Planning on blocking the Access A Buses, huh? Fuck. You. Guys. You’re holding people hostage while you play politics. Don’t be assholes, because people have long memories.

Dickheads. —Wheeling P

This article appears in Feb 16-22, 2012.

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64 Comments

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  4. the access a bus should be exempt from any strike. this is a needed thing for those that can’t get to doctors otherwise. when this bullshit is over, i think all the people of halifax, should ban together, and demand that this bus not be included in any future striking actions.

    we the people have spoken, are you listening mr. asshole wilson?

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  5. I hope ken wilson blocks the bus and gets run over. Over and over and over. Did you see his interview. “were concerned about passenger safety because of inexperienced bus drivers” Your experienced drivers get in more accidents than anyone in the country. It’s absurd how neither side seems to even want the public on their side.

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  6. The stupid thing is, they will probably use the Access-A-Bus drivers, they tend to be out of the normal rotation. Wilson probably even knows this, what a toolbox.

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  7. If Metro Transit tries to stop the access bus they will lose any little public support they currently have left. Just stating that he would block the service should be enough for people stop supporting this craziness. This seems to be based on egos now at this point. If they pick their own schedules it will cost tax payers more money- a lot more. So suck it up and realize that in this economy that isn’t an option. They (the drivers) knew when they accepted their jobs that the scheduling was the way it is. No one can refuse to work a certain schedule in any other workplace and hold a city hostage. The choice everyone else has is to find a job that better suits their life. If this job doesn’t suit your lifestyle QUIT and find something that does and leave these jobs for the people that would love to have them. There are many people that would love the opportunity.
    Your right Wheelie this is an all time low.

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  10. It’s Ken Wilson spewing this bullshit, guys.

    I don’t think the members want to do this. Ken Wilson is a dick

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  11. And once again the union shows how much they care about Access-A-Bus clients. Then Kenny goes he spoke with some clients who stated they were insulted by the fact these buses will be running on Monday. Kenny, relatives don’t count. Another great PR stunt for the union. They had little support before, methinks it is now down to union members only and not sure about that.

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  12. As a long time union member, I am willing to bet money the majority of the membership doesn’t agree with this.
    Sure there will be a few who do not want managers driving, but you get a few assholes in every group no matter what their affiliation.
    As for Safety, there is no way the managers driving the Access a buses do not have the proper licenses . As long as they do have a license, there is no reason they shouldn’t be allowed to help our handicapped citizens.

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  13. I can’t believe he pulled that card. “I have disabled friends who are insulted”.

    Right, I’m sure those same people don’t park in the wheelchair accessible spots or use those specially designated elevators either. For Christ’s sake we as taxpayers pay for these services, those who need them should be able to use them and as far as I’m concerned that includes public transit, especially if you depend on it TO STAY ALIVE AND LIVELY. To compare someone in that situation to a student, a young, virile, able bodied person, is downright despicable. I don’t want to patronize anyone either but god damn.

    Reminded me of this excerpt from January 12’s Savage Love:

    ‘It’s a policy thing,’ [Elizabeth Santorum] said of gay marriage…Opposed to same-sex marriage herself, Elizabeth said she has gay friends who support her father’s candidacy based on his economic and family platforms.”

    I didn’t buy it then and I don’t buy it now. Where are these disabled, disadvantaged people that are insulted by having a measly 30% of the service they’re used to returned to them? Show them to me. They must all be at a party with these gay people who vote against same sex marriage, along with the We Don’t Pay Enough Taxes and Have Too Many Public Services Party of Canada.

    Even if some people ARE insulted, SO WHAT?! Funny how they give a shit about the feelings of that minute minority and not those of 100 000 DAILY TRANSIT USERS!!!

    Safety issues? I think the real issue is they don’t want anyone to figure out that ANYONE CAN DO THEIR JOB!! And that the city would be better just hiring “scabs” than dealing with your self important, self serving, self entitled, self aggrandizing, dick measuring DOUCHEBAGGERY!!!!

    *exhales*

    I think that was a pretty good one if I do say say so myself, and with all that being said it’s not about which side is right it’s about them being able to work together to get them back to work, but my eyes hurt from rolling them so much after reading that article.

