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Old Posted Feb 3, 2012, 9:10 AM
amiefrost amiefrost is offline
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Real Reason For Transit Strike

There are three factors responsible for the transit strike.

One, the apethetic and complacent way that Haligonians tolerate the inexcusable and deliberate ignorances of social needs in their city. Years ago traffic was controlled by police officers at the busiest intersections to allow commuters to get back and forth with minimal difficulty. Suddenly the city decided that the well being of its citizens and the efficient flow of traffic was not worth the expense of a few police officers and eliminated that service. Even though they will spend thousands of dollars to bring in officials from other cities to advise us how to solve the traffic congestion. There was no public outcry.

For many years now the traffic congestion has gotten exponentially worse, with lane swapping on the bridges during peak traffic hours causing accidents two and three times a week, and people sitting in heavy traffic sometimes for hours. Still there is no public outcry.

Everyone knows that the city has been saving big bucks since they privatized our snow removal, and its like pulling teeth to get them to lay down a little salt during a storm now. It would not surprise me to discover that our entire snow removal system now consists of half a dozen plows all driven by operators who have no experience with the local streets at all. Again, no public demand to hold anyone accountable for our suffering out there on those roads.

I often wonder if those private companies that are out there tearing chunks out of the road everytime they do plow, are the same companies that the city pays to patch those holes come spring. People will sit in traffic day after day, because some city official is saving money at their expense, and will complain in the media and at the dinner table, but never is any official actually held accountable.

Two, the Transit Union has, over the last few contract negotiations, created a situation where the strike option is nothing more than an ordinary aspect of the negotiating process. A strike does not cost the city officials anything, and in fact they save what they do not have to pay out in wages. In this sort of process why wouldn't the management take advantage of the opportunity, if not for any other reason than to to use what they save on wages over a strike period, to make up for what they will have to pay out in raises, maybe even their own. A strike is not supposed to be a negotiating tool for management to use to make money. It is supposed to be the last straw because management will not deal fairly with its employees. And, when that point of breakdown is reached, management should know that forcing a strike is going to cost them something in the end, so that it does not become an opportunity for them to actually save money in the process.

The way that the Union negotiates now, using the strike option as a normal process of negotiations, creates this foolhardy opportunity for management. In my opinion, once a strike is forced, management should know that the workers will no longer be negotiating 'as usual', and that the stakes have now changed, with workers not returning until they cause management to make heavier concessions that they might not have had to make if they had negotiated fairly, when they had the chance. The way it is now, the Union enables management to save money during a strike at no heavier cost, which they can than pocket in whatever they so choose. This is foolishness. There must be a heavy cost inflicted upon a management team who would force a strike, so they will not benefit from it as normal negotating, otherwise a strike would be forced everytime the negotiating takes place, for no other reason than to save a few bucks in the process.

Third, disfunctional and disingenuous management is rampant. If people were aware of the scandals and abuses that take place within transit management they would have that place shut down immediately. But the people never hear about these things because they are well hidden from the media. Is the media aware of the company credit card scandal that took place? No, because as usual, no one was held accountable. Are the people aware that management has been paying high salaries to a small number of people whose only job is to see how many different ways they can rearrange the shifts, the routes and the schedules every three months? They might as well be paying assasssins to sabotage our transit system year after year. The backbone of any transit system should be regularity and reliability. This means working out a system that functions efficiently and than 'leaving it alone' so the public can get familiar with it, and so that the drivers can perfect the implementation of it. But management feels that they should keep these engineers busy earning their exorbitant salaries by rearranging and 'working out a system' month after month, year after year, just so they can have something to do to earn their wages. I know of one man who has been doing this for some thirty years now. Let me ask you, how many different ways can a system be rearranged and played with before it becomes corrupted and inefficent? And how is this constant manipulation, for the sake of the jobs of a select few, the means to acquiring regularity and reliability?

The city brings in officials and experts from all over the world to advise us on how to solve our problems, at great cost to the taxpayers, and much 'handshaking' takes place behind the scenes in the backrooms. We all know this. Most people are aware that there are many scandalous and underhanded things being done behind closed doors that most of us never know about. We have been hearing alot of this sort of thing recently with the NDP issues and the findings of the new CEO. But when something reaches a boiling point, and there is a need to suddenly confront an issue, do we pound open those doors and hold people accountable? No. Instead we turn on the veterans of our city, who have been out there while all of this ignorance has been taking place and trying their best to make a bad system work to the best of their abilities. Who will we go after next? The elders in the old age homes, because they left such a terrible legacy for us to cope with?

