Back To Work

The provincial legislature had a special meeting today at 1:30pm and passed bill 55 which legislated TTC union workers back to work. This was accomplished in a record time of 31 minutes. Imagine what could be accomplished if we had this kind of unity in government on other issues. Normally, it takes months or years to get legislation passed, if ever sometimes. Amazing! The system will be up and running Monday morning. Not that I'm disagreeing with this, but I'm just wondering, what is the point of having the right to strike if we can get legislated back to work so quickly? Don't forget, this was a LEGAL strike. Our contract expired April 1st and there is no legal requirement to give any notice to the public. They did that last week as a courtesy. Basically they are saying we don't have the right to strike, but are not willing at this point to make our service essential. Aren't they saying in effect, it is essential?
I have to say I did not agree with the way in which the union pulled the plug so quickly on service Friday night. They should have allowed the drivers to finish their shifts and make sure everyone got home, then cancelled Saturday service. I think that would have been more responsible and better understood by the public than what happened.
What happened? Why was the offer voted down?
Basically, the operators got a good deal. The maintenance people and mechanics feel they did not, and many drivers voted NO in solidarity with them because they have supported us in the past when we did not get a fair shake.
The issue with them is not about money, but job security. What was happening is that with all the new buses the TTC have been purchasing, they have been bringing in mechanics from the factory into our shops to repair them under warranty, threatening our mechanics job security. Also cleaning work has been threatened to be contracted out, putting those jobs at stake. Also they were not included in a new clause called " The GTA clause " which states that TTC operators would always be the highest paid among all the transit services in the GTA. They wanted to be included in this clause too. The result was a division in the union executive and among union members.
An arbitrator will be appointed by the government IF the two sides cannot agree on a contract, which at this point looks like what is going to happen. There will be time limit of 90 days for the arbitrator to dictate the terms of the contract.
I am wondering now if we will be asked to work to rule. What is that? Basically enforcing all the rules of the TTC. What will that do? Basically shut the system down again. How? Somebody pays $2.00 instead of the $2.75 fare. WE have a fare dispute which can tie a bus up for an hour. If everybody does this, the system doesn't move and we are just doing our jobs. We will get assaulted, drivers will be off on compensation. No drivers, buses don't move.

Silly isn't it? Let's hope things get back on track soon. No pun intended.