OC Transpo strike - penny wise and pound foolish

Strike cost city $13.4M - so far

Hope it was worth it to save $3M or so on scheduling inefficiencies!

Mayor O'Brien is an arrogant, pigheaded moron. Alain Mercier is similarly muleheaded and couldn't negotiate his way out of a paper bag. The city councillors, by and large, stood by with their thumbs up their butts. And the ATU needs to get a grip - this is a recession; world economies are tanking; tens of thousands of jobs are being lost in this country; maybe just maybe instead of wreaking hardship on those less fortunate than themselves, they could have just been thankful to have a damn job and helped out their fellow citizens in a jam. And talk about shooting yourself in the foot - they had to know this would result in transit cutbacks and therefore potential layoffs in the future. Certainly having no job results in even more family time than the scheduling they're fighting for.

The city councillors are promising never to "let this happen again." That's not good enough. It never should have happened a first time. They don't deserve another chance. I hope those who voted for them and for this Conservative union-busting mayor are appropriately disgusted with themselves.

I, for one, will not forget this at voting time.

And if we do not continue to push for CIRB to change their definition of what constitutes a threat to public safety, push for public transportation to be declared an essential service, and push for alternate modes of transportation such as a driverless light rail and more cycling lanes, we will still not be assured that a set of fresh political faces will not thrust us back into this same exact situation each and every time an ATU contract expires. We cannot afford to let anyone off the hook. The well-being of our poorest and most disadvantaged citizens, our businesses, our economy, and our environment depend on it.

Thank you, Dalton McGuinty

This is my thank you letter to Premier Dalton McGuinty. Much of it is a repeat of things I've said in various places on this blog, but I've included it here for your convenience. Feel free to use any or all of it for your own letter.

Dear Premier McGuinty,

I am writing to thank you for your recent action on the OC Transpo strike that has paralyzed our city for nearly two months.

The ATU's selfishness was unconscionable, and Mayor O'Brien's grandstanding and union-busting games have also contributed greatly to this impasse that has caused so much suffering. The two sides weren't going to budge and if anything had gotten more entrenched over the last few days. And because the feds were far more worried about staying in power than anything else, they left Ottawans literally in the cold. It struck me as more than a little unfair that TTC was legislated back within 3 days but Ottawans have been allowed to suffer through almost 2 months of winter without transit, and with no relief in sight.

MP Rona Ambrose said only 4 days ago that she had no intention of doing anything about this. MP John Baird promised at least several more weeks of red tape. By speaking out as you did, you held their feet to the fire and publicly shamed them until they acted in the best interest of the public. Now they can't stop talking about how they couldn't bear to let the suffering continue and had to act. Their hearts weren't bleeding for us 4 days ago, so I have no illusions where this came from. Therefore, I am writing to the proper person to express my gratitude. You were the only one from higher government demanding a solution and demanding it _now_.

So thank you again, Mr. Dalton - for acting in the best interest of our most vulnerable citizens, even when others cannot be troubled to do so except under fire. Rest assured that I will remember this at the polls.

Warm Regards,

EEP

The transit strike is over - but don't fall asleep!

At long last, thank God, the transit strike is over.

There - was that so hard, you jerks?

It disgusts me that they could only agree to such a simple solution - that is, binding arbitration without preconditions - when they finally knew they were backed into a corner by the feds and going to have to do it anyway. The feds in question being Rona Ambrose and John Baird, who weren't going to do anything either but were publicly shamed and backed into a corner by Premier Dalton McGuinty. The feds who would have been positioned to do something in Parliament sooner had it not been for their leader, who put everybody on a time-out after being backed into a corner himself for not taking proper action on the economy, among other things.

Is anybody else as thoroughly disgusted as I am?

And does anyone notice that at every step in this process it was the Conservatives that needed to be cornered like a rat and forced to take proper action? From Conservative Mayor O'Brien to Conservative MP's Rona Ambrose and John Baird, to Conservative PM Stephen Harper - how such people get voted in is beyond me.