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  14. Ken Wilson hates disabled people. Man, when he speaks I actually wonder if he is under the city’s payroll. Nobody is THAT stupid!

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  15. I can appreciate some people wants to blame one man (Ken..who yes is an idiot) for all these insensitive issues. However, it isn’t just 1 man it is a group of people who shut down the access bus & other all the other routes weeks ago. I can’t just blame one man. He had the votes to do exactly what he is doing today.
    If I was being represented by a union I would want him fired and get someone with real negotiating and reasoning skills to take his place.

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  16. i hear that there are a few others now thinking of going on strike too. health care workers, water, teachers at dal, and fuck knows who else. ah yes folks, spring and the promise of a long boring fucking summer, are certainly in the air. i hope to fuck, these people realize before it’s too late, that they can be replaced too. remember the school board fiasco a few years back, strikers?

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  17. Hopefully when Halifax Water goes on strike they’ll cut of water just like the ATU did with their service. Maybe we’ll be lucky enough for the nurses with the NSGEU to go on strike too, so some babies old and sick people will die. Wouldn’t that be swell!

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  18. If I was going to comment on the transit strike which I’m not, I would say that the Access-A-Bus service should have been kept running as a goodwill gesture by the union. To block it will lose any scrap of public support the union had left. Nice play by the city though, starting up that service so that if the union objects, they (the union) looks like the bad guys. The city had lost a few points by refusing binding arbitration but this will swing things back in their favour big time!

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  19. Hey More-
    The spectrum of disability is VERY DIVERSE. My specific needs vs those of a quadraplegic, vs someone with spina bifida, vs cerebral palsy, vs elderly, etc- have to be met with knowledge and skills that come from training, specific medical knowledge, and so on.
    The Access A Bus is also a differebt vehicle from a “normal bus”.

    Having managers drive the AAB is bull. The AAB drivers should be driving it. This reeks of cripples settling for shite, because they should be grateful to have anything at all.
    Sound like much ado about nothing, by Wheelie?
    You put your well-being and safety in the hands of others often enough, you get tired of feeling unsafe and in danger instead of grateful for being treated paternally.

    Wp

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  20. So More, I forgot this point- it doesn’t matter if they have a liscence ti drive a bus.
    Working with the disabled and the very broad spectrum of conditions requires more than just a liscence. It requires the right training, and as a person who has been dropped on steps by the bouncers at the Marquee 7 years ago(almost shattering my pelvis, just to spend 8 more months in hospital- thank fuck I only bruised like crazy), they said they would “only be more than happy to carry you down the steps” instead of moving three tables from in front of the only accessible entrance.
    Thanks for considering this info, though I acknowledge you probably disagree.
    Wp

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  21. In Nova Scotia, apparently “real” men block buses that are there for those with special needs. How embarassing for Halifax.

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  22. Funny I bet if Ken Wilson had family that needed the Access Bus he’d be speaking out of the other side of his mouth, it will be interesting what happens to this guy regarding the union when this is all said and done, it would be nice to know what the majority of the drivers really think at this time this living off strike pay can’t be easy for some of these drivers and families.

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  23. I would assume that many of the supervisors and managers have been promoted from within, and I’m willing to bet that some of them have even driven the accessabus themselves. MT has in house trainers and the same trainers that trained the accessabus drivers are working hard to train the people they are implementing as pinch drivers. I don’t think safety is an issue, MT will be held responsible and open to litigation if any safety deficiencies can be proven. I know that doesn’t help the disabled if injury occurs, but I’m willing to bet it will be a non issue.

    I’ve said this from the beginning, that the accessabus service should never been stopped to begin with, and anything that happens falls directly at the feet of the union. The city can only do so much, and clearly they are trying their hardest to accommodate those with special needs. Anyone who believes they are in unnecessary danger are only fearmongering, and should be grateful that someone is stepping up and working hard to insure safety and service.

    Wilsons actions and attitude are deplorable, and I’m sure is going to be removed by “his” membership at the first oppertunity. I can assure you (as someone I work with, has a family member in that union) that there is serious anger and dissatisfaction in the ranks, and only the top few members are supporters.

