Strike! Scratch a Liberal, Find a Fascist
Apr. 10th, 2005 03:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ed_rexWith the deadline less than 12 hours away, there is a good chance Toronto's transit workers will strike in the early hours of Monday morning, leaving a half-million people to find alternate ways to get to work and school.
I can't say that my friends' list has been flooded with howls of outrage, but a few people are very miffed.
- "TTC strike... sucks ass. i really don't think they should be allowed to strike, because a-they're an essential service. b- they're partially funded by our tax dollars. c-they JUST fucking raised the prices.
"... them striking is akin to a 3 year old throwing a temper tantrum. eventually they'll get what they want, just because everyone is sick of dealing with them. they need to find some kind of better tactic to deal with their issues, rather than finding one that alienates the entire city..."
- "I don't live in a nice area, and I work far far away, so I am left FUCKED ... I am stuck either walking an hour and a half at around midnight through the seedy Lansdowne and Bloor area, or I stay at home and not work and not write my exams and not pay my rent this month, or I am to ride my bike through the heavily trafficked streets of Toronto...
"And for what? So that the transit unions can raise their average pay of $25 per hour and get rid of the penalties for being late or early to stops?"
It's not the half-truths that strike me (though I note the current top wage is under $25.00 per hour, and that the TTC makes this city vastly more liveable and so should be "partially funded by our taxes dollars" (a lot more than it is, in my opinion) or that the fact the TTC management just raised prices, not the union - but all that is beside my point), so much as it is the this evidence that principle sometimes means so little to people, when they are personally inconvenienced.
The TTC is an important service - indeed, it is arguably an essential service over the long run; taking a half-million cars off our roads is a Good Thing, for All of Us - but it is not an essential service in the way that ambulances or doctors and nurses are essential.
In a capitalist society, the only power workers have is the ability to withdraw their labour. Without the right to strike, employees would be at the mercy of their employers - in terms of wages, in terms of job security, in terms - essentially - of their very lives. In a capitalist society, the right to strike makes the difference between freedom and (de facto) slavery.
And for those I've heard describe driving a bus or streetcar as a "cushy" job, give me a break. Fighting traffic, dealing with drunks and crazies all day long is not cushy. It is hard, stressful work that requires constant attention both the road and to the passengers one is ferrying about the city. TTC drivers are reasonably well-paid, I suppose, but 50K a year is not going to make anyone in Toronto rich.
All right, fire away ...
I can't say that my friends' list has been flooded with howls of outrage, but a few people are very miffed.
- "TTC strike... sucks ass. i really don't think they should be allowed to strike, because a-they're an essential service. b- they're partially funded by our tax dollars. c-they JUST fucking raised the prices.
"... them striking is akin to a 3 year old throwing a temper tantrum. eventually they'll get what they want, just because everyone is sick of dealing with them. they need to find some kind of better tactic to deal with their issues, rather than finding one that alienates the entire city..."
- "I don't live in a nice area, and I work far far away, so I am left FUCKED ... I am stuck either walking an hour and a half at around midnight through the seedy Lansdowne and Bloor area, or I stay at home and not work and not write my exams and not pay my rent this month, or I am to ride my bike through the heavily trafficked streets of Toronto...
"And for what? So that the transit unions can raise their average pay of $25 per hour and get rid of the penalties for being late or early to stops?"
It's not the half-truths that strike me (though I note the current top wage is under $25.00 per hour, and that the TTC makes this city vastly more liveable and so should be "partially funded by our taxes dollars" (a lot more than it is, in my opinion) or that the fact the TTC management just raised prices, not the union - but all that is beside my point), so much as it is the this evidence that principle sometimes means so little to people, when they are personally inconvenienced.
The TTC is an important service - indeed, it is arguably an essential service over the long run; taking a half-million cars off our roads is a Good Thing, for All of Us - but it is not an essential service in the way that ambulances or doctors and nurses are essential.
In a capitalist society, the only power workers have is the ability to withdraw their labour. Without the right to strike, employees would be at the mercy of their employers - in terms of wages, in terms of job security, in terms - essentially - of their very lives. In a capitalist society, the right to strike makes the difference between freedom and (de facto) slavery.
And for those I've heard describe driving a bus or streetcar as a "cushy" job, give me a break. Fighting traffic, dealing with drunks and crazies all day long is not cushy. It is hard, stressful work that requires constant attention both the road and to the passengers one is ferrying about the city. TTC drivers are reasonably well-paid, I suppose, but 50K a year is not going to make anyone in Toronto rich.
All right, fire away ...
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(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-10 08:36 pm (UTC)actually, i'm not really personally inconvenienced at all by this strike. school's all done, i've got nowhere i've gotta be that i can't get to. but that doesn't stop me from thinking that it's not fair for them to strike. i'm not a very big fan of unions in general. i think they were necessary back in the day, but not so much anymore.
i think people need to learn better ways of resolving their problems than saying "fuckit, i'm on strike" ... seriously. throughout school, all they ever teach you is to find different ways to resolve problems/differences.
but then talks break down, and they resort to this.
i would much rather have no such thing as a "strike deadline" and have an unbiased mediator in there. lock them in a room, don't let anyone out until they've reached something that makes both sides happy.
i'm not saying that they shouldn't get or don't deserve what they've asked for. but i absolutely do not agree with them hurting the people that rely on them, in order to get the attention of the bigwigs.
what's that phrase, you catch more flies with sugar than umm... salt? a lemon? LOL, i can't remember. but anyway. they should think about that, because in doing stuff like this, they aren't going to build a very big fanbase.
personally, i'd probably just suck it up and learn to drive downtown, if i had a job down there and worked up here, even after the strike was over. i'm not all that attatched to the service, simply because of things like this.
flame ahead! :D
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-10 09:30 pm (UTC)...it's not fair for them to strike. i'm not a very big fan of unions in general. i think they were necessary back in the day, but not so much anymore.
I think the reason they seem to be unnecessary now is because they still exist. Walmart doesn't go around closing stores that decide to unionize because unions aren't necessary, but because they are.
i think people need to learn better ways of resolving their problems than saying "fuckit, i'm on strike" ... seriously. throughout school, all they ever teach you is to find different ways to resolve problems/differences. but then talks break down, and they resort to this.
What is the alternative, if management isn't negotiating in good faith, as has been known to happen? If you can't withdraw your labour, you have no power whatsoever. Without unions, individual workers are not in a position to bargain as equal parties to management.
i would much rather have no such thing as a "strike deadline" and have an unbiased mediator in there. lock them in a room, don't let anyone out until they've reached something that makes both sides happy.
And if "until" takes years? The only alternative I am aware of, at least under our existing system, is binding arbitration, which is the route those public servants deemed "essential" have to take.
i'm not saying that they shouldn't get or don't deserve what they've asked for. but i absolutely do not agree with them hurting the people that rely on them, in order to get the attention of the bigwigs.
I haven't been paying enough attention to have an opinion about the specific issues of this strike (or possible strike). But again: withdrawing their labour is their only weapon.