In any case, the end result of the labour board's decision that transit is not an essential service, according to its ridiculously narrow definition, is that the ATU will be able to strike again in the future. Baird has said (after the aforementioned cornering) that this definition can be reviewed. But if we are going to be smart about this, we cannot allow all of this to fade into the background now that the buses will be back on the road. As long as transit is not an "essential service," we know the possibility of a strike always looms at the end of every contract.

We must keep the pressure on Baird to pursue this and we must pressure the Mayor and Councillors to get some decent alternative transportation in place.

There is no way our entire city should be brought to a grinding halt, and our most vulnerable citizens victimized, every time the ATU decides it doesn't like something. The light rail nightmare O'Brien helped create needs to be sorted out and fixed. We need to get that thing going. We need to look into the feasibility of a driverless system like Vancouver's Skytrain. We need to press for more bike lanes. I've said it before and I'll say it again... we can live with this hanging over our heads for decades to come, or we can start mitigating the situation now so this never happens again. But if this situation has shown us anything, it's that we cannot rely on our public officials to take the initiative. We must call them and write letters to them, especially our Mayor and Councillors, demanding continued action. If we do not, we will only have ourselves to blame the next time we are left in the lurch for transportation.

Voices of reason on the OC Transpo strike

Finally... it's so refreshing to hear from politicians who get it and are willing to do something about this:

[Ottawa Centre New Democrat MP Paul Dewar:] If the two sides can’t agree on arbitration, it will be ordered by Parliament with his support, he said.

“This is not an inconvenience. We’ve got a full-blown crisis.”

...

Ottawa South Liberal MP David McGuinty called on Labour Minister Rona Ambrose to introduce the legislation as soon as possible.

“I hope it comes as soon as possible — yesterday. This should have been dealt with three weeks ago,” he said.

Mr. McGuinty said it was unfair that the Ontario government legislated an end to a strike by Toronto Transit Commission operators within 72 hours, while the federal government treats people in the national capital region like “second-class citizens.”

“The well-being of the citizens, in my view, have to take precedence over the right to collective bargaining,” Mr. McGuinty said. He said both sides in the labour dispute have lost perspective and it’s time for the federal government to intervene.

“There is just too much suffering and too much cost. We have got to get these buses rolling.”

See, some of our MP's get it. It is a full-blown crisis and should have been treated as such weeks ago. The two sides aren't going to budge and if anything have gotten more entrenched over the last couple of days. It's ridiculous. And because the feds were far more worried about staying in power than anything else, they left Ottawans literally in the cold. Yes, it struck me as more than a little unfair that TTC was legislated back within 3 days but Ottawans have been allowed to suffer through almost 2 months of winter without transit, and with no relief in sight until Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty cranked up the pressure on the feds. Is it that we're just not as important as Torontonians? Just a few days ago, Rona Ambrose was saying she had no intention of getting involved and John Baird was promising us a minimum of several weeks of red tape. Suddenly these two have reversed themselves and are talking about how too many people are suffering and they couldn't let it go on. Their hearts weren't bleeding for us 3 days ago - Premier McGuinty made a public stink about it and held their feet to the fire. Ottawans would do well to remember this at voting time. I know I will.

In case I wasn't direct enough before, I'd like to extend a big thank you to the Premier for forcing the feds' hand on this, since they were stubbornly unwilling to do anything and both sides of this debate are obviously so pigheaded we'd be fighting to keep this from ruining another Christmas if somebody didn't do something. I'll be sure to write him a nice thank you letter.

Oh and don't worry, Mayor O'Brien, I won't forget you at the polls either. Your insistence on making this a public referendum on union-busting, and your stupid union-busting games, have contributed greatly to this impasse that has caused so much suffering. Make no mistake about it - the ATU does need a swift kick in the rear, but so do you. And I hope Ottawans give it to you but good.

At last, a voice of reason

Legislate OC Transpo back to work, McGuinty tells feds

Excerpt:

“I think it’s gone on for too long,” Mr. McGuinty told reporters at Queen’s Park. “It affects our most vulnerable citizens. It’s dramatically affecting our economy at a time when we can’t afford to have these kind of things get in the way. So my advice to the federal government is you’re going to have to come to grips with this.”

...

"It's the responsibility and the obligation of both these parties to get back to the table and come up with a negotiated settlement as quickly as possible that's in the best interests of the citizens of Ottawa," Ms. Ambrose said last Thursday. "It's in (the city's and the union's) hands to solve."

