TTC on Strike

This sucks:

TTC Strike
Friday, April 25, 2008 - 11:15 PM
By: 680News staff

The Toronto Transit System (TTC) is going on strike Friday at midnight. All subway and bus routes will be shut down. According to the TTC, the union voted down the tentative settlement by 65%.

The TTC really needs to be declared an essential service.  Seems like every three years when thier contract is up, they hold Toronto hostage until thier ransom is delivered.  It cripples the city, literally.

driving today sucked ass!

TTC sucks. They have the best job for not going to school.

Some of the drivers are getting 60,000 a year with awesome benefits yet they want more. They want 100% pay if they are off sick/injured. I dont even think cops get that.

Then they strike with almost no notice, it really does cripple the city.

Im glad im within walking distance to work.

I think it's great what they did Friday night.

Great because that completely fucked any kind of positive PR they had ever had and that this service will finally be made into an essential service... making striking illegal.

It will be hard for me not to spit on TTC workers on monday.

Possibly I'll say "I hope the next time you need something badly that whatever essential service is being provided for you is cut off without warning"

Selfish gits.

LOL @ the TTC being declared an essential service.


Seriously, that will only inflate their ego and on top of that, they are NOT.

Dougie my friend, for many of us living downtown, they most certainly are!

For every nice/helpful TTC employee I've dealt with, there have been at least ten enormous A holes. I can't count the number of times I've gone to buy tickets only to have the guy/girl behind the glass be yapping on the phone, and then get around to me eventually, when they feel like it. Barely looking up at me, and certainly never a smile. Then there was that great story a couple of months ago about a girl being beaten up and trying to run to the streetcar to escape, and the driver closes the door and gets the hell out of there. Awesome.

If they want more money they should, y'know, go get a better job. At least have the honour to stand by your word and not leave the city crippled, with zero notice. Also a fantastic way to get as many cars on the road as possible. Because that's exactly what we need right now. The TTC is an absolute disgrace. Our premier should make like Ronald Reagan with those air traffic controllers.

I fail to see how they can't be considered an essential service.

Suppose to be the most expensive transit system in north america and its not even the best.

I was furious when that driver took off on that young girl who was being mugged. Downtown is full of dudes with absolutely zero testosterone. Its always the construction worker who gets up to give his seat to the elderly before the suited assholes. I guess im getting off topic.

One would think in this day and age we would have moved past the need for unions.

I have not lived in Toronto for years but even back in 2000, the only sad thing about the TTC was the employees and their lazy attitude about working.

This is why they are making what they are today and why there benifits are so good.They are fully aware of the tools they have at negotiation time.So many people complain that they are overpaid yet can`t acknowledge that they fought there way to get to that spot.

I imagine it sucks if u are relying on the bus for transportation but you have to hand it to them for being able to get more cash for themselves and more benifits...Man who takes the first offer when buying a TV or couch.This is all part of negotiating.

"One would think in this day and age we would have moved past the need for unions. " - Hessian


For the most part we've reached that point, but it's unfortunately a double edged sword.  Now (in general) most unions seem to take advantage of thier position & power and abuse it, almost performing "extortion" if you will.  However if there were no unions then employers would take advantage of this just like they did prior to the existence of unions.


It's a damned if you do and damned if you don't scenario that needs a new alternative.


I've been screwed by every union I've ever been a part of.  I used to do alot of factory work during my summers in College, and I'd go in and bust my ass every day.  Most of the places I worked would offer bonuses based on your output, it was an incentive to produce more.  I'd break the "quota's" that were set by the union typically by 200-400%, sometimes even as high as 500%.  The actual quota's were laughable and what most union employees would do, is bust their ass to meet thier quota for the first 2 hours of thier shift and then spend the rest of thier shift fucking around.


Then after management catches wind that someone is breaking quota every single shift, they go to the union to talk about how the quota's were not set fairly and that they'll be renegotiating the quotas the next time the contracts are up for renewal.  This then sends an uproar through the union to the point where union members then start threatening you. 


As a "summer student" I had to pay full union dues, but recieved no union benefits.  I was never offered overtime (unless every single union employee had been offered it first and turned it down - this happened maybe 4 times in 6 years), and I never recieved any shift premiums either.


This was over 6 years, and a number of different unions.  Totally soured me on the entire concept.  I'm sure there are decent ones out there, but in my experience the tables have turned and it's now the unions that are the "bad guys".

It's up and running at the moment I'm typing this.

But on Friday night at 11:30pm, when I was leaving the downtown core and got wind of the strike through the news... I was thinking man... I just encountered hundreds of people heading into the clubs and bars and when they emerge a few hours later, the will be SOL.