiot gatekeeper at the club you want to enter.
Candace... I married a good Ukranian girl.
My dear, I certainly didn't pick wrong. You'll admit, I'm sure, that there is much akin between the Ukranians and the French.
Now, if I could just get her parents to stop visiting and upseting her, life would be perfect.
Crush the union!!! How about crush all unions!!! Music to my ears...
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