So the Amalgamated Transit Union, who collects dues diligently from all of its employees yet doesn’t pay taxes and doesn’t have the customer’s best interests in mind, is threatening a strike. They think holding 100,000 people in this city – who have no alternative – hostage, is the best way to get what they want?
The union’s big mouthed “leader” thinks all the citizens of the city should call city employees and “give them hell” so that their selfish demands are met, and they can screw all of us tax payers just a little more than they already do, every day.
Can I take that as an invite to their next negotiation meeting? If I am being used as a pawn, I expect representation at the bargaining table. Otherwise I am firmly in the camp that is blaming the union.
Bus drivers’ working conditions may not be top notch, but isn’t it incumbent on prospective employees to educate themselves on working conditions before they accept a job opportunity? How is this my problem? Is that what bus drivers pay the union for – to think for them? I submit neither of them is doing a very good job on that one. If they go on strike, they will only be shooting themselves in the foot. Though transit may be a last resort for many people who have no choice, many people take transit because they are environmentally astute too, but if given an ultimatum would take their car in a heartbeat.
Metro Transit will be firing drivers left right and center because the demand will plummet, like it did after the last strike. Those that have the luxury to find alternative arrangements, will. Those without alternative arrangements will suffer greatly because the uneducated bus drivers that get paid as much as nurses still don’t get enough “respect”.
I’ll show you some respect, It’s on the bottom of my boot. Come closer, I’ll show you. I hope the city feels the same way. I expect nothing less than a private transit force from city hall if Metro Transit goes on strike. Fire them all, fire the management too for that matter, I know that they too are incompetent.
Make it a essential service, contract out all the workers, fire the management at Metro Transit, start from scratch. I’ve had enough! —Dartmouthy
This article appears in Jan 19-25, 2012.
Well then, buy a car and shut up.
good bitch d’mouth
I was listening to 95.7 yesterday morning when the union rep was blaming MT management for forcing concessions on all members. The issue they seem most upset about is MT Having the OPTION of contracting services that are not dedicated routes out to private transport and maintenance companies (or that was my interpretation anywho). There was something else about part time employees I didn’t really follow.
In a time where everyones jobs are looking less secure with govt cutbacks and a recession looming overhead, this might not be the time to try and rally public support for a publically funded money losing business. Considering a schoolbus driver makes a wage of just over 12/h, and a MT driver has a starting wage of 23.29/h with a full pension and govt. benefits, not including overtime, bonuses and shift premiums. Seems to me that double the wage of someone responsible for the transport of the youngest and most vulnerable members of society seems quite rich. The union reps have trained these drivers to think that their profession is one of the most dangerous and stressful on the planet, and they should be compensated without question or review. I will say that at least the drivers are able to measure their contribution to the “machine” that is transit, unlike the bloated management, without one single useful idea or discernibly progressive thought among them.
I am all for good paying jobs, and fair treatment of employees in terms of respect and compensation (safe work environment, pensions, etc), so hear this you MT slugs, “YOU ALREADY HAVE ONE”. Nobody feels an ounce of sympathy for you, and holding 100% of your customer base hostage is unacceptable. You are putting other peoples jobs on the line for your own greed. I hope the city legislates you back to work with no contract, and puts you all in your place.
nice to see your comment in the horrid hm^^
As far as I’ve heard, the union isn’t actually making demands. The city is trying to remove certain protections that they already have, and they are fighting to maintain status quo. I might be wrong, I haven’t bothered to actually read first hand sources, but I think that’s worth considering before condemning the union and the drivers. This all seems like an election year staging to me – His Worship will save the day at the last minute, and we’ll all be very impressed.
tell me where these sources are, so i can read them
“I expect nothing less than a private transit force from city hall if Metro Transit goes on strike.”
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5_Be_uQtNzk/TPMI…
Bus drivers and MT employees are the definition of SET, as far as TJ902 is concerned. Fuck em, fuck em all straight to the fiery depths of hell x infinity.
We need a better transit system, or at least a less costly one. If the city is making changes it’s to make the system better or less expensive, but they think their union entitlements are more important than that.
Putting other people’s jobs on the line because of their selfish wants, I agree, disgusting.