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  24. ShittyD- having my injury “placed at the feet of” the people who caused my i jury, through negligence or good-natured paternalism is cold comfort as I lay in a hospital bed waiting to recover, and doing physio.

    “Promoted from within” sounds convenient. Facts are better. Show me these managers have the proper 2 week minimum training and road time/experience(instead of the 2 days the managers just got) and get back to me.
    If you had to pay the consequences for someone fucking up, you would probably feel different. Don’t presume disabled folks are “just happy to get out of the house”. We live the same lives as you do, and deserve to do it in safety.

    Wp

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  25. Wheelie I realise the access a bus drivers have a different level of training. That they have to be able to not just drive a bus.

    Its no different than the different classifications to drive motor vehicles, or the difference in say a nurse & a VON.
    they all know the basics, then theres the higher level of training & knowledge that’s needed, as you pointed out.
    The best solution (& should IMO have been offered by the Union right from the start) would be for the Access-a-buses to continue to operate for our more vulnerable citizens & they may not just be physically handicaped Wheelie. They could just as easily be mentally handicapped as was my neighbor ,when I lived in Dartmouth.IT was how she got to & from her appointments.

    But I stand by if the managers have been trained & the Union members won’t do it, then let them do the work to get these people to & from their destinations.

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  26. Hey Wheelie, shut the fuck up!! As a matter of fact (and believe me, I know) MT managers are promoted from within and are former bus operators. Furthermore, this limited service is to allow users to access medical appointments. What the fuck is your problem? Get your head out of your ass and see that this is a good thing that MT is doing.

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  27. Oh FFS wheelie, did you read my entire post? Read into the context in which the post was written. Every time you take accessabus, you are putting your life in the hands of someone else, that’s just part of the way things work. How about you prove that the replacements are not trained properly (facts please), and are incapable of providing the proper level of service. Is it possible that MT replacements are expecting the input and help of the people they are providing the service for, after all they are the regular users. You and all the other disabled know the routine, and if they do something out of the ordinary, you can lend a helping hand, afterall, they are the ones crossing an angry picket line to provide something that is needed to the community. All you can do is offer up insults for people trying their best? If you plan to be obstinate and unhelpful to the replacements, expect your experience to be less than perfect. You seem to be an intelligent person who can identify mistakes in a long standing routine, if they aren’t doing something right, TELL THEM. In times like this, it takes all parties to make it work, if you’re not willing to step up to the plate, stay the fuck home and complain!!!

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  29. I think the shit that will get stirred once those busses are back on the road will be pretty phenomenal. Can you imagine the hell the riders will give the drivers?

    For my own part, I plan to share the first bus pass after the strike with about 25 other people.

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  30. Hey BRoc- go suck a fart, asshole.
    Able-bodied folks are able to “make due” during this, though it sucks for them. It’s undue hardship for the disabled, and fuck them if they want to go to their job or buy food, right.
    My “problem” is the paternalistic view that cripples should only go to the doctor, and that having and keeping a job isn’t valid(though they are under represented in the work force) and that they should accept being used as pawns by spoiled transit workers/union assholes(blocking the AAB).

    Go fuck yourself, dickhead.

    More- thanks for the reasoned and polite rebuttal.

    —
    prove they are not trained properly
    —

    http://thechronicleherald.ca/metro/63884-u…

    2 months training and “mentorship” > 2 days

    But feel free to continue deliberately disagreeing just to keep up your online persona of a persnikity dickhead.

    Wp

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  31. and Shitty- I agree with what you said about how the AAB should have been kept from the beginning and that Ken will have some stuff to answer to when his term is up.
    Just wanted you to know I read that and agree.