Mr. McGuinty said that response demonstrated “a lack of leadership.”

“I think the public interest has been compromised,” he said Wednesday.

Wow... could it be that someone is exercising some good sense on this issue? The City and ATU remain pigheaded on this and don't want transit declared an essential service. The labour board has decided it isn't going to be of any help.

And this just in, literally in the middle of my post...

It appears now that the Cons' crisis is over and the pressure is on, lo and behold there may be federal action on this after all:

House of Commons to hold emergency meeting on transit strike

Excerpt:

[Rona Ambrose:] "As of last night, the talks have stalled and they are at a stalemate and it is my belief that when the government sees a situation where there is clearly no compromise or no flexibility being shown by either side to reach an agreement, it is our obligation to act," she told reporters on Parliament Hill. "I'm prepared to act at this time, I'm prepared to introduce back to work legislation."

Funny, she wasn't three days ago. It's amazing how many times this government can flip-flop. You could get whiplash from the blinding 180-degree turns. But there are occasions such as this (and the budget) when it badly needed to happen. Finally, maybe we can get some kind of expedient solution to this.

Letter to my councillor

I wrote the following letter to my city councillor today. A bit late, I admit, since they are meeting with the ATU today, but I have little faith that they will come to agreement today anyway. I recently sent an e-mail of outrage, carbon-copied to my city councillor, Mayor O'Brien, and the ATU. My councillor answered stating that they voted to add another $500,000 to assist low income and vulnerable people who are affected by this strike. I replied with the following. Please feel free to use any or all of this to write to the Mayor, your City Councillor, or any other government official if you are so inclined.

Dear {name},

Thank you for your efforts to provide assistance for our city's disadvantaged. It's not that these efforts go unappreciated; it's just that the need is so great and the extra help has not been nearly sufficient or fast enough. As you can see, public protests have begun today because citizens have had enough of these hardships.

I don't know if you will reach an agreement today, and I'm sure you are overwhelmed with letters and e-mails on this. But I have a few of suggestions, for what they're worth.

1) Compromise more with the union on scheduling to get the buses back on the road - just bite the bullet - BUT.....

for their UNCONSCIONABLE selfishness and willingness to impose extreme hardship on our citizens, and to protect us in the future:

2) Use future transit funding to implement an automated, driverless system such as Vancouver's Skytrain, and

3) Do whatever it takes to get the light rail system going in our city.

I am normally pro-union in my views, but this abuse of the public by the ATU has caused me to rethink my position. This is the capital of a G8 country and there is no reason why a group of bus drivers should be able to bring this entire city to its knees every 3 years if we can not or will not cater to their every wish. Something needs to be done, and if we have alternate transit options in place they won't be able to repeat this nightmare year after year. Knowing the possibility of a similar crisis always exists, it would be extremely irresponsible not to make other provisions. Granted, these are not short-term solutions - but we can live with this hanging over our heads for the next few years while we take steps to mitigate it, or we can live with it for decades to come.

Thank you for your time. Please feel free to share this letter with the mayor or other councillors as appropriate.

EEP

The loudmouth speaks, after all

...and basically says, no help here - figure it out for yourselves.

Mind you, Baird didn't bring up the strike himself but was questioned on it by reporters... at which time he essentially promised to relegate the work-rest requirement question to several months of red tape (or several weeks if expedited - notice the "if") and left us on our own for the rest. He would have continued as though the strike wasn't happening at all, if he hadn't been cornered like a rat. Just like Harper and his treatment of the recession... repeated denial of its very existence and refusing to act on it (after all, it doesn't exist!) until cornered like a rat by the coalition.

Colour me surprised.

Incidentally, here is the media's version of the Harper personality transplant I proposed here and here.

Prime Minister needs to build confidence

Good luck with that. Once a gutless liar, always a gutless liar. Here's hoping the Liberals reject the budget.