I don’t think it’s selfish wants, Thomas, if you look into the main issue this time around. The isn’t isn’t a pay raise or any of that stuff, it’s job security. Metro Transit wants to essentially privatize parts of the system. What this leads to is more and more positions being privatized, which leads to more and more jobs being cut, which leads to more and more part time positions being put in place. The problem with this is, employers aren’t really required to pay benefits for part time employees — and certainly if they are privatized, benefit structures and salaries will go down and down, while costs to the end use *will* go up and up (look at NS power!).
I’m a union person, but I”m not so blind as to not admit there are downsides to unionization (mainly, the fact that it protects crappy employees). BUT, most of the advancements in the work place as a whole has been a result of the work unions have done.
Do I think a metro transit strike is a good thing? No. But if they don’t stand up for their jobs now, when will they have the opportunity? Any time a local goes on strike on the basis of job security, I’m inclined to support said initiative. If only because employers in unionized workplaces can be sneaky snaky fucks. I specialised in collective bargaining and I had the best teacher in the world (my dad) when it comes to these issues, and I’m a firm believer that the benefits outweigh the costs of working in a union environment.
AT THE SAME TIME: I have a strike contingency plan. I have a car available and can get back and forth to work no problem (I only take the bus home at this point anyway). I might have a vastly different view of this if I didn’t have that option. But, looking at history, this issue was brought up during the 1998 metro transit strike and the city ultimately folded on the issue. If anything, I think the city has to take a lot more of the heat here than MT because they should’ve learned their fucking lesson 14 years ago.
Those of you who spew bullshit about ,how they somehow know everything about a subject & in fact you know NOTHING ABOUT IT .really pisses off those of us who are involved in what in your talking about. But actually you are completly ignorant about the reality of the subject at hand, I gotta say dartmouthy you really are a moron.
Privatising any part of Metro transit isn’t going to make ANYTHING CHEAPER, BETTER or run more EFFICIENTLY …ARE YOU REALLY ALL THAT STUPID ?
Do You Not Remember NS Power HAS TO BE SOLD ! ! ! !
IT WILL NEVER MAKE A PROFIT !
ITS GOING TO BANKRUPT ALL OF US IF WE DON”T RID OURSELVES OF IT
THE PEOPLE OF NOVE SCOTIA DESERVE TO BE FREE & CLEAR OF RUNNING A POWER COMPANY !
Well take a look at us now ?
What exactly have you learned ? IF you say nothing its all working good, please kill yourself. You don’t deserve to live & dying is the best thing you can do for humanity.
Metro Transit workers are fighting for their jobs.
They know, as I know, & anyone with a power bill knows, privatisation will make certain aspects of Metro Transit completely untenable. Those in our society who are the most vulnerable won’t be able to afford access a bus. What will happen to our ferry system ?
This isn’t about Transit workers wanting more, they just want to be allowed to continue doing their jobs. But the 1% can’t steal enough that way. You can’t as a boss/owner pay yourself 50 to 100 times your wage if you pay your employees decently…you need to rid yourself of them & their dispicable benefits. Then get a bunch of part time minimum wage earners that you M A N A G E for great profits for yourself to do so.
We will see no cut in fares, if they are allowed to do this. What we will see is what we are seeing now with power rates.
What we are seeing with our wonderful privatised snow & salting services…we will still be paying, we just won’t be getting as much for it …BUT a few of the well connected will be making a killing pocketing all the money that used to be paid out to workers.
Fact is dartmouthy you haven’t got a fucking clue about Unions , how they work or what goes on at the Local Level. Seeing your drivel here & elsewhere on this site proves to me, a Union Member, a Union volunteer & someone who teaches safety courses , works with charities , film students, & are proactive in training & caring for our members…you haven’t got a klick dude & it takes 100 klicks to make a clue….so you don’t know shit.
Union members ALL PAY TAXES.
Unions employ Secretarial & accounting & business staff, pay them decent wages, benefits…& they are all taxed.
We rent or own our offices, we pay business taxes.
We pay for life insurance & training for our members all of it out of your so called nontaxed Union Dues.
We are responsible for there being a minimum wage
We are responsible for equality in the workplace
We are responsible for people getting vacation time
Week ends, that’s us again
40 hour work weeks
Holiday pay
Overtime pay…YES because of Unions, Provincial labor standards require overtime after 48 hours…not as good as a Union contract but for nonunionized workers its something.
The wages of nonunion low income & mid income workers are at the levels they are, because of Unions workers rates.