    Wp

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  32. Don’t bother trying to reason with Wheelie folks. This asshole wants equal rights, but special treatment too. But it should just be called equal rights and the special treatment comes on the side, you know, hush-hush like. Persons with disabilities should be treated the same as other folks, but they should have bus drivers on the access-a-bus who have months of training and cater to their special needs, while everyone else has to put up with asshole drivers on the regular buses. They shouldn’t have to find alternative means like everyone else has had to do in this situation. Wheelie, do you really think that the disabled person relying on the AAB to get to a doctors appointment is more important than the student trying to get to school to earn their degree? Do you really think that a single mother who lives in Sackville/Timberlea/Eastern Passage has an easier time finding a way to work/school in Halifax than a disabled person has finding a way to an appointment. Because that’s how you come across. An entitled asshole with a chip on their shoulder, who thinks that society somehow owes you something special because you live with a disability. You’re a hypocrite and an asshole.

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  33. Naturally, you’re never wrong.

    I read about and talk to people all the time who say it’s hard, but they car pool and walk across the bridge or pay for cabs. Able bodied folks. I use cabs all the time because I can afford to usually, and since most of the places I need to go are close to my place, the strike hasn’t messed me up.
    You may find this hard to believe(since you’re never wrong), but stuffing a motorized wheelchair into a cab or pushing a manual chair up and down the hills around here isn’t an option for the folks affected.
    So I’m not exactly advocating for “special rights”, just getting to have the opportunity to not be used as pawns by unionized fucks and assholes just because a class of people are being in essence being held hostage through no fault of their own.
    Thank you for dredging up the canard of “Special Rights” though, never wrong.
    You must be a hoot when gay marriage is brought up.

    I bet you say “you people” around black people too, right? Lulz!

    Thanks for the predictable screed.

    Wp

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  34. —-
    That’s how you come across
    —-

    As you can tell, I lose sleep about how I come across to an anonymous internet crank.
    Don’t flatter yourself, Nancy.
    You come across as someone who tells people who try to advocate for themselves they have a “chip on your shoulder” or they’re uppity.
    It’s pretty much why nothing you said was all that insulting. You probably like your minorities nice and quiet so they don’t inconvenience you by wanting stuff.

    Oh well.
    Wp

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  35. Wheelie…I support your take on this whole thing 100%.
    I learned many years ago…you can’t fight crazy people. It is a fight not worth fighting.

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  36. I, an able-bodied young lady, can walk to the grocery store down a shitty hill and lug back a bunch of bags of groceries dangling off every available limb, back up that shitty hill. Some people can’t do that, so how is offering them help to be able to do what I (and most of society) can do considered special treatment? Sounds pretty equal to me.

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  37. You rule, Robyn. Thanks for saying that.

    Mel- I’m guessing never wrong listens to talk radio and considers it an unbiased and reasoned source of info.
    A solitary voice, yelling in the dark.

    Only a special kind if dipshit sees helping a vulnerable group as some kind of threat.

    <3!
    wp

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  38. Wheelie, I agree 100% in the fact that this service should have never been pulled. I have advocated that sentiment from the beginning, so why the attitude? I never said anything derogatory about the disabled, I only stated that all of this should fall at the feet of the union, not the city. I was also only pointing out that the city and management at MT should be commended for their efforts to try and appease some of the stress for people in the most dire of circumstances. Should they do more if it’s possible? YES!!! If not, I don’t think the attitude you have for a genuine effort to do something helpful should be snarled at. That’s what I find wrong with some of your posts, I’m not being deliberately dissagreeable for any other reason, than to point this out to you. Some other people have gone to the extreme and called you a SET, all I have done is point out the effort MT is putting forward and with a little patience, understanding, and a little cooperation people will get to their appointments safely. Burn you greedy union fucks, BURN!!!!

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  39. Lols.
    Like a flaming barrel on the picket line, burn.

    I can see your point. It *is* a good thing that someone saw people were getting screwed here. I’m not sure of it was MT itself, or more likely a human rights organization kind of thing.
    You’re right that effort’s being made though. I should have said that quicker. Tha ks for bearing with me.

    Wp

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  40. I drove by the picketers on my way back from downtown about an hour ago, I was tempted to flip them the bird, maybe call them names, but I kept it classy and just gave them a dirty look.

    We (the city) can’t afford to keep paying them milions in overtime as a result of this rostering AND the service need substantial improvement. Something’s got to give. We are are all tightening our belts in this region, ATU should realize they’ve got to do the same.