Ottawans take to the streets, Baird crawls in a hole

There will be three rallies tomorrow calling on the City and ATU to restore service while they hammer out a workable agreement:

City, Transit Union head back to the table

Ottawans are sick and tired enough to take to the streets. I think it's fantastic because the media blackout has helped to cover up and minimize just how deep and profound the suffering is from this thing. Maybe, just maybe, seeing the faces and hearing the stories from the most downtrodden of Ottawans as they endure these hardships will prick the consciences of City and ATU alike and cause them to realize what jerks they're being. Here's hoping. I only wish I could be there tomorrow, but I've been suffering with a nasty flu for several weeks now and can't seem to shake it. So I just don't have the energy to go, but I will be there in spirit, rooting for these people and praying that they get heard.

Ironically - the loudmouthed, yelling, pointing, shrieking John Baird has suddenly clammed up tight and is strangely silent during all of this. I'd normally be rejoicing that we finally found a way to get this guy to shut up... but this is the worst possible time for him to do so. Meh, what does he care? He, Rona Ambrose, and Stephen Harper have one single-minded mission right now, and that is blowing enough smoke up everyone's butt on Tuesday to avoid being kicked out on their collective ear. They couldn't care less about this strike, but will do the bare minimum required to make it appear like they do (such as force a vote they knew was going to fail, then wash their hands of the whole thing - see, there, we did something about it, now leave us alone).

For one thing, even if the federal Cons had time for us right now (which they don't), they still don't have the inclination. Conservatives are about big business, and as such, they tend to prefer union-busting to negotiation... arguably a major reason behind this ridiculous 48-day showdown between Conservative Mayor O'Brien and the ATU in the first place. Not even mentioned yet, but just as pertinent, is the fact that parties - and conservative parties in particular - are loathe to break ranks by questioning the decisions of one of their own. All this means don't go getting your hopes up for any of these clowns to swoop in and save the day. They'd starve out every union in existence if they could, and more importantly, they've got bigger fish to fry right now. If there's one thing you can say for the Tories, they're at least consistent... they will happily flip-flop 180 degrees on any policy, throw anybody under the bus, lie through their teeth no matter how preposterous, or ignore any issue no matter how pressing, as long as it's self-serving in some way.

One thing this means for me, as a recent export from the States, is I can pretty much predict the Tories' every move. The Republicans have turned deception into an art form, fuelled by the neo-con agenda that has permeated their ranks. Apparently inspired by this, The Tories copy all the old tricks, unaltered, from the Republicans' playbook. So it's child's play to know what the Cons are up to... I've seen this all before. It would be laughable if it wasn't so sad.

Wake up Canadians! Or we'll have a mess just like the States. I have no interest whatsoever in watching another country I love go down the tubes.

Ecology Ottawa petition on the transit strike

Ecology Ottawa has a petition you can sign, which I found out about here:

Dear City Councillors,

Enough is enough! Public transit is an essential part of a productive, healthy and environmentally sustainable city. We need all parties to sit down at the negotiating table and produce a fair deal that will end the transit strike and get our city moving again.

Over 2700 people have signed. The hope is that enough of a united public outcry will pressure the City and ATU to hurry up and put an end to this. At this point, I'm willing to try anything. I've already written to Mayor O'Brien, my city councillor, and the ATU to send them a similar message directly.

Let them eat cake - and walk in the cold

Demand for help soaring during Ottawa transit strike - [EDIT: CBC changed the title and some of the content shortly after I published this post, grr]

This is precisely what I've been talking about. The working poor, disabled, elderly, shut-ins, and parents with small children, amongst others, are all suffering needlessly and the recession is hitting Ottawans extra hard because the City and ATU refuse to get it together. Furthermore, the ATU has even threatened to picket some of the extra Para Transpo buses the City has provided because the temporary drivers aren't unionized. The selfishness of the ATU is positively astounding. The union-busting games and ploddingly slow, inadequate aid from the City are deplorable. And the effect of all this drawn-out, pigheaded posturing has been catastrophic for the disadvantaged in this city.

And why have the Feds refused to do anything?

Shame on all of you! Every single last one of you.

Maybe we'll have buses in time for Easter - or not

(19 Jan 2009, CBC News) Amalgamated Transit Union Local 279, which represents around 2,300 striking transit drivers, dispatchers and maintenance staff for OC Transpo, proposed Friday that its members could be back on the job Monday if the city agreed to set aside the controversial issue of worker scheduling for later and send the rest of the contract to binding arbitration. The union also agreed to the city's proposal to hire an independent fact finder to look into the issues surrounding scheduling.