This strike is not about veterans getting off easy, or negotiations being fair or unfair. Make no mistake. This strike is about officials in positions of power getting away with murder at our expense, and not being held accountable in any fashion. When all is said and done, they will go back to their fancy double pensions and top dollar salaries, and we will go back to unsalted traffic jams and poorly organized civil systems.

You can make this about a veteran driver having the option to pick work more suitable to his liking before a junior operator gets to pick it, but that is called 'seniority', and is applied in most fair workplaces. It does not enable a driver to spend his day doing nothing, or working less. In many cases senior drivers actually pick work that offers more hours, so they can enjoy the overtime. In many cases there are shifts that are picked by junior men that will have less actual driving time than many of the senior shifts. With regard to having breaks, I would ask any of you to tell me that you would be able to drive for eight to ten hours straight through without being able to pull over and have a break here and there when you need to. Whether it's just to rest your tired eyes for a few minutes, or to shake off a headache or motion sickness, we should all be afforded the opportunity to do so. But, because of the schedule factor, a transit driver does not have that luxury, and usually has a bus full of expecting passengers waiting on him, and counting on him to make connections and get them home. Do you have any idea how many times I have continued driving during severe driving conditions, when I should have pulled over, like many others had already done, so that I could get my passengers to where they needed to be? In those circumstances I am sure the skill and experience of the veteran driver is suddenly worth any amount of acknowledgement and appreciation. Those passengers pat me on the shoulder and praise me on their way out the door, and then go home to completely forget the reality of why they just got home safe and sound. As a matter of fact, many of the shifts are designed so that the driver will not have a few minutes at a turn around point. Often passengers are forced to sit at time points in the midst of runs wondering why the operator is waiting there. Time points that are only there to keep the driver from arriving at the other end of the run with time to spare.

Yes, you can ignore the benefit of having experienced operators behind the steering wheel, and you can blame them for all of our social ills, and do as we always do, in letting the real culprits get off scott free. Sit there in your traffic jams, with your fingers stuck out the window at everyone else around you, and when you get home forget all about it; until tommorrow. But don't actually make any effort to hold people accountable who might actually be responsible.

I remember a young Bedford town councillor who refused to sit in one of the fancy new chairs that had just been purchased for the council room at great expense, because he saw it as a huge waste and abuse of tax payer money. I remember how they all ridiculed him for his foolishness, and how much I admired him for his integrity. The most notable victim of this city's management atrocities is not you or I, but that once honest and devoted servant named Peter Kelly. What ever happened to that hero of a man?

I must remain anonymous or risk losing my job. That is the reality and extreme of what we are really dealing with here. But there is nothing that is said here that any one reading it can deny to be true. So what does that honestly say about you as a citizen, official or employee of this city?

Hopeful regards,
Anonymous
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  #2  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2012, 2:35 PM
Keith P.'s Avatar
Keith P. Keith P. is offline
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STFU, get back to work, drive the bus, and stop thinking that you know how to run the city. Every union environment I have ever been in has had a bunch of hourly-paid types who think they know how to manage the place. The reality is that the minute you're dealing with a unionized public workforce, any logic goes out the window and you are dealing with a barrel of monkeys.
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  #3  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2012, 2:46 PM
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wackypacky wackypacky is offline
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I'm pretty damn sure I have a higher education then 99% of the metro transit workforce. I wish I could go back to before I started school and get a job driving around all day with a pretty decent salary and great benefits, with no repercussions for shitty customer service. Not saying there all dicks but they seem to get away with whatever. If I was in charge(thank god I'm not) Id contract the work out to the soon to be laid off zellers staff.
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  #4  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2012, 2:50 PM
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wackypacky wackypacky is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by amiefrost View Post
There are three factors responsible for the transit strike.

One, the apethetic and complacent way that Haligonians tolerate the inexcusable and deliberate ignorances of social needs in their city. Years ago traffic was controlled by police officers at the busiest intersections to allow commuters to get back and forth with minimal difficulty. Suddenly the city decided that the well being of its citizens and the efficient flow of traffic was not worth the expense of a few police officers and eliminated that service. Even though they will spend thousands of dollars to bring in officials from other cities to advise us how to solve the traffic congestion. There was no public outcry.

For many years now the traffic congestion has gotten exponentially worse, with lane swapping on the bridges during peak traffic hours causing accidents two and three times a week, and people sitting in heavy traffic sometimes for hours. Still there is no public outcry.