Your tiresome rants need to be rebutted ,you know NOTHING about the subject of Unions. Every time I read something from you I am amazed at just how unbelieveable it is you can even figure out how to take a bus, because if how little you know about Unions translated to the rest of your life…I believe you would be too stupid to even know how to wipe yourself after shitting.
This strike if it comes will be 100% the fault of the city’s people who are suppose to negotiate, not deliver ultimatums. You seem to think (they city hatchet men) are on your side. Reading your rant points out clearly you don’t even realise the people causing the problem are not transit workers. IF you can’t grasp that you’ll never grasp ANYTHING.
Right now for people who depend on public transit, either by choice or necessity, (Fuck Off, Sebastian) these union pricks represent the true 1%. Joe Jerkoff, the taxpaying transit user doesn’t “see” the incompetence, mendacity and bad choices of management. We do , however, deal with staff on a daily basis and no amount of union spin is going to change those perceptions. Sympathy? It’s in the dictionary after Socialism, Steal and Suck Me Arse!.
Fine Son of bitch….does that mean you were a puppy ?
Just try & figure out, who are actually causing the problem (city management)
Instead of sitting down with the Union before the Contract expired, they waited for the contract to expire FIRST & then have sat down with Union officials 8 times since the contract expired…maybe you counting is sub par so you might want to get a friend to help you check a calander…there have been more than 8 days since last September. Yet the Transit workers haven’t taken strike action, If these men & women are so dispicable & are causing the up coming strike…why haven’t they gone on strike earlier ?
Because they are being forced into it by the bosses, its an agenda/propaganda move. Reread the Coast’s Article on this storey…they never went into negotiations, the city had demands, no negotiation take it or leave it…as someone who has been involved in over 100 contract negotiations you never go in with that type of attitude, its give & take, it has to be…That is what “n e g o t i a t i o n” MEANS ! ! ! ! ! They (management) know Unions are often the scape goat, they know most sheeple are in the herd & believe anything another uneducated sheep tells them & that sheeple refuse to think for themselves…because that’s the easiest route in this life. ITs easy to blame the bus drivers, they’re right there in front of you at the bus stop…a little harder to blame the cockroaches in City managment, who hide in the building our taxes pay for, sucking up even hirer pay rates than bus drivers earn, & all they really do is cause the problems ,as they attempt to “fix” things. As opposed to bus drivers who actually help people get to & from their destinations !
If there is one thing I have learned in over 50 years of life here in Canada…is anytime a politician or a politicians lackey,says they’ve got great ideas & these improvements are for everyones good ! THAT tells me 2 things for sure & 1) I know they are lying & if they get it their way, 2) we are going to be royally reamed up the ass with a thorny branch once again !
Tommy, since when did this city, council, mayor, etc ever make anything better?
Why yes, as a matter of fact. Yes, I was.
http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/26500…
And one thing I’ve learned in 50 years of life here in Canada is that critical thinking doesn’t work in just one direction and that “What’s good for the union” is not, automatically good for the community, the nation or society as a whole. Sometimes it is, but it’s by circumstance, not by design and certainly not out of any larger sense of altruism.
And I DO NOT think that the extortion of a labour stoppage is compatible with a public service that has a monopoly. Ever.
“If these men & women are so dispicable & are causing the up coming strike…why haven’t they gone on strike earlier ?”
Probably for the same reason the HRPD dismantled the Occupy hobo jungle on a cold rainy afternoon when there was very little activity in the downtown core. Bad P.R. but tactically sound.
The last time Mesozoic Transit struck was in July. Much less of a hardship so the strike dragged on for 5 weeks.
yep.
Not one person in our office uses Metro Transit, so none of us give a damn. Let them strike…..strike for a long time. The less those buses are on the roads, the better. Can’t get to work? Then you should have thought of that before you accepted the job.
on every bus I have been on, every passenger says hello and thank you to the driver. based on the carp on this bitch, I guess you guys are all a bunch of phoney basturds,
BTW, OP. If it is an essential service, then WTF happened last friday, eh?