Over the weekend, city council unanimously voted to reject the offer and issue a counter-offer to send the entire collective agreement to binding arbitration, with the conditions that the resulting contract does not cost more than the city's last offer and "respects national safety and work-rest standards" for commercial vehicle operators.

On Saturday, ATU 279 president Andre Cornellier issued a statement saying the union itself was disappointed in the city's response.

Cornellier said the arbitration process "would not be neutral under their conditions." (full article)

The City's 3 conditions for arbitration are spelled out in more detail here, where they are described as follows:

• The final agreement respects national safety and work-rest standards for commercial vehicle operators
• It does not cost more than the City’s last offer, and
• The union agrees the labour disruption is ended if the Union accepts this offer.

Cornellier is right about one thing. Saying, "okay I'll submit to binding arbitration, as long as they incorporate points A, B, and C as part of their decision" is meaningless. Either you agree to arbitration and stick to the decisions made, or you don't! But the ATU is just as guilty in this regard. More on this in a minute.

Binding arbitration requires a certain amount of faith in the chosen neutral party. While I understand the City's desire to have the above conditions met, one can only assume that a reasonable arbitrator would, after thorough review of circumstances, come to conclusions #1 and #3 on its own. After all, federal labour standards are in place for a reason, and the obvious point of getting this whole thing resolved is to get the buses back on the road (duh). In addition, any arbitrator worth their salt is going to look at transit deals in other Canadian cities as a guideline for solutions here. If the two sides are actually being reasonable in their requests and not grandstanding, neither of them should mind this because agreements elsewhere should bear out their points. As for condition #2, given the hundreds of millions of dollars all of this is already costing our local economy and our citizens, isn't this a rather moot and exceedingly stupid point?

In my mind, this is yet another example of the City's role in turning this into a pissing match instead of trying to resolve the problem. We could have had buses today had the City had simply allowed this sticking point of scheduling to go to arbitration. And the City's counteroffer contains a poison pill that's dragging this on needlessly.

The ATU is far from blameless in this, and the interview with a worker from the garage in the excerpted article above bears that out. However, the City is playing no small role in this unnecessary showdown where the public pays the price.

As for the ATU... no specific issue was mentioned with the City's 3 conditions for arbitration. I can see why they might have an issue with #2 of the City's 3 conditions for arbitration (the limit on cost), if for no other reason than the fact that placing a predetermined monetary limit on an arbitrator's decision is counter to the spirit of arbitration itself. But what is the issue with #1 and #3? They don't want to be subject to national standards for safety and work-rest? They don't want to end the labour disruption? I find both of those hard to believe. Again, no specific issue was mentioned by Cornellier, just a reference to "those conditions," plural, which implies that at least one of conditions #1 and #3 was also objectionable. Something here doesn't add up.

At the same time, we have the ATU demanding binding arbitration on the outstanding issues of wages, contracting out, and sick days, and putting the main issue of scheduling, route assignment and working conditions into non-binding mediation. Again, either you submit to binding arbitration or you don't! Cherry-picking issues to be arbitrated is meaningless - you said it yourself, Mr. Cornellier!

Now for just one more example of just how selfish the ATU is being... this document from the ATU website. An excerpt:

Cornellier noted that the City has a binding contact with ATU Local 279 that mandates that all Para Transpo drivers belong to the Union.

“We have indicated to the Employer that our Para Transpo members will provide any increased service needed to transport the elderly and disabled members of this community in accordance with the terms of our contract with the City.”

The Union has given the City until Monday to back away from its plans to hire replacement workers or else face the prospect that the Para Transpo service could be picketed by Union members. (emphasis mine)

Yes, I understand that the City is playing games with them by hiring non-unionized temporary workers to expand Para Transpo service for the elderly and disabled, thus violating the terms of their contract while daring them to protest something so universally supported by the public as extra transportation for the disabled, elderly, and vulnerable. It's a filthy game; I get it. And no, I'm not thrilled about it. But at some point you also have to make some damn concessions because the disabled, elderly and vulnerable are needier than you and nobody cares if the help they get is unionized or not because those people need whatever help they can get. If you interfere with this by picketing, you will be yet again displaying the selfishness I first described here... and you will get the public disapproval you so richly deserve.

