rubberdinghy Posted February 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 oh...i get it...I was using the term as being a member of the union, being a representative...I'll be on the 85 starting Tuesday at 10:05 am! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 Did you pick that schedule? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubberdinghy Posted February 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 Yup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey Boy 2.0 Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 (edited) I had a real zeitgeist moment the other day. Not sure if anyone else saw them but some bus shelters along Scott street had pieces of paper stuck to their sides, "BOO" in large font followed by about a paragraph of OC Transpo worker slagging (they appeared maybe a couple of weeks into the strike i think). I only skimmed it quickly but noticed that the last thing it mentioned was something along the lines of "If you disagree with this viewpoint, post your message here"So what's happening there? Anonymous public rant with the 'ranter' calling for a response from the rantee...in paper form on the side of a bus shelter!?!?!Whoever did it had to have been nurtured in the in-and-outs of Internet discussion boards...who else would've ever thought that the OC Transpo workers would see that notice, run home to their computers to type up a response then stick them up on all those different bus shelters?Kids these days, I tell ya Edited February 9, 2009 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slavetothegroove Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 (edited) Yup.I never heard the outcome after it went to binding arbitration. I'm assuming you guys got what you wanted and get to keep the scheduling?I had a real zeitgeist moment the other day. Not sure if anyone else saw them but some bus shelters along Scott street had pieces of paper stuck to their sides, "BOO" in large font followed by about a paragraph of OC Transpo worker slagging (they appeared maybe a couple of weeks into the strike i think). I only skimmed it quickly but noticed that the last thing it mentioned was something along the lines of "If you disagree with this viewpoint, post your message here"So what's happening there? Anonymous public rant with the 'ranter' calling for a response from the rantee...in paper form on the side of a bus shelter!?!?!I saw these too a while ago. I think I read the BOO stands for "Bus drivers Offend Ottawa" or something like that. The same shelter I saw was on Scott st and I noticed it got egged a few weeks later. Edited February 9, 2009 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey Boy 2.0 Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 From the Citizen:The union and OC Transpo will prepare the documents that will lay out their positions for the arbitrators assigned to settle terms of the contract. The sides have two months to submit their briefs to the three-person panel, made up of one member appointed by the federal government and one each chosen by the union and transit officials. The panel is supposed to make its binding decisions within three months, likely by late June. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubberdinghy Posted February 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 Thanks D-Boy. There was a pretty good article in the "Citizen's" Arguments section, basically stating the the Union won, and the city councillors are a bunch of idiots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 I'm not sure who won but it sure looks like the city lost:Alain Mercier, the head of OC Transpo, says that because of lost fares and the cost of winning back riders, the company is in the hole by $13.4 million.That's a bill the city will have to pay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AD Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 great - more program cuts on the way!! or a tax hike!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Wish Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 If ridership doesn't return to full #'s what will they do? Fare increase?The buses I have seen on the roads the past two days don't see anywhere close to full, as they usually would have been 60 odd days ago..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AD Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 the fare increase previously scheduled for april was pushed back until july, according to the radio this morning. (the fare increase was scheduled before the strike, when OC Transpo had record ridership)the people who are in charge of how this city works have no idea how to make a city work. idiots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booche Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 Pay cut across the board for drivers. It's the only fair solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSloth Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 I got on my bus today and said hello to the bus driver and he didn't say anything back. Aaaaaaaw, just like old times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubberdinghy Posted February 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 City gets fucked again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Low Roller Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 I've used the bus twice so far. The first driver was polite, young, and seemingly in a good mood to be back on the job.The second driver was some old douche who didn't even acknowledge me when I entered the bus and seemed miserable as fuck about everything. I bet it's drivers like Mr. #2 that were right up there on the picket lines pissing on the city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AD Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 maybe he was a habs fan who realised the dream is dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Low Roller Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 We would recognize each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubberdinghy Posted February 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Citizen's, Taxpayers, and riders all get burned because of the strike. I'll apologize, but in the end, the strike made city council look like a bunch of morons. (again, sorry for posting a "told you so", I am an arsehole that way)Alain Mercier's an idiot.This is fucking hilarious! What an absolutely, unbelievable mess.City councillors spent most of yesterday trying to figure out how to compensate bus riders -- and whether to give a big helping hand to the regular taxpayer who funded a transit system for 53 days even though it wasn't running.Politicians put OC Transpo head honcho Alain Mercier on the hot seat, grilling him about details of the compensation package, and how it came to be that the city faced a funding