[RedRocket191]

Uh, the suburban late night route delay can be far worse for the rider, depending on the weather. When I lived in Brampton, it was routine for the 11 driver to stop at the McDonalds @ Torbram & Steeles to get some food/coffee. It never really bothered me, and I guess it still doesn't.

I complain about clubbing people crapping up the core. mainly because of the havoc I encounter while riding my bike through that area on Friday or Saturday nights. I _really_ don't enjoy having crap thrown at me or people lunging into my path. It would be especially bad if I hit one of them at 30km/h.

But you have to consider that the city bylaws only allow nightclubs to be placed in one very small area. Surely the blame doesn't completely fall on the clubbers and has to fall on the city for their policy - a poor planning decision in my opinion.

 

[Panzerfaust]

Uh, the suburban late night route delay can be far worse for the rider, depending on the weather. When I lived in Brampton, it was routine for the 11 driver to stop at the McDonalds @ Torbram & Steeles to get some food/coffee. It never really bothered me, and I guess it still doesn't.

Sure, it might not be that much of a problem in a bus (though still annoying), but with a streetcar on a high frequency route like Spadina? Streetcars can't go around something if it's blocking their path, they have to wait. It took this guy ten minutes to get his slice, and Spadina has headways much higher than that. You do the math.

 

[krooj]

But you have to consider that the city bylaws only allow nightclubs to be placed in one very small area. Surely the blame doesn't completely fall on the clubbers and has to fall on the city for their policy - a poor planning decision in my opinion.

Partly the responsibility of city planners, yes; however, it's not an individual's right to behave like an asshole either.

 

[krooj]

Sure, it might not be that much of a problem in a bus (though still annoying), but with a streetcar on a high frequency route like Spadina? Streetcars can't go around something if it's blocking their path, they have to wait. It took this guy ten minutes to get his slice, and Spadina has headways much higher than that. You do the math.

I seriously doubt it was a full 10 minutes. More likely 3~4, considering where Cora's is and how fast they are.

BTW, I still <3 you.

 

[MetroMan]

Strike over. Now get back to work you ungrateful bastards! (yes I'm pissed).

 

[MetroMan]

The union is obviously not acting in good faith. In fact, they're acting like bullies. The TTC shouldn't cut them any slack, including letting Bob Kinnear off the hook for the illegel strike stunt he pulled off and cost tax payers money.

Action Plan:
1 - Declare TTC an essential service
2 - Prosecute Bob Kinnear for the illegal strike and recover lost tax dollars
3 - Pick a weekend in August and announce ahead of time that on Friday night of that weekend, all TTC employees will be laid off. Retain each department manager to allow the process to go smoothly (renegotiate their contract later).
4 - Hold a job fair the next Saturday morning. Hire based on fair market wages (i.e. not $26 p/hr to stand behind a glass watching people drop tickets into a box) and upon merit. Allow others to apply for the jobs, not just former employees.
5 - If a driver is to be paid nearly $30 an hour to drive a bus, he will have to provide a service to the public in the way of being courteous and customer service oriented. Complaints from the public will be treated seriously.
6 - Hire staff on Sunday according to the previous day's job fair and debrief them on the new "rules" and expectations.
7 - Resume service on Monday.

Giambrone and the Mayor need to grow some balls and put this or a similar plan in action.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

krooj:

...however, it's not an individual's right to behave like an asshole either.

Tell me, which is greater assholerly - a scattered few individuals acting irrationally under the influence of (fill in your substance of choice) OR public service employees heeding the call of enlightened leadership (or in otherwise some misplaced sense of camaradie) and decided to, at the stroke of midnight, strand a significant number of riders in what could potentially be an unsafe situation?

AoD

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Metroman:

Perhaps they should start contracting out the maintenance positions. That should set an example rather nicely.

AoD

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

I also noticed walking around yesterday and today how much quieter it is. There's still lots of traffic but there is a general reduction in city noise.

So the law has been passed for back to work legislation, but what about declaring the TTC an essential service? Will that be pursued and what does that entail?