It takes two to tango, and so far neither side cares enough to put a stop to this insanity. That much has become obvious.

From the CBC article cited above:

Meanwhile, the City of Ottawa announced over the weekend that after the strike ends, it could take up to 14 weeks for full service to resume. However, 70 per cent of transit service could be back within three weeks.

Translation: don't even think about having proper transit this winter. And don't go getting your hopes up for Easter, either.

ATU's view of the strike

Just became aware of this website by the ATU regarding the transit strike.

There's an article here which the ATU has cited as an apt description of the root of the problem.

I feel these are important reads, not because I'm suddenly an ATU sympathizer (one need only read this, this or this to be assured of that), but because there is a lot of misinformation and speculation out there about what is really going on. The most accurate way of understanding the problem is going to come from hearing the viewpoints of both sides, then contrasting them and doing some fact-checking. This is the first time I've been aware of somewhere I can go to hear the ATU's take on this matter, so I'm sharing it with you here.

I'm still reading and frankly this flu is taking it out of me so I'll post an update later.

Bad Ottawans! No buses for you!

Ottawa transit strike drags on over scheduling issue

If the City and the ATU are soooo sorry about the "inconvenience" (oh sorry, I was thinking "extreme hardships") this lengthy process is causing, where is the urgency?? If they were really that concerned, wouldn't they be in negotiations every day trying to hammer this out? And are they allergic to binding arbitration, or is it just against their religion? (Update: I stand corrected - but what's with the preconditions?) How can we introduce some actual urgency to this? Oh hey, I know! We'll make O'Brien, Council, and the ATU drink 2 litres of pop each, lock them in a room together, and nobody gets a bathroom break until this thing is resolved. Hey, it's cheaper than arbitration and twice as fast.

This strikes me as a personal vendetta gone bad, a Mexican standoff between two pigheaded sides, where the poor, sick, elderly, and disadvantaged pay the price. People are getting canned because they can't get to work, failing classes because they can't write their exams, getting sicker because they can't get to their surgeries or doctor's appointments, getting poorer because they are having to pay for taxi cabs or artificially inflated parking fees, getting depressed because they can't get out to visit friends or go to community events, losing their businesses because customers can't get to them, missing time with their families and losing sleep because they have no option but to walk everywhere, and suffering stress overload from struggling so hard every day for nearly six weeks to get through the snow, ice, bitter cold, and traffic since the ATU decided doing this in December would screw us up the worst. Estimates as of 13 Jan peg the cost to our local economy at $280M and up, $8M per day. All this on top of the global economic crisis and being in a recession, where people are already worried about losing their jobs, homes, and life savings. Oh and how many Ottawan children have had their Christmas ruined by all this is anyone's guess.

Unless the Canada Industrial Relations Board determines that there is "immediate and serious danger to safety or health" under an excessively narrow definition, only Parliament can force the bus drivers back to work while an agreement is hammered out. But oops.... Parliament has prorogued until 26 January because our PM is busy dodging a confidence vote.

Thank you ATU, for your selfishness in deliberately targeting innocent people who can least afford the hardship, and holding them hostage for the sake of internal matters of seniority and scheduling.

Thank you Mayor O'Brien and City Councillors, for injecting unnecessary bravado and grandstanding, and turning this into a public showdown and referendum on union-busting rather than solving the problem at hand. Many more thanks for refusing to have transit declared an essential service.

Thank you all 3 of the above, for exercising an exceptional level of urgent urgency usually reserved for things like cleaning out the mystery box at the back of the garage or sorting the sock drawer.

Thank you Labour Board, for making your criteria for hardship excessively difficult to meet. Hardship doesn't really count unless someone's on the brink of death.

And last but not least, thank you once again Harper, for throwing everybody else under the bus in order to look out for your own job. In Ottawa you've done it figuratively and literally.

Please can somebody at least pretend to care more than a two-second "sorry for the inconvenience" and blaming someone else? Grow a spine and a conscience and solve this! And act like your nana's heart transplant depends on it.

