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: 2005-04-12 12:27 am (UTC)Granted. But why tear down those who are doing (reasonably) well, because you are not? I'm reminded of a cousin of mine, a most entrepreneurial type, who used to bitch about "welfare bums". My response was, "Well, if their lot is so cushy, why don't you join them?" (This was back in the day when welfare actually provided a - barely - subsistence income.)
Of course, he wanted a lot more than welfare would provide, so it wasn't an option for him.
Working at a grocery store isn't really comparable to driving a subway, but theirs is definitely cushier than mine. 50 K a year is not going to make anyone rich, nor should it, being given to someone who hasn't had to receive higher learning or a specific degree to work that job. Hell, I'm going into journalism, and am getting a degree for it, and I'll still be lucky to make that much.
Then obviously you're not going into journalism for the money, you're going into it because you have a passion - or at least a strong interest - in it. If you just want to earn 50K at a "cushy" job, you should become a bus driver.
Unions are a necessity, but you have to admit that some unions promote slacking off because it is so difficult to get fired...
Absolutely. It seems (sadly) to be a human given that any group will look towards its own, short-term interest, ahead of the general, long-term, greater good.
But I don't see that excesses are reason to do away with unions, any more than the Sponsorship scandal is readon to do away with democracy.
I've seen the paperwork involved with the unions at my work, and it's ridiculous sometimes...
In my experience (which is limited to only a few unionized workplaces, granted), the fault is largely management's. First, they agreed to ridiculously onerous procedures for firing an incompetent employee and, second, the line-managers didn't do their job and follow those procedures.
The thing is, what the TTC workers are fighting against isn't all that serious. If they were being grossly mistreated, then I would fully support their right to strike and gladly walk to work...
It sounds like you're saying that the "right" to strike should only be a right if you think the union (meaning the membership) is taking a sensible position. Otherwise, the "right" should be withdrawn.
To which wise mind will you grant that judgement call?
And the TTC is essential in this city, because with the 1.4 million or whatever people in their cars on the roads, traffic would be so that ambulances, firetrucks, and police cars couldn't function to do their jobs. Add to that the amount of pedestrian homicides, and occurences of road rage, blablabla. I wasn't here in 1999, but I have seen it when there was a power outage for a half hour at Yonge and Dundas, and that in itself was chaos. The "neccessary" services can't function without the TTC in proper functioning order.
I was here during that strike and - amazingly enough - the city didn't fall apart during it. ("Pedestrian homicides?")
In short, let's agree to disagree, and if I made no sense, ask me to clarify, because I have had to pee really bad for the past 20 minutes and don't care enough to look this over...
Consider my responses just that request for clarification.