If people depend on it, and it’s a monopoly, then it’s an essential service. What part of that don’t you understand GV? My wife takes the bus every day to burnside, I am at work 2.5 hours earlier than her every day (sometimes earlier). We have 1 vehicle, and she has never had a license because the busses have always worked. I’m no mathematician, but, that means she will have to be dropped off at work and stand outside for at least 2.5 to 3 hours (as my work is a full half hours drive away from hers), in the rain and snow. HRM has been preaching that the public should use busses to reduce the amount of traffic on the roads and become more green friendly, touting the reliability and convenience of their bus system as the reasons. They are trying to streamline their system to cater to a different demographic of users, and when they go to make changes, the union steps up and strangles the system. Why bother to change anything? Why bother to provide a better service? Nobody, management or otherwise, can make any of the changes people (you know, the annoying taxpayer that funds MT) want, until the union will let them. These employees are treated very well and well compensated for their efforts, having top notch safety standards and training regimens, making MT a sought after job by professional drivers.
If you don’t think there is union propaganda out there fueling their members angst, you’re dumber than I thought. Nobody said anything about going in there with a red marker and slashing jobs, in fact they just built 2 brand new main terminals to accommodate their drivers, and EXPAND their service. I don’t think a “company” that is expanding and investing in infrastructure is going to be doing any mass firings, MTs jobs will be every bit as secure tomorrow as they are today.
That goes for you too More, as I believe I’ve heard you say before, you are a business owner. Would you be open to your employees (if you had enough) forming a union. It’s ok for a Govt though, right. But, I bet you had some pretty choice words when Harper bailed out govt pensions (like the 23-1 MP pension plans) and union employers, such as GM and Chrysler. I bet it’s also ok in your eyes for the taxpayer to top up pensions for the union at New Page, where the union is guilty of mismanaging funds? I bet, if you have employees, they aren’t getting top pay for their industry, and have no pension plan. Correct me if I’m wrong.
nurses are some of the most abused people in the work force, I believe they did something on the news about that. so bus drivers really have no excuse.
-x resident
Thanks to all of you for your feedback. Especially you More 🙂
“The less those buses are on the roads, the better. “
Are REALLY that thick, sebastard? Are you REALLY that short sighted and stupid? Do you REALLY lack the ability to think logically?
Buses carry more than one person at a time, in fact, they carry tens of people at any one time. Ridership per day is 96 thousand. Put all those people on the road in individual cars (or even a fraction of that number) and you get — wait for it: more. traffic.
I said it before and I’ll say it again: have fun waiting in gridlock, asshole!
Stephen Harper, we are all Unionized. I was a union member before I opened my business. I got(& still get) my guy’s from my union.
When I get a contract to large for me & my team. I call the Union hall & bring in the number of trained experienced guy’s I need to see the jobs done right.
There are people who want Union members to do their job, but don’t want a union contract. We are fine with that, we figure out what our hourly pay rate is add benefits to it & give them the rate. So instead of a 25.00 hr Union rate, we get 34 /35 per hour, they don’t have a contract withthe Union, but Union guy’s are working. We are professionals & we refuse to undercut ourselves…but if you hate Unions, that don’t mean we hate you.
Sorry dude…walking the walk & talkin the talk.
By allowing The City to bring in part time workers, & saying these part time workers are not bound by the collective agreement, is Union busting.
I know their tactics, there is nothing new here. IF the city is so damn set that part timers have to be used, then include them in the collective agreement & the problem is solved….but they will not…they want the thin tip of the wedge of non union people at a much lower pay rate, no benefits & will never be allowed enough time to become full time, & each new contract that wedge will slowly get pushed deeper & deeper.
I don’t take the bus, but I know those that do & would you want to be driven by someone who works part time driving a bus & works another job to make ends meet…what if between both jobs, they are doing 16 hours or more a day ?
How fucking safe is that going to be, someone half asleep, dead tired from their all night security job ? As an example ????
More, you have successfully added more union talking points to your initial message here than I thought was possible, so I’ll do my best to responds since I’d hate to leave you hanging and hurt your feelings.
You rail against privatization as if it is evil, yet the real evil is monopolies and lack of competition. Look at the NSLC for example – who is against competition in the liquor store and beer store area? The unions who represent NSLC workers – because cashiers “deserve” to get paid $25 an hour with full tax-payer paid benefits packages, while all the other cashiers in the province get minimum wage.
Am I to deduct these Unions are in fact fighting for all the cashiers of the world now?
Nope. Just looking out for their member’s best interests – fine, but this is not necessarily aligned with the consumer’s best interests, the taxpayer’s best interests, or certainly a small business mans best interests.