Dare we hope?

Ottawa council willing to budge on transit scheduling

Maybe, just maybe, we are beginning to see the end of this stupid standoff. Seeing union members "storming out" of the last meeting certainly wasn't encouraging. Supposedly it will take a couple more weeks now while an independent fact-finder objectively clarifies the scheduling issue and dispels any misconceptions either side may have.

Seems to me that no matter how you slice it, you can pretty much bank on the fact that we will be continuing to limp along through the worst of this winter with no resolution. Even if this fact-finder did his/her job properly, gave them all the facts in a timely manner, and they all magically came to agreement that same day, we're still talking 2 more weeks minimum without public transit.

I'll give them this much... in a way it's a good thing because frankly, nobody seems to have a really clear picture on what exactly the sticking points are in this scheduling issue, since the ATU has insisted it's not about the money and all manner of claims are being made on both sides. At least one side is lying, if not both of them.

I've "heard" (as in online, using my eyes not my ears) accusations that senior drivers schedule themselves such that they will only have to drive 6 hours, but still get paid for 8 due to an 8-hour minimum daily pay requirement. I've not heard any ATU members or leadership deny this.

I've also heard claims that drivers will have 13½-hour shifts. But I understand this isn't really true because most of them are working split shifts since most of the demand for transit is when people are trying to get to/from work. I don't know how long the break is in between... 3 hours? 5 hours? But even if your first shift ends on the other side of town from your home and you have to wait around, it's not like you're working that whole time. And if you have to travel across town from one shift to get to the next, surely it doesn't take 3-5 hours to do so. You should be paid for any necessary transit time, but you can't count that gap in between as working hours. I once had a job as one of a team of several people, and we were frequently sent to remote locations for a week at a time. You had to stay in a hotel and work 8 hours a day until the project was complete. You only got paid for the 8 hours each day you were working; the time you spent getting to the job site and back counted as working hours; but you didn't get compensated for the other 16 hours a day you spent away from home during the week. Of course I missed my loved ones back home. But hey, I knew what I was getting into when I took the job. And before you say, "Now see, that's a situation where having a union could have helped," guess what? That was a union job! The terms: an hour's work for an hour's pay!

ATU members have said that the change in scheduling would make it difficult for them to plan their personal lives. But honestly now, when you decided to be a bus driver, you can't tell me you didn't know ahead of time the hours that most people would need transit, and what that would require of you. If working funky split shifts presents a problem for you, why would you consider such a job in the first place? Something here doesn't smell quite right.

All that said, I've also heard from drivers that the City makes outrageous demands, such as scheduling shifts back to back without proper time allocated in between for a driver to get from the end point of the first shift to the starting point of the second shift. Thus, there is no way for a driver to start the second shift on time. I don't know if this is really true in their case but I can say I've seen that type of thing before, when companies with a ridiculously single-minded focus on their bottom line make you crazy by allotting 15 minutes for a 1-hour job and the like, blatantly ignoring customer satisfaction and/or safety rules in the interest of saving a buck. In all fairness, I consider this issue to be a distinct possibility, and I've not heard the City deny this accusation.

Somewhere under all this posturing is the truth, and I'm not convinced I've heard it yet.

The Ottawa transit strike - Attitude is everything

Posted in response to this article:

I remember some of the early news coverage of this strike, where picketers were purposely exacerbating the traffic problems caused by the strike by blocking traffic on a major thoroughfare.

A reporter pulled aside one of the picketers doing this and asked him about this practice. I will paraphrase here because I don't recall the precise wording, but I know it's very close if not exactly word for word.

Reporter: We understand that you're striking, but aren't you basically just antagonizing the public by doing this? I mean, isn't the traffic bad enough as it is?

Picketer (a huge smirk crossing his face): Yes, absolutely. It's all *about* antagonizing the public and making it as inconvenient as possible. We're getting our message across.

This is where they lost me, right there, from day one. In this man's mind, not only was it okay to target the public as innocent victims, it was downright hilarious to do so.

Now, I understand he doesn't represent all ATU members. But first impressions stick. And there were plenty other picketers in that lineup so he's obviously not the only one with that attitude either.

