As someone who doesn’t routinely use transit, I’ve tried not to allow myself to get involved in the bus strike. HOWEVER, yesterday I was walking my boss’s daughter in her stroller on Barrington St when the union was rallying in Grand Parade. I was handed a piece of paper with a poorly written statement on it explaining why I should support their union. Reading the paper 5 times over still didn’t make any sense to me as to what they were trying to accomplish. This is what I know about your strike – sorry – war:
I require my vehicle for my job downtown. I used to be able to find adequate parking, now I no longer find parking anywhere. I have over $200 in parking tickets – Ken, are you going to pay those? Yes, the city covered up some of the bus stops to provide parking but you know who is parking there? The STRIKERS. And messily at that, they park haphazardly so the rest of us can’t use it.
The company I work for is losing business because our clients won’t walk from Dartmouth/Sackville/Spryfield, etc. in the cold and dark to attend our classes.
You make more than I ever will even though I have a university degree and am committed to customer service. I also don’t have a say in when I work, as my hours are dictated by the public needs. I built my life around my work schedule, not the other way around.
Dear transit union – if you want back to work, start appealing to the public who use you. That means walking to your picket lines and leaving the available parking to us. It means scheduling your life to accommodate your work schedule. It means letting go of your pay hike until your income is on par with those who have to use you.
To the rest of the city showing your “support” by honking at them when you go past parade square, please stop. It’s freakin annoying for anyone who is working on Barrington near the square. —Tired of All This Bus Bitchin’
This article appears in Mar 1-7, 2012.
“the city covered up some of the bus stops to provide parking but you know who is parking there? The STRIKERS. And messily at that, they park haphazardly so the rest of us can’t use it. “
I seriously doubt that there’s anything haphazard about it. And , the way kenny’s been handling the PR front, just be glad his goons weren’t ordered to call your boss’ daughter a “SCAB” for using alternate transportation.
The best thing about this clusterfuck is, the longer it goes on – the worse organized labour winds up looking.
Not that it would take much Ivan 🙂
But I’m happy nonetheless that this is the beginning of the end of Public sector union ownership of NS!
I prefer the Honk and Trudeau Salute myself
Extra extra read all about it: The ATU Local 508 is run by a bunch of morons!
OLD. NEWS.
The exec of the ATU couldn’t organize a two car parade, much less a strike. My dad went over to chat with the bridge terminal picketers and in 5 minutes gave them basic, simple ideas they had never thought about because their exec are morons.
Poor organization shot them in the foot.
Yep
o.p., only idiots support idiots, or as forrest gump would say,”stupid is as stupid does”.
“It means letting go of your pay hike until your income is on par with those who have to use you.”
I don’t really know what this means but I hear a lot of people saying this which is essentially “fire all the bus drivers and hire all new ones at $10 an hour.” I’m sorry but it just boggles my mind how people can bitch and moan about the buses being off schedule and shitty and at the same time call for bus drivers to be paid minimum wage. Yeah that’s a big incentive to keep your bus on time. Being paid the least that is legally possible. Now whether bus drivers are worth $24 an hour I don’t know. However I doubt it is a job that “anyone could do” or would want to do.
the year of labour unrest, bitches. teachers in bc on strike, air canada, dal and the list will grow. i have no answers, if i did i’d be mediating
Mole, every service industry job gets bitched and moaned at with a sea of complaints no matter how well it’s run. Doesn’t mean they should all be paid 24/hr to function.
I don’t have much interest in the bus bitches but this was a well-written bitch. Kudos to the OP.
Great post OP.
The more I hear about their divorce rate because of their schedules it makes me very upset. Military people would have that right not bus drivers.
Yeah, I agree that this bitch was pretty decent. Probably the most decent bus strike bitches written.
It simply highlights how AWFUL the union is handling/organizing the strike.
ATU Local 508 sounds more like a amateur union than a real union and it makes me feel sorry for its membership. 🙁
If the transit workers were represented by a better union, I’m pretty sure this whole mess would be done and over with by now.
There’s a bus strike going on? When did this happen?
80% divorce rate for ATU members ? I’m surprised 80% of them were married. Obviously the women soon realised they had married dimwits.
The divorce rate, whether it’s accurate or not, is completely irrelevant. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the bus strike. It’s was a failed attempt to try and garner sympathy for the poor transit worker. It failed because:
A. They supposedly have this high divorce rate as a result of their current method of picking their own shifts, yet;
B. they tell us the whole reason they went on strike was to preserve this luxury to pick their shifts.
So…on one hand their blaming their scheduling for the high divorce rate, and then on the other hand, they want to keep this current method of scheduling? Huh? Qu’est-ce la fuck?
Just one example in a very long list of ATU’s ability to completely arse up their own cause.
If I was being paid 24 dolla an hour for driving your bus not only would I greet you with a smile I will also tell you to have a good day…with a smile…in fact I would do that or 10 or 15 or 20 dollars an hour because that is who I am….
No amount of money changes the reality that we have a serious lack of professional standards among the escaped baboons I mean bus drivers