    Labor disputes fucking blow.

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  41. To Wheelie & some of you others.
    I have some family members who have spent years working with mentally challenged people. Many of these individuals will never live outside of an institutional environment & others who can function in a limited capacity & actually take a bus to & from school, work, doctors, groceries can only do so in a very limited way. Change is extremely difficult for them, their mental reasoning isn’t like most people & even a different type of bus, mess them up.
    THey unlike Wheelie & other people with physical handicaps are often completely incapable of dealing with something as simple as a bus stopping in a new location.
    So while I can understand what its like for someone in a wheel chair trying to deal without the access a bus, others are just as bad off & don’t even have the capacity to complain or grasp the situation.

    FYI, Wheelie I broke my back about 20 years ago. Luckily when I got hit I was knocked semiconscious & one of the guy’s I worked with who was trained in ski rescue, treated me as if I had a spine injury.I had a busted disc, several fractures all in the lumbar region as well as too much soft tissue damage to remember. The doc’s say it is very possible his actions & quick thinking kept me from permanent damage. But I was in a wheel chair when I got out of hospital for many weeks. being pushed through a mall by my 6 year daughter…it’s just one of many memories of them & I still remember some of the scary thoughts that I had, like might be in a chair for good. I was lucky, I got better but I still remember.

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  46. i don’t think so xeno, he was referencing an incident from the past. if he is in the hospital, i’ll get my sexy nurse groove on^^

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  47. Just when you believe that Kelly is the most incompetent person in HRM. then Wilson shows up to prove you wrong.

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  48. Thanks for checking, Xeno. I am not injured, I was recounting a story from 10 years ago.
    Painey, offer still good? :-p

    Wp

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  49. oooh…something to divert us from the tommykittyzilla threeway…an episode of Nurse Naughty and Doctor ‘Wheels’ Dick Upright!

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  51. Bro Tim, I’m inclined to think they may be half-brothers. Both are too thick to realize that they have zero credibility and that when you have zero-credibility, perception assumes a far greater importance than it should ordinarily merit. This week both sides have managed to look like utter dolts. My anger is long gone. I have nothing but sympathy for the drivers whose lives are in the hands of this clown.

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  52. Whoo – Hoo! Barber of Seville on Saturday Afternoon at the Met. Let the PTSD of all those Warner Bros cartoons kick in. If anybody wants me I’ll renovating the old Cove Theatre as a venue for my singing frog act.

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  56. “Welcome to my shoppe.
    If you want beatnik slop,
    You can suck my c…..”
    >: ) Yes Tim & Painey. That’s where I, like so many of my generation, learned about opera.
    Had a nice little chin-wag with Jonnoman today.

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  57. lol, Ivan! While I can listen to the 1812 overture without yelling “Hi-Yo Silver!” I can *not* listen to the Barber of Seville without thinking “kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit!”

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  58. Ahhh…classic Saturday morning opera 🙂
    I was tinking that I really didn’t like opera, but then I thought…Tommy, JC Superstar,The Wall, 2112.
    I friggin love opera 😀

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  62. painy, you liike that shit too? i love the part where the whore sings,” i don’t know how to love him”, and simon wakes up in the garden singing,”what the fuck, tell me what’s happening”, my words, not his.
    i got that sucker on tape and on p.v.d., when i still used aliant., and then switched it over to my tower hard drive.

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  64. Wheelie: Nope, don’t listen to talk radio anymore. And if you think you’re the first person to use my handle “against” me, you’re sadly mistaken. This is a forum (of sorts) for opinions. So since I’m offering an opinion, I am Never Wrong.

    You claim that certain options are not options at all for some people, yet expect anyone “able bodied” to just deal with. What if that is not an option for them? You seem to think that the “able bodied” people of HRM have infinite resources, yet the handicapped are somehow at a disadvantage in this department.

    I’m all for gay rights, be it the right to marry, adopt children, receive benefits, whatever.
    I call black people… people! What a surprise! If you think that inferring I am a racist or homophobic person simply because I disagree with the idea that people with disabilities somehow deserve or have earned special treatments, then you have no leg to stand on. Oh yes, I went there.

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