Everyone knows that the city has been saving big bucks since they privatized our snow removal, and its like pulling teeth to get them to lay down a little salt during a storm now. It would not surprise me to discover that our entire snow removal system now consists of half a dozen plows all driven by operators who have no experience with the local streets at all. Again, no public demand to hold anyone accountable for our suffering out there on those roads.

I often wonder if those private companies that are out there tearing chunks out of the road everytime they do plow, are the same companies that the city pays to patch those holes come spring. People will sit in traffic day after day, because some city official is saving money at their expense, and will complain in the media and at the dinner table, but never is any official actually held accountable.

Two, the Transit Union has, over the last few contract negotiations, created a situation where the strike option is nothing more than an ordinary aspect of the negotiating process. A strike does not cost the city officials anything, and in fact they save what they do not have to pay out in wages. In this sort of process why wouldn't the management take advantage of the opportunity, if not for any other reason than to to use what they save on wages over a strike period, to make up for what they will have to pay out in raises, maybe even their own. A strike is not supposed to be a negotiating tool for management to use to make money. It is supposed to be the last straw because management will not deal fairly with its employees. And, when that point of breakdown is reached, management should know that forcing a strike is going to cost them something in the end, so that it does not become an opportunity for them to actually save money in the process.

The way that the Union negotiates now, using the strike option as a normal process of negotiations, creates this foolhardy opportunity for management. In my opinion, once a strike is forced, management should know that the workers will no longer be negotiating 'as usual', and that the stakes have now changed, with workers not returning until they cause management to make heavier concessions that they might not have had to make if they had negotiated fairly, when they had the chance. The way it is now, the Union enables management to save money during a strike at no heavier cost, which they can than pocket in whatever they so choose. This is foolishness. There must be a heavy cost inflicted upon a management team who would force a strike, so they will not benefit from it as normal negotating, otherwise a strike would be forced everytime the negotiating takes place, for no other reason than to save a few bucks in the process.

Third, disfunctional and disingenuous management is rampant. If people were aware of the scandals and abuses that take place within transit management they would have that place shut down immediately. But the people never hear about these things because they are well hidden from the media. Is the media aware of the company credit card scandal that took place? No, because as usual, no one was held accountable. Are the people aware that management has been paying high salaries to a small number of people whose only job is to see how many different ways they can rearrange the shifts, the routes and the schedules every three months? They might as well be paying assasssins to sabotage our transit system year after year. The backbone of any transit system should be regularity and reliability. This means working out a system that functions efficiently and than 'leaving it alone' so the public can get familiar with it, and so that the drivers can perfect the implementation of it. But management feels that they should keep these engineers busy earning their exorbitant salaries by rearranging and 'working out a system' month after month, year after year, just so they can have something to do to earn their wages. I know of one man who has been doing this for some thirty years now. Let me ask you, how many different ways can a system be rearranged and played with before it becomes corrupted and inefficent? And how is this constant manipulation, for the sake of the jobs of a select few, the means to acquiring regularity and reliability?

The city brings in officials and experts from all over the world to advise us on how to solve our problems, at great cost to the taxpayers, and much 'handshaking' takes place behind the scenes in the backrooms. We all know this. Most people are aware that there are many scandalous and underhanded things being done behind closed doors that most of us never know about. We have been hearing alot of this sort of thing recently with the NDP issues and the findings of the new CEO. But when something reaches a boiling point, and there is a need to suddenly confront an issue, do we pound open those doors and hold people accountable? No. Instead we turn on the veterans of our city, who have been out there while all of this ignorance has been taking place and trying their best to make a bad system work to the best of their abilities. Who will we go after next? The elders in the old age homes, because they left such a terrible legacy for us to cope with?

This strike is not about veterans getting off easy, or negotiations being fair or unfair. Make no mistake. This strike is about officials in positions of power getting away with murder at our expense, and not being held accountable in any fashion. When all is said and done, they will go back to their fancy double pensions and top dollar salaries, and we will go back to unsalted traffic jams and poorly organized civil systems.