You hit the nail on the head in one way – This Metro Transit strike is certainly about the 1%… The Bus Drivers are the 1% in this case however, all 700 of them. The consumers of the monopoly are the 99% – all 96,000 of them.
Silly consumers, we will call their opinion uneducated and call them names instead, they should live losing their job so we can keep ours!
You bring up Nova Scotia Power as a union talking point too of course – fine, but they are still a monopoly. If we had true competition in the electricity space in this province, things would indeed be different, so I’m not really getting your example. Privatization is not the enemy, it is the lack of free markets in this province that is the enemy.
Union talking point #34, the snowing and salting services… nothing like exploiting people’s short memories and pointing out the recent storm with crappy snow clearing – that would never happen if our union brothers and sisters were snow clearing, right More? LOL. Wow this soap box must be seven stories tall by now!
I will certainly work on dying just for you though More, I’m somewhere between a third and half way there – though if I turn up at the bottom of the harbor, you can thank your ”brothers and sisters” over at the transit union for speeding up the process.
Those in our society who are the most vulnerable can’t afford busses and ferries now More! What is your point?
Who at Metro Transit is making 50 to 100 times what bus drivers are making? What is your point?
Who is asking for a cut in fares, and how is that even realistic? What is your point?
I volunteer my time as well, I take part in committees too, at my workplace, not because I’m in a union, but because I like having a say in how things work in my organization. Does that mean I can opt out of paying taxes just like Unions do More? What is your point?
Reducing choices for employees and consumers alike, holding customers and tax payers hostage for their demands (no matter how reasonable the demands may be) is not my idea of an effective reasonable process.
Union MEMBERS may pay taxes, but UNIONS THEMSEVLES don’t. Are they a church now? I certainly see you preaching in their favor, so maybe I missed out on my indoctrination in your costly religion. Thank goodness.
I volunteer my time as well, I take part in committees too, at my workplace, not because I’m in a union, but because I like having a say in how things work in my organization. Does that mean I can opt out of paying taxes just like UNIONS do More? What is your point?
Bus Drivers may have reasonable demands, but they and their Union are not one in the same.
Bus drivers are people.
Unions are political organizations who don’t pay taxes and have the power to hold people hostage when their demands aren’t met.
The services the MEMBERS of this union provide are certainly important to meet the definition of an essential service.
See that? I can make a distinction between Union MEMBERS and the UNION itself. They are two different things.
Bus drivers don’t have it easy, on a number of different levels, and I support their efforts in negotiating a better life for themselves, as I would for any INDIVIDUAL in this country.
But, not at the cost of 96,000 other people and their ability to do the same.
Perhaps as the last bastion of reasoned thought on here More I’m sure you can point out to me how I am wrong, how I’m an asshole, a jerk, a fucker, whatever it is you call people who don’t agree with your commie inspired fantasy land.
I’d just like to point out that 1% of 96000 is actually 960…
not 700.
that is all.
Thanks Zed 🙂
So what you’re saying, more, is that you overcut your own union. Instead of going through the union with contracts and such, you call your buddies you worked with (who are union members) pay them a little more than the union, and call your business a union shop. Ummm…just which part of the walk and talk are talking and walking? Sounds like you use part time employees when the work is plentiful, and when it’s not, your buddies go back to the union hall. Sounds like you do know how to work a system to your personal gain, congrats on being the union buster you so detest.
And for the record I don’t hate you either, just dissagree. I think public sector monopoly unions are a scourge and should sometimes have to give concessions, you said yourself that it’s a game of give and take. Unions rarely give (especially public sector unions, where profit is not an issue) unless they are threatened.
Where’s ARTIC and all his bus driven buddies to defend themselves? They seem to come out in droves to defend themselves with the less than important issues, but when they could shed the most amount of light on the subject, not a peep. Boooourns!!!
I would like to point out that after this contract stuff is over, Metro Transit will be hiring. We make this stuff look easy because we do it 40+ hours a week, just as you make what you do look easy.
The offer from HRM seeks to cut OT costs, which I can understand to a degree, but the language allows for our members to be contracted out and/or laid off and/or relegated to part time status. And the reason we were urging people to contact their councillor is because we know they can (and often do) override the decisions of staff. Considering they have to vote on any tentative agreements, wouldn’t it make sense they would know what’s going on? But they’re being kept in the dark, which makes no sense at all.