bradm Posted December 10, 2008 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 Won't someone think of the retired?When I was let go from my job back in mid-September, one of the things I figured I wouldn't miss at all was waiting out in the cold and snow for a bus to get to or from the office. Well, the cold and show are here, but the buses aren't running, so I'm not able to not miss that as nearly as much as I thought I'd be able to. I sincerely hope the strike is over soon, otherwise someone's gonna owe me for all the gloating I'm missing out on.Aloha,Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey Boy 2.0 Posted December 10, 2008 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 I also hope everything works out for you RubberDinghy as quickly and as beneficially as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubberdinghy Posted December 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 and mattm apology accepted (i think), and I retract my previous statement Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubberdinghy Posted December 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 oh yeah...one other thing.....I can't get to the picket lines....There's no fucking buses! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouche Posted December 10, 2008 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 Won't someone think of the retired?When I was let go from my job back in mid-September, one of the things I figured I wouldn't miss at all was waiting out in the cold and snow for a bus to get to or from the office. Well, the cold and show are here, but the buses aren't running, so I'm not able to not miss that as nearly as much as I thought I'd be able to. I sincerely hope the strike is over soon, otherwise someone's gonna owe me for all the gloating I'm missing out on.Aloha,Bradsend that in to the Ottawa Sun!http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/12/10/7695101.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badams Posted December 10, 2008 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 oh yeah...one other thing.....I can't get to the picket lines....There's no fucking buses!lol awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schwa. Posted December 10, 2008 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 In a lot of cases, unions aren't even striking to get more, they strike to keep what they have. I've worked in HARD CORE union situations...the most relevant being the CAW in Chatham working for International Harvester (Navistar) making BigRigs.I have witnessed first hand how unions are 100% fucked and I have no problem siding with the people that are against them....for instance:In a union the work is very structured...once you finish "your job" you are done for the day. We had people that had mastered their jobs and could finish them in about 2 hours leaving them 6 hours PER DAY to sit up in the massive washrooms we had there and play chess, smoke doobs, sleep etc... Now, imagine being one of these fellas' supervisors KNOWING that they were doing this and being powerless to stop it....OR being one of their "brothers" who have an 8 hour job that you can't work ahead on. Very unfair, internal divisions between workers was very common and caused a ton of infighting.I also was forced to be on a straight afternoon shift because the old fuckers had negotiated that there would be a solid day shift and afternoon shift with no rotation....this led to the day shift being about an average of 45 years old and the afternoon shift being about 30 years old. Production difference between shifts was staggering!! We young bucks were making many more trucks per shift. Reason being we had been in the union less time and were accustomed to a culture of hard work with the threat of being fired for not working hard. Anyway, i took some rare overtime one day and came in early. This old dude was having a tough day, he had missed a part or two when the truck went by on the line and he was just grumpy to begin with. I witnessed, and i'm sure i was the only one that saw it, the old fucker throw a 1" bolt into the line so that it would jam up so that he could go to the cafeteria and get a coffee and have a smoke. There was no investigation or discipline handed down even though the only place that bolt could have come from was his station and the supervisors knew it. Union power abused to the fullest IMO. Once on strike, the factory and union had a very violent confrontation where a striker was actually run over by the security company van hired by Navistar to provide safety to the Scabs (something i DO NOT condone)this is just where i stand, i've been jaded and will never ever side with a union again. I do support you Scotty and hope you get back to work soon, but i think this is the idea of unions that the general public has nowadays. I have SOOOO many more stories of how the CAW almost single handedly destroyed the city of Chatham my fingers might fall off from all the typing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Posted December 10, 2008 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 Bradm: There are so many reasons to hate you for your post, but I can't bring myself to.Mr. Dinghy: Your last post made me laugh really hard. Very wonderful post on a series of levels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hal Johnson Posted December 10, 2008 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 I've only got one thing to say about this, well two:Dental Plan and Lisa needs braces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Posted December 10, 2008 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 I worked in a unionised warehouse once where a forklift operator (THE most coveted job in a place like that) came in drunk and drove into a wall, leaving two holes. He was back at work the next day, all was forgotten. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schwa. Posted December 10, 2008 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 "We'll march day and niiiight by the big cooling tower, they have the plant but we have the power." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schwa. Posted December 10, 2008 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 I worked in a unionised warehouse once where a forklift operator (THE most coveted job in a place like that) came in drunk and drove into a wall, leaving two holes. He was back at work the next day, all was forgotten.Funny you should say that Todd. At Navistar there was the same guy. He was wasted and drove his truck right into the side of one of the fibreglass cabs of the trucks while it was on a transport dolly and stabbed his forks right thru it. because he had a "disease" he was given a week off WITH PAY and free counselling. He never ever took it seriously although the union was really trying to help and remained a drunk and did not lose his job...at least until the day i was laid off. can't speak for after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey Boy 2.0 Posted December 10, 2008 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 ... and now I work in Ottawa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meggo Posted December 10, 2008 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 :grin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badams Posted December 10, 2008 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 ... and now I work in Ottawa... and now I work for the Federal Government Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubberdinghy Posted December 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 Bradm: There are so many reasons to hate you for your post, but I can't bring myself to.Mr. Dinghy: Your last post made me laugh really hard. Very wonderful post on a series of levels.Still got my sense of humour! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey Boy 2.0 Posted December 10, 2008 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 here's a job for you, mon ami Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booche Posted December 10, 2008 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 Duuuuuuuude:"Hours of work and shifts will vary" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattm Posted December 10, 2008 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 (edited) Yeah, Dinghy, I have nothing against you and I hope to god they don't give you split shifts, it sucks balls. I had a bud one time that had the shifts: Monday: 7-3, Tuesday: 3-11, Wednesday: 11-7, repeat until friday, break for weekend. Granted it was only temporary for a month or so but sucks still, hard shifts are hard shifts.Pretty much everything I wanted to say velvet said so thanks velvet for laying it out.Ollie: I won't become a bus driver because I paid for, with over $35000 and 5 years+ of my life, the privelege to sit my ass here at home, drinking my own coffee in my pyjamas working while others are struggling in the snow. I have it pretty good, though the pay isn't all that good, it will be in the future (maybe a little bit distant future since we also will potentially be looking at 15% wage cuts depending on how the business does). Poor Steph has to walk pretty far so it does hit home a little bit but mostly I'm the same as velvet, the strike doesn't affect me personally all that much at all. Ain't about me though. I have this terrible thing that makes me feel bad for others (hence being so torn on this issue and wishing that rubber dinghy didn't drive a bus so that I could just be flat out mad and not have to be conflicted). The way I see it is that there are many people with much shittier situations AND much shittier pay (waitresses/waiters who have their own minimum wage and work some pretty shitty hours/locations, etc) and though I also see the bus driver situation of crappy shifts, I also kinda think that maybe, with being paid pretty good (without having to have invested near as much as some folks), maybe just take it for a bit, make a deal to stay the way things are but to go over it again in a year when things have calmed down. Go to the city and say "We, as responsible members of our community, would like to ask the city to deffer negotiations and keep things as they are for 1 year" or something on those lines. Make it really public so that the city can't refuse or they look like real assholes but also make sure they damn well know that you'll be fighting again once we're all a little more stable. You sell it in the newspaper so that the whole city sees. You guys are heros for taking shit so that all of us can get to work in these hard times. A year goes by and it's negotiation time again. Guess who's on your side now, all those people who didn't get fucked over (city residents). Again, city has to cave to your demands or face the wrath of the residents, saved the prior year by humble oc transpo drivers that gave up so much to make sure the less fortunate were still ok. I don't like that the union knows damn well that this is the time that the most people will be fucked over so the best chance to nab as much as possible, it's just mean and low when so many people out there are losing so much, including employment. Edited December 10, 2008 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted December 10, 2008 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 I have SOOOO many more stories of how the CAW almost single handedly destroyed the city of Chatham my fingers might fall off from all the typing.Hear hear brother. I feel almost anti-union for life because of what I've seen go down in this town. Ever talk to Archie about his time at Navi as a janitor raking in $30+ an hour sitting up in the lunch room with the dudes smoking doobies and playing euchre? Fuk. I look at Buzz Hargrove and my jadedness sees nothing but evil horns.It's hard for me to sympathize with unions because I see all of the things that non-unionized people are forced to put up with all the time just to keep their jobs. Like for instance, my work, who by no means is threatened by potential closings, cheap competition, etc. has stopped paying out overtime now as well. A lot of people here (especially those who work in our graphics dept producing catalogues and pulling 20 hour shifts to meet deadlines) worked overtime no problem because of the money. Now they're forced to not talk any money for that work, and instead get time in lieu. I'm a manager myself so I never qualified for overtime or time in lieu, yet am still expected to work the overtime. I work about 20 weekends a year at auctions, plus countless overtime hours in between and never see one penny. But in a way, I figure I'm super lucky to have a job in the first place, as many don't. That's my problem with unions-- they seemingly demand quite often (and sometimes rightly so), but I never hear a peep from them about just being thankful to have a job. Times are tough and cutbacks are happening. It could be way worse. You could simply have no job at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schwa. Posted December 10, 2008 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 HA! Arch was who i was thinking about the whole time. he actually got really good at chess...fucking guy did 1-2 hours of work per day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie Posted December 10, 2008 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 Freak By Night: "You'd think your union would have chosen someone a little more articulate to represent them. This guy's a moron."No kidding! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Posted December 10, 2008 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 Do unions have a union? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booche Posted December 10, 2008 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 A motion to lobby the federal government to force striking OC Transpo workers back onto their buses was pulled before being debated at city council today. The Sun was told that during a closed-door meeting, councillors received legal advice that they shouldn't move forward with the motion. It had been introduced by Innes Coun. Rainer Bloess. After council received the advice the seconder to the motion pulled their support. A motion requires two councillors for support. Bloess wanted the government to deem OC Transpo an essential service to force striking employees back to work. OC Transpo is subject to federal labour laws because the buses cross the provincial border in to Gatineau. Bay Coun. Alex Cullen said even if introduced the motion didn't have enough support around council. "It's not an essential service," he said. "It has to be deemed an immediate danger to the public." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubberdinghy Posted December 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 hmmmmm, that's very interesting.The province deemed the TTC essential earlier this year.Pro: ArbitrationCon: Firefighters took what 8 years to get a contract through arbitration.Interesting that city council doesn't feel it's essential. I could flip flop on this argument all day.S'ok, I got plenty of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now