 

[MetroMan]

^ Miller and Giambrone are showing no interest in pursuing it. I like both Miller and Giambrone but in this case, they're backing a losing horse. They should swap strategies before they go down with the ship.

 

[Therion]

Time to privatize the TTC. Sure, it will be hell for a couple of years, but in the end, we'll have a transport system that is efficient and turns a profit so they can add more lines. That, or it is time to go Hitler on the unions. Job security? Are you kidding me? Who today has job security? I have no job security, no pension plan, no benefits and no vacation pay, yet I manage live a happy, fulfilling existence.

/rant mode off
//really pissed

 

[gabe]

I almost wish that someone got raped or shot as a result of getting kicked off the bus when they started striking last night. Then maybe Bob Kinnear can be held responsible for it, and then maybe he can be punished by being forced to tell his neighbours that he's a registered sex offender.

You are one sick human being.

 

[CDL.TO]

Watched the streetcars roll out of Roncy yard about 2 hours ago. Off they went in convoys down Queen Street...

501...501...501...15 minute gap...501...501...501

Yup, the TTC's back.

 

[Voltz]

Time to privatize the TTC. Sure, it will be hell for a couple of years, but in the end, we'll have a transport system that is efficient and turns a profit so they can add more lines. That, or it is time to go Hitler on the unions. Job security? Are you kidding me? Who today has job security? I have no job security, no pension plan, no benefits and no vacation pay, yet I manage live a happy, fulfilling existence.

/rant mode off
//really pissed

I understand it is a rant, but there is no way that any decent privatised transit system could even come close to making a profit,

 

[unimaginative2]

What they turned down


JEFF GRAY

Globe and Mail Update

April 27, 2008 at 2:53 PM EDT

Over the weekend, the Toronto Transit Commission released more details of the tentative agreement that union members turned down by a 65 per cent vote that sparked Friday night's surprise strike.

The TTC and union leader Bob Kinnear both said the three-year deal included “no concessions” for union members, and Mayor David Miller praised the agreement as both “fair” to workers and “affordable” to taxpayers.

Wage hikes: Union members turned down three years of three-per-cent annual wage hikes. The deal also included a possible extra raise for bus drivers, in a controversial provision called the “GTA clause.”

Mr. Kinnear had said this clause guaranteed that TTC bus drivers would be the best paid in the greater Toronto area, and would receive an additional raise if another union won higher wage hikes by December 2009.

But the TTC said the clause would only kick in if an outstanding arbitration fight over driver wages that dates back to 2002 (believed to be a battle over job evaluations) does not result in a wage increase for drivers. If it does, then this controversial extra wage hike would vanish, the TTC said.

Benefits: Mr. Kinnear complained during the talks that TTC workers were “second-class” when their benefits package was compared to other city workers. The TTC says the tentative deal included several improvements to TTC benefits, including:

• vision care: $300 every 2 years; plus $50 for exams

• dental care: covers major restorative work, including implants up to $2,500

• orthodontic: up to $4,000 (50% TTC coverage)

• physiotherapy and chiropractic care: $1,000 maximum ($35 per visit)

• Long-term disability: $2,550 max, per month

Injured workers: The union had long campaigned on behalf of the many bus and streetcar drivers who are assaulted on the job, in incidents that have ranged in recent years from spitting to being shot in the face.

The TTC says it agreed with Mr. Kinnear's demand to top-up benefits provided from the Worker Safety Insurance Board. The TTC says it agreed to provide a top-up of 100 per cent of take-home pay from the current 93 per cent provided by the WSIB to 100 per cent for employees “injured while performing regular duties” and in an “unforeseen, extraordinary event.”

Pensions: The TTC agreed to address improvements to the pension plan in its 2010 and 2011 budget and said “Both management and employees would have been bound by any contribution increases that were approved.”

Contracting out: Cited by some as the reason maintenance workers led the push to reject the contract, the TTC said that there had been no attempt to contract out repairs to buses to reduce jobs at the TTC.