How Could It Come To This Again?
The TTC ( Toronto Transit Committee) and the TTC Drivers Union are deadlocked and in last minute meetings to try to come to some agreement. If they don't, 600000 commuters will have to try to find a way into work tomorrow.
This is not the first time this has happened, and the memory of chaos created last time, still lingers with all Torontians. Even those that do not commute suffer, because MORE cars are on the road, creating even greater than normal traffic gridlock.
How the fuck has it come to this AGAIN? Job security and higher wages( they already get paid $20.00/hr) are at the heart of the deadlock! Truthfully, the union and the TTC are 1% apart...union demanding a 3% wage increase over the $20/hr the now earn and the city is offering 2%.
Our new mayor David Miller was elected for many reasons not the least of which are his strong ties to the unions. The attached article makes a good point..that David will now allow his union buddies to go on strike for a mere 1%. The other issue at stake is the firing of drivers who arrive 4 minutes late to their destinations. Honestly this is a ridiculous stance by the city and David Miller needs to put a halt to it immediately. We are all 4 minutes late during the course of our days and weeks...and no one gets fired over that! Imagine firing pilots everytime a flight arrived four minutes late! Fucking nonsense.
But to strike over these two issues is every more inane!
Where the writer of the attached article and I disgree is whether or not the TTC should be deemed an essential service and therefore not entitled to strike!
Absofuckinglutely it should! His argument against it is weak...that Torontians will adjust...and find other ways to get to work...and once they do..they stick to those newer ways...they find a new normal...and they don't come back to using public transit anymore. Well THATS A HUGE PROBLEM. We do NOT need more cars on the road. And his theory that "companies will stagger hours of employment to accomodate the new normal" is LUDICROUS! THAT NEVER HAPPENS IN THE REAL WORLD. It didnt happen as a result of the last strike and it won't happen as a result of this strike!
When the drivers go on strike NO ONE WINS. Not the drivers, not the city, and Torontians. I. like thousands of others, have NO other means of getting to work conveniently. I don't own a car, and no one I work with lives near by and/or wants to drive into downtown, and few people today want to deal with the over priced parking rates, parking lots that will be overcrowded, and gas prices that keep soaring. This writer is clearly oblivious to those realities.Not to mention that traffic gridlock makes it damn near impossible for firefighters and emergency vehicles to make their way through the city, thereby creating an extremely dangerous if not life threatening situation. This ALONE makes the best argument for deeming the TTC an essential service. And in the end The TTC is the best, cheapest, and strongest pollution saving means of transportation, for almost a milllion communters in a city that keeps growing in population.
But these issues and realities are not new....this should have been forseen...and the TTC should have been made into an essential service years ago.
Once again we are on the verge of another strike, in less than 24 hours, and Im furious! How the fuck did we end up here again??!!
This is not the first time this has happened, and the memory of chaos created last time, still lingers with all Torontians. Even those that do not commute suffer, because MORE cars are on the road, creating even greater than normal traffic gridlock.
How the fuck has it come to this AGAIN? Job security and higher wages( they already get paid $20.00/hr) are at the heart of the deadlock! Truthfully, the union and the TTC are 1% apart...union demanding a 3% wage increase over the $20/hr the now earn and the city is offering 2%.
Our new mayor David Miller was elected for many reasons not the least of which are his strong ties to the unions. The attached article makes a good point..that David will now allow his union buddies to go on strike for a mere 1%. The other issue at stake is the firing of drivers who arrive 4 minutes late to their destinations. Honestly this is a ridiculous stance by the city and David Miller needs to put a halt to it immediately. We are all 4 minutes late during the course of our days and weeks...and no one gets fired over that! Imagine firing pilots everytime a flight arrived four minutes late! Fucking nonsense.
But to strike over these two issues is every more inane!
Where the writer of the attached article and I disgree is whether or not the TTC should be deemed an essential service and therefore not entitled to strike!
Absofuckinglutely it should! His argument against it is weak...that Torontians will adjust...and find other ways to get to work...and once they do..they stick to those newer ways...they find a new normal...and they don't come back to using public transit anymore. Well THATS A HUGE PROBLEM. We do NOT need more cars on the road. And his theory that "companies will stagger hours of employment to accomodate the new normal" is LUDICROUS! THAT NEVER HAPPENS IN THE REAL WORLD. It didnt happen as a result of the last strike and it won't happen as a result of this strike!
When the drivers go on strike NO ONE WINS. Not the drivers, not the city, and Torontians. I. like thousands of others, have NO other means of getting to work conveniently. I don't own a car, and no one I work with lives near by and/or wants to drive into downtown, and few people today want to deal with the over priced parking rates, parking lots that will be overcrowded, and gas prices that keep soaring. This writer is clearly oblivious to those realities.Not to mention that traffic gridlock makes it damn near impossible for firefighters and emergency vehicles to make their way through the city, thereby creating an extremely dangerous if not life threatening situation. This ALONE makes the best argument for deeming the TTC an essential service. And in the end The TTC is the best, cheapest, and strongest pollution saving means of transportation, for almost a milllion communters in a city that keeps growing in population.
But these issues and realities are not new....this should have been forseen...and the TTC should have been made into an essential service years ago.
Once again we are on the verge of another strike, in less than 24 hours, and Im furious! How the fuck did we end up here again??!!
posted by DangerGirl @ 4/10/2005 10:30:00 AM
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