Tentative OC Strike Date. Dec. 10.

[Velvet]

For the record, I support Mr. Dinghy and I hope this unfortunate situation ends in a way that makes him happy.

[SaggyBalls]

Watch most of the buses fail certification.

[arcane]

Ironic, isn't it?

If irony is the new hypocrisy, yeah, I'd say so.

At least STO is still running, otherwise drunk people would have to throw up in cabs.

:susel:

[rubberdinghy]

There was supposed to be a media black out.

Next thing we see in the papers is Mercier threatening to lay off workers.

This is getting WAY out of hand.

Thanks for support Velvet.

I haven't been jobless this long in years...currently accepting dinner invitations.

[rubberdinghy]

http://www.isthebusstrikeoveryet.com/

[bouche]

If he has to lay off people, let him lay off people, he's not going to scare the membership. He's not going to intimidate this membership.

nice.

[SaggyBalls]

How can they lay off drivers if the action of a strike is legally supported??

This makes no sense.

[AD]

once the strike is over the drivers would be laid off while the buses are made road-worthy, etc etc

after two weeks they'd be eligible for EI, more money than strike pay for sure.

[bagochips]

I haven't been jobless this long in years...currently accepting dinner invitations.

Get yourself to Mexico and I´ll buy you a taco.

[Thorgnor]

Don't they give those out like napkins down there?

[Velvet]

Somebody should be compensating these people:

Strike sideswipes Ottawa transit station storekeepers

CBC News

Ottawa's transit strike has dealt an especially harsh blow to the owners of four Transitway station convenience stores, who have been completely cut off from their workplace and customers as their bills continue to mount.

"That's our sole source of income, that's our livelihood. Nobody else but us has actually been wiped out," said Joseph Kiros, whose convenience store in Lincoln Fields station has been closed since the start of the strike, which was in its 45th day Friday.

Peter Asfaha, who owns the store at Blair station, said his family also relies solely on the income from his in-station business.

"We cannot survive this way," said Asfaha, who has a five-year-old son to support.

When buses are running, the Transitway convenience stores are busy places that see a steady stream of transit users and employees. They supply bus drivers with coffee, newspapers and snacks and schoolchildren with sandwiches, drinks and breakfast items.

About 2,300 transit drivers, dispatchers and maintenance workers walked off the job on Dec. 10. Ever since, the transit stations along the Transitway have been locked, barring access to the stores by even their owners.

"Even if we were to open, there wouldn't be anybody really there," said Kiros, who runs the Lincoln Fields store with his uncle. Meanwhile, store bills keep coming in.

His mother first opened the store, the first one in any transit station in Ottawa, 10 years ago. She died last year and Kiros said he feels responsible for keeping the family business alive.

He said the city has provided no support so far.

"We haven't been given any instructions. We just listen to the radio, or we go outside and look if there's any buses, praying for buses every day."

The store owners said they aren't taking sides in the conflict but are asking both the city and the transit union to reach an agreement as soon as possible.

In the meantime, they are working odd jobs to make ends meet, but don't know how much longer they can survive.

When the dispute hits the two-month mark, Kiros said, "I think I'm going to be freaking out… like you don't see any light, you just feel like it's going to keep going and going and nobody cares about us."

No talks have been held between the City of Ottawa and the striking Amalgamated Transit Union Local 279 since Dec. 23.

On Jan. 8, transit union members voted 75 per cent against the city's latest offer, which was issued just before the most recent talks broke off. Since then, both sides have suggested limited arbitration, but have been unable to agree on the conditions.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2009/01/23/ot-090123-transitway-stores.html

[Big Wooly Mammoth]

the whole situation is now absurd. they need to get some back to work legislation passed that includes binding arbitration. what the fuck is rona ambrose doing? although, I guess, parliament needs to be sitting for that. although she did order that vote (which was an unprecedented and poorly thought out decision).

If the mayor had run his businesses the way he is running the city, he'd be broke today.

[rubberdinghy]

Yup...it's getting ridiculous.

I'd go for binding arbitration, the only problem being we'd lose any possible future strike action, and the city will lose money.

I want to go back to work, but won't accept the contract.

[bouche]

there are stores at transit stations? like beer stores?

[rubberdinghy]

Quickie's and Gateway's

[Booche]

Are you trying to say beer is a gateway drug?

[rubberdinghy]

Maybe.

[Davey Boy 2.0]

damn i should've had a beer with lunch

[rubberdinghy]

Mee tooooooo

Shoulda had 14

[Davey Boy 2.0]

that'd be a gateway alright

[thatpatguy]

I'm drinking beer while replying to this thread

[Davey Boy 2.0]

::shakes fist at monitor::

[rubberdinghy]

just cracked a Heiny...and I ain't talking about me wifes ass.

unfortunately!

[bradm]

I wonder: if Mayor O'Brien (or Alan Mercier) didn't have a car, would the strike still be on?

What I think I want, not just for the strike but for public transit in general, is to make those in charge of public transit (city council members, including the mayor, and management at OC Transpo) reliant on the service over which they have authority.

For example, I could see those people given a task once a month (or once a week, or both, with the weekly tasks being easy ones, and the monthly tasks harder ones) that they have to complete without the use of their (or their families') vehicles. The task would be randomly chosen, and would be the equivalent of an errand: go to a certain place in the city (a doctor's office, a store, a coffee shop, whatever) at a certain time (rush hour, mid-day, evening, night), and get a form filled out indicating the task had been completed; a high percentage of the tasks would simply be "Get to and from work". Proof of completion of the task would also include the bus transfers that were received, and maybe even printouts of OC Transpo web pages that show how the person planned how to get where they were supposed to be (pictures might be good, too, to show that the task was peformed by the actual person and not an underling). If the tasked person had to write a short (one-page, maybe) report on their experience, so much the better. (I would also allow for an exemption for those people who are already reliant on OC Transpo.)

I'd really be interested in the reactions of the to-be-tasked to this idea. Any of them who said, "Hey, that's a great idea. It'll get me into parts of the city I wouldn't necessarily go, and will give me first-hand real-world experience of an important system that a lot of my constituents rely on, which will help me make the system better for them and me." would be far more likely to get my support.

Aloha,

Brad

[Big Wooly Mammoth]

I wonder: if Mayor O'Brien (or Alan Mercier) didn't have a car, would the strike still be on?

agreed. And the mayor doesn't have to drive to work every day either. it's a short walk for him.

In other cities (e.g. Toronto) the transit system is run by a separate authority, and not directly by the city as well. I think that would also make a difference.