I have long held the belief that unions are good and help protect the plight of the common worker against corporate tyranny and greed... things like labour law abuses, discrimination, keeping an employee for many years and then finding a reason to lay them off just before retirement or when they get sick in order to avoid paying promised benefits. But what I have seen so far from the ATU so far seems just as abusive, callous and wrong. They seem to have started off flouting the public, but forgot one fundamental truth: historically, strikes have stood the best chance of succeeding when they have the public's support. So now that they seem to be realizing this, they feel "beat up" and want sympathy from us. Too bad they started out with two left feet and stuck them both in their collective mouth.

Hurt by the Ottawa Transit Strike?

I unfortunately discovered Labour board wants stories of people hurt by Ottawa transit strike at this late date. Late, because the deadline on it is 2 days from now so there's no time to mail in letters, which would have been the most convenient way for people with no transportation. All the same, I hope it helps.

Despite a series of obstacles which seemed determined to keep me from doing so, including our obstinate printer, I printed this out and ran down to the lobby of our apartment building to post this up for others to see. I have a car, but I really feel bad for all those people who don't and must schlep through the cold and snow on foot, bum rides from people, pay for expensive cabs, and the like, while trying to get to work, school, doctor's visits, surgeries, and the like. This has put a lot of people in dire straits financially, healthwise, and stresswise so I really wish they'd resolve this thing already! Lacking that, I post my little papers in the lobby.

List of carpooling/ride sharing websites

People have started leaving notes posted in our apartment lobby begging for carpool partners, rides to classes, etc. due to the bus strike here in Ottawa. I feel so bad for them and wish I could help them all. Being winter and the Christmas season, it's a hard time of year for the elderly, sick, poor and disadvantaged to be stuck walking, biking, or stuck with extra expenses for taxi cabs. I have taken to printing out the following and leaving copies in the lobby for people to take. I checked out all the links and they do work. I figure at least I can do something. Maybe this will help someone online too.

As a side note, freecycle.org is an excellent place to exchange free stuff in your local area. Their goal is for people to save money by exchanging free items and reduce waste by keeping things out of the landfill - win-win. I haven't taken anything yet, so I haven't tried that end of it yet, but I've offered various things and it's worked out quite well as people come and pick them up. They're grateful to have them and I'm grateful to get rid of them with a minimum of effort and know they'll be put to good use.

LIST OF CARPOOLING AND RIDE SHARING WEBSITES

HELLO ALL, I FOUND THIS ONLINE AND THERE ARE COMPUTERS YOU CAN USE FOR FREE AT THE LIBRARY AND SERVICE CANADA,AND PROBABLY EMPLOYMENT ONTARIO IF YOU EXPLAIN YOU NEED TO FIND A WAY TO GET TO WORK. HOPE THIS HELPS SOMEONE!


Subject: [OttawaON-Freecycle] ADMIN: sites for carpooling and ride sharing
From: "Sharon Stewart"
Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2008 17:59:39 -0500
To: "Ottawa Freecycle Group"

[NOTE: I compiled this list in February 2008, but I do not have time today
to check whether the links still work]

Here are some local boards for posting ads about carpooling and ride sharing:
http://ottawa.craigslist.ca/rid/

http://ottawa.kijiji.ca/f-community-rideshare-W0QQCatIdZ5
or http://tinyurl.com/2o9uqx

http://www.erideshare.com/carpool.php?city=Ottawa

http://www.carpoolconnect.com/search/do_search?home_code=Ottawa,%20Ontario,%20Canada
or http://tinyurl.com/2vjlzx

http://www.punkottawa.com/board/viewforum.php?f=10

http://www.autotaxi.com/autotaxi.htm

http://welcome.pickuppal.com/alpha.php?camp=people&group=Car%20Pool%20Ottawa&root=Car%20Pool&place=%20in%20Ottawa
or http://tinyurl.com/2mub9h

This one is run by the City of Ottawa:
https://www.ottawaridematch.com/Public/UserSignIn.aspx

These ones are broader geographically:
http://www.carpoolworld.com/

http://www3.sympatico.ca/dataorb/

Sharon Stewart
Moderator
Ottawa Freecycle