shortfall of at least $13.4 million if it approved a series of recommendations put forward by the transit committee.It seems Mercier's off-the-cuff suggestion the city would save $3.5 million every week of the strike didn't quite pan out. Councillors wanted to know why."I was the one who put that number out there. It was a rough estimate. We did the calculations at the beginning of January and came up with more realistic expectations. It was a broad-brush number at the very beginning," Mercier admitted to council.That didn't sit well with city councillors who've had to explain to their unhappy taxpayers why there's no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow."I guess that was an unfortunate rough estimate," said Coun. Michel Bellemare.The day went from bad to worse, with city councillors yelling at each other, getting red in the face, accusing each other of not doing their jobs or paying attention to the proceedings.Apparently, after being muzzled for more than 50 days under the guise of council unity, councillors were ready to howl yesterday.At times, it seemed obvious that even the politicians knew how ridiculous they looked, but just couldn't help themselves.Speaking about backtracking on one particular transit motion, Kanata Coun. Marianne Wilkinson seemed to be trying to shame her colleagues so they'd stop changing their minds."If we do this, we'll look, well, we'll look even more foolish than we probably already do."Finally, some truth!"I'm really troubled that we're flipping back and forth, back and forth," said Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes.The flipping continued. The meeting, well, it continued to flop.Confusion reigned through most of the debate -- sometimes on the part of staff, more often on the part of councillors.Mercier repeated throughout the meeting that the one thing Ottawa residents want is a clear understanding of bus routes and fares."Clarity. Clarity is what is being sought," Mercier said. "We can't continue to make changes."That's too bad.Part way through the evening, city councillors realized the motions they were debating -- which transit committee had endorsed -- had already been posted on OC Transpo's website and included in many of the city's expensive advertisements."Well, it looks like the public is going to be even more confused if we don't approve the motions," said Mayor Larry O'Brien.He's right.In the end, the motions weren't passed.It went from the sublime to the ridiculous when council agreed to debate the whole thing all over again at the next council meting.You're kidding, right?And then, just before the clock struck 10 p.m., Knoxdale-Merivale Coun. Gord Hunter brought forward a compromise motion.That was made all the more palatable after councillors learned the revised $10-million compensation package included $7.6 million in rebates already collected for bus passes that couldn't be used during the strike.On this, you can score one for Mayor Larry O'Brien, who helped staff and council break down the numbers."People think we're Father Christmas here, but we're not," O'Brien said. "They think we're spending like drunken sailors."I can live with the $2.4 million in incentives."QUOTE OF THE DAY"It's always good to get the real facts," said Innes Coun. Rainer Bloess.Good thinking councillor, if they're pretend facts, they're not really facts at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 "Citizen's, Taxpayers, and riders all get burned because of the strike."Agreed."...in the end, the strike made city council look like a bunch of morons."Not agreed."This is fucking hilarious!"Not agreed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubberdinghy Posted February 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 "...in the end, the strike made city council look like a bunch of morons."Not agreed.How so? Fighting yelling and screaming in a city council meeting, flip flopping on the issues?Sending out incentives to the media saying fares would be free until the end of February (see yesterday's Ottawa Sun...it was mentioned 3 times in different articles) Changing December passes good till the end of March till the end of February instead."Hilarious"Not Agreed.Sorry you're not laughing, but working with OC for the past 5 years, versing myself quite well in this city's politics, I have never seen anything quite this laughable. PS. The city screwed up our temporary Phase I schedule. We were not to have overtime coming back to work. Guess what. There are over 80 overtime shifts available on Saturdays. Why? A city clerk counted the shifts incorrectly.I'm laughing all the way to the bank.What a joke. Mercier needs to be canned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booche Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 I agree with Velvet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 I think you're closer to the situation than most of us, hence you probably have a different perspective than the general public. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubberdinghy Posted February 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 You want more.The city allocated 100 "extras" a day for the back to work schedule.This is about 100 buses that have not been used on a daily basis.These drivers have had almost no work since we've been back. I've heard that drivers have been sitting around for 8 hours doing absolutely nothing.Why? The buses are in better shape than they had anticipated. Another mistake made by Mercier. They could have easily got away with the normal 40 "extras" they use.The City of Ottawa fucked up HUGE! They could have easily left the schedule the way it was, give us 2, 2, and 2 and this would have never happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Wooly Mammoth Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 I'm not sure who won but it sure looks like the city lost:Alain Mercier, the head of OC Transpo, says that because of lost fares and the cost of winning back riders, the company is in the hole by $13.4 million.That's a bill the city will have to pay.the overall costs to the city is WAY more than that. A full costing would include:-extra wear and tear on roads due to increased traffic-lost productivity due to people either missing work, working shorter hours, or stressed being out-health costs due to increased pollution-other environmental costs-wear and tear of peoples cars-cost of gas-lost revenue from not issuing parking tickets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AD Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 -lost revenue from not issuing parking ticketsi heard parking tickets were up 35% during the strike, but that most of the fines were being cut in half. Still, that's more money that usual. Isn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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