You can make this about a veteran driver having the option to pick work more suitable to his liking before a junior operator gets to pick it, but that is called 'seniority', and is applied in most fair workplaces. It does not enable a driver to spend his day doing nothing, or working less. In many cases senior drivers actually pick work that offers more hours, so they can enjoy the overtime. In many cases there are shifts that are picked by junior men that will have less actual driving time than many of the senior shifts. With regard to having breaks, I would ask any of you to tell me that you would be able to drive for eight to ten hours straight through without being able to pull over and have a break here and there when you need to. Whether it's just to rest your tired eyes for a few minutes, or to shake off a headache or motion sickness, we should all be afforded the opportunity to do so. But, because of the schedule factor, a transit driver does not have that luxury, and usually has a bus full of expecting passengers waiting on him, and counting on him to make connections and get them home. Do you have any idea how many times I have continued driving during severe driving conditions, when I should have pulled over, like many others had already done, so that I could get my passengers to where they needed to be? In those circumstances I am sure the skill and experience of the veteran driver is suddenly worth any amount of acknowledgement and appreciation. Those passengers pat me on the shoulder and praise me on their way out the door, and then go home to completely forget the reality of why they just got home safe and sound. As a matter of fact, many of the shifts are designed so that the driver will not have a few minutes at a turn around point. Often passengers are forced to sit at time points in the midst of runs wondering why the operator is waiting there. Time points that are only there to keep the driver from arriving at the other end of the run with time to spare.

Yes, you can ignore the benefit of having experienced operators behind the steering wheel, and you can blame them for all of our social ills, and do as we always do, in letting the real culprits get off scott free. Sit there in your traffic jams, with your fingers stuck out the window at everyone else around you, and when you get home forget all about it; until tommorrow. But don't actually make any effort to hold people accountable who might actually be responsible.

I remember a young Bedford town councillor who refused to sit in one of the fancy new chairs that had just been purchased for the council room at great expense, because he saw it as a huge waste and abuse of tax payer money. I remember how they all ridiculed him for his foolishness, and how much I admired him for his integrity. The most notable victim of this city's management atrocities is not you or I, but that once honest and devoted servant named Peter Kelly. What ever happened to that hero of a man?

I must remain anonymous or risk losing my job. That is the reality and extreme of what we are really dealing with here. But there is nothing that is said here that any one reading it can deny to be true. So what does that honestly say about you as a citizen, official or employee of this city?

Hopeful regards,
Anonymous
Btw what a load of crock, I highly doubt anyone on here actually took the time to read the entire novel you wrote there. I wish there was a dancing banana emoticon that was giving the two finger salute.
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  #5  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2012, 2:53 PM
Keith P.'s Avatar
Keith P. Keith P. is offline
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In terms of the "real reason" for striking, check this out:

http://frankmagazine.ca/index.php?op...d=302&Itemid=1

Quote:
A city councillor source tells me that while there are some issues on the negotiating table that could seriously affect the quality of life for ATU drivers, there are others that are, well, not-so-serious.

For example, drivers are currently required to come in seven minutes prior to their shifts. The city wants them present and accounted for a full 10 minutes before they get behind the wheel (those heartless bastards!-ed.).

The union also wants the ability to re-schedule previously booked vacation time should they become ill the day before they go. Seriously.

But sources say rank-and-file union members don't give a crap about this piddly stuff, but it's certain high-level members of the union executive who are insisting on sweating the small stuff. In fact, the union executive has the power to refuse offers without even taking them back to their membership.

As for the larger issue of rostering - the city's desire to get in the way of senior drivers picking their shifts - I'm advised that the union executive is afraid to take an offer watering down those rights back to the membership, for fear they'll approve it. Non-senior members comprise a majority of the group, after all.

Also, my source says there are only 27 points of contention left on the table, as opposed to the 70 being quoted by the ATU.

An email sent to union president Ken Wilson wasn't returned before blog-post time.

Holding the city hostage for things like this is shameful.
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  #6  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2012, 4:11 PM
halifaxboyns halifaxboyns is offline
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I have to admit I don't know the full story, but I suspect pay raises will become a major sticking point for most government unions as time passes, given the news on real estate.

Some grumblings I'm hearing from people in many levels of government is that there is some shock at how fast the real estate market skyrocketed after the ship building announcement and that there is concern this will start a wave of unions asking for more generous cost of living allowances, because the costs of things will rise.

My response is simple: if the costs are going up, people have to be paid a living wage.

As to the ATU president's 'fear' over the membership, that was funny!
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  #7  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2012, 6:08 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by halifaxboyns View Post
My response is simple: if the costs are going up, people have to be paid a living wage.
They start at around $23/hr, which is pretty generous for a job where they encourage people to apply even if they do not have a high school diploma:

http://halifax.ca/metrotransit/documents/FAQs.pdf

My big problem with unions like this is that they represent a minority with unusual leverage to mess with everybody else. Most Canadians are not in unions at all and are protected by comparatively weak labour laws. A typical person with low-end qualifications who might get paid $23/hr as a bus driver would get $10-15/hr or so at many other jobs, with fewer benefits.

Some people present the $23/hr as coming from management fat cats, but in reality more of that money comes from the $10-15/hr workers who pay transit fares and taxes and are not lucky enough to be part of a labour union club.

Transit workers should not legally be allowed to strike. If the wages set by the government are too low then bus drivers can do what everybody else has to do -- look around for better opportunities. Of course, that would not happen with most bus drivers because they already receive generous pay and benefits far above the norm for their qualifications.
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  #8  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2012, 6:36 PM
amiefrost amiefrost is offline
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Of course people with a distaste for bus drivers probably for some personal reason would make these sort of remarks. It is obvious and ignorant of the facts. And not worthy of consideration.

Instead of badmouthing, how about actually addressing the issues of the post? We get that you don't like or respect bus drivers. Fortunately we meet hundreds of people out there who tell us daily how they appreciate us and couldn't do our jobs for a second.

So what you say here means nothing in comparison. Now how about actually addressing the points I made in the post?
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Old Posted Feb 3, 2012, 7:21 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by amiefrost View Post
Now how about actually addressing the points I made in the post?
I suggest editing your post down to a few sentences that people will actually read.
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  #10  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2012, 8:24 PM
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resetcbu1 resetcbu1 is offline
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I realize we are all entitled to our own opinions, and that is what makes this a great country. But I feel like most people on here are well informed and have already made their judgment on how they feel about this and writing a novel of a post, will not influence the biased or un-biased opinions of any of the members on here .

I personally think that the union is making some ludacris demands that are way beyond resonable , I would love to demand to choose my schedule or be able to take of time whenever then plus a day early and so on and so forth , if I want a raise at work it is based on my performance (I have to go in ask and if they think I'm worth it they will) not my demand or how I feel I deserv/wante more money. So my sympathy is non existant for this union, and their crippling effect on the entire city and those least fortunate, so bug off with your silly argument!
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Old Posted Feb 3, 2012, 8:36 PM
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Originally Posted by resetcbu1 View Post
But I feel like most people on here are well informed and have already made their judgment on how they feel about this and writing a novel of a post, will not influence the biased or un-biased opinions of any of the members on here.
I'm open to hearing both sides, but in addition to being hard to get through a 3000 word essay makes the whole issue seem very murky. If there are such grievances that striking is called for then why can't they be expressed clearly? Why are there paragraphs about HRM council ordering new chairs?
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  #12  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2012, 11:38 PM
ScovaNotian ScovaNotian is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by amiefrost View Post
Years ago traffic was controlled by police officers at the busiest intersections to allow commuters to get back and forth with minimal difficulty. Suddenly the city decided that the well being of its citizens and the efficient flow of traffic was not worth the expense of a few police officers and eliminated that service.
I believe they replaced those with traffic lights starting back around the 1870s, didn't they? Personally, I think those work rather well, for the most part.
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Old Posted Feb 4, 2012, 12:52 AM
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Keith P. Keith P. is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by someone123 View Post
I'm open to hearing both sides, but in addition to being hard to get through a 3000 word essay makes the whole issue seem very murky. If there are such grievances that striking is called for then why can't they be expressed clearly? Why are there paragraphs about HRM council ordering new chairs?
The problem with a lot of the members appears to be that they want to be the inmates running the asylum. If you follow the commentary in various online media around the strike and the events leading up to it, there are innumerable comments from people who are obviously union members who think they have all the answers to every ill within Metro Transit and HRM Municipality in general. I have seen this in many other union workplaces as well, some of which resemble the culture of street gangs, or possibly the ape exhibit at a zoo. Of course, in reality these types haven't got a clue about what management actually does day to day, and on the rare occasion that one gets promoted to a management position just as many sink as do those who succeed. Trying to manage such a workforce in a collective agreement framework means you spend an inordinate amount of time dealing with grievances and other union-related minutiae that does nothing except cost money, slow progress, decrease morale, poison the work environment, and inhibit service improvements. What they don't understand is that while they may have an occasional good idea about some small aspect of the job, it is presented in isolation about the other effects it may have and comes with such baggage because of the source that it is seldom worth considering. The arrogance of the union leadership is exceeded only by their myopia in seeing the